@thinkbike: Definitely divine, especially as his best bud and mentor Stevie Smith got second here last year. Bit of a silver lining in the anticlimactic results.
@pijong77: top qualifiers should be able to pick when they want to start, not go slowest to fastest. this happened at Grouse Mountain WC back in 2001. The slow quali's got down before the rain with OK times, but the top guys were stuck riding in what could only be described as a river by the time they dropped on.
@Rider656: I'm not advocating for them deciding on the spot when their drop-in time is. But if they have make a call by X:XXam of race morning it's not the end of the world. It does take away from the hot seat building suspense of faster and faster riders coming down the track until the fastest qualifier is up.
At first I was bummed however this is the unpredictable nature of racing. Bad luck for the the top dogs but I'm sure they will recover. I think a shake up like this was good rather than see the usual suspects on the podium.
One time I knew a guy who looked at the predicted forecast on Saturday for Sundays race. And............. (wait for it) when he saw rain predicted for late afternoon. He qualified like 50th on Saturday (intentionally). Come Sunday, his race run was less than 8 minutes before the clouds released and changed the playing field! He won that fine Sunday.
this whole year of racing just started of as proper bullshit...
first two rounds of the ews and now this.
just hope that's the last we've seen of rain for some time!
@BigBrownBunny & @OnionRing The UCI adopted a rule last year that doesn't allow the top guys or girls to play tactics to get their run in early. They put it in place for the live broadcast so as to ensure the fast guys and gals are always shown. I much preferred the old way of being able to give up qualifying points to start your final earlier in the day. Also it was much better when they broadcasted the entire event, women and men, because you could see the slower guys that are your friends and sometimes see cool lines that the top guys may not do.
4.5.033 The start order for the final is determined on the basis of the reverse result of the qualifying round or seeding run (women juniors), the fastest rider starting last. The top 10 protected riders (as defined in art. 4.5.031) who were not classified in the top 10 places for women elite and the top 20 places for men elite of the qualifying round must start immediately before the top 10 women elite and the top 10 men elite from the qualifying round. For the men elite, protected riders ranked 11th-20th who were not classified in the top 20 places of the qualifying round will start before the top 20 men elite from the qualifying round. (text modified on 1.01.16; 1.01.17)
Keith, are you going to put on a Colorado DH race series next year?
@winko: If you think the conditions are comparable just because of rain, then you must not be familiar with how drastically different soil compositions can behave when wet. Combined with track design, the different surface makes this a completely different situation, and then there's the wind and fog on top of that. If 2007 Sam Hill was teleported here he wouldn't have done much better than any of the last 5 down.
@adamdigby: Im sure theres a rule but who's to say when a rider does a safer run vs a risky run or even, plus with the rule you are incentivizing riders to have planned mechanical issues and other issues that start to resemble soccer. i mean look at gee, he was fastest in training, then probably went slower in quail cuz maybe he wanted to play it safe. They have a huge incentive to not risk it in qualis and go extra slow (especially for a top ten rider who can slow down a lot and still make it in the cut off. But wouldn't you say the track almost always gets worse over time rather than better? I guess every once in a while it becomes faster rolling but on a good steep track like this its only gonna get harder right having the fastest rider in quail choose his start time would be ok but then it might advantage them to much in the series.
@zede: If you think Musquin made a mistake that allowed dungee to pass than I have six winning lotto numbers to sell you! lol That was total team tactics there that Musquin was very reluctant to comply with. He had to pull over to Let dungee get by.
let's be honest, Alex Fayolle is almost certainly not going to win another one this year, but guys like Payet, Fearon, Mulally, Atherton, Greenland got a bump and the really top guys will be chasing them now. Could make for an especially interesting season. it's not pointless
sorry to cross pollenate this, but this is like rampage too. meaning, if there are only 7 races and only 1 rampage, do we really need to have weather ruin it, or make make it hat much of a factor? yes - I get the that's racing thing, but there are sooooo few. it's not like the US sports I am used to (sorry rest of world - saying what I know). not even like NFL wherw there are only 17 game. playoffs, all teams playing each week. not even like indy car (to be more wordly), bad weather = same track for all.
Qualifying faster means you go down later and get to see hear what everyone is doing, it has advantages, the track can dry out and you can get more information on things, you can get an idea of speeds that everyone else is doing so that you aren't guessing about how fast you think you need to go to win.
@zede: I feel your pain Tomac's crash had me gutted, even if he wins Vegas all Dungey needs to do is coast into the top 7 for the championship. Unless of course Reed decides it go time again lol.
@monstertiki: I agree completely. I'm honestly amazed at how much complaining there is over this. The races happen outdoors..... Weather happens. Conditions change sometimes. Granted, this was a severe case but to everyone saying it was a waste..... ALL of the top riders dealt with the same conditions. The big dogs will still be fighting it out come the end of the season.
@Kenfire24: I thinkthe disappointment is we were all looking forward to an absolute barnstormer of a race and instead the last bit (which is supposed to be the most exciting) was quite dull (and pointless according to me -probably not the right word). I meant what a waste of a potentially great event, not a waste for the competitors themselves
@raozaki: 'just hope that's the last we've seen of the rain' .............. Eh have you seen the schedule and where's next? Guess we could be lucky, wouldn't bet on it, it might not be the last we've seen of the snow!
@Wesley-Swipes: ...You should have way more props for that......LOL...."But people on pinkbike told us we should be thankful we even get 7 races and to shut up!"
@monstertiki: yeah I wanted to write Musquin s "mistake". Anyways even if tomac gets second, he still crushed dungey on the number of wins this year. And I'm guessing dungey will piss himself at the start of every motocross race.
@adamdigby: this has been a rule since the Chamery race in 2007... It's not a new rule, and thankfully this sort of thing only happens once every few years.
@steezysam: so you don't think he guy that got 4th last year in andorra on only his first full WC season doesn't stand a chance ???? He qualified 50th with a flat tire that's why he started so early, and then put down the same time as Loris Vergier top quali time !!!!
@davetrumpore: I think he deserves credit for the win but the honest truth is that there is a big home advantage there for fayolle as with Andorra. It's a good win and it's always nice to see an underdog have a win but I doubt that sort of result will be consistent throughout the season.
