Rachel Atherton is Back, No Perfect Runs & More Things We Learned from the Lenzerheide DH World Cup 2023
Lenzerheide provided an incredible start to the 2023 season as it kicked off the downhill season with dramatic and exhilarating racing that will be remembered for years to come. After the long off-season, it was great to be back to proper World Cup racing and we can't wait for the next round.
Before things kick off later this week in Leogang for round two, here are a few things we spotted from the opening round of the DH series.
The Queen of Downhill is Back
It's impossible to imagine how hard it must have been for Rachel Atherton to make her return to the tape this weekend in Lenzerheide after already achieving so much and being one of the sport's greatest riders. While Rachel has admitted she found it hard last week, the speed was clearly there when tested against the clock as she secured 2nd in both qualifying and semi-finals behind hard-charging 2022 series champion Camille Balanche. When it came to finals you could have thought we had gone back to Rachel's dominant period in downhill as she looked unstoppable on the Swiss course and held the overall lead through every split to the bottom and take home the win in incredible fashion. We can't wait to hopefully see more of Rachel at races this year.
A Lot of Time Was Left on the Track
One stat we spotted while analysing the potential perfect run in Lenzerheide was the large amount of time that could have been picked up by the riders. In the Elite Women's race, the top three were separated by just 0.787 seconds and from combining the fastest split times we found there to be a perfect run that was 2.809 seconds fastest than the final winning time of Rachel Atherton. The largest amount of time seems to have been lost in the final three splits where none of the top three Elite Women held the fastest time. It was first-year Elite Gracey Hemstreet who seemed to master the bottom splits as she went fourth at split three before winning the final two splits. Split times in finals could be very interesting to follow this season as riders become fatigued from the short rest time between semi-finals and finals.
Looking at the Elite Men's racing we see slightly different results as the eventual top three traded bows down the course with Loic Bruni winning split one and three, Jordan taking split two and five then Loris Vergier going quickest at split four. Overall there was a 1.409-second gap between Jordan's winning time and the perfect run, as the top five were separated by a second this is not an insignificant amount of time. One similarity to the Elite Women is that Jordan's performance in the final splits seems to have been what clenched him the win. Jordan went 2nd in sector four before winning the final part of the track to the finish line. Whether this is fatigue from multiple race runs or just Jordan being better suited to this part of the track will be tested in Leogang this weekend. Riders will have to face a similar tough schedule but on a track that is a decent bit longer than the course in Lenzerheide.
You can view our full analysis of the Elite's racing in Lenzerheide here.
Jordan Williams and Jackson Goldstone are the Real Deal
A lot of the discourse heading into this season was whether Jordan Williams and Jackson Goldstone were real threats for the usual top Elite riders. Past years have seen the two young riders come close and even beat the fastest Elite times, but given the different timing of the Junior races we were never given a true direct comparison. Lenzerheide finally got the two rapid first-year Elite riders up alongside the World's best and they truly delivered with Jordan winning finals along with taking 6th in Qualifying and 9th in semi-finals. Sadly we weren't able to see a fully up-to-speed Jackson. Given the young Canadian is not at 100% an 11th in qualifying followed by 7th in semis and 6th in finals shows he is going to be right up there with Jordan once he is back to full health. Jordan has already reached the heights of Nico Vouilloz as he took the win during his first Elite year and we are excited to see where he goes from here.
A Great Weekend for Specialized
Similar to the Yeti team's dominance at the second round of the Enduro World Cup in Derby the opening round was very much Specialized's weekend as they took the win in the Elite Men's semi-final followed by 1st, 3rd and 5th in finals. It was interesting to see that race winner Jordan Williams is not yet on the top-secret prototype being ridden by Loic Bruni and Finn Iles although we have heard he is riding a slightly modified version of the current Demo.
