ericolsen

A+++ podcast guest. Thanks Matt!

I’d say VDS, La Thuile or Les Gets. Les Gets if you also want to ride bike park while you’re there and want to see (or be part of) the crazy crowd, VDS or La Thuile if you want Italian food/vibes and the best tracks to watch imo. La Thuile has some sick enduro tracks as well but generally a smaller spectator turnout and no night enduro stage to watch next year which is sad.

So without the climb challenge it’s just a really short (e-bike) enduro? Or am I missing something

It’s in Morillon

The UCI does a motor check. Generally speaking it looks like the fast guys went fastest so my guess is it’s not a huge issue. 16.2 BIKE CHECKS PROCEDURE In order to ensure races respect UCI regulations, only bikes with drive units that comply to the conditions set out in article 1.3.010bis, PART 1 General Organization of Cycling as a Sport, and registered via the UCI EPAC’s Drive Unit Approval Process are accepted. Riders’ registration – E-Bikes information form Each participant must complete the form provided at THIS link in order to be allowed to take part in the UCI World Championships Pre-race bike inspection The pre-race inspections will be carried out by order of approved drive unit and rider surname. The final inspection order will be communicated by official communiqué. The presence of the rider or their representative is compulsory for each inspection. On 15 October, 14:00 – 17:00 / Location : Lungomare Migliorini, 17024, Finale Ligure (SV), Italy. Post race bike inspection Riders selected for the post-race bike inspections will be informed by the commissaires in the finish area. Riders are required to present their bike immediately to the parc fermé in the finish area.

I ended up making longer links for Ibis and Pivot bikes to try and figure this out, and within reason the suspension works just fine with longer chain stays. Sometimes better depending on what characteristics you're looking for. https://jankcomponents.com/collections/jank-links

Belted purse finally been won?!?

I think you're slightly misremembering, Sam Hill was of course already a legend of DH, but Richie really became a legend because of enduro not before it IMO. He had an impressive 2nd an 1st at worlds as a junior, but was still young and he had good top 50, but not incredible DH results. It also took him a year of EWS with so so results before he started being so dominant. Then he absolutely crushed it for many years at EWS and became the legend he is now.

@justanotherusername: I’m sure your local 10k run is huge, but that has little to do with World Cup niche sports. What I’m saying is that there has never been a large spectator count even at the “peak” of enduro so I don’t think it’s a great indicator of how the sport is doing. We could have the same views/marketing budgets etc for enduro as 2019 but if the collective perception from consumers and brands has changed it doesn’t matter. And obviously perception has changed.

@justanotherusername: I just raced Morillon and honestly the number of spectators seemed good, and similar if not more spectators than my experience racing in 2022 EWS in Scotland, Austria, Italy and Canada during the so called “peak”. The climb on stage 7 was a great spectator zone, and also lots of people cheering on the grass turns on stages 3, 4, and 8. People want to see the action not the finish line in a parking lot.