MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
They're heavily promoting the GCN+ channel, and it says only in very small print that it'll be on Eurosport and Discovery. Does that mean Live only on GCN and it'll be on at 02:30am on a Wednesday night on Eurosport, I wonder?
https://ucimtbworldseries.com/watch
I'm just more than glad that not only have they announced that the junior DH will be livestreamed, but it'll be FOC on YouTube. I even feared that the semi final would've been behind the paywall, but that's also going to be live and free to watch.
Meh about sky sports news anchor, but that was predictable having a generic mainstream presenter. I'm happy for Rik that all those years of enduro presenting has finally paid off and that the Nordy's going global!
I've asked that in the PB comments with no reply as yet.
Equally worrying is the suggestion that Ric M could be on lead commentary, though it also implies Cedric G is doing that (which would be much more promising).
CG could be interesting but otherwise - it's GCN so I'm expecting the usual clickbait bull****. I don't want to give them my money so I guess I'm out - sorry WCDH.
What a shame.
Dunno, but if you want to subscribe to GCN+ to watch there's a 25% discount code in this thread which makes it cheaper for the whole year than just the months when the DH/XC are on. I did that and have watched a few of the long-form videos and will probably watch some of the road / CX seasons so don't feel short-changed.
it’s GCN so I’m expecting the usual clickbait bull****
It's GCN+, not the Youtube GCN channel. The app (at least on the Firestick) doesn't give you stuff to click on/thumbs up/comments below/etc. Works perfectly well for watching the CX and road racing without being hassled to watch other stuff, so I'd hope the MTB content is much the same.
it’s GCN so I’m expecting the usual clickbait bull****.
How can live race coverage be clickbait?
https://ucimtbworldseries.com/news/uci-mountain-bike-world-series-reveals-2023-broadcast-details
Not the easiest to follow, but I think:
DH
Junior race - free, live on YouTube and others
Elite Semi Finals - free, live on Youtube and others
Elite finals - paywalled, live on GCN+
Enduro
Highlighs only - free, YouTube and others
XC
Not interested enough to figure it out
"Fronting the new coverage will be a new talent team headed up by Kate Mason, who will anchor each of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series events broadcast on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, starting with the first round of the 2023 UCI Cross-country World Cups from Nové Město na Moravě in May.
Mason will be joined by legendary racer Cedric Gracia as an expert commentator in downhill, while titan of the sport Bart Brentjens will fulfil the same role for cross-country. They’ll be joined by reporters Josh Carlson and Hayley Edmonds, with Ric McLaughlin completing the team as lead commentator."
Kate Mason?
Josh Carlson?
Hayley Edmonds?
Cedric & Bart - fair enough
Ric McLaughlon - argh
Refusing to watch gcn race coverage because other gcn content is clickbaitey rubbish (yes lots of it is) is a bit like refusing to watch match of the day because you don’t like Dr Who
Kate Mason?
ex Sky sports I think, used to do Football, does a podcast, pretty good broadcaster
i got into watchin hte dh live streams last year (when i was free/able) but it looks like i`ll be waiting for the free replays this year.
hopefully vital do their slideshows again at some point as they were the best.
So, I have Virgin tv package so have Eurosport 1 and 2. Do we think this will show the DH properly live?
Presenters sound lacking.
Recently watched a few World surf League or something and it was pretty terrible, making personalities and ‘stories’ more important than the surfing, basically dumbing it down for normal people who wouldn’t generally watch surfing.
Do we think this will show the DH properly live?
I must admit I thought they would when it was announced last year, but given the way that’s been advertised I really don’t think so unfortunately
Josh Carlson?
His reporting on the EWS last year is way better than CG'S French language commentary on RedBull tbh.
nickc
Full MemberI must admit I thought they would when it was announced last year, but given the way that’s been advertised I really don’t think so unfortunately
Going from advert it seems live: https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/24464813/
From what I can see it wont be live on Eurosport, although it is very poorly communicated.
There is absolutely nothing on Eurosport about it
Edit: from a different page
HOW CAN I WATCH THE UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD SERIES IN 2023?
UCI World Cup cross-country Olympic, cross-country short track and downhill events from the UCI Mountain Bike World Series will be available live and on-demand on discovery+, GCN+ and the Eurosport App.
I have Eurosport 1&2 on Sky, so does this mean I can or cannot watch it live?
Also it says the first live DH event is June 8th - is there no DH before then ?
Yeah that's the same ad I linked to in the OP. I think that's carefully worded as to appear as though it will be live on Eurosport, but in fact actually just means it'll be on Eurosport [at some point]. That's the textbook definition of the "the small print" I reckon. Otherwise, I think, they'd have advertised that much more heavily and clearly (like given it equal billing or something) Although I hope I'm just being cynical, as like loads of other folks, I've already got Eurosport, and I thought I'd be watching DH this summer without needing to buy another sub or faff on with RB's famously bad web based live coverage
Also it says the first live DH event is June 8th – is there no DH before then ?
