2014 World Cup DH: Mid-Term Review

The World Cup schedule this season has been a bit of an odd one with a few events grouped together over a matter of weeks followed by long breaks and lulls in the action. With two events south of the equator packed into April, two European rounds in June followed by two North American stops in August it seems that just as the season picks up a bit of momentum things are left to simmer for a few weeks. Even the Final round in France falls on the tails of Whistler's Crankworx festival so riders with top speed, results, and confidence will need to stay hungry and stay motivated through the long breaks in action. If the change ups between the first few rounds and these last few are any indication of how things are set to play out later in the season it's, well, anyone;s guess really. With four rounds in the books and three remaining, lets take a look a closer look at how things are shaping up heading into the second half of the season.


Let's take a look at the Juniors first off as their group has been just as unpredictable as the senior ranks. I think a lot of folks had tapped Lois Vergier as the odds on favorite coming into the season, and after he and Mike Jones dominated last year there really did not seem to be a front runner looking to challenge. That challenger would come, and it was in the form of American Luca Shaw right out of the gate in South Africa. Loris would counter in Australia and the two were set up for a great battle heading into the classic track of Fort William. What came next not too many people saw coming.




Fort William saw the World Cup debut of Enduro superstar Martin Maes as the 17 year old from Belgium decided to throw his hand in the mix, and what a hand it was. His first place in the qualifiers was backed up by an equally fast final run, and with mistakes by Luca and Loris, it was Martin Maes on top of the box in Scotland. This time there was no waiting around between rounds and straight away we were back to racing in Leogang just one week later, where we would see yet another new face come out on top. A crash in the final for Loris took him out of the running, and may have also inadvertently held fastest Qualifier Luca Shaw up on his run. That would leave the door wide open for French Youngster Amaury Pierron who would make it the 4th winner in 4 rounds for the juniors.






Luca now has the lead by a small margin heading into Mont-Ste-Anne and Windham where you can guarantee he will have added motivation and pressure of racing in front of his friends, family, and supporters. Any way you slice the Junior race this year it's anyone's for the taking, and let's not forget about Martin Mae's. He may only be a spoiler at one round, but there is rumor that he may be racing Worlds in Norway so we may not yet have seen the last on the young Belgian.

The Women's title chase is the only one where we actually have a strong front runner, but even then it is really only by the smallest of margins. And given how we've arrived at the current standings it's safe to say that anything can happen. Coming into the season all eyes were on Rachel Atherton and rightfully so. The past few seasons have seen Rachel racing on another level and while she was challenged now and again, it was never with consistency by any single rider. Roll onto 2014 and Manon Carpenter has emerged as that challenger. Consistently improving each year, Manon was always going to be a threat but this year she is very much in the drivers seat.





Where Manon dominated in South Africa, Rachel struggled with illness but would have her revenge on the technical and brutally physical Cairns track. Fort William looked to be the stage for these two to really test each other, but the battle ended in an anticlimax ans both Rachel and Manon would puncture on their finals runs. This left the door open for Emmeline Ragot (who punctured in South Africa) to take her first win of the season, and Myriam Nicole to remind everyone that she is very much there as a challenger as well. However if there was ever a race this season that may have set the stage for the rest of the season it was Leogang. Manon Carpenter came out swinging here, and it was obvious to anyone standing track side that her riding was simply on another level. She took the win in dominating fashion, and if her riding style there was any indication of her skill and confidence, the rest of the women have some work to do if they want to stay in touch. Rachel has always been strong in Mont-Ste-Anne and Windham so she could easily pull back her 120 point deficit there, and the final round in Meribel is the great unknown of the season. Preliminary reports are indicating a fresh and tech track, and if weather is an issue like Cairns, Rachel and Myriam Nicole could definitely be the spoilers.










Bottom line is it looks like Manon's title to lose at this point in the season, but as we saw in the men's race last season between Gee and Stevie Smith, holding momentum into the second half of the season after a long break isn't all that simple. Sometimes it's easier to come from behind, than to stay ahead and in reality Ragot, Nicole, and Atherton are very much in the hunt.

