The Pinkbike Podcast: Who's In Your Downhill Fantasy Team?
New art by Taj Mihelich.
We discuss our picks for this weekend's race, explain why your season won't be as easy as you think, and who are the likely winners.
Featuring a rotating cast of the editorial team and other guests, the Pinkbike podcast is a weekly update on all the latest stories from around the world of mountain biking, as well as some frank discussion about tech, racing, and everything in between.
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Sarah Moore's Picks
 | I interviewed Ronan Dunne for the Pinkbike Podcastwhen he signed for Mondraker and he’s a great dude, plus he won Red Bull Hardline so he’s obviously getting to terms with the new bike just fine. He missed Fort William last year due to an injury, but finished the season on a high in Snowshoe last year with a second place so I’m betting on him for a strong start to the season. Gracey Hemstreet also had a great start to the season at Hardline, plus she’s another person I interviewed earlier this year, and a fellow Canadian, so I had to put her on my team. That left me with not a ton of money, so I went with Luke Meier-Smith who finished a respectable 18th at World Champs last year in Fort William, Lachlan Stevens-McNab who had a top ten last year at the Pal Arinsal World Cup and had a great race at the Australian DH Champs last month, Ryan Pinkerton who is moving up to Elites after a strong Junior career, and Sian A’Hern who is now Vali Holl’s teammate on the YT Mob. |
Mike Kazimer's Picks
| This is my roster so far, but I'll probably tinker with it a few more times before racing begins. Realistically, I should just copy Ed Spratt's team - all that data analysis has made him a fierce fantasy league competitor. Vali Holl won World Champs at Fort William last year, so hopefully she can repeat that feat again and bring in some valuable points. This will be Jenna Hastings' second year in the elite women's category, and after finishing the 2023 season with a 6th place at Mont Sainte-Anne, she'll be hoping to keep the upward trend going in 2024. On the men's side, I've selected two fast Canadian young guns, Jakob Jewett and Bodhi Kuhn. Jakob placed second at the Crankworx Rotorua downhill, just behind Lachlan Stevens-McNab, who also happens to be on my team. This will be Bodhi's first year in elites, and if he can maintain the speed he showed as a junior he should a solid contender. Rounding out my picks is Amaury Pierron. Amaury's struggled with injuries the last few seasons, but I'm betting he still has the pace required for a win - if he's strong and healthy he'll be right up there at the top of the results sheet. |
Brian Park's Picks
| Amaury - clearly the best deal right now based on his previous performance. He won’t be this cheap long IMO. Maybe he’s not such a great deal now that half of us are choosing him, it’ll just level the playing field. Pinkerton - Amazing final junior year; might not be easy transition to elite, but he’s so talented. Injury at the end of last year seems just fine as he’s had strong early season results this year. Vige - my most expensive male rider for Rd1, and he’s a risk as he’s never had a good result at Fort William. BUT he had such a strong end to last year in 5th at MSA I think it’s worth gambling to see if he can bring that form into 2024. Kuhn - had a strong Junior campaign, and historically we see some of the 2nd-5th place juniors end up doing better in Elite than the “chosen” ones. He had one of his best races last year at Fort William so I hope he can show well in Elite. Harnden - struggled at Fort William in the past, but finished the season really strong. It’s a gamble, but I rate her pretty highly. Vali - the majority of my budget went here, as she’s the most likely percentage-wise to deliver a good result for the money. After the first round or two I imagine I’m going to have to decide between keeping her on my team or spreading budget around more evenly. |
Henry Quinney's Picks
| You would surely be mad not to pick Amaury Pierron. Any time he's finished in Fort William he's won. The Oceanian hyphenated power duo of Meier-Smith and Stevens-Mcnab have both been rehabbing after injuries, but both also have plenty of pace to spare. Let's not forget, Meier-Smith is an EDR winner, and was doing great things while he was on Propain. It's hard to look too far past Val Holl, although Nina Hoffman does tend to run her close at Fort William. Louise Ferguson is a constant podium threat, and in a wet race who knows what she can do? Lastly, I saw Reece Wilson was going cheap, and I hope to see him back to form. While he might have taken some memorable wet-weather wins, he's also shown he can do it in the dry and fast conditions. |
Pinkbike Fantasy Downhill League in Association with Five Ten
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Purchase will not increase your chances of winning. The Contest begins on 18 March 2024 at 09:00:01 a.m. PDT and ends on October 6, 2024 at 11:59 PM PDT. Anyone can participate in the Pinkbike Fantasy Downhill League Game but the The Pinkbike Fantasy Downhill League Contest whereby participants can win prizes (“Contest”) is open only to legal residents of Australia, Canada (except the Province of Québec), Germany, United Kingdom, and 50 United States and DC who are 18 years of age or older and the age of majority in theirjurisdiction of residence. The Contest begins on 18 March 2024 at 09:00:01 a.m. PDT and ends on 6 October 2024 at 11:59:59 PM PDT. *5,000 USD cash portion of the grand prize will be awarded in a form of a check if the winner is from US or Canada; and will be awarded as a bank wire transfer if the winner is from Australia, Germany or UK.
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You can choose a DH bike with a slightly wheelbase that you like across the brands and still have the right reach.
Another thought would be that if that's the reach that fits you, it's probably the size+wheel base that the bike designer thinks would be best for your size human. Do you know better than giant companies that do this day in day out?
I actually want to try somewhere else. I do not care for the price structure this year. They think they're forcing people to very their teams more but what they're doing is forcing people to run the same people. Example... Amaury will be on 95% of the teams. $1m cap for the best people is insane when your budget is $1.5. I like that prices slide based on performance but $1m cap is silly. You should be able to carry 1 or 2 top 8 riders and not have to fill your team with guaranteed zeros on $40k people. This feels like PB went... man everyone hated the massive changes made to DH... why don't we make changes too.
Really favors people that have HOURS to nerd out. This is not for casuals. ..
Honestly I am curious about the new system. Props to the PB staff for putting in what I'm sure was and is a tremendous amount of work figuring this thing out. I'm sure it'll be fine.
It definitely favors the nerds though. LOL!
$1m just seems a bit crazy. Guess it'll keep people from sitting on Holl the entire season. LOL!
I think it's really going to be a matter of finding a lot of people priced in the 25-35 range that are performing in the 10-15 range. You're only going to be able to afford 1 guaranteed podium.
I think it'll be a fun season.
Thanks PB for putting it together. Appreciate the labor and that you're actually thinking about ways to improve.