I can't really see how a rule saying you can't go slowly in qualifying would be enforceable. As long as you don't stop just before the finish line, how would anyone know?
@PinkBikeWhisperer: . If Dungey has a disastrous start and has to cut through everyone (inc Reed) with Tomac leading is about the only hope for an exciting finish. However it is exciting to think about Tomac vs Roczen in the outdoors.
@knowliDH: Tomac vs Roczen would be a treat, but Roczen is out indefinitely with the earliest possible return date for Monster cup 2018. HRC have named Christian Craig as his replacement for the Outdoor season. I really like KR but after his 10th surgery I'm worried how his massive injury might affect him mentally.
@tetonlarry: My point exactly its hard to know what everyone that reads the comment sections may or may not watch so getting upset about a SX comment is unreasonable.
@PinkBikeWhisperer: I get your point. My point is that I have a job and 2 young kids and no cable tv. I still haven't been able to watch the race because the YouTube videos keep getting pulled for copyright reasons. But I know all the results because you blew it for me. Why talk about SX in the comments of a mountain bike post? It's completely off-topic.
@tetonlarry@PinkBikeWhisperer: same here in France. Just had enough time to watch the DH finals on sunday evening (which "unlocks" the MTB websites and allow me to go through my favorites websites), and planned to watch the SX finals this morning, which I did, but the 450 finals was just a waiting for me as I knew all the action in advance. Not the end of the world, but the last race was the most important of the season, and I could not appreciate all its drama
@RONDAL: the fastest riders get the worse track that's why there's points for qualifying otherwise everyone would want to go down first before the track gets torn up.
@randybadger: The kid lives near Nice. Saying he has "has home field advantage" on tracks in Andorra and Lourdes is like saying someone in Souther California has an advantage in Whistler. I'm looking forward to Alex making people question all their second guessing of him at the next few rounds ;-)
@jrocksdh: that makes no sense in a time trial. You want to fastest riders to come down last for entertainment value alone. You want to see those times fall. The problem here is that they knew it was going to rain but didn't do anything about it. Should have ether brought it forward or waited so everyone raced in similar conditions.
@davetrumpore: it's a 7 hour drive from nice to Lourdes or Andorra. Which in dh terms isn't unreasonable when you consider my nearest world class dh trail is in fort William a nine hour drive from the middle of England. Yes morzine and les gets are closer to nice but they are all in the same ball park
@loopie: It's because the people who told us to shut up are keeping it's count low. I can't even believe people would make that argument you know? "Just be happy you get 7 races"
@adamdigby: Yes, Adam, I am bringing back a DH/XC/ STXC regional series in Colorado and New Mexico, as Of now I have three ski areas on board and am in negotiation with two other areas. It will be very grassroots for the first year or two. the main concern will be quality racing without all the fluff! just racing and Juniors will be getting a huge discount to race as that is how we'll grow the sport again!
@BigBrownBunny: Hey, I would be interested in that. After living in Arizona and having the MBAA races, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a State/Regional series in Colorado anymore. I'm doing the GJOR this weekend, and the Growler the next, but a XC series would be fun. Maybe include the Rumble at 18 Road if you can as a way to get a race in on the Western Slope, talk to John Klish, maybe that would work out as a win/win for both of you.
@velociraptor-clintthrust: Women was prerecorded last year - this year it's live. Now it's the men's riders outside of the Top 20 (which aren't shown outside of a few highlights).
So rather than cutting straight to the men who are on track now, we have an hour (and then some, Hanna isn't on course until 3:15) of nothing. At least live timing is up.
@Seven-Second-Betty: exactly..... everyone is going nuts because they used to play the woman's race and go right into the men's. This year looks like there is a break.
@pav4: fair. Not clear on the web page. Y'know as a user when I click a link that says watch live now and then the subsequent page just shows an error it looks like something is wrong.
@velociraptor-clintthrust: to make it fair for the women they play them live too now... means there's a big break between them and the men being shown... I actually think it'll be worse for the women's viewers now as less people will tune into the 2 separate shows an hour apart
I'm properly gunna get neg propped here but year after year people complain about womens being a replay. Red bull actually listen to us and stream it live and we still moan! So what if you have to wait an hour for the mens?! Go fill up your drink, make some lunch, do anything but moan! If you're a true fan yes you will tune back in after 60 short minutes. Thank you red bull for showing womens race is just as important by making this move. It's things like that which will help step it up in the womens field!
God exists, and it’s great. Why? 29 wheels for 3 athletes is very close (but not) to cheating. 29 is faster in some tracks, we all know. But everyone have to have one chance with 29. Have the first 15 dhers in the same level now – bottom of the list- allow to restart in Fort bill with all new perspective. Develop something new (but 29’’- something in every bike brand Garage I think already exist) in one month it’s hard, but not impossible. Kudos for Santa which done the right move for the world cup start, for sure!! Long live DH WC RED BULL TV IS BU°°°°HIT LONG LIVE CHAINSAW
@heavyp: sky bike channel 464 broard cast it live at 1.0pm, for people with sky tv and I've heard its on virgin tv as well both in the uk, don't know about tv coverage in other countries though, sorry its late news but hopefully all the other rounds will be televised as well
The last few years we moaned, and RedBull listened. For 2017: Longer introductions, with obvious facts. Commercials. A 'field reporter' providing more obvious facts Less coverage of riders on their race runs. Awesome.
For what I was able to see, I thought the coverage was really good. Just frustrating trying to get it to load and having to go to the mobile app on my phone. Once I was watching, really thought the quality had gone up.
lousy filming disjointed, bad angles....and where we want to see it the most like THE WALL we see a bad angled useless view. unimpressed with the millions of $$$$$ spent.
@nvranka: yup. It wasn't perfect by any stretch, I guess I am just at a point where I try to appreciate stuff as opposed to complaining about it. Find the parts that were better than last year and enjoy those. Hope that the parts that still aren't great get improved. Enjoy the fact that watching WCDH is still more exciting than most other broadcast sports, even if the broadcast isn't perfect.
