If it ain't broke, as the saying goes... and Mont Sainte Anne is a venue that certainly doesn't need much tinkering. A staple classic of the WC race calendar, it has been tried and tested by the best for pushing on 30 years and in 2019 we have almost no significant alterations to the 2018 World Cup course whatsoever. This weekend MSA will become the only race track to host a hat-trick of World Championships, and quite a competition it is set to be. In the women's race we have Tahnee Seagrave at long last back between the tape following her early exit over the bars back in Fort William. She will go up against the two women who have been battling it out at the top in her absence; Tracy Hannah and Marine Cabirou. Myriam Nicole will also aim to lay her claim to a medal after sitting out every round so far this season with injury. The defending champ, Rachel Atherton, unfortunately, will not be able to defend the stripes on account of her snapped Achilles sustained in Les Gets earlier this summer.
Meanwhile the two men who have dominated the 2019 season, Loic Bruni and Amaury Pierron, still have one round left to settle their score and perhaps this distraction or alternative focus will open the possibilities for other big names to creep in and snatch the gold, not that a wild card win isn't always on the table at Worlds. Still, we mustn't forget Bruni is getting particularly good at this rainbow stuff, having worn the jersey for three seasons since 2015; he may be reluctant to give it up. In the juniors, the weight of expectation rests upon the shoulders of defending champion Vali Höll and men's series leader, Thibault Daprela, who must both walk the tight rope of not risking too much, each of them regularly proving to be in a class of their own. Worlds never fails to produce the thrills and this year is all but guaranteed to be no different. The rain is currently pouring down on the Quebecois hillside, but the forecast suggests that the bad weather will be out of the way, a disappointment only to Aaron Gwin.
I recall she mentionned in an interview at EWS Les Orres a month or two ago that she had been riding and giving her input on the bikepark, not sure if it was only in 2018 or she had been able to do it in 2019 too.
www.vice.com/en_au/article/z4p3z8/explaining-cricket-to-americans
Epic photos as always!