One of the factors that will always prevent mountain biking from being a truly universal sport is getting fans to the track to watch the action. Our sport by very definition takes us out away from the world. This is great for us as riders, but not so good for people that want to come and watch the racing. If you want to watch a mountain bike race you have to really want to go and do it. You need to travel to the venue, hike out to the best spot to watch the riders, then usually wait for several hours for the riders to come past you. For Serious Sports Fans, that's not a problem, ask the people who camp on the peaks of the great climbs of the Tour de France weeks in advance of the race, just to have the perfect spot for that one moment. But any mass market is made up of people who don't care so much, people who would like to fit a couple of hours of race spectating into a weekend filled with necessities, like childcare, DIY and grocery shopping. People who maybe don't know so much about the sport, but would be excited to see it, if it was there for them.
It's no accident that the most-attended variant of motocross is Supercross. The success of the format lies in its accessibility. It is there in the city centres. You don't have to get cold, wet or muddy to watch it, you are never more than 100 metres from a cold beer and those god-awful garlic fries, and, maybe most-importantly of all, they put on a show. Even though the racing is barely half of your time in the arena, you aren't left waiting for something to happen, with the fireworks, entertainment and Kevin Windham sending insane transfer lines it's a complete show. Supercross takes motocross and packages it up for the masses.
XC Eliminator tried to adapt mountain biking for that same kind of audience. Its roots are in Italy, in the small, Tuscan town of Massa Marittima. As part of the Sram XX Cup they organised a side race through the town. The idea was simple, they taped out a shorter course right through the heart of the town and the riders went off in fours, head-to-head. By all accounts it was a great race, exciting, dramatic and right there for the residents of the town to see. But when it was brought through to World Cup racing something was lost in translation, the spark died.
The problems seem to be many-fold. Some of the courses we have seen were nothing less than embarrassing. Asphalt courses through towns have nothing to do with mountain biking and simply should never have been included. Even when the courses were better, like with Hafjell last year, it still looked dull on the broadcast. Making mountain biking look dramatic for a television audience is something DH is still trying to get right, so it should come as no surprise that technical XC racing looks less than exciting.
Then there are the riders and the status of the sport. Talk to someone like
Marco Fontana and he will explain to you that over a race weekend he has to control virtually every calorie he burns, everything goes towards the one race, the big show: the Olympic XC. Everything else is preparation for that. So asking him to burn however many hundreds or thousands of calories sprinting around a short course is a big deal, potentially compromising the race that really matters, is just never going to work. For the stars like him to commit to Eliminator, it would have to become the main show, and is this what we want to show to the world to represent mountain biking? A sport that bears virtually no resemblance to what any of us do out there on the trail.
In gravity racing, none of us should be surprised by this, anybody who remembers the early days of dual and 4X racing will know exactly where he is coming from. In the late 90s when gated racing emerged, virtually everybody took part and it wasn't uncommon to see riders like Peat, Palmer and Gracia winning those races. In fact Gee Atherton's second-ever World Cup win was at 4X, not DH and this was as recent as 2007. As downhill began to grow up and move away from the party image and towards the serious, total commitment sport we have today, more and more riders opted to skip the gated races, marking the beginning of the end for the discipline. It wasn't the nail in the coffin, by any means, but losing those stars from the racing was a huge blow from which it never recovered. To go back to Supercross, the fans want to see Villopoto, Stewart, Reed and the other superstars racing, all sports need icons for the fans to cheer on, and if the best riders aren't there giving it everything, it fails as a sport for the fans.
Surely the best thing for mountain biking is to quietly sweep XC Eliminator under the carpet. There is still a fundamental problem of access for the fans that we need to address, but this wasn't the solution. For the sake of everybody involved, let's admit that it was a nice idea that didn't work and look for a better answer...
Here's a valid spectator comparison...spectator MTB to spectator FIS...comparable disciplines (XC=XC, DH=DH, etc.), comparable spectator access (hike up a slope, along the undulating track, or congregate at the start/finish).
When it aired on TV, I literally fell asleep during the broadcast. I raced in it, and I was still completely bored when seeing it on TV. The only MTB worth watching on a screen is Wold Cup Downhill, and they still have some bugs to work out. Mountain bikes and TV don't mix. It's like watching someone chop wood. Why watch a bunch of people working really hard? It's not entertaining - at all.
But the whole point of having an additional discipline is that it can develop it's own big names, right? Let's compare to roadies as the author does: Lots of road racers also do Sixdays. But you won't see top-guys like Cavendish or Kittel competing there, no way! The risks of injuries are just too big and their teams won't allow it. And vice-versa: The guys that are allowed to compete in Sixdays are not the same ones that take home 5 stagewins or the yellow jersey in a big stage-race. Case in point: Cavendish wanted to partake in the recent Rotterdam Sixday, but wasn't allowed by management. Two of his teammates were allowed to, and they won the overall (as they also did last year).
Isn't the beauty of cycling the very fact that it's a very versatile sport with many different disciplines for everyone to enjoy (either watching or practicing)? Downhill and Enduro are spectacular, yes. People that frequent Pinkbike like these, yes. But let's not knock off other disciplines just because it's not your thing. Give XCE time to prove itself. I'm sure riding putting motocross tires on an old bicycle frame and throwing yourself off a mountain without brakes wasn't an instant success either. Imagine that decades ago, some newspaper called Purplehorse would have held a poll about downhill cycling: I bet the majority of people would have said it's crazy, dangerous, uncivilized and should be banned. Let's be happy that didn't happen, that the sport had the opportunity to evolve, and let's not make that mistake this time.