Juniors Finally Get Broadcast Coverage
After years of Junior downhill racing being represented by numbers on a screen, it was amazing to finally have a live broadcast. While for some the jury is still out on the new production from Warner Bros. Discovery you have to give them credit for finally offering a chance to watch the Juniors, and at no cost. The new schedule does make it a tough week for the younger riders having practice straight after the track walk and being the first riders going against the clock with a Thursday qualifying session. Having a Junior rider on a team does seem pretty useful this season as they get to try out the course a day before the Elites. Hopefully, this may see more of the top teams bring on a few more younger riders in the coming years.
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The fact is, we now actually know Jordan can win. We do not know that Jackson can.
That all said, this was such a good article.
There's a lot written on Jordan, and rightfully so, on the home page. No need to whine about one article that was looking at a few other plots from the weekend.
"Jordan has already reached the heights of Nico Vouilloz"
Pretty close
Something I disagree with in the article is very semantic: I think the only way you win a race this season, especially if AP is running, is if you have a perfect run. AI know what the "perfect run" analysis is and I like it, but I think this season, whatever is the winning run...is probably the perfect run.
Anyway, as I said, a low quality baseline hopefully means they can only get better.
Cedric could do with the commentator training Rob had, and they need to think about banner graphics for the likes of "up next" and run to run comparisons, but I don't think there were any huge deal breakers.
The long drone panshot was good but went on for half a second too long into the woods where the camera couldn't cope with the speckled light and the drone pulling up, but timing the cuts between cameras is something RB took a while to get good at
I didn't expect them to match Rob and don't think it was a complete disaster. They can surely improve with time. But definitely a lot of potential for offering more useful insights and balancing the hype commentary. With Cedric I had the feeling that he often lacked the English vocabulary to make his points clear but might also have been the nerves.
And please never ever again skip nearly the full run of Danny Hart to show and say absolutely nothing interesting about the riders waiting at the top!
The production was a bit weird for me (random cuts to the nervous guy in the warm up section spewing worthless chatter, random scenic shots in the middle of race runs, poor drone quality, no remaining riders list graphics), but it was nice to watch a decent portion of the finals runs. Even RB was picking up video 1-2 mins into the run at most events. I know Lenzerheide is a short track, but if that continues at Leogang and beyond, that'll be pretty awesome.
Also, thought it was odd they didn't mention Anna Newkirk's wild looking Contra ride. Like they hadn't done any pre-work outside of looking at the rider's team name. Bike and rider crushed BTW. So shiny.
As a guy I've only gotten into womens racing in the past 6-7 years but in my view, what we were seeing in 2018/19 vs. now is much different, overall speed per distance is faster, but more so - so many woman have so much skill that even if Rachel swoops in & wins every race (not gonna happen) this is easily gonna be a baller season for women. They are as strong, smart & skilled as ever.
I thought the commentary was largely good. Cedric was a bit jarring at times but he's obviously been brought in to play the Warner role (and has likely been briefed to get excited / shout / generally be a bit eccentric)
The on screen graphics could use some work. The drone footage was cool (not always the best it could be) and the random cut-aways need refining. All of this can and will be worked on though throughout the season. People comparing 10 years of Redbull coverage to one event is completely pointless.
Rob warner is contracted to Red Bull, Red bull don't have the world cup anymore so why moan about it?
Mainly I think people just forget all the bad stuff about RB (not that I'm complaining - I loved the RB era). But IMO both of these announcers on their first attempt are already better than Claudio ever was. My whole family (including my father in law who's never mountain biked or watched a race in his life) watched the whole thing and loved it.
People are paying for the privilege of not hearing Rob screaming two British riders down the hill and trying to justify it, but come on...
Perhaps the fastest recorded time for split 1 requires exiting on a line that make it impossible to set up for the fastest possible split 2.
Commentary needs work…. they could get someone like Martin Whiteley involved again and give us stats on riders like they did with Redbull.
The onscreen graphics aren’t as good as the Redbull coverage, like when they would do a head to head with the rider on track and the one currently in the hot seat.. it was visually easy to follow how close the race is.
There are so many different accents across the UK and Ireland. Just count yourself lucky Ric isn't a Brummie or a Geordie if you think a light Ulster (Norn Iron) accent is tough to follow!
Tracy Hannah Commentary kit.
