Video: 'Honestly, It Elevated the Sport' - Aaron Gwin Discusses his Impact on World Cup Racing

Nov 4, 2021 at 4:31
by James Smurthwaite  

Gypsy Tales is a motocross podcast hosted by Jase MacAlpine but it has also hosted mountain bikers in the past including Sam Hill, Dean Lucas and now Aaron Gwin.

With nearly 4 hours of discussion on tape, there was guaranteed to be some great insight and Jase has published the above highlight on his YouTube. In it, Gwin talks about breaking into the sport, what advantages he had from his moto and BMX background and how his moto-inspired training program helped to raise the level of downhill racing.

Tune in to the full podcast for some more great insight into Gwin's process and story. Our highlights were the discussions on why Gwin thinks he was sometimes perceived negatively early in his career (2:45), how he learned to deal with the pressure of winning (3:10), how he sees the future of his career (3:38 ) and that Val di Sole run in 2012 (3:45)

Liston to the full podcast on iTunes or Spotify

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175 Comments
  • 248 4
 The title of this article feels like it pushing to put Gwin into douche terriority but even in this edited clip he seems pretty balanced in terms of his appraise of himself. He's not got the wins lately but he's a focused guy and even if he hasn't been shining of late think he's far from done.
  • 147 55
 We have to remember that Pinkbike writers are still mostly hacks with average bike riding skills
  • 68 0
 Agreed. The title is click bait, but also true! He's a cool and honest guy and I didn't get a big ego vibe out of the interview.
  • 20 3
 It's the title of the podcasts YouTube snippet. Jase once even talked about why he has to go with such clickbaity titles
  • 21 0
 Winner's mentality. Confident in his process.
  • 10 2
 @elhombrelasse: IN particular to YT its the algorithm, it not only straight up prioritizes clickbait, if your not pushing the boundries of clickbait you'll likely fall by the way side. Now labelling a podcast with such a baity title, that makes no sense to me.
  • 37 8
 If people feel his honesty is being a "douche", I think that speaks more towards the person perceiving it this way. This always happens in DH. Someone comes along and dominates because they're approaching things differently and the rest of the field adapts. Its no different than when Nico was winning every race because he actually trained while the rest of the field never trained and even partied the night before the race. Soon enough, everyone else started to train, taking DH racing more seriously and then Nico wasn't winning every race or a majority of races before he retired from DH.

It takes someone very special to change the way people approach a discipline.
  • 17 1
 Yea for real.

I saw the title and was like "damn, Gwin kind of seems full of himself". But then I watched it and had the same thoughts as you. I guess just another example of why it's so important to read, or listen in this case, beyond the headlines and tweets.
  • 15 2
 who knows if Gwin will make a comeback, Minnaar had a slump for a few years too. I personally don't think Gwin will ever match Minnaars numbers, but Gwin pulled in viewers to the Redbull feed like no one else. The only run that can compete with the excitement of Gwin's chainless run, MSA in the rain, and Windam win is Danny Harts World Champs in the rain. Gwin elevated the sport by bringing in eyeballs like no other DH athlete before or since.
  • 14 24
flag wobblegoblin (Nov 4, 2021 at 7:33) (Below Threshold)
 Pinkbike???? Or Clickbike???