I actually prefer 24"/26" dual shocked Apocalypse. My son used to ride one here on Earth. You may know him. He invented the Rampage. You call him Bender.
Awesome to have junior women again.
All three entrants made it onto the podium. Come on UCI, you got to do more than that. Work on the grass routes, support more do something because 3 entrants is dismal.
@T-Bot: The UCI support cycling globally. They're not interested in local issues. That's for NGBs, local/ municipal authorities and clubs to look after. So instead of 'petitioning' the highest power to get involved, speak with your local representatives, or better yet get off your a$$ and organise something yourself if you want to see progress.
Until you start seeing more junior women get factory rides or on teams I doubt you will see more here. But, why would teams add junior women to their rider roster when they cannot be anywhere near competitive at the highest level. There is little enough money or incentive to field a women's team let alone a junior women's team when there is no competition. So it could be a hard road ahead to get anything resembling a competitive junior women's field. Hell, even the junior men only have 17 riders or something. And some national race series are way more competitive than that abysmal world cup field so why would junior women pay to travel all over to race in a less competitive field?
This has got nothing to do with the UCI, if the junior women getting involved at a grass roots level in your area you or your club need to do something about that.
Here we are in 2017 and RedBull still can't figure out how to run a simple live stream. Pathetic that they have such a monopoly on these kinds of sports / races, equally as pathetic is that they stream it at 720P. Come on RedBull everyone else is 1080P and several other streaming providers offer 4K. Someone better needs to come along and take over from this pathetic RedBull.
@sicmoto: Freecaster wasn't that bad. Rob was way better and the broadcast was longer. They had a few issues but red bull has too. The production company is actually the same but red bull should have a bigger budget for streaming hardware...
@sicmoto: Yeah, but here is the thing with Freecaster, they started streaming at say 6. With a 10 minute or so introduction, at around the time the first woman was leaving the gate. They had time to sort things out and it was dedicated group of guys running it on software that worked. Since Redbull took it over, all there have been are problems. It's 39 minutes late starting, this is the 3rd time in 7 races it's been 20 minutes behind so they can "live stream" what is actually a taped event? Come on, that seriously isn't better, is it? Oh look, it just started, Rachel is walking upon the podium? Good thing I didn't miss any of the taped runs...oh wait, I just did.
whats free, the non existent stream for millions of people? Be quiet about "Free". RB does this for advertising. if you buy redbull you're supporting it. sit down.
Woke up early on a sunday to watch and the stream does not work.
Honestly at the point of just saying fuck redbull.TV and never waking up early for this POS platform.
@mnowickipl: They have been doing it since what? 2012? i've yet to view a UCI DH event on redbull without some sort of issue. When it did eventually start it cuts to the womens podium... pathetic service.
@oldschool43: Back in the freecaster days streaming hardware most probably was more expensive, harder to operate etc. So the job they did back then was at least on par with what red bull offers today. Actually my most exciting races I experienced in the freecaster days. The build up of tension was just better with the amping up of the pace. Kinda like watching a formula one race. As far as I can remember they didn't have those catashtrophic blackouts right from the start it was more like it broke down when more people joined but after a few minutes it worked again.
@sscantaffordcrap: And you know what all those sports have in common? Waaaaaaaayyyy more money and established locations, not having to build livestreaming logistics in the middle of a forest
@misterbike: This is not free. Nothing is free. The price has just been incorporated into several of red-bulls other money makers. And the fact that a company with the resources that redbull has can not deliver a good stream, just tells you they do not care about you.
This feed is almost comically bad. Dies at the very end. Come on redbull, youre making millions off advertising through this and youve had over 3 years to sort this out. Freecaster was more reliable by far and thats insane to believe.
f*ck I hate it when people make that stupid comment "but its free brah, you cant complain" I will gladly pay for good coverage just like I do for MotoGP.
@endlessblockades: haha thats how I watched too and it was perfect on the appletv. interesting how people had a different experience. i feel like they have more cameras on course now than ever, and some of the fly cams through the woods were awesome.
And luckily the 'game' of downhill is about combining so many factors, which is what makes it interesting. Which bike you have to ride from your sponsor, which suspension, brakes and tyres you have to ride from your sponsors, wether you find the best set up, can adopt to unexpected changes, wether the track and/or weather are in your favor...
Fayolle did have an impressive run and he was lucky that the weather got in his favor. But that's part of downhill racing, so congratulations to Fayolle!!
If you disagree, go watch speed ice skating in an indoor hall instead
I understand the weather factor but most of the guys didn't had any weather conditions that was hell and thirst ones just had a good time riding, not fair at all. Yesterday's first quali time is better that today's race win one...
@b-wicked: that was my whole point, downhill racing isn't fair anyways. Some people get better bikes, some people get stuck having to ride shitty tyres, etc. That's why I feel Fayolle's win is deserved. Yes he got lucky the universe aligned up perfectly for him, but that's part of the game. And man he did nail that run hard!! Pushing it to the absolute limits!
I agree its part of racing, maybe not "fair" but part of what it is. That being said, I don't think it was a great race to watch because of the weather. Sort of took out any expectations of anyone overcoming Fayolle. He had a great race but everyone after him had no chance, yes that is part of racing and I am not discounting the fact that he had a great run but it was not really a race after his run, more just some runs of survival.
Perhaps they should take the average time from qualies and finals for any rider significantly impacted by the weather? You'd still not have the top tip guys today winning, but it would mitigate the damage done by the weather and give them something to chase (as well as additional incentive to go as fast as possible in qualies)... Debate would then be over what constitutes significantly impacted though I suppose...
@rcksurfer: it was 0.1s slower than vergiers qualy run but the track was a lot more beat up so like for like it was probably faster. It was an awesome run to watch
A few thoughts: 1. Didn't have a problem at all with the Red Bull app on my phone. Lucky me, I guess. 2. Mark Wallace: 2nd place after Stevie's 2nd place last year!!!!! #LongLiveChainsaw 3. Please, enough already with the 29'er talk. I own a 29'er and love them, but all the talk is getting old really fast. 4. Red Bull: if you're going to have someone interview riders at the top of the course, at least make sure they know a little bit about mtn biking and not just be a pretty face. The interview with Luca Shaw was a cringefest.
