Do you guys remember when you pretty much knew who'd fill out the top-five on a World Cup results sheet? It was only a few seasons ago that you could more or less say who was going to do well; Gwin, Atherton, Minnaar and the rest of the crew were the safe choices, and you'd be a dumbass to ever bet against Rachel stomping on most of the women's field. The old guard is up against it now, though, with the likes of Pierron, Vergier, Shaw, Bruni, and Iles on the men's side, and Seagrave, Cabirou, and young'n Vali Höll for the ladies looking to bump the veterans down a few spots.
The fresh blood hasn't only shaken up our Sundays, however, with sponsorship silly season looking like it might be just as disruptive as the racing. There are rumors, and only rumours, of World Champion Miranda Miller leaving the big red S to race enduro, Brendan Fairclough leaving Scott and World Champion Kate Courtney joining Scott, Emily Batty and Trek going separate ways, Jack Moir throwing a leg over a Session for 2019, and Maes still not being locked down by GT. Just give the Belgian whatever he wants, right?
The wildest rumor of all? Both Gwin and Neko are leaving YT and currently talking to other companies, including American brands Intense, Trek, and believe it or not, Specialized.
Rumor: Aaron Gwin and Neko Mulally off YT Status: likelyWe might as well start with the juiciest one of all: the most dominant male downhiller in recent times, Aaron Gwin, along with current teammate and fellow American Neko Mulally, are reportedly both moving on from their YT program.
So, where are they going? The rumor mill has several companies poking around: Trek (again), Specialized (also again), and Intense. Yup, Intense.
Just imagine Gwin, an American, winning World Cups and possibly even an overall title (you'd bet against Gwin?) on an Intense, which is also American. If it happens, there better be some bald eagles on Gwin and Neko's bikes. Will we see an all-American dream team of Gwin and Mulally? Will this put Intense back to the top of the downhill bike food chain for the first time since the M1 was making us drool back in the mid to late-90s and early 2000s?
There's one more name in the running, too, with the Germans at Canyon reportedly putting their bidding hand up as well, but I suspect that we won't be finding out where Gwin and Neko will be calling home until closer to 2019.
Having Gwin on your bike isn't exactly an inexpensive proposition - he's rumored to be commanding a significant cheque. The team's structure is something to keep in mind as well; The Mob is the actual team put together by Gwin and Martin Whiteley, and is supplied frames by YT and parts by their sponsors. I suspect that Gwin will want that arrangement to carry over with another frame sponsor for 2019.
Gwin was tight lipped beyond confirming that he's "currently unsigned and still working on everything," and YT declined to comment, so we're left to get our TMZ on (errr... PMZ?) for now. Where do you think Gwin and Neko are heading to, if anywhere?
Rumor: Maes to stay with GT Status: likelyHe didn't take any overall titles in 2018, but Martin Maes had one hell of a season. The Belgian powerhouse became the first racer to stand on the top step at both an Enduro World Series race (Whistler no less) and a World Cup downhill event (a slick La Bresse) back-to-back, and on very different types of terrain. Oh yeah, he followed that up with a second place, just 0.213 behind Loic Bruni, at this little thing called the DH World Championships. Maes beat Hart, Vergier, Gwin and the rest of the full-time downhill gang on the Lenzerheide track, thereby proving that he's one of the most versatile gravity racers out there, as well as giving credence to just how gnarly the EWS guys actually are. Not that anyone should have ever doubted that.
Maes' contract with GT is apparently up, and his current run of results makes him one of the hottest free agents out there. If you ask me, GT should just give him whatever the hell he wants, especially since it's been a long time since they were a force (see what I did there?) on the racing scene. No one with insider knowledge wanted to comment on the record, other than the man himself: ''GT picked me up when I was 15 years old. The years went by so quick and we achieved some of my dreams together. I can't thank the whole team enough to make such rad bikes and be so supportive. We are determined to achieve so much while having a good time,'' Maes told me when I asked him his plans.
Given that quote, it's likely that we'll see a 'Maes re-signs with GT' press release any day now, although I don't doubt that other brands are sniffing around.
Rumor: Miranda Miller to race EWS Status: likelyMiranda Miller didn't have the smoothest of 2018 seasons after her World Championship victory in 2017, and there's talk of her switching it up for 2019 by moving to the Enduro World Series. Whether she does it under the Specialized banner or another brand remains to be seen—there are other reported suitors, including Kona.
Confirmed: Fearon re-signs with Kona While he wouldn't comment on anything to do with Miranda Miller, Kona's Caleb Smith did confirm that they've re-signed World Cup downhiller Connor Fearon. He'll be doing at least three Enduro World Series events in 2019, making him yet another World Cupper who's dipping his toes into the multi-stage gravity scene.