She's so -
Fast
Strong
Powerful
Just look at her -
So fast
So strong
So powerful
And this course is
So steep
So rough
So brutal
This type of fluff commenetary you note however is just about all Cedric did though: not a peep about rider, history, track - nothing. So if that's "all" either of them do, lets have Tracy.
Overall, I enjoyed the broadcast, no issues listening to Ric or Cedric. I think it'll improve as they find their feet with it, and maybe read the PB comments...!
I also have an XC Commentary kit from Rob & Bart..
- I'm going to say something obvious now Bart, and you'll back me up.
-Yes, yes, you're right with that. I'm going to say something now that'll surprise you slightly.
- Is that right Bart?
- Yes, yes.
- Great rider, this woman...
I knew Cedric would be a wild card, I remember he was in the booth with Rob back in the Freecaster days for a race, he was horrible back then, likely drunk with Rob but Rob could manage under the influence.
* There was a lot of dead air.
* I assume they are watching the same feed as us? How could they miss the split times so often??
* No discussion of the splits, it was obvious when a rider had slow or fast sections, easy to bring that up to keep the excitement. "they are down by 1.2 seconds but the current leader was slow through the bottom of the course" I feel like they talked about it during the semi's with split 3 to 4 but then nothing.
* New season, know the riders and where they came from for team switches. Rob would walk the track and the pits to get info on the riders and the bikes, did these guys do that? Take notes to discuss be prepared, it is very difficult to talk about the same thing for hours but Rob made it flow.
* Camera angles... they were not good, they did get a lot of the course but quality over quantity? We want both though.
Cedric is a great guy, I have met hit a bunch of times. So much energy and great for the sport as a rider and I think he can contribute to this, just not sure being in the booth is it.
- 87% race run coverage for Bruni
- 84% race run coverage for Greenland
- 88% race run coverage for Kolb (unfortunately nothing from the deciding crash section)
- 86% race run coverage for Vergier with Red Bull as the fastest qualifier in Lenzerheide 2022
So what are the takeaways regarding coverage from the new broadcaster (commentary excluded)?
- Time-wise similar track coverage as before so far, the big test comes with longer tracks
- Some camera angles were better in certain parts with discovery, others clearly worse
- The speed of the track felt slower with discovery compared to RedBull for me. Personal preference for sure, hated the too much zoomed-in shots on RedBull and liked the more panned-out perspectives on discovery. But now also see the purpose of getting closer to better transmit the feel to viewers.
- Graphics lack in several areas (rider overviews, direct time comparison bars)
- discovery did a good job and have a solid base to build on, but currently still behind compared to RedBull coverage
Incidentally, do your calculations include cutaways to see the team manager's face mid run?
We all know that showing 100% of the track is super hard to do and impossible with current start gaps. Doing so for the whole field would become too long and boring to watch for most. Showing as much as possible for the top riders would be great, but a regular 3+ hours of coverage will be hard to fit the schedule for many viewers.
Anyone who followed Warner was going to be up against it but I’m sorry they need to find someone else to pair up with Ric, I would have happily paid to watch the RedBull feed, the GCN+ app I think I won’t be renewing next month unless major changes and the bosses listens to the paying customers.
Redbull was great but wasnt' perfect and the loss of Rob & insertion of Ric (who's good enough), Cedric (untrained puppy) and not having a woman in the box (a blow if you want to bring women into the sport) is big - but you simply cannot get the thrill of those 2 elite races via PB (or any) recaps or edits - you just get a few blips & the results. I've got tonnnnnnnnnns of gripes w/ the new coverage - enough to fill this page - but in the end, watching the racers go down to the line, upping speeds & the drama of each run is simply unbeatable after 40 weeks of nothing - so its worth it if you really love watching racing. The actual finals racing was waaaaay more off the hook than semis - it was as good as gets.
The new format seems to have lumped a mass of pressure on riders and we saw lots of horrible injuries at the weekend, like we haven't seen since 'back in the day'.
Healing vibes to those with fractured necks, backs, elbows, arms.... Etc.
Biggest learning.... Riders are going to push harder and more could get seriously hurt/injured.
