Pinkbike Awards 2015: Downhill Race of the Year Nominees
Like the universe, it started with a bang. The 2015 DH race season fired up for many of the World's fastest with the primeval smell of brimstone filling the air... Volcanic Rotorua, New Zealand, opened the proceedings as Crankworx brought the buzz back to the 2006 World Champs venue with a return to good times right out of the gate. The long-held, great, 'murican tradition of Sea Otter, California, was next up to attract the international stars, before we dove head-on into a fierce and feature-filled World Cup season - interspersed of course with incredible racing elsewhere in L2A and Whistler, some awe-inspiring urban races from the City Downhill World Tour and naturally a large crop of first class national races across the globe.
A selection of top riders, team managers, media and mechanics answered Pinkbike's request to stack their favorite stops into some kind of preferential order... Which race brought out the loudest crowds, the biggest rocks, the longest gaps, the rowdiest drama or simply stewed up the perfect combination of all things considered that really had the people at home splashing the beers across their keyboards? How did the all-new venues in France and Switzerland fare against the established classics of Scotland and Canada or could perhaps a non World Cup race creep into the mix and steal the spotlight? It's time to find out as we proudly announce our three nominees for DH Race of the Year, 2015.
UCI World Cup 1 - Lourdes, France
The fresh French venue in the foothills of the Pyrenees hosted the inaugural round of the World Cup season and immediately illicited the kind of reaction that had us saying Hail Marys for the rest of the summer. The boulders were huge, the jumps massive and what in the name of all that's holy would we do if the brakes failed on that uplift system? By finals day we saw hoards of fans and undoubtedly pilgrims, actual ones, come out in force to fill the Colosseum-shaped finish area, under blue skies, to witness Ragot defeat Atherton in what was to be her solitary denial of the podium all season, while Bruni gunned so close to the win on home soil, hindered only by our first preview of some unstoppable American muscle. A tremendous, even biblical, if you will, beginning to the WC series... C'etait super non?
The fresh French venue in the foothills of the Pyrenees hosted the inaugural round of the World Cup season and immediately illicited the kind of reaction that had us saying Hail Marys for the rest of the summer. The boulders were huge, the jumps massive and what in the name of all that's holy would we do if the brakes failed on that uplift system? By finals day we saw hoards of fans and undoubtedly pilgrims, actual ones, come out in force to fill the Colosseum-shaped finish area, under blue skies, to witness Ragot defeat Atherton in what was to be her solitary denial of the podium all season, while Bruni gunned so close to the win on home soil, hindered only by our first preview of some unstoppable American muscle. A tremendous, even biblical, if you will, beginning to the WC series... C'etait super non?
• UCI World Cup 6 - Val di Sole. Italy
Corners were smashed, pizza was eaten... what more could you ask for of a World Cup? Forever a classic, the steep 'n' deep, loam-coated mountainside of Trentino was next to capture the hearts and imaginations of so many in Pinbike's poll who spent the race week under the thick, dark canopy of Italian forest. Some top modifications to the 2013 race track meant a sprucing up of old favorite sections, a little more time off the ground (remember 'that' step-down in the woods) and some added technical riddles in need of a fast solution. After more than shady beginnings, with an intimidating trackwalk downpour, the sun beams powered through and the infamous, tangled, masses of roots stayed dry throughout the show-down battles for the top step that saw Gwin and Atherton make their 'winner-takes-all' moves to wrap the World Cup series. E stato Belissimo!
Corners were smashed, pizza was eaten... what more could you ask for of a World Cup? Forever a classic, the steep 'n' deep, loam-coated mountainside of Trentino was next to capture the hearts and imaginations of so many in Pinbike's poll who spent the race week under the thick, dark canopy of Italian forest. Some top modifications to the 2013 race track meant a sprucing up of old favorite sections, a little more time off the ground (remember 'that' step-down in the woods) and some added technical riddles in need of a fast solution. After more than shady beginnings, with an intimidating trackwalk downpour, the sun beams powered through and the infamous, tangled, masses of roots stayed dry throughout the show-down battles for the top step that saw Gwin and Atherton make their 'winner-takes-all' moves to wrap the World Cup series. E stato Belissimo!
• UCI World Champs - Vallnord, Andorra
Like wolves under a full moon, nothing brings out a show of teeth among the World's DH elite like the prospect of taking home the rainbow stripes for themselves. It should come as no surprise then, that the World Champs is the third and final of our nominations - all the more considering that when all was said and done for the season, with nothing left to lose, Mother Nature had no intention of playing fair. The heavens opened for the umpteenth time in the race calendar, but never before did the white water flow down the ruts quite like this... and on the steepest track of the year. Eventually the cruel atmospherics were polite enough to maintain a cease fire for the big show...and quite the show it was. Greenland and Cabirou reigned supreme over the little people, Atherton stole back the crown and the People's Champ became the undisputed World Champ with Bruni bidding an emotional farewell to one hell of a summer between the tape.
Like wolves under a full moon, nothing brings out a show of teeth among the World's DH elite like the prospect of taking home the rainbow stripes for themselves. It should come as no surprise then, that the World Champs is the third and final of our nominations - all the more considering that when all was said and done for the season, with nothing left to lose, Mother Nature had no intention of playing fair. The heavens opened for the umpteenth time in the race calendar, but never before did the white water flow down the ruts quite like this... and on the steepest track of the year. Eventually the cruel atmospherics were polite enough to maintain a cease fire for the big show...and quite the show it was. Greenland and Cabirou reigned supreme over the little people, Atherton stole back the crown and the People's Champ became the undisputed World Champ with Bruni bidding an emotional farewell to one hell of a summer between the tape.
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www.pinkbike.com/news/video-aaron-gwin-chainless-leogang-2015.html
"A selection of top riders, team managers, media and mechanics answered Pinkbike's request to stack their favorite stops into some kind of preferential order... Which race brought out the loudest crowds, the biggest rocks, the longest gaps, the rowdiest drama or simply stewed up the perfect combination of all things considered that really had the people at home splashing the beers across their keyboards?"
I enjoyed the entire Val De Sole race more than all the others.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5atIloxrL1g
If it were about the action that happened at the "DH Race" then Gwin would win for the next 10 years, because that was hard to believe.
"A selection of top riders, team managers, media and mechanics answered Pinkbike's request to stack their favorite stops into some kind of preferential order"
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5717/23678824010_16ef8aa308_b.jpg
v.vitalmtb.com/30575/2015-mountain-bike-ride-of-the-year-vital-mtb-shre--vid-30575--uid-2--hd.mp4
...and then there was Gwin who went down the first half of the track so fast that the camera couldn't even catch him!
First race to cross my mind was Leogang and Gwins chainless run. Not that the 3 races listed weren't rad in themselves, but that Leogang win is etched into the history books.
No contest