Shitty “journalism” at its worst.
  • 9 0
 @iian: That's about right. Minnaar is no different... probably just a lot more fun to hang out with after the race.
  • 13 6
 Agreed - This must be the new Outside Magazine MO for getting clicks. I don't like it.
  • 9 3
 @Mntneer: "writers" may be generous.
  • 16 5
 Welcome to the Outside click bait articles
  • 5 5
 @Mntneer: holy shit upvote this guy
  • 3 0
 Seems to be a fair statement because I think I have heard other pros over the last decade also say that Gwin did elevate the sport. Once he came on board and decimated the field in 2011 and 2012, many of them realized that they had to train much harder and take in more seriously.
  • 9 2
 @ryann: I wish Journalists would give some significant consideration to if titles like this are deserved in any way. The quote by itself is silly and made to engage you to see if he's really a di*ck like that sounds. He is not and it's not fair in this case to imply such.
  • 6 2
 That's what I thought! Gwin is not like that at all when you hear him on podcasts. Way to go Pinkbike, this click bait title isn't very nice.
  • 4 5
 @Mntneer: that is definitely not true. Levy put down a top 20 at the BCBR with like 600 competitors and Kaz is nasty on a DH bike.
  • 8 1
 @hamncheez: Its the dominance vs longevity argument. Minnar is a freak of nature doing what he is doing at his age, but he is the exception not the norm. Gwin on the other hand while in his prime could be argued was the best DH rider ever. Its like comparing Tiger Wood to Jack Nicklaus. Tiger may not have as many majors, but I think most would agree that Tiger, relative to his peers was the best and most dominant player. The way he just destroyed everyone for that 10ish year period was unreal. Kind of like the prime of Gwins careers.
  • 5 2
 @greener1: it's not pinkbikes fault or there writers. It's just a Gypsy Tales clip tile, he's simply playing the YouTube algorithm. As well it's an actual quote from Gwin on an almost 4hr long podcast. Not sure why anyone should even care, find something better to complain about.
  • 3 4
 If he was really good at Moto he could have made more money! But honestly was he better than Ricky, Bubba, Ward, Hannah or McGrath! I don’t see his name on greatest motor cross riders
  • 3 0
 @Mntneer: I'll wager that they mostly have above average bike riding skills. It's their writing skills that are average at best
  • 3 3
 @sino428: Bad analogy because golf is lame and boring.
  • 3 1
 @scott-townes: I think the comment was that the title of the article made it sound like he was a douche and that this was not congruent with how he presented himself on the podcast.
  • 2 0
 @BrambleLee: Amateur "Golf" is mostly drinking and talking shit. Similar to Nascar, it's more fun racing/playing than watching
  • 4 0
 @MikeGruhler: I'm aware that it's an actual quote. My point is it is cherry picked to create a feeling from the reader / viewer about the person that is unfair and it shouldn't be highlighted out of the context of the conversation. I don't like it. Furthermore, I'll complain about whatever I like.
  • 2 0
 @greener1: Get real this is Pinkbike. Not a news or journalism site, they literally copy and pasted this shit from YouTube. Go ahead and complain about what you like but normally one complains about things they dislike. Lol
Maybe you should listen to Gypsy Tales but just don't watch his clips on YouTube, all his titles will trigger you apparently. /s
  • 2 0
 @greener1: well, it's also the title of the video they link to...
  • 5 1
 He 100% lifted the game, just like Sam Hill lifted it a few years earlier. He wasn't winning by a second or two, he was smashing the whole field by 5+ seconds at almost every race, if that isn't lifting the pace I don't know what is.
  • 4 0
 @Mntneer: And average writings skills too for that matter...
  • 3 0
 @MikeGruhler: I have watched Gypsy Tales clips several times before with some of the moto guys and I know that it is the style of the channel to do these sort of quotes as headlines. You are right: I would be much less annoyed just listening to it in podcast format, no question.
  • 1 5
flag slayerdegnar (Nov 5, 2021 at 11:13) (Below Threshold)
 Yeah, but Sam hill, Gee, and Minnar pushed it the sport even harder...but you don't hear them bragging about it.
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: Yeah, totally agree. I remember a friend of mine who is not at all into biking, sending me the video of Danny Hart's run in the rain and saying how awesome it was.
  • 72 3
 Gwin was hittin' the gym and eating right while ratboy was ripping gravity bongs and dropping tabs. Not shaming the rat, but it's a different level of effort Gwin put in and it paid off.
  • 22 2
 Spot on. Anyone who is anyone now lives in the gym due to AG's rise to dominance at that time.
  • 39 1
 Yes, Ratboy is more chill than Gwin, but that year Ratboy won the overall he trained hard. He was in the gym, he was eating right, and most importantly he was passing drug tests.
  • 12 1
 And in 2014 he still beat Gwin in windham after what Gwin thought was a faultless run
  • 25 1
 By "him" I mean Josh. When Josh won he wasn't taking it easy. He was killing it in the gym and eating right. From the interviews I've seen, that kind of lifestyle was making Josh hate mountain biking, and it simply wasn't sustainable. So he left the sport honorably.
  • 5 0
 @petrospit: Rats a better rider or was Gwins the complete package an absolute beast. He’ll be back, gwins to strong mentally to just fade out.
  • 2 0
 @hamncheez: spot on. Funny how people think the rat could have accomplished what he did while just hitting gravity bongs and tabs lmao. Would have been impressive, but no…
  • 2 0
 Hey rat still won world cups...and could have won more if he just wanted to focus everything on just racing. Seems like Gwin and Bruni don't even ride for fun, it's just for the win. Seems like a lame way to me
  • 1 0
 @slayerdegnar: That's racing for ya. Takes the fun out of it for sure!
  • 62 1
 something something bmx background
  • 7 1
 What's the origin story of that meme?
  • 62 0
 @Arierep: one of the PB academy contestants has a bmx background. Her bmx background may be giving her an edge over the competition that doesn’t have a bmx background. Time will tell if her bmx background can help her gain some time back from her non-bmx background having competitors.
  • 5 0
 @Arierep: PB Academy season 2
  • 3 0
 BMX really seems to svck when everyone switches to MTB
  • 1 2
 @sjma: haha seriosuly tired of hearing about it, her background doesnt help her AT ALL.
  • 36 1
 Brutal honesty and arrogance often go hand in hand. However, I love how everybody forgets how dominant this guy was. I realize his personality makes this hard. James Stewart did the same thing to mx/sx in the early 2000's. He upped the game and then eventually couldn't keep up with the new breed of racer that he helped create. He struggled with it the same way Gwinn is now.