Yup, late start to the DH season this year.
Underneath that advert linked on PinkBike it says
Live broadcasts of the downhill, cross-country Olympic and cross-country short-track elite finals and coverage of all major races from each of the 13 race weekends will be available globally on GCN+*.
GCN+ can be accessed worldwide through a monthly or annual subscription. Racing coverage and content is available live and on demand via the GCN App, all web browsers, Amazon FireTV, Samsung Smart TV, AndroidTV, Chromecast, Apple AirPlay and Apple TV.
Free to air live streams of the U23 cross-country races, as well as the Junior and Semi-Final downhill races will be on the UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel, GCN+, Eurosport, discovery+ and GMBN Racing.
That reads as only on GCN+
And no footnote anywhere explain what the asterix is for
The page I'm looking at has the asterisk at the bottom and explains what it's for: -
"*Coverage of the UCI Cross-Country Olympic, Cross-Country Short Track and UCI Downhill World Cups will be available globally on GCN+, and will also be shown on Eurosport and discovery+. The UCI Cross-Country Marathon and Enduro World Cups will benefit from in-depth highlights and behind the scenes coverage on the UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube Channel as well as GCN+."
Pinkbike article
The reference to the Eurosport app makes me expect that it will be available on the Eurosport Player, perhaps live, but probably not on the TV channels. The Player is a different subscription from the TV channels i think.
IME, any live cycling on gcn is also on the Eurosport player. No idea about the actually telly channels, I just have a Eurosport Player sub and if I want to watch something on the telly I just Chromecast it.
I'd guess most of the output will be on GCN+/ Eurosport player on the Eurosport website, and not either of the Eurosport 1 or 2 channels. There's no way it will take priority over snooker, tennis, ski-ing, road cycling, etc
Interesting, but not really a surprise that very few have been carried over from Red Bull; always though Lauren did a good job, but going by her instagram it was obvious she wasn't part of their plans.
Ric originally did the pits/field reporter role when at Red Bull - and I think he's better suited to that and presenting than commentary. He did the commentary of the Les Gets Worlds on GCN/Eurosport last year, and didn't seem like a natural fit - but wish him well.
Hayley Edmonds has done work with the WRC/ WEC - Le Mans, and can speak French....
As I continue to say, it's a lot of change all at once....
Kate Mason?
I guess they couldn’t get Clare Balding
On reflection, I suspect that they haven't set the schedules for Eurosport 1 & 2 that far ahead yet.
So they may not be able to say whether it'll be on live TV, or whether they'll be showing an obscure road race instead.
It would seem odd if they'd made a decision NOT to show the finals live, as they don't put the big road races behind an additional paywall. So why would they more-aggressively monetise one relatively niche sport?
A bit of a breakdown on coverage from Vital MTB:
TLDR : all DH (inc. juniors and elite semis) free except for the elite finals run.
The bit about 20 cameras and 3 drones is interesting. Will be great to see more of the action but they'll still have to juggle that with the short gap between racers.
I usually subscribe to GCN while the TDF is on and I've always enjoyed their coverage. Given you can find it 25% off and I'd pay £7 anyway, another £23 isn't too bad really.
The general format for the road stuff is live uninterrupted on the App live on Eurosport with adverts.
I can’t guarantee that the MTB will be the same. But that’s my expectation
I think they will try to do the job properly. The road coverage isn’t world class but it’s not terrible
They don’t create the stream for road stuff. So that is different
The bit about 20 cameras and 3 drones is interesting. Will be great to see more of the action but they’ll still have to juggle that with the short gap between racers.
Yeah, they haven't really addressed the logistics of "we're going to show full runs", when the runs overlap so much.
Which makes me wonder how much else they say to take with a big pinch of salt.
How much overlap is there on finals day though ?
I don't think they send them down at 30s intervals for the big-show so maybe they'll spread them a little more as there's less actual numbers in Finals now isn't there ?
Yeah, they haven’t really addressed the logistics of “we’re going to show full runs”, when the runs overlap so much.
Red Bull did the same though, there's always been a delay in the coverage. the Live coverage has always been "Happening about now" it's never been "Happening this very second"
How much overlap is there on finals day though ?
I don’t think they send them down at 30s intervals for the big-show so maybe they’ll spread them a little more as there’s less actual numbers in Finals now isn’t there ?
They're normally set off at 1 minute intervals. There are going to be fewer participants but double the race runs as both the semi and final runs are on the same day (at least according to the Lenzerheide schedule).