I honestly thought Luca Shaw's attitude was refreshing. He seems like a reserved kid who is not crazy about being interviewed, nothing wrong with that. I've read that he is not the biggest fan of the media/social media, so more props to him for saying what he thinks!
Gwin DQ'ed for not coming back onto track at the right place.
Minnarr first of the top six qualifiers. Loic beat Loris by 0.72 seconds. Luca last of the 29ers. Brosnan 2nd fastest out of the top 6.
Only got to watch the last bit of the elite men, conditions were insane at the top. Watching runs from earlier in the day looks completely different, so much more grip.
Congrats to Fayolle for the win.
But it felt kind of lame watching all the big dogs come down the hill posting +25 times because of weather.
Yep, despite the glitches I preferred freecaster. Longer coverage by proper enthusiasts, Warner and Pagey getting loose on the beers. While you wait for redbull to get their shit together have another watch of Danny's first world champs win as seen from the fc commentary box - all time classic!
So true, Rod Warmer unsheathed. Very sanitized nowadays with Claudio stumbling around the English language (not that i speak errr.... Swiss?) and sounding like a dork. Do it in Italian dude. If you're going to have a commentator speaking his third language, make it Gracia.
RED BULL PLEASE LISTEN!!!! Do it right or don't do it at all. So bloody frustrating!! The occasional technical issue now and again is both acceptable and understandable, but on a regular basis like you do, sorry but that's just plain incompetence!
Love how the catch line for RedBull TV is "beyond the ordinary". If ordinary means starting when scheduled, and on a reliable player, and having more than 4 riders shown, in more than 20-seconds each of truncated "hi-lights", well then you can take your beyond ordinary, because ordinary would be a miraculous improvement at this point.
Minnaar maybe the fastest when the race begin to be loose? Mmmm... yes!
Two race... in one...
See you in Fort William where other teams will have big wheels.. ehehehe... my thoughs... everybody knows that 29er are fastest... but nobody want spent money on new frames project... ohohohoho... so now hurry up... after syndicate...
@barbasma: Indeed, the rain really picked up shortly after Fearon had finished his run. Minnaar put ten seconds on Troy as the track conditions continued to deteriorate with the last riders being even slower.
Only three 29ers racing and they represented three of the seven fastest times of the weekend. Expect to see some big wheelin' action in Ft. Bill.
Jesus fucking christ enough with the red bull player comments!! It's sucks we know it sucks it always has sucked. You know what else sucks...... having to scroll a half a mile to read something about mountain biking.
It has started, but the RedBull player seems to be shittier than ever.. Stream on my PC always reduces to a small window in the bottom right corner after a few seconds and you can't switch to the big player without reloading the page, total bs... Watching on my phone now with the RB TV app, the only thing that seems to be working at the moment.
@bluntaaronr: If they just would skip the V-shit engines and go back to some real one's like V10/V12's, there would be so much better for drivers like Daniel and Alonso.
They say that "muh enviroment" is an argument, meanwhile they needed 10.000(!!!) truckloads to get the Aus. Grand Prix going. Wankers.
"Pouring with lightning"... That's a new one. Can you imagine?! I say we invest in downhill races which are run underwater or on a flow of fresh magma. Maybe one in zero gravity to really sort the men from the boys!
i woke up at 5am to watch mountain bikes not post how crappy redbull is on pinkbike... but man im pissed theres only twenty riders in mens! what about the other 40 or so racers who work there ass off just to get there then get no coverage....
What bugs me about this whole 29er thing is that no one really seems to recognize the fact that Minnaar , Shaw and Vergier have obviously been training hard and they're qualies showed that. Most of the interviews that I watched and read were all about the bike. Come on people these guys are top wc riders and had a good chance of having the same results on the 27.5 V10. Maybe the bike did help , but what helped more was the guys riding them. Give credit where credit is due , these guys work they're asses off all off season.
Not only can't they get a simple live stream right (waste of my time) ...but worst of all previous year race replays are no longer available with Redbull....it's been a couple winter seasons now that I can't train while watching past races. Shame. Bring back Freecaster!
Can't get anything to work on any device, just stamped on my crappy tablet , redbull TV is shit again. I'd happily pay for something that worked. I guess mtb isn't worth enough money to anybody to do properly, shame.
And yet football which is shit and played by tossers is never off bastards TV.
Some guys faster...who knows what the weather is doing??? maybe its raining and someone that has quallied outside the top 30 is going to win and RedBull has missed everything
it started so late with no option to play, then I minimized it, then couldn't full screen it, and now I'm back to not playing with nothing to show that its even trying to play. RedBull site sucks!
UK viewers keep an eye on channel 464(bike) for future races, looks like it was broadcast live on there. Didn't say anything before as wasn't sure and watched it on RBTV app through chromecast anyway.
Redbull, i hope you get so much bad PR that either you'll change your IT department or just leave mountain biking alone. You really suck balls and make every single fan so pissed that i hope you won't sell a single can until you do something with it. I definitely won't buy it myself.
I recon that Minaar with a bike this size shows that there are advantages of the 29" wheel size...for him that is, not sure if it will be an advantage for smaller riders though.
If you look at the times when there was no wind and no rain Fayolle put in a very good run, 2:52.78. When the wind really kicked in, Atherton gets 2:57.48. When the rains kicks in proper, the times drop from Brayton 3:02 just before it starts to rain to MacDonald 3:12 and this after only 5 minutes of rain.
However look at Minaar's time after about 20 minutes of rain, and the track really slick, it was still 3:09.9. It was the fastest time after it started raining by three seconds. The other SC's did not fare as well, however Minaar is riding a bike fit for his size, and he is calling on years of experience.
So i don't believe that 29ers loose their advantage. I think that a taller rider will be able to use the larger wheel size to their advantage. However, it remains to be seen if over a season they have a total advantage.
Whatever, it was good racing by all, especially considering the conditions.
I wonder how many people are going to keep watching separate live coverage of the women's race, two hours before the men's race, when the winner is so predictable.
@handynzl: I'll keep tuning in. I thought it was great to see the women's racing inline with the mens. Not as fast as the mens but still impressively fast nonetheless and competitive in the top ten.