Now onto the men's battle, which like the juniors and women has been one for the record books thus far. There has no front runner this season, quite a contrast to last season when it was the Gee Atherton and Stevie Smith show. We've had four rounds and four different winners, two of which were first timers in Troy Brosnan and Josh Bryceland, and come into the break with only 113 points seperating the top 3. With three races and six runs left to gather points (remember qualifying counts here too) every single spot will matter.


First off, let's acknowledge the return of Aaron Gwin. Who, after a horrendous 2013 season, stormed back with authority to win the first round in South Africa. Surprisingly, Gee was out of the mix at that round, as was Greg Minnaar who was still recovering from ACL surgery. Of course it's old news, but still worth mentioning that defending champ Stevie Smith was out of contention with an ankle injury as well. Performances in South Africa of note besides Gwin would be Mick Hannah in second by just fractions on a second and Loic Bruni who surprised many including himself with a podium worth final run, and Josh Bryceland who had a scorcher in qualifiers only to be let down by a mechanical in the final. Going into Cairns, Gwin obviously had his confidence back and a rejuvenated and focused Mick Hannah looked to be the front runners. Mick especially, who was on home turf surrounded by friends and family looked to be the front runner in round two. But Mother Nature wouldn't let that round slip by without adding a little flair of her own, and Cairns turned into the wettest and wildest of World Cups we've seen in a few years now. All of the front runners from South Africa struggled and it would be only Gwin who managed to podium in both the opening rounds to take a firm lead of the overall. Gee would return to form and take the win, showing that when the conditions are at their worst he still the man to beat. Also of note in Cairns was Loic Bruni who would crash out but manage to record the fastest mid point split by almost 2 seconds. There has been lot's of talk about Loic over the last season or two, but with the power he showed in round 1 and the technical skill in round 2, a lot of folks realized his time to shine has come and it would only be a matter of time until he becomes a consistent threat for the win. Neko Mulally would also turn quite a few heads at the start of the season, and after a top 10 in South Africa and 3rd in Cairns despite a crash he was sitting in 3rd going into the first break of the year.





After Cairns we had a long break and as alluded too earlier, it was upon the World Cup's return to Europe that things really began to get interesting. It's fitting that Fort William, one of the most classic of venues, would play host to some of the best racing action we have seen in years. Aaron Gwin was on pace all weekend here and no one doubted he would be on top or close to it when all was said and done, but what no one was paying attention to was Gwin's teammate. With all the attention focused on the return of Gwin, Troy Brosnan was quietly and consistently building momentum in the background and it would peak in Fort William. It would never be a surprise for Troy to qualify first or win a World Cup, and to be honest it's more of a surprise that it hadn't happened yet. But for him to pull rank like that in Fort William, on a track that isn't supposed to be good for small riders, while that was just something special to see. Of course the only drama wasn't just in Troy's winning, it was who he beat to take the win. Sam Hill, finally driving home a message home to the doubters threw down a run that would rival any Sam Hill run of old and looked simply unbeatable as the last few riders came down the track. Then it was time for Brosnan, Sam's protege, to steal the show from one of his biggest mentors in grand fashion.








On to Leogang, and yet again around that no one would have ever predicted. All of the front runners from Fort William looked fast and qualified well and there would be no surprises this round. It seemed like the series was finally sorting itself out and the top riders had hit their stride to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. How wrong we were to ever assume that. Greg Minnaar started off the excitement, even after a DQ in Cairns and 12th in qualifying in Leogang you cant count Greg out, EVER. He would set the bar with a run that looked to be unbeatable as rider after rider came close but ended up 10ths and 100ths short (or in the case of Brosnan 7/1000ths). Then Josh Bryceland blew things wide open, taking a big margin out of Greg's time and looking equally unstoppable. Gwin would suffer a puncture that would ultimately pull the title chase back to a virtual dead heat, and Loic Bruni, in the most dramatic of fashion crashed on the last tricky corner while just half a second up on Josh's time and that's all she wrote. Another round, another first time winner and a huge shakeup in the pecking order of World Cup Racing.