This happens with every sport at some point. Back in the 70's and 80's you bought a motocross bike, an old pick up and went to the races. You could be competitive back then. My father had an AMA pro card in the 80's while working full time. He even qualified for a few mx and sx main events. This would never happen now. Now kids are bred for it. Home schooled, live on the road and the family is committed to racing. Mx is a much more developed sport than downhill racing. Most DH tech is trickle down from MX and so are the training methods.
  • 3 1
 While you can never expect to see working guys top 10 in MX or SX there are still a decent amount of guys especially outdoors running the circuit while mostly working full time or at least full privateering it. Stock bikes are closer than they’ve ever been to factory equipment, suspension on factory bikes is still the big differentiator. A lot of races you’ll see local legends sniff around the top 20.

I think American moto is the only high level Motorsport where you can still see dudes clock off on Friday and qualify for the mains on Saturday.
  • 3 1
 @nskerb: I agree with you. However DH is about 20-30 years behind mx in this regard. racers making the top ten relying mostly on raw talent and not the total package to include fitness (both mental and physical) and preparation.

Even today in DH you have guys like Phil Atwill (whom I really like) who shows up and get 7th at WC. Those days are fleeting. Amazing rider but doesn’t seem like he’s on a much if any of training regiment. This is normal progression. Reminds you how young a sport it really is.
  • 4 1
 I don't see what the hate is about his personality. He didn't sign up to become the worlds coolest guy... he signed up to ride his bike fast. He did that really well. I don't watch sports looking for a new idol- but to see people excel in their given discipline. Stick with instagram if you are looking for lifestyle branding. I mean I would prefer people have a bunch of charisma and humor... but also don't think it is fair to demand it of these guys. Gwin is an exciting rider to watch ride, he works his ass off and is one of the best to ever ride a downhill bike. Well done.
  • 22 3
 Out of all the thing's we talked about, this is the title Pinkbike chose to post? lol Dang, the media gonna media. Another reason why podcasts are awesome to understanding someone further than what a clickbait title suggests. Ps- Still love you pinkbike Wink
  • 34 17
 How would an athlete know how hard everyone else is training to be able to make a fair comparison?
  • 15 1
 My thought was that probably the Atherton had a similar level of commitment to their prep at the time. Maybe other guys did too, but the Atherton were quite communicative on the topic.
I guess Gwin being in their with the others, he knew a bit what others were doing. But as it was probably not very cool to be serious about racing, I wouldn’t be surprised if many were hiding it.
  • 19 1
 Thats a fair question. But I think most people would agree that the level has risen across the board since his domination in the 2010's. I think its a pretty fair assessment on his part to think that he had a leg up and that his leg up may have been his training. Everyone else, including the new generation of riders, stepped up in the following years. Sure injuries and age are definitely a partial cause of his decline but everyone else is also that much faster these days.
  • 23 3
 By winning everything and communicating with other athletes and people within the race community / industry.
  • 26 1
 @wilsonians: I have to agree. It seems pretty on-trend to hate Gwin these days and maybe some aspects of his demeanor egg that on. But the fact remains the guy raised the bar in the sport and it has clearly leveled up since.
Other World Cup racers have been quoted saying Gwin 'took the fun out of the sport' because they no longer could party all week and keep up with the new pace. I think everyone knew he brought a new level of professionalism with him when he came over.
We can still see that impact today in terms of the guys that have the raw speed to be as fast of the top 5 but don't have the fitness or enough experience with the level of pressure to be able to do that for a full run - run after run.
ex. I'm sure Brendog can keep up with Bruni on most any section of trail. But doing it all run/every run - all season long is another thing all together.
  • 7 0
 Elite athletic circles are small. Coaches, mechanics, team managers etc all get to see slivers of how a lot of guys work, and over the years an athlete is likely to work with several of each category. If a lot of those guys think you work harder than everyone else… It’s actually hard to imagine how a top athlete could work harder than everyone without being aware of it.
  • 8 1
 @fitnj: Sadly, it seems to have been "on trend" to hate on any rider who's been doing great and then goes through a less successful phase. We've seen it with Sam Hill and even Gee Atherton until recently. I never jumped on any hate-train, it was just a question. No matter how much you see of what others are doing, it will always be near impossible to compare what you know you are doing to what you see others do. Plus, how is this single dimension of "hard" training composed in terms of intensity, duration, recovery etc? It is almost like even if you know everything two different athletes are doing, if their programs are different then they'll be hard to compare. A striking case may be Camille Balanche. She has found methods that work well for her and it may be less physical than what some others are doing, but overall is she training less hard? It is so hard to quantify and especially if you put it on this single dimension as the sport (luckily) isn't so single dimensional.