Red Bull did the same though, there’s always been a delay in the coverage. the Live coverage has always been “Happening about now” it’s never been “Happening this very second”
Sorry, I'm not sure what you're saying?
We were talking about the way they usually cover several riders who are on course at the same time, often by just not showing the first two minutes of each run (after they leave the start hut).
There are going to be fewer participants
But RB only joined the event for roughly the top 30 male racers anyway.
And as you say, there are now more runs in each day so they won't be putting everyone on three-minute gaps.
The comments on Pinkbike just make me shake my head in despair; do any of them watch any other sports? Moan about having to pay to watch, whilst moaning that riders get prize money that doesn't pay for a flight.......
The sport wasn't going to grow staying on Red Bull, it would just stay as it is.....
Moan about having to pay to watch, whilst moaning that riders get prize money that doesn’t pay for a flight…….
Obviously things may improve going forward but, for this year at least, the prize money is the same as previous years despite increased fees etc. Bernard Kerr has been vocal in the past about things like the Mercedes sponsorship deal money not trickling down.
I'm cautiously hopeful. The GCN+ cyclocross coverage is excellent.
The GCN+ sub is not too much. I saved money by dropping Eurosport from my TV package and it was a good decision - GCN+ coverage has no ads, won't be replaced by tennis or cancelled altogether, and you can replay all coverage later. I watch on TV using a Google TV. Totally worth the money.
I know we were used to free, good, coverage on Red Bull, but that was probably not sustainable.
The comments on Pinkbike just make me shake my head in despair; do any of them watch any other sports? Moan about having to pay to watch, whilst moaning that riders get prize money that doesn’t pay for a flight…….
The sport wasn’t going to grow staying on Red Bull, it would just stay as it is…..
The risk>reward is beyond ridiculous for DH racers. With 10th place at World Champs last year getting 200euro with entry being 150 euro..
Where is the incentive for riders coming into the sport ? At best, you'll get a free bike and maybe a bit of cash/help. But that's really a small number of riders who'll get that. It's honestly ridiculous for the time and expense that racers spend.
I could put up some figures for the last 12 months that a Juvenile/Youth racer has had to spend just to get to races/practice/bikes etc... but lets say, even if we don't include a van purchase or bike purchases, it's over £10,000 in the last 12 months spent. To put that into context, we've had a LOT of help/assistance/stuff from various sponsors, from Crankbrothers to DMR, TF Tuned, Privateer, Katy herself of course, RideWrap, etc etc... and it's still over £10,000 we've put in.
I phoned Amazon this morning. I have Prime and Discovery+
They said they wont be showing it....
🙁
If you have Sky TV, some of, if not all packages, give you Discovery+ for free. It's where I'll hopefully be watching it.
If you have Sky TV, some of, if not all packages, give you Discovery+ for free. It’s where I’ll hopefully be watching it.
Sounds promising cheers mate.
I don't have a TV or TV licence. Also probably won't be able to watch live, but want to watch elite DH finals (both men & women) later at some point in full.
Can anyone point me through this maze?
Where is the incentive for riders coming into the sport ? At best, you’ll get a free bike and maybe a bit of cash/help. But that’s really a small number of riders who’ll get that. It’s honestly ridiculous for the time and expense that racers spend.
Im not sure what your point is. Like all sports those at the top get very well paid and those not very far down and below dont. I doubt those who are in the top 10 are short of cash. You only have to see their social media of where they live, their cars etc to see this is well rewarded if your at the pointy end of the field. Compare road cycling where the team leaders and race winners earn many multiples of the rest of the team that help them win. Same in football, tennis, motorsport etc etc
The only way for riders to get paid more is to be more attractive to sponsors. In the real world that means non bike company sponsors. That needs exposure amongst the general public not on some obscure website which is what RBTV is to the majority of the world
Where’s the incentive? Because it’s fun.
Some lucky buggers get to make a career out of it. They get a career out of it because people want to watch them, and they will either pay to watch them; or companies believe that the audience will purchase their product if they emblazon the athletes or the playing arena with their logo. That’s it. Nobody is owed a living.
Part of the problem is the nature of the sport. In DH it’s the same track, ridden in a time trial format. If they broadcast 200 elite men and 50 elite women, would you watch the whole thing? I wouldn’t. I might try to find a lower ranking rider I liked and watch them, and then skip to the top 20.
In XC, everyone behind the top 15 or 20 is just background noise sadly. Massive respect for the level of skill and fitness of even the person in last place, but unless they make xco a teams/point race format then they are fairly irrelevant from a spectator’s point of view.
