Trackwalk Photo Epic - Meribel DH World Cup 7
To begin remove riding gloves. Wash oil-stained, calloused hands thoroughly and preheat air temperature to a late August balm of approximately 15-20°c. Bring a large end of season finale to the boil, making sure not to take an eye off the action. Prepare your switchbacks with loamy brown powder before adding sun-mottled roots and jagged rock nougat to the blend.
Next take a large helping of huck sauce and simmer in photogenic mountain locations for 4 minutes. Sprinkle in French seasoning and a dash of flavoring reminiscent of the Planet's finest downhill courses. Sieve the World's greatest riding talent down until just a few of the most succulent contenders remain in the running. Toss into an unmissable melting pot. Remove from oven Saturday evening 5pm GMT.
Bon Appetit.
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 Saving the best for last. Meribel has made some pretty high first impressions. Stunning views, classy food, and a finally a downhill track unanimously declared... 'proper'. |
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| Bonjour tout le monde. Welcome to the 3 Valleys in the French Alps. |
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| Out of the points race, Loic Bruni has no pressure here and you know he's looking to win on home soil. He raced to 2nd place against Remi Thirion here at the French Cup in 2012 as a junior, but in his own words, he's a 'big man now'... |
 | The track is amazingly technical. The top is fast and open, the middle section is big roots and steep rocky sections with some difficult off-camber turns and the finish is very fast on the grass. I am crossing my fingers for good weather because it is going to be extremely hard if it's raining. I think here you will just have to get the flow and put some real speed on track to do well. I feel really good and I don't even think anymore about my flat tire in Windham. Also in France I feel a little bit at home so I want to do the best I can. It's a good pressure I think. People are gonna push the French riders pretty hard to go really fast so I am expecting a good race. The crowd is supposed to be great, if the weather is sunny it's gonna be insane! Loic Bruni - Lapierre Gravity Republic |
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| Lake Placid... for now, but stormy waters ahead. The tempo of this race is set to be anything but calm. |
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| Things start off fast and only get faster. Large chunks of slate line the start chute which quickly leads to a double, then a road gap. Best to get things going right away. |
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| There's some great craftsmanship exhibited on this French hillside, but it's dosed perfectly with a majority percentage of raw and untouched natural sections. |
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| Not 100 meters out of the gate and the track gets right to business in front of an incredible Alpine backdrop. |
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| There are about 3 different options with clearly big consequences for any mistakes before riders can even get into their runs. Which will be the fastest option, only time will tell. Somewhere in that crowd of riders, Sam Hill was cracking a big smile. |
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| With a new and unseen venue, track walk was a crowded one today. |
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| It's a long way down to the finish area in the village below. Some estimates put the track at around four minutes. Regardless of time, this track has all the right stuff. |
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| Brendan Fairclough has never been one to hold back in letting it be known what he thinks of a track and he officially can't wait to ride his bike here. And we can't wait to see it. When Brendog's this psyched on a track great things happen. |
| Good God. We've got rocks, ruts, it's steep... I see some nice woods down there... Yep, it's the best one of the year - Brendan Fairclough - Gstaad Scott |
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| There's even a quite chunky roadgap just out of the start gate. |
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| By the time riders get to this tower, they will be moving at a rapid clip. Pads ready just in case to stop the deadly combo of impact and electrocution. |
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| It's fair to say the track here in Meribel is a thing of beauty. |
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| There's a lot to look at, and some need to look harder than others if they want to make the 2014 crown their own. Aaron Gwin wants nothing more than to make it 3 overalls in 4 years. |
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| So much of the woods sections of the track are covered in this perfect layer of loam. Underneath lies a vast network of roots from the pines that tower over head. This is a track that is going to evolve as the weekend wears on. |
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| There isn't one line, and there isn't one surface texture either. Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and it's the name of the game here in France. This crazy area of moss and cut stumps is bang in the middle of the tape. |
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| High speed.... technical. More rocks than you can shake a stick at. This track has so many amazing woods sections. |
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| Don't let the camera angle fool you. The woods here are STEEP. |