Either way, I could indeed think of more than a few athletes who were working hard (physically). Gee Atherton comes to mind, but also Greg Minnaar and (though not primarily a DH athlete) Jared Graves. We had seen a couple of years of British and Australian dominance in DH racing and both scenes did have a bit of a laid back attitude yet at the same time there were more than a few from those countries who were clearly super serious and hard working. If feel that image thing (of trying to hide your hard work and not be serious) was more something of the beginning of the century (after the French dominance).
  • 6 0
 @fitnj: Same in the motocross world with Ricky Carmichael.
  • 1 0
 He's reflecting on those years. Hindsight is 2020
  • 6 1
 @wilsonians: He dominated in 2011, 2012 on Trek, then again in 2015 on Specialized (after they changed the bike), he wasnt on the same pace when he went to Specialized at first but was still fast. Then again in 2017 on the YT he got some good wins
Add in to the mix that some other guys were coming back from injury too in that period and it was a very interesting time for racing for sure.
Since then the new fast Frenchies etc have come through and more competitive fields as well as some more natural/traditional sections in tracks, plus AG is older and had his own injures to deal with.

www.rootsandrain.com/rider2949/aaron-gwin/results/filters/organisers21

What becomes really interesting is if you look at 2008,9,10 Domination of Minnaar. Then he came back in 2015, 2017 with a couple of wins in each of the years.

For all the dominance of the fast Frenchies, there has still been so much dominance from a couple of riders over the years.

www.rootsandrain.com/rider926/greg-minnaar/results/filters/seriesgroups244

Then....

Put them head to head and
www.rootsandrain.com/compare926,2949/filters/seriess40,41,47,56,121,243,339,489,603,744,899,1059,1185,1319

Greg has it by 5s in over 4 hours of racing!!!

40 to Greg and 29 to Aaron in 69 UCI head to Heads. (16 o Gregs in Aarons first 3 seasons of WC's though).

So tight between the, incredible athletes.
  • 4 0
 Interesting to hear he was on the John and Eli Tomac program so early. Not too many people know what that is exactly?
  • 2 0
 @betsie: That's some serious geeking out... but I love it
  • 3 0
 @WOLVERINES: John Tomac trained Loic Bruni in the past too
  • 1 0
 @scantregard: Bruni (the family) was friends with Vouilloz too, so Loic was probably in the scene from a young age.
  • 3 0
 by talking to them?
  • 4 1
 @wilsonians: I remember watching a race back when Sam Hill was still racing DH - perhaps the race where Cedric G broke his leg? I distinctly recall that in the coverage Sam was smashing a line no one else was taking - no one apart from Gwinn that is. Sam set the sport alight by taking lines and riding in a way no one else was, and there was a game of catch up to match him. Gwinn came along and he brought not only Sam's aggressive (moto?) style, but also a level of fitness (and focus!) that was unseen. Everyone else was forced to step up their game, hit those lines, train that hard, focus on the small details. Now that is the norm, I expect that we'll see fewer of those 'breakout/dominance' rider performances. A neat thought is how much of this is tied to the arrival of better web content and video capability in the form of smart phones.
  • 2 1
 @nouseforaname: Maybe look at the figures, Sam was incredible, but didnt win as much as you would think, had a do or die attitude, watching him in the Canadian open inside so many corners was awesome, but that awesomeness also saw him crash and famously throw away a worlds jersey. 2007 when Sam first got on the Ironhorse was his year. Sam has 11 wins.

Stick him against Greg and... Greg is miles out on top in the head to head.

www.rootsandrain.com/compare2940,926/filters/seriess40,41,47,48,49,50,56,121,134,135,136,137,243,339,489,603,744

Again this shows that he was not ground breaking, he was different, it was only the 2005,6,7 and 8 seasons where Sam was on top, they started racing head to head in 2001.