I also thought the commentary was much improved. The boys did their homework and were a bit more polished.
That shizzznit Is Wack so it's a replay by the time redbulltv plays it... I still got video is unavailable Wtf.... Spoiler alerts here I see I rather go to sleep stayed up for nothing...
click refresh = "staring soon" , click refresh again = "awaiting replay", click refresh again = "staring soon"....... At least the Gwiner's face doesn't change...
Note to UK residents: If you are a Sky subscriber the races are live on Bike TV (464) and no need for Redbull TV... I think you might get the channel with a Virgin or BT subscription as well.
Outside Assistance.
Interesting to watch two top ten riders today at the UCI World Cup both receive outside assistance.
Spectators and marshals need to understand if you assist a rider to get back on track, the rider could be disqualified. We saw tape being raised in the air, bikes being pushed towards the track etc..
Riders should also rejoin the track where they left. Think Aaron Gwinn's crash, he re-joined further down, even though no advantage was gained.
“I’m really stoked to be back at the races with the whole team. I was happy with my speed and preparation this weekend and I felt like I had what I needed to win. It was unfortunate that the weather played such a spoiler in the end but that’s racing, and it sets us up for one heck of a comeback if we can pull this championship off now! It’s going to be an exciting season for sure.” - Arron Gwin
Strait off the YT-Mob blog post from today. Seems like the top dogs were just dealt a bad hand... I don't see much crying going on. Gwin being humble as always.
@src248: how many labatt blue's did you have while watching the live coverage? Gee, and or any other top 10 rider is a contended for the overall no question.
@only1mikey: 11th last year, not even a top 10 rider. Fearon would have been a better rider to mention as he came 5th in the overall and 5th in this race. He got the biggest points advantage for the overall.
@src248: 11th last year for the overall with a bad shoulder, which he got surgery on right after the season ended. Yeah not a top level rider for sure lol.
@Three6ty: I work at a shop and can confirm that the items shipped to us from c-dale can be rigged up to be bicycle-esque. You are far better off buying a mountain bike though.
I dont think Fayolle win only because of luck. Just look at the qualifying results, Vergier time is 2.52.684, while Fayolle time is 2.52.758, only 0.074 seconds behind Vergier. And he is faster than Bruni in qualification. Fayolle did a great job back there, but yes, the storm was bad for the elite riders. And it doesnt mean Fayolle only win by luck. He deserves it.
I recon that Minaar with a bike this size shows that there are advantages of the 29" wheel size...for him that is, not sure if it will be an advantage for smaller riders though.
If you look at the times when there was no wind and no rain Fayolle put in a very good run, 2:52.78. When the wind really kicked in, Atherton gets 2:57.48. When the rains kicks in proper, the times drop from Brayton 3:02 just before it starts to rain to MacDonald 3:12 and this after only 5 minutes of rain.
However look at Minaar's time after about 20 minutes of rain, and the track really slick, it was still 3:09.9. It was the fastest time after it started raining by three seconds. The other SC's did not fare as well, however Minaar is riding a bike fit for his size, and he is calling on years of experience.
So i don't believe that 29ers loose their advantage. I think that a taller rider will be able to use the larger wheel size to their advantage. However, it remains to be seen if over a season they have a total advantage.
Whatever, it was good racing by all, especially considering the conditions.
@JoseBravo: praying that we'll even get to see what the weather's like. At least red bull have time during the frankly unnecessary women's race to get their shit together. Wonder who won that...
An hour break sucks pretty f***** hard. Liked the way things used to be in the last few years. I dont care whether the woman race was recorded or not. The whole format is f***d up, what a waste of time. Redbull should get their s***t straight.
Right, honest question: Why the one hour break between the women and the men? Because to me it seems like this tragedy, which was the men's run, could have easily been avoided by starting right after the women; You know, just like they did it last year.
And despite all of that, that's one more hour of waiting, where I don't really see a reason why they would do it this way. Any ideas?
Men start right after the women are finished. But they only show the top 25 qualifiers, therefore the 1h break. Why they decided to show nothing instead of the whole field is beyond me..
The men do start racing as soon as the women have finished, but there's around 80 of them and they only show the top 20 live hence the gap in the broadcasts!
I love all you people crying harder then it rained. Fuck Redhill and ride your damn bikes.
I ended to watch too. This is the only sport I actually care about. Whatever. I'm going to load up my bike and take out my frustration on the trail.
Minnaar won the battle of the rain and wind. Go Greg! I'll say it again. There are two many variables in racing for 29ers to give anyone a clear advantage. Point proved today!
Some observations!
Scribed sucks, Vitalmtb has no issue with decent results sheets!
Why was they're such a big gap between the start time of the Womens and the Men's, atleast an hour, were juniors done before elite women's! Why wasn't the men's knowing the conditions days in advance not sceduked to run straight after the women's racing!
Gwin Dq'd
29ers didn't win
Great time by Alexandre Fayolle all the same and run, he could only do what he did, congrats!
Still think the whole DH setup is somehow poorly inflexible!!
the gods of rain really don't like the 29'er....the 29'er winner from qualified was 10mil sec faster then the 27.5" winner before the rain....i wander how Aaron and Dany or Bruni would do in the earlier conditions of the race...?probably 2 sec faster....what a waisted of world cup race out of 6 races.....UCI needs to bring it back to the US at least it won't be frozen rain on the last day of April
I haven't had a chance to watch the replay yet. What happened to the usual strong riders? Did it start pouring rain after the slower guys had their runs so the slow guys never got passed?
@src248: one of the more well known rules as well, Gwin must have known he wasn't going to post a competitive time so he should have taken the time to enter where he went off.
It's funny that now when people make jokes about 29ers they will get down voted into oblivion, yet last week you could have written, '29ers are gay' and it would receive nothing but upvotes lol
So cancel the race and what? Make all the Junior men, Elite woman, and Elite men that were able to go down in fair weather do another run? This is mountain biking, if you want fair weather and rain stoppages, watch Baseball IMO
@only1mikey: Well, now you are putting words in my mouth, cancell the race for the Men's only, as they are the only people who had shit weather and race again the next day. They do it all the time in others sports. I would rather see every racer on equal terms as I think that would mean the better rider wins. But your entitled to your opinion, just don't tell me to watch baseball, worst game ever!