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| And they just get better and better the further into them you go. |
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| Deep g-outs, and loose dirt. Those pads are there for a reason. Things are going to get rowdy especially if it rains. |
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| Sections like this look fairly fresh, but after the first day of practice it will be interesting to see how much more gnar is exposed. |
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| Giving France a little taste of the North Shore with this significant chunk of slippery granite in the depths of the forest. |
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| When you've been so far away as long as many of the Kiwis, it's good to see little reminders of home now and again. |
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| Tracey Hannah had a great time in Windham and will be certainly be looking to challenge the best of them this weekend as well. |
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| This may be the only bit to rest on the whole track, and even then it's going to be super fast. |
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| A nice feature down in the woods with optional rock kicker to the side and a tasteful rocky landing. Troy and EC discuss. |
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| Sam Hill fully stoked and not even halfway down the track. Steep, wide, rooty and a full on Sam Hill special here, and the man has pretty much nothing to lose for this race. |
| I'm not really thinking about points, but I wish I was up there for the overall battle. There is a real slim chance to take it mathematically, but I'll just be trying to win and then see where we're at - Sam Hill - Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof |
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| The final stretch of woods before the track heads back into the open ski trail. Mix Schladming, Val Di Sole, and Maribor together and you get Meribel. |
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| Great to see Mick Hannah finally back from the shoulder injury he suffered at round 3 and looking to regain the form that so nearly got him the win at round 1. |
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| Quite a course for a comeback, but if he's on half the form the left us in, Mick will still be on for a superb result |
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| Pops got some chops. |
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| Brendan points to the landing of the rock step-up at the start of the finishing fields. |
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| Monkeys not permitted. Must be a UCI thing. |
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| Today Troy Brosnan sits sandwiched uncomfortably between Bryceland an Gwin, but after qualis he could already be on top if Josh has an off-day. |
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| Good old wide-taped, open slope, grass turns coming into the finish line. We can't wait to see how loose things get in here. |
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| Hill and Jones strolling the as-yet unrutted grass super-turn, in sight of the finish. |
| Looks awesome ay... best looking track so far this year. This is how they all should be I reckon. To win here I guess you have to be creative and find good lines, it's line-choice the whole way. Most tracks we've been going to you just walk down and you can tell what's coming up. Here you have to walk down and see what's further on and then walk back up again and figure out how to get into it - Sam Hill - Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof |
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| Why so serious? Rock slab mid-field section sums up the early emotions from trackwalk. |
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| The long travel for many coming from Whistler meant lost luggage, late deliveries and plenty of bikes to build in a hurry. |
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| Matti Lehikoinen sitting on the fence here, but still certain the Meribel course is awesome. |
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| With a new track, riders and mechanics work closely to get bikes set up for tomorrow's training. |
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| Loris Vergier is giving the new Lapierre a try his weekend while Sam and Loic stick with the bike they are familiar with. With just a few points between Loris and Luca Shaw, the juniors will be an exciting one to watch to say the least. |
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| Josh and Manon come into the race with the #1 plates, but they'll need to be on the top of their game if they wish to leave France with them. |
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| With a track this good and a season finale this epic, it's not hard to fall in love with Meribel. Will it be Luca or Loris? Manon or Emmeline? Gwin, Brosnan or Bryceland. Mon dieu! |
By Nathan Hughes
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It would be good to know some more about what tracks apply and get rejected, and what influence the UCI has on the track design etc. Maybe they do have 50 tracks lined up every year and they're rejecting a load of brilliant ones for boring ones, or maybe what we get is the best selection of geographically diverse tracks who have the ability and resources to put on a good event. Who knows.
Just like that he rides so smoothly and remains calm, makes me think of a younger Greg M
Ragot to win, Atherton second, Carpenter third. Is Pompon riding?