Rumor: Fairclough off Scott Status: falseBrendan has long been one of the most stylish and popular racers around, as well as being one of the few World Cup regulars who dabbles in all sorts of other events. He's been doing exactly that for years while riding for Scott, but it's probably fair to say that his results have rarely matched his ridiculous talent. Maybe it's time for a change of scenery? That's what the completely unconfirmed rumors were saying, but...
This one is false. Ben Walker, Scott Product Manager, tells us that they have indeed re-signed Fairclough to ride their
soon-to-be-released new downhill bike.
Rumor: Kate Courtney on Scott Status: possibleAt the complete opposite end of the spectrum is freshly crowned cross-country World Champion Kate Courtney. While she certainly brought the heat in her junior years, Courtney wasn't the obvious pick for the top step in Lenzerheide, especially with the likes of Neff, Langvad, and Batty on the hunt for medals. In the end, Courtney used her superior technical skills to get a jump that Langvad couldn't close on the final lap, and the American notched her first huge win as an elite. The hugest win, actually.
She's been with Specialized since forever, and I'm sure they'd like to keep the newly crowned champ, but we've heard a few whispers that she could be leaving. Scott's name has come up more than once, and her and Nino Schurter would make for quite the roster.
Specialized wasn't eager to comment on whether Courtney was staying or not, with Sean Estes, their Global PR Manager, saying ''You should expect to hear athlete-related news from us sometime pretty soon.'' All quiet from Kate herself, too, which could be a hint in itself.
Rumor: The Rat to Cannondale
Status: very likely
Josh Bryceland's departure from Santa Cruz is surely the biggest surprise of 2018, at least so far, but, if the whispers are true, where he ends up could trump that - Cannondale. Sounds crazy, right? It totally does... until you realize that Cannondale doesn't have any big-name gravity riders to send it on their near-new enduro bike, especially since Jerome Clementz stepped back from full-time action. Another clue: Cannondale has now debuted their new cross-country bikes (the Scalpel and F-Si), as well as both their new all-mountain and enduro bikes (the Trigger and Jekyll), so what's next? Exactly.
The Rat does what the Rat wants - we're talking about a guy who stepped away from World Cup racing while being among the best - so don't be surprised to see a curveball from Bryceland.
Clearly you've never met my buddy Randy. DNFed one round and missed the last two, but still finished top 25 (23rd) in the EWS overall.
European markets are suddenly more lucrative for the likes of used-to-be-usa traitors like cannondale
Screw you capitalism
If there is a Union Flag or one from Scotland, Wales, England & Eire against a username... It's most definitely sarcasm.
Although Terry is a fine name, it just doesn't have the marketing buzz as Randy.
#saverandy
#timetogetrandy
In my opinion, YT probably don't want to keep him for the money he wants. I could be wrong of course. I'm not trying to be insulting if he's your favourite racer. He is an awesome talent, but from a business perspective... do these companies believe he's ever going to smash the World Cup again? It's a lot of bike sales to pay his $700k, Mulally's $60k and Whiteley's $750k (Let's just all agree that no racer will ever get paid more than me). Return on investment is number one on a sponsor's list of importance. Are they going to get it on such a big name? One would guess, perhaps not. Hence why they don't want to pay it, as Specialized didn't want to a few years ago. It was worth it for YT for the original fanfare and buzz it generated, but that buzz is long gone.
I do shudder at the overt USA! USA! paintjobs and kits that could come of a GwIntense deal... Although the Palm was pretty steezy in his stars and stripes get ups...
If I were one of the big manufacturers Gwins lack of loyalty would be a big put off for me. Is it really worth the investment for a two year deal and by now are his fans really gonna take note of him on yet another different brand? They’re paying him to create sales and I feel like it’s a diminishing return with every time he switches. This isn’t because I don’t like Gwin, please don’t get me wrong. But I feel the biggest draw for me toward a brand comes from those riders and manufacturers who stick together. It would feel like a big risk to me knowing that this guy is willing to ship out to whomever offers him the dosh at the drop of a hat. And yeah I know he isn’t the only one but that’s who we’re talking about here and he is the biggest name in DH - again pls don’t confuse me for a Gwin hater.
Maybe an outsider or newbie to the sport would see the winners first whereas those already within the sport are more likely influenced by the vibes they get from the athletes. I dunno I’m not a marketing expert so I’ll shut up.
Say I’m Intense and I see Gwins asking for 850k, ok we can afford that on a 2yr deal but then we know for sure he’s gonna turn around and ask us for a mil to re-sign, that’s what he’s done to everyone. And we wanna build a team image that portrays our brand as rock solid. Plus we’re well aware he splits opinions. Hmm. It’s tempting, he an American and lives next door but you know what, I just don’t think he’s worth it. If he has another bum year but this time on a brand new team everyone will say it’s the bike. Nah. Let’s go with those young guns all the groms are looking up to, who we can build a solid relationship with and work with them to develop their careers as intense boys and gals. Image is all.