@only1mikey: don't be a troll. You let their time stand, and let the racers that got effected by weather race the day after. Any ways, don to care enough about this to really discuss it anymore!
@torj: what if the conditions were actually better than the previous day for the top 5ish riders? is that fair? you want the world to be fair, but fact it is isn't, some people die young and some live till 100+, it's just the way the cookie crumbles. Weather affected the top qualifiers this time, it's just the way it is. Maybe weather will affect the lowest seeded qualifiers next race, like for example Leogang 2016, where the track dried out considerably though the course of the day. I'm not being a troll, I just dislike your mindset where everything in life should be fair and equal. I enjoy watching mountain biking because everyone has different bikes, different components, setups, riding styles, etc. etc. nothing is equal and that's what makes mountain biking so rad no?
Why wasn't Mick Hannah and Danny Hart DSQ for receiving outside assistance? Didn't Rachel get a DSQ when someone helped at fort bill a couple of years ago?
Why do the riders try to qualify well. Is there any points or cash in it? Would think they'd half throw that run so they could come down earlier in the pack. Someone please explain...
There are significant points awarded for qualifying well. That change was brought about years ago when somebody played the weather game as you mentioned, and gained a big advantage from it, and the UCI didn't want people playing that game. Somebody else probably knows the details on who it was, and when.
@handynzl: I didn't know about Tomac doing it. Silver medal in DH with drop bars....definitely a different time. I think the most recent example of playing the qualies weather game was around 2007. Somebody sandbagged their qualifying run and raced early in the day, ended up winning.
Can we all just stop talking about the horrible weather during Lourdes and focus on the fact that the #2 in Jr Mens is Kaos Seagrave. KAOS!!! Possibly the coolest name in all of UCI bike racing.
@src248: oh totally! So many good riders now mixed up with the consistent winners for the next few races at least, fingers X'ed for a couple more upsets an we could be seeing the best season
Being in LA, I had the luxury of missing all the shite and seeing the live stream of the last 3 riders. What a washout... literally. Not a single top qualifier on the podium due to rain. With only 7 races, a toss-away like this is a real bummer. You know the top three don't really feel like a true winners.
I get what you're saying but fayolle was only .1sec behind the 1st place qualifiers time. That's a legit time.
It's not like he ran. 3min flat then it started to rain and he won.
@inter71: Agreed. It was an impressive time regardless. But over the course of 7 races we will see if he truly is at the level of the top riders. Could be a fluke or he could be a legit contender. Guess we will have to wait and see.
Worst race ever. None of the top guys even had a chance between the horrendous weather and the bastardization of the sport congrats to Fayolle though and I hope we continue to see 27.5" wins and possibly some gnarlier tighter courses again.
I was thinking that myself watching Seek Meeeek coming down the track. Not enough travel or burly enough would be my guess. The links on the R3ACT seem mighty slim...
Crashed, went outside the tape, got back on to the course about 5m or so further down the trail (and after a gap jump). That's a big no no. Rules state you have to reenter the track where you came off. So if you do leave the track, fingers crossed your bike doesn't ghost ride down the mountain side, otherwise you have a lot of hiking to do
@teamtoad: Yeah, saw that. The marshal that helped Mick should have known better. Danny was helped by a kid, who is likely just going "OMG OMG OMG I held his bike!!!".
That marshal should never even have run onto the track. Only first-aiders are supposed to go on to the live race track. Sure Mick was floundering in the fish net, but he wasn't hurt and was getting up under his own steam.
I think because they both got back on their bikes at the same spot they came off meant the whole thing was OK. The marshal and spectator both picked up the bike whilst the riders were flat on their backs.
Gwin on the other hand, picked up his own bike, then tried to re-enter the course further down but was struggling to get under the tape (it was hooked on his helmet), until the same marshal that picked up Micks bike came along and ripped the tape in two. Had the marshal been doing his job correctly, maybe he could have pointed Aaron back up the track, but I think it was a case of just an average fan volunteering as a marshal, and he wasn't instructed properly on how to act.
Good commissaries would have ensured that at certain "hotspots" on the track, there would be experienced marshals, such as where Mick went down and AG went off. (And before you go "what would he know", I was a UCI commissiare in the 90's in NZ)
I know I'm going to get some flak for this, but goddamn...cut Red Bull some slack? Do you know how hard it is to set up a functioning livestream with the amount of tech they have in a location like Lourdes, Cairns, etc.? People comparing it to MotoGP and F1...man, if there was as much money in DH as there was in either of those, we'd be watching this on a main channel network with footage from helicopters, spidercams, super slo-mo closeups etc. But unfortunately, that's not the case.
If your stream isn't working, here's a few steps you can try: refresh the page, clear the cache, turn off your adblocker, try a different browser. Red Bull's Media Player isn't perfect, but either of those steps seems to work for 99% of the people, including myself - on Safari, I can only see it in minimized format. On Chrome, I have zero issues whatsoever.
@RichardJBos Sadly you miss the point. RedBull bought the rights to have exclusive coverage on the premise they would provide free streaming to the masses. Time and time again they fail to deliver. It is not peoples computers. It affects computers, smart TV's, phone aps, XBOX and Playstation. RedBull is failing miserably and are in considerable breach of contract with UCI, irrespective of the so called "service" being free to watch or not. They have prevented any other company broadcasting the footage, live or otherwise, and appear unable to resolve their deficiencies in delivering the product the promised.
It is not just us mere fans that miss out, but also every bike manufacturer and component supplier that is hopeful of coverage of their brand and having people see their equipment win.
sorry, it's not an excuse. If you can't do it and you know it, just don't do it. And it isn't that hard right now. for me i isn't working on any device that i have tried.
No we should not cut them any slack. If they advertise that something is going to be "live" then they should deliver! Same crap happened many times last year, and from what I can see is a capacity and hosting issue. Red Bull is a $6 billion company and they have had many years to work out these bugs and problems.