At the end of the day, the general public want to be entertained, take DH/4X/BMX Supercross for example, edge of your seat racing, XCE can never emulate that, even with potential changes to the format, it will only attract XC fans, and will never attract the masses.
I am interested to see where this sport goes in the future, as the UCI will not withdraw the event, thus admitting their error for introducing the sport in the first place.
I think the format could be really exciting, but the dull courses have to go. No more grass or town crits. I think the course requirements would have to include multi-line technical climbing and descending and a limit to length. Ideally, riders from all disciplines should have a shot at doing well.
I do not care if the top XCO riders save their legs. Thanks to the XCE discipline, we now know some riders like Federspiel or Gegenheimer that have awesome short duration power and great skills.
And you're right: That fact that other guys/galls get a change to prove themselves in a different discipline is great! If we were to always knock down every new cycling discipline, there would only be a small handful of top-riders in the world. And they would all be riding on tarmac.
XCE can definitely evolve, it probably should. Maybe it should be more like 4X? Maybe it should be more of an Enduro-eliminator? Maybe it should have more spectacular uphill battles? Maybe there should be a little less respect and more contact between the riders? Maybe it should have bonus-seconds for certain achievements (eg landing a big jump, knocking over a flag somewhere on the course, intermediate sprints, fastest uphill)? Who knows? But there is no way you can say for certain it will never be spectacular and never attract a crowd. Not after only 2(?) seasons and very little experimentation anyway.
I'm always so amused by people that come form what was originally a niche and are now knocking on other new niches. You're completely missing the irony that your sport was originally a niche as well. Your niche took time to evolve into what it is now. At least give other niches the same change you had.
I'm merely saying, and it's fine if we disagree on this, the overtaking on the inside lines on the climb in the Hafjell XCE looked pretty spectacular to me as well. Not downhill-SPEED, but a massive athletic effort AND smart strategy. That's why I'd suggest to give XCE some time to find it's own "WOW factor", possibly (or likely) with some adjustments to the format. As far as I'm concerned there's room enough for multiple disciplines. Dang shame the UCI seems to think otherwise.
But then again (getting back to arguments from the article), I do also really enjoy watching the climbing in the Tour, Vuelta or Giro. It's not about speed or technical skill, but it's about seeing the pain these athletes are in, knowing first hand how hard it is to pull yourself up a >20% incline, and realizing how much faster and fitter than me they are. And I actually enjoy a climbing effort myself, either on the road or in the dirt (maybe you have to do it yourself to appreciate it?) ...... So there might be something wrong with me after all! ;-)
Then again, since watching this video I have to laugh a little every time XCE get's mentioned.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ8qj86D-eU
Then it´s 4X again
Why is so much time spent thinking about how to appeal to the masses? Like already stated, I use biking to leave the masses and get away from the kind who would just spectate. The whole idea of having a massive onslaught of spectators who are more interested in Garlic Fries and $9 beer, is repulsive to me. Ignore the fact that any area worth riding would frown on any amount of spectator damage from a huge crowd. Companies like FOX, Kenda, Maxxis, Specialized already have huge marketing budgets. Have them segment their $$$ for development of the sport through a broader based marketing approach, If they don't feel that the sport is already sufficiently lucrative.
I ride in mostly state parks who would cringe if a promoter tried to utilize state land for private profit. The BLM does however issue permits for racing events of all sorts in remote areas.
To me XCE is a kind of joke which no professional athlete would take seriously (if he wants to focus on XCO the next day) - only would-be or retired racers, and I see no point in keeping it alive. Maybe local races are OK to provide an adrealine rush for bored XC guys, but not at the world cup...
My ultimate race would be the Kamakazi DH. 20 riders. Hitting speeds of 50mph. A course filled with doubles and triples and the odd quad for the guy with the biggest nutz in his satchel.. Well, that might be supercross. But how awesome would that be? Really?
Pretty much the ONLY reason it exists right now is that it's "Olympic Friendly" How so, you ask? It fits in a stadium. The Olympics sniffed it last year and then stepped back, but that was just enough hint of the possibility of potential Olympic gold--and the resulting $$ that national federations can claim for potential Olympic sports--to keep this undead bastard creation alive.
Burn it with fire and make it go away.
When I was younger I ride XC and Marathon and I can understand "Its not interesting"
KILL IT WITH FIRE
Poah, Endurance gets you to the finish line first, power gets you off the start line first. To do that you gotta ride more. Long rides call for a good chammy. So whats wrong with wearing a chammy under your baggies? Why wouldn't anyone if it keeps your arse comfy on epic 8 hour AM rides like the North Shore Triple Crown tour through Shoreplay.ca, (props). Long rides in wet, grinding cotton leads to friction burns, ingrown hairs and skin infections. While it's a natural fibre which breathes, when dry, it's also a magnet for bacteria when sweat and skid marks collide.
Scotland's a democracy, so if that's how you wanna roll, enjoy.
Congratulations. Your grave is 6' deep. You can stop digging and lie down now.