Now if by some magic they could show up with the same level of camera work and production quality to a National race…. I would watch the hell out of that. And that would give exposure to the lower ranked athletes and hopefully therefore increase their market value.
That’s my hope going forward, automated cameras, drones etc are only becoming cheaper and more plentiful. You can see already with ball sports, pretty low level amateur teams are live streaming their entire games. Occasionally some teams go viral because it’s a particularly interesting game or clip.
Where’s the incentive? Because it’s fun.
quite.... but in terms of a career, in terms of money, income, it's a very tough sport physically and i must admit i disagree with the poster earlier, not many of the Pros make a living from racing... i'd argue nearly as many who make the big bucks don't actually race at all.
Nobody is owed a living
I'm not saying that in the slightest. It's just when you compare to a LOT of other sports, it's really really poorly paid. I do understand why, but that doesn't mean it makes me ecstatic.
Now if by some magic they could show up with the same level of camera work and production quality to a National race
Search up Gravity DH, they're doing live footage of the nationals this season... you may even see the boy 😀 Although i have no idea how many cameras and what the setup is..
The risk>reward is beyond ridiculous for DH racers. With 10th place at World Champs last year getting 200euro with entry being 150 euro..
Agreed prize money is a joke, but anyone in the top 10 is making good money through team and personal sponsorship.
I could put up some figures for the last 12 months that a Juvenile/Youth racer has had to spend just to get to races/practice/bikes etc… but lets say, even if we don’t include a van purchase or bike purchases, it’s over £10,000 in the last 12 months spent. To put that into context, we’ve had a LOT of help/assistance/stuff from various sponsors, from Crankbrothers to DMR, TF Tuned, Privateer, Katy herself of course, RideWrap, etc etc… and it’s still over £10,000 we’ve put in.
Two observations.
First of all, you have opted to do it the most expensive way possible. You race a huge amount, have a coach and you have a spare bike. I'm good mates with two age group national champs from last year, one DH, one XC. I'd be surprised it their costs were above £2k a year if we exclude bike and van purchases.
Secondly, it's a hobby until you're at the top level, so you put into it what you please. Look at the early years of the Vanzacs - they were just traveling round Europe with mates and having a great time, a few ended up getting pro deals off the back of it. At a UK level, most competitive riders are getting a shop deal at the very least.
quite…. but in terms of a career, in terms of money, income, it’s a very tough sport physically and i must admit i disagree with the poster earlier, not many of the Pros make a living from racing… i’d argue nearly as many who make the big bucks don’t actually race at all.
It might not be a glorious living, but plenty earn enough for it to allow them to do it full time, and the top pros are doing very well indeed.
As for the influences, youtubers etc... not my cup of tea but if they're the ones getting eyeballs then they're the ones sponsors want to work with.
First of all, you have opted to do it the most expensive way possible. You race a huge amount, have a coach and you have a spare bike
Not quite, we could have 2 V10s. Lol. But no, we're not doing it by halves. I wasn't complaining, I'm ok with our spending.
quite…. but in terms of a career, in terms of money, income, it’s a very tough sport physically and i must admit i disagree with the poster earlier, not many of the Pros make a living from racing… i’d argue nearly as many who make the big bucks don’t actually race at all.
This doesn't count for everyone but a lot of the pro racers, (also semi-pros, hangers on, photographers, seasonaires etc.) that I've known just don't have any financial concerns. They don't have to make any money. Lots of people in MTB racing, also in snowsports, motorsports, just get to live the dream for as long as they like, then go home to work for the family business. They live the vanlife all year, grow their hair out, post pictures of themselves dirtbagging it in tents and caravans, then spend the off season in the family mansion.
It's an awesome life if you can get it. I've managed a few seasons away and done some travelling but I've always had to come back and clear the credit card. I realised I just wasn't on the same planet as the people who make it look so easy.
Watched the Eurosport highlights of the Enduro whatever its called now Round 1 in Australia. It was very short and pretty poor. Some decent camera work but very little of it. Seemed to show more high fives and hugs at the finish line than riding. Even included dramatic music for the 'You'll never guess what happened next!' user experience.
And its not free to watch as I pay a shit ton for Virgin cable TV.
And its not free to watch as I pay a shit ton for Virgin cable TV.
Is it not the same as what's free on the UCI Mountain Bike World Series and GMBN Racing YouTube channels? Although that's kind of irrelevant if you are paying already..
Is it not the same as what’s free on the UCI Mountain Bike World Series and GMBN Racing YouTube channels?
I happened to see both of these for the first time this week, it's surprising how much better the studio thing with Martyn Ashton and the other guy chatting is, compared to the main EWS highlights package - which shows the same clips but just has Ric narrating.
Shame they're not giving Martyn a crack at the commentary.
🙁