Or Gwin converts Palmer and they both hand out autographed bibles at the end of a race and go out for vanilla ice cream after a win.
Or it could go like you said.
However your other argument is self defeating. Why take less money so a team can keep you on longer? If he’s leaving YT, it’s probably for more money, so clearly his short term relationship with teams is t hurting his salary any, or at least not hurting it any more than sticking around would have.
The Athertons also seeem to jump ship at the end of each contract, and they also seem to do pretty well for themselves. That said, rhompr is the Athertons are off Trek, which would free up some funding to put Gwin back on a Session, would be a better guess than Intense IMHO. IFR already has a pretty deep payroll and Intense is spending quite a bit to develop new ebikes, that doesn’t leave much money for Gwin, Trek has deep pockets and if the Athertons left, no notable DH talent.
I’m not really suggesting he takes less money necessarily just that maybe it would pay to be a little less ruthless and try to build a solid relationship with a brand. I mean that seems to have worked really well for some riders when they retire too. Maybe he settles for a tiny bit lower than the max he could get but he’s basically paying into a retirement pot by doing so..?
That being said, Intense has some awesome riders on their roster at the moment. So it'll be still cool to see them crush the Intense Murican Gwin team on another ride and rob the Murican's of their inbred USA chant.
Also, there is a lot of other factors like maybe they had creative differences with the bike manufacturers, didn't feel like they had the support they wanted or needed, or maybe they felt like they would be faster with another bike company's bike. So many reasons why they wanted to switch. Just like people changing jobs. Most riders like to try different bikes and have in the back of their mind that they might be faster riding a different bike.
edit: @MikeGruhler remembers the OG's
“Hi, I’m Aaron Gwin! I ride on Intense's UCI World Cup DH team, and the bike they gave me broke, but they won't answer my calls. They said they'd send me a new one right away, and that was three races ago."
My experiences have been good thus far.
The only one who thinks that as well. I guess you go where the money isn't?
I mean, dude is one of the best ever in a sport we all love. But how dare he maximize his earning potential or buy anything fun. Ever hear the "crabs in a bucket" analogy?
he seemed a lot happier and more relaxed on that team, they were super cool to visit in the pits at races, and i feel like a real story was building with angel starting to hit his stride and neko killing it at home (and I knew about the story thanks to their amazing video series).
looking back at the last few races of the season, you could tell something was off that couldn't be explained away just by the thumb injury. gwin didn't seem as into it and im sure we will see a lot of speculation as to why in the coming months. I wonder if it was bike related again, and he was looking for a race ready 29er tues for longer than we knew?
Family, friends, etc.
He's still sticking with the the same team of people by the sound of things (some of whom he's been with for years) so he's loyal in that respect.
Only morons are loyal to the employees - unless rare cases.
They couldn't be doing more to.promote Trek. Do you want them to go door to door trying to sell bikes?
Batty to Specialized, Courtney to Scott...logical, or not? ...if live would so foreseeable...
"Todd Schumlick, owner and manager of Norco Factory Racing, has been using a RipRow for the past few months and says the device has proven to reveal a handful of weaknesses in his riders. “For one, hip hinge, potentially due to a lack of hamstring and glute flexibility, or simply incorrect biomechanics,” he says. “Secondly, shoulder mobility. RipRow can assist in addressing these weaknesses, along with complementary strength training and yoga.” This fall, Schumlick plans to test the machine on Aaron Gwin (current and multiple downhill mountain bike UCI World Cup champion) and Richie Rude (multiple Enduro World Series champion)."
I understand he wanted to move, at least if I didn't get that Roskop-Martin interview totally wrong.
But what could they (Cannondale ) offer him, SC couldn't?
If it was money, Ratboys choices of the past seem unlogical.
He also had a lot of freedom to do what he wanted already. Can Cannondale top that?
Is it a combined deal for him and the 50to1 crew he didn't get with SC?
Did SC want more in return for their investment and ratboy wasn't willing?
After all, the 50to1 productions don't seem to be his child but more that of Lewis'.
What does Loosedog do - he is at least frame spnsored by SC?
I really respected Josh for what he was in the mountainbike circuit - fun, straightforward, if you understood him insightful in his interviews and concerened about following his heart rather then the mainstream.
I really wonder what comes out of this...
www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/2019-Racing-Rumors,10235?exclusive_forum_user=false&page=5
Hopefully he will start racing again n show everyone the talent he really has.
The M29 is still super fugly.