@handynzl: Well, I ain't no server-admin, but traffic must be substantial during the race and setting up broadcast antennas on a mostly natural mountain that's steep as f#*k has to be more challenging than Nürburgring or some generic race track. A good and reliable workaround for lags is just to wait for the replay, then download the entire stream on your local HD (the tech-savvy among us might know what I'm talking about, won't expand on the method for the same reason people won't publish secret trails, 'enemy' is watching....). No issues on my end, relatively crisp 720p on a 42" screen, I'm down with that! The only downside being to stay well away from PB until the replay is finished, but I'm getting better at that year by year...
Bah, worthless result with no value. Shame there's not some start time flexibility, but I appreciate that's then hard to sell to TV.
Good job this is a marathon and not a sprint. Fayolle ain't the quickest but he got the win today.
Why do we keep having wc in Europe.. old cities, horrible weather n environment.. South America is answer.. everyone is nice, always a beautiful whether n scene n it's cheap as hell. UCI You sleeping fam
Ok so the womens event just finished. Looks like they are packaging it as it's own event now. Had finishing credits and everything. Just on a holding screen now till the men's starts.
I'm on android btw.
@habsfan2: It makes sense for certain scenarios but the rule shouldn't be looked at as black and white. He didn't use that as an advantage to cut a corner, he just fell down the hill
@dvp8: Doesn't matter. It would be harder to police a rule subjectively deciding if a rider got an advantage or not, than it is to just make the rule as it stands. Black and white. easy
Well showing the women live isn't that bad actually. That way they could easily show all qualified rides of the men's category which start shortly after the women are finished. But some idiot decided that showing nothing for an hour would be more interesting for the viewers. This will just lead to more viewers skipping the women and just tuning in at 3. Don't get the thinking behind this decision, less exposure for the women shouldn't be the goal.
UCI should look at the weather and said lets race continuously right after the women's pro race, that hour delay kill the the men's pro race ,,, just saying !!
You do realise that the Elite Men started straight after the women, yeah? There was no delay. There are 70+ riders to ride the hill and RBTV only shows the last 25, ergo 45 riders go down in that hour "delay". So there was no delay, and it did not kill the race.
Heck even the broadcast isn't "live" - it's all taped, edited, and then broadcast as a delay. If you watch the live timing it is a number of riders ahead of the so called "live" action.
WOW! So many commenters bitching about coverage. If you complainers are so much smarter, do the coverage yourselves, but that means you working, so ... that won't happen. P.S. FINNO RULES!
As a side point, I like Rob Warner but pretending "that was a World Cup winning run" is a f*cking joke. Used to be someone you could count on telling it how it is.....
Well if they hadn't delayed the men for an hour it would have been the race everyone was looking forward to! The French guy that won is a cock, no mention of his unbelievable luck in his interview!
Crap, Fayolle won his 1st and probably last world cup thanks to the weather, he's made up but even he must realise it's a hollow victory, ALL of the top elite riders were way off due to the conditions, if all was equal he wouldn't be in the top 20, shit
So? This is racing - it involves not only skill, but luck as well. His run was amazing nevertheless! I'm only bummed that the 29er question is not yet answered
surely not their fault i would say. fayolle went hard anyway. And maybe the 29er question is answered: of all the riders who rode in bad conditions minnaar came 1st ; )
this happened at Grouse Mountain WC back in 2001. The slow quali's got down before the rain with OK times, but the top guys were stuck riding in what could only be described as a river by the time they dropped on.
It does take away from the hot seat building suspense of faster and faster riders coming down the track until the fastest qualifier is up.
And in the process gave up Qualification Points. Those being the reason for attempting to Qualify.
I much preferred the old way of being able to give up qualifying points to start your final earlier in the day. Also it was much better when they broadcasted the entire event, women and men, because you could see the slower guys that are your friends and sometimes see cool lines that the top guys may not do.
4.5.033 The start order for the final is determined on the basis of the reverse result of the qualifying round or seeding run (women juniors), the fastest rider starting last.
The top 10 protected riders (as defined in art. 4.5.031) who were not classified in the top 10 places for women elite and the top 20 places for men elite of the qualifying round must start immediately before the top 10 women elite and the top 10 men elite from the qualifying round. For the men elite, protected riders ranked 11th-20th who were not classified in the top 20 places of the qualifying round will start before the top 20 men elite
from the qualifying round.
(text modified on 1.01.16; 1.01.17)
Keith, are you going to put on a Colorado DH race series next year?
having the fastest rider in quail choose his start time would be ok but then it might advantage them to much in the series.
Fayolles run was sick, glad to get one boss run in. That last corner!!
Lewis Hamilton got 4rth
Rea for the double in Assen
Rangers lost in OT
Jazz Beat Clippers in game 7
Overall it's all to play for but I don't think Gwin will do it. Law of averages.
Mark Wallace, he's good too.
It's a good win and it's always nice to see an underdog have a win but I doubt that sort of result will be consistent throughout the season.
mxvice.com/65900/injury-update-ken-roczen-5
Yes morzine and les gets are closer to nice but they are all in the same ball park
Why? 29 wheels for 3 athletes is very close (but not) to cheating.
29 is faster in some tracks, we all know. But everyone have to have one chance with 29.
Have the first 15 dhers in the same level now – bottom of the list- allow to restart in Fort bill
with all new perspective. Develop something new (but 29’’- something in every bike brand
Garage I think already exist) in one month it’s hard, but not impossible. Kudos for Santa which
done the right move for the world cup start, for sure!!
Long live DH WC
RED BULL TV IS BU°°°°HIT
LONG LIVE CHAINSAW
sorry its late news but hopefully all the other rounds will be televised as well
For 2017:
Longer introductions, with obvious facts.
Commercials.
A 'field reporter' providing more obvious facts
Less coverage of riders on their race runs.
Awesome.
disjointed, bad angles....and where we want to see it the most like THE WALL we see a bad angled useless view.
unimpressed with the millions of $$$$$ spent.
We need to removed gender from the equation. Combine the classes (Jr. separate Sr) and combine the prize money.
It's silly for the 1st place woman to get more $$ than the 55th place man.
Everyone is equal these days - let's get it equal across the board.
feedback.redbull.tv
When it did eventually start it cuts to the womens podium... pathetic service.