My boy races on one of these teams and the levels of support and assistance is incredible all round, it's amazing to see how much the olds are giving back to the sport
Obviously when you then see Jackson and Jordan it shows you that supporting the youngsters is a very good way forward.
Keep an eye on the names above, they'll be dominating the Juniors next year i think.
I will add Pivot and Nukeproof now having development teams as well.
Its crazy that all it took is TV coverage (maybe also an increase in racing subs as well) to get more development teams out there and operating!
I did.
The video stream looks like a little better in quality, not a lot but like from gopro 11 to gopro 14.
It seems we see a lot more track than we used to, someone checked?
Drone view: let the riders alone and anyway drone view sucks. Bring back cable cam.
I have Discovery+ along with every other service known to man.
It was irritating as hell to watch this on YouTube because I couldn't find it on the app they said it'd be on. Only to not be able to watch finals then have the results blown for me while I was searching for where the hell to watch it.
Camera shots were not good. Commentating was mediocre. Glad juniors got some love.
But from what I saw it just wasn't that great and I have no desire to buy a service I don't want for anything but a few races a year. At least Peacock there's stuff my kids can watch on it.
They killed the fantasy leagues and now they're killing availability. It's like they want these sports to die.
There is now a bigger picture to look at, and I`m not talking about the size of the screen in your living room...
I don't think I'm going to bother this year.
I also did not even bother to watch the men's semis in the end. There were too many riders and like most of us, I don't have unlimited time for this hobby. I would much rather have seen a smaller men's semi's fields and a larger women's final. I don't think seeing the last-ranked men's rider was more important than having slots for 15 women so Phoebe Gale could compete in finals, for one.
Maybe it’s just New Zealand or what?
Wish him a good recovery!
It's actually really selfish of viewers not to watch as then the money to riders is LESS rather than more. When you consider that for winning the Worlds, Bruni got £3000 and the rider in 10th place, yes 10th in the world got £200, when entry was £150 lol.
We sit and complain about costs of viewing, but think of the riders, they're putting their limbs on the line for our entertainment and some can't even be bothered to throw them the cost of a pint and pack of crisps per month.
Of course there's the argument that the money won't go to riders... but that's a whole debate there... However it's 100% sure that if you don't pay, then NO money goes to the riders..
This is an incredibly expensive sport for the teams, the riders and especially the Juniors that so many people enjoyed, many of whom are funded purely by their parents ... Give them a chance to get something back.
FYI Discovery / WB made $15.5bn profit last year. Our trifling contribution is not a significant impediment.
I'm not going to say "if we all subscribe riders will get more"... however, if we as core viewers DON'T subscribe, then 100% they won't get paid more.
For the sport to grow in terms of participation, riders, teams and locations, then the global audience HAS to grow. How do they do this, they put it on things like Discovery, Eurosport, GCN where people can and will click through the channels, stop and think "oooh this looks OK"...
" It's actually FREE if you've got SkyQ or SkyGlass.... Or it's £7 a month for 5 months."
So yes, if you have a SkyQ contract then Discovery+ is FREE... or...it's £7 a month for 5 months.. I can't make it any simpler.
The problem is, it was on a broadcast you'd never know was there, unless you were into the sport. The only way to reach more people is through more access. Now it's on Eurosport (sometimes) it's increasing the potential viewers who are sitting watching other stuff or browsing the list.
When in Redbull, only people who knew it was there, knew it existed
I'm not sure we'll ever know viewing figures, but I doubt it will grow. None of the other even slightly niche sports grew when they went behind a pay wall, why would this be any different? You maybe increase the chances of someone with Eurosport seeing it but you've lost all the free eye balls you had previously.
How about now? I see a cool clip or maybe semi final coverage and want to watch the finals? Where is it? It's confusing, clearly, judging by all the posts here. I also now have to pay. Am I doing that for something that just piqued my interest? Nope, I'm going right back to whatever I was doing before.
Either play, there are plenty of example of participants dropping after sports going to pay wall coverage and of sports growing with fta coverage.