Going into what will be another big break we know have Brosnan in the lead with 634 points, Gwin in Second with 605, and Bryceland in third with 547 points. Right on their heals, and still very much in touch is Gee Atherton and Greg Minnaar. In years past one bad race, a crash or a mechanical spelled disaster for a rider wishing to take the overall. This year however it seems as every rider in contention has had a bad race and therefore the points are far tighter than we would expect. Josh lost a chain in South Africa, Greg was DQ'd in Cairns, and Gwin puncuted out in Leogang and all are very much still in touch. Also of note was the return of Stevie Smith with a 6th place finish just fractions from the podium in Fort William, and while he is out of contention for the World Cup title he proved he is as strong as ever. He will be building up from there for the rest of the season and you know he has his sights on World Champs in Norway, a track that he alone was ever been the victor. Danny Hart had another flash of brilliance coming down in 3rd and proving that while perhaps inconsistent, he is always a threat. Sam Hill is back on form and has multiple wins at the next venue in Mont-Ste-Anne and if any of the top riders have another poor race he could very well be right back in the hunt as well. With two North American rounds coming up could we see a return to form by Neko Mulally who started the year on fire before fading at the past few rounds? What about his two teammates Brook Macdonal and George Brannigan who have finally returned to form after injuries and landed themselves on the podium in Leogang?

What does this all mean going into the last three rounds and what can we expect? While first of all the is absolutely no margin for error left and any poor performance will most likely spell the end of ones title hopes. Secondly, we are going to see a riders who are out of contention for the title sticking their wheels in the mix and getting on the podium which will for sure add to the excitement. In the past the guys in the running for the title were the guys on the podium week in and week out. This is not the case at all this year, and with a healthy Brook Macdonald looking hungry as ever, and Stevie Smith about to face off on home turf next round no one's spot on the podium is safe. Loic Bruni will be my pick as the danger man for the rest of the year, and he is going to steal everyone's first place points very very soon (remember he was on the elite podium as a jr the last time we were in Widham).




The momentum is obviously with Troy but as we have seen in the past, long breaks can change things up a bit. Can Troy keep his cool and open up a gap? Will an on form Gwin be even more dangerous chasing from behind? Josh always seems to keep his cool but hasn't been under the pressure of a title chase before. Hopefully nothing changes for one of the most colorful characters on the World Cup though as his laid back and fun approach is quite refreshing to see atop the podium. Gee was on the flip side of this coin last year and it will be interesting to see how goes with the tables turned. He is one of the strongest and technically sound rides out there, and if Gee goes on a hot streak like he did to start 2013 then we will definitely have a battle on our hands.


What about the last three venues?

Mont-Ste-Anne is obviously a classic and we have seen recent wins there by Minnaar, Gwin, Hill, and Smith. Traditionally the long fast and brutally rough track hasn't favored smaller riders, but after his performance in Fort William it's not doubt Troy will have no troubles taming the beat, and Danny Hart has had some career best finishes here as well.

Widham may very well end up being the pivotal round this year due simply to the short length and extremely tight times that it always yields. This is a race where you can have 10 racers on one second and being on the right or wrong side of that second will make all the difference. If a hanfull of the wild card riders like Sam, Brook, Blenki, Loic, Smith, and Neethling get in between the front runners some bug point gaps could open up headed into the last round.

Meribel? Well that is for sure the biggest question mark as it has not been raced on the World Cup before, and while it has been used for French Cup races in the past all reports indicate there is a new track being built for the World Cup. From what we've been told it will be steep, tech and high speed as it is in the French Alps after all. I find it fitting that after a World Cup so full of unpredictability and unknowns that the final race, the one that will decide the champion, may be the biggest unknown of them all.