I will gladly pay for good coverage just like I do for MotoGP.
Big props though to Warner and Claudio though for being great presenters!!
And luckily the 'game' of downhill is about combining so many factors, which is what makes it interesting. Which bike you have to ride from your sponsor, which suspension, brakes and tyres you have to ride from your sponsors, wether you find the best set up, can adopt to unexpected changes, wether the track and/or weather are in your favor...
Fayolle did have an impressive run and he was lucky that the weather got in his favor. But that's part of downhill racing, so congratulations to Fayolle!!
If you disagree, go watch speed ice skating in an indoor hall instead
1. Didn't have a problem at all with the Red Bull app on my phone. Lucky me, I guess.
2. Mark Wallace: 2nd place after Stevie's 2nd place last year!!!!! #LongLiveChainsaw
3. Please, enough already with the 29'er talk. I own a 29'er and love them, but all the talk is getting old really fast.
4. Red Bull: if you're going to have someone interview riders at the top of the course, at least make sure they know a little bit about mtn biking and not just be a pretty face. The interview with Luca Shaw was a cringefest.
That is all.
Redbull... All hype no content ????????
Clearly he's never watched any mtb on RedBull TV before.
Zeus don't know shit about web-broadcasting. But then again, neither does RedBull..
full version
Only got to watch the last bit of the elite men, conditions were insane at the top. Watching runs from earlier in the day looks completely different, so much more grip.
Congrats to Fayolle for the win.
But it felt kind of lame watching all the big dogs come down the hill posting +25 times because of weather.
props to Fayolle tho !!! and wallace and guitierrez, good results !!!
Two race... in one...
See you in Fort William where other teams will have big wheels.. ehehehe... my thoughs... everybody knows that 29er are fastest... but nobody want spent money on new frames project... ohohohoho... so now hurry up... after syndicate...
Only three 29ers racing and they represented three of the seven fastest times of the weekend. Expect to see some big wheelin' action in Ft. Bill.
daniel ricciardo would agree with you m8, at least the webpage LOOKS good..
They say that "muh enviroment" is an argument, meanwhile they needed 10.000(!!!) truckloads to get the Aus. Grand Prix going. Wankers.
Some guys faster...who knows what the weather is doing??? maybe its raining and someone that has quallied outside the top 30 is going to win and RedBull has missed everything
this message was sponsored by the the first amendment haha
If you look at the times when there was no wind and no rain Fayolle put in a very good run, 2:52.78. When the wind really kicked in, Atherton gets 2:57.48. When the rains kicks in proper, the times drop from Brayton 3:02 just before it starts to rain to MacDonald 3:12 and this after only 5 minutes of rain.
However look at Minaar's time after about 20 minutes of rain, and the track really slick, it was still 3:09.9. It was the fastest time after it started raining by three seconds. The other SC's did not fare as well, however Minaar is riding a bike fit for his size, and he is calling on years of experience.
So i don't believe that 29ers loose their advantage. I think that a taller rider will be able to use the larger wheel size to their advantage. However, it remains to be seen if over a season they have a total advantage.
Whatever, it was good racing by all, especially considering the conditions.
I also thought the commentary was much improved. The boys did their homework and were a bit more polished.
Strait off the YT-Mob blog post from today. Seems like the top dogs were just dealt a bad hand... I don't see much crying going on. Gwin being humble as always.
www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/k45BdItxWmxRdmg2KEX?origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lequipe.fr&api=postMessage
If you look at the times when there was no wind and no rain Fayolle put in a very good run, 2:52.78. When the wind really kicked in, Atherton gets 2:57.48. When the rains kicks in proper, the times drop from Brayton 3:02 just before it starts to rain to MacDonald 3:12 and this after only 5 minutes of rain.
However look at Minaar's time after about 20 minutes of rain, and the track really slick, it was still 3:09.9. It was the fastest time after it started raining by three seconds. The other SC's did not fare as well, however Minaar is riding a bike fit for his size, and he is calling on years of experience.
So i don't believe that 29ers loose their advantage. I think that a taller rider will be able to use the larger wheel size to their advantage. However, it remains to be seen if over a season they have a total advantage.
Whatever, it was good racing by all, especially considering the conditions.
And despite all of that, that's one more hour of waiting, where I don't really see a reason why they would do it this way. Any ideas?
Oh, and he won the XC World Champs the same weekend.
How times change...
That marshal should never even have run onto the track. Only first-aiders are supposed to go on to the live race track. Sure Mick was floundering in the fish net, but he wasn't hurt and was getting up under his own steam.
I think because they both got back on their bikes at the same spot they came off meant the whole thing was OK. The marshal and spectator both picked up the bike whilst the riders were flat on their backs.
Gwin on the other hand, picked up his own bike, then tried to re-enter the course further down but was struggling to get under the tape (it was hooked on his helmet), until the same marshal that picked up Micks bike came along and ripped the tape in two. Had the marshal been doing his job correctly, maybe he could have pointed Aaron back up the track, but I think it was a case of just an average fan volunteering as a marshal, and he wasn't instructed properly on how to act.
Good commissaries would have ensured that at certain "hotspots" on the track, there would be experienced marshals, such as where Mick went down and AG went off. (And before you go "what would he know", I was a UCI commissiare in the 90's in NZ)
same here....starting soon
If your stream isn't working, here's a few steps you can try: refresh the page, clear the cache, turn off your adblocker, try a different browser. Red Bull's Media Player isn't perfect, but either of those steps seems to work for 99% of the people, including myself - on Safari, I can only see it in minimized format. On Chrome, I have zero issues whatsoever.
It is not just us mere fans that miss out, but also every bike manufacturer and component supplier that is hopeful of coverage of their brand and having people see their equipment win.
Anyone else???
A better name for this years EWS and DH.
going to bring it home for canada!
#longlivechainsaw
Any of her races from last year would put her between 65th and 80th in men's elite.
Read Bruni on instagram...
"Clad e o" does not cut it
Heck even the broadcast isn't "live" - it's all taped, edited, and then broadcast as a delay. If you watch the live timing it is a number of riders ahead of the so called "live" action.
Does she need something to help her relax