Benchmark Sam against Aaron and Greg and you can see where Enduro became Sams focus.

www.rootsandrain.com/compare2940,926,2949/filters/seriess40,41,47,56,121,243,339,489,603,744

(I love roots and rain, takes the remembering guess work out of it, just never look at my results, I wasnt trying haha)
  • 1 5
flag thenotoriousmic (Nov 4, 2021 at 11:42) (Below Threshold)
 @nouseforaname: Gwins got hills skills, peatys determination and commitment and a professionalism that puts minnar to shame.
  • 2 0
 @thenotoriousmic: How so? Their profession is winning races and riding for bike brands. Greg has won more races and stayed more consistent with his team sponsors. Seems pretty professional to me. Greg is a class act- always has been. This isn't a dig against Gwin. The man is amazing. More so curious what data you are including in your analysis to come to those outcomes? Is it primarily based on mentions of Performance Enhancing Jesus use?
  • 1 1
 @snl1200: fair point, it’s just my opinion but it did seem like gwin took it up a level when he arrived on the scene but gregs always been a top pro. As professional as minaar?
  • 1 0
 @betsie: Sam Hill was on Iron Horse well before 2007. Not sure when he quit being sponsored by Mad Catz and started with Monster, but he has been on an Iron Horse at least in 2003.
  • 1 0
 @vinay: Loics father still races DH, was even master world champ a couple of years ago, so he most definitely was in the scene from a young age!
  • 1 1
 @vinay: you are right. 2004 was when he first raced the Sunday.
  • 1 1
 @betsie: What day did he race on before 2004? OK I'm going out.
  • 1 0
 @EnduroManiac: Iron Horse SGS. That's a Monday iirc. Metal Monday to be precise. Wasn't it with Nathan Rennie and Bryn Atkinson?
  • 1 0
 @vinay: the flat pedals murderers from down under!
  • 12 1
 Come on! The title of the podcast is "Honestly it elevated the sport" Aaron Gwin talks about training with Eli & John Tomac - Gypsy Tales. Not the same thing at all! @Pinkbike, your clickbait title is totally unrespectful and makes Gwin sound like a douche, which he isn't at all.
  • 9 4
 I’ll agree that he definitely brought more people to DH and challenged his competition with fitness. However, I lost all respect for him last year when he was tweeting misinformation about COVID treatments. When you have an audience as big as his it’s totally unacceptable. Loved watching him dominate but my opinion of him and his ethics have changed a lot.
  • 5 0
 I know Gwin has had a number of injuries throughout his career but I feel like the 2019 ankle injury due to a broken E*THIRTEEN crank had a massive impact on his bike handling and pace. Setting the fact that they tagged that on all around good guy John Wall and "old cranks" aside (absolute bull), Gwin just never seemed to be the same after that.

I know from experience how tough an ankle injury can be (broken talus and a few other bones) and just feel like that is the most significant event describing his declining pace and consistency.
  • 1 0
 Yeah, actually, it was a few injuries (thumb, shoulder?) and right around when starting to race on new team bike and then 2020 shutdowns. Not excuses, but certainly can be distracting.
  • 10 5
 Gwin has started to include politics, critical race theory and anti-vax crap into his instagram feed, then complains when people stop following him. Great US representation on the bike, but He lost me after embracing conservative culture warrior stuff.
  • 8 1
 Maybe go on the Tomac training program again.
  • 4 1
 Gwin came in with VERY little mountain bike experience, trained his ass off, and MOPPED the field of dudes that had been riding mountain bikes for a lot longer. Ya. He elevated the sport.

The media beat on Gwin for a long time and is probably the reason he doesn’t interview much. Jase is a great podcaster.
  • 2 1
 Exactly. He was doing okay on YT just a few years ago, that's nothing compared to the time Sam Hill spent off the podium and then he came back on Nuke Proof and won a few world cups during a very competitive era.

Gwin can do the same. He's also invested in his own bike company which is huge for the sport as a rider, who else does that while still competing? He's probably the first rider to show others how professional you can be in DH and how much money you can make if you truly value yourself. I'd bet that Gwin is responsible for riders earning more money now, he's really the start of the professional era. Give credit where credit is due.
  • 2 0
 In the 90's Voullioz was already the king of maintaining speed (on straights and corners) and the first influx of BMXers (Cully, Lopes, King, Chausson, Pascal, Gracia, DeBever, Pistol Pete etc etc) already brought the smoothness factor to DH.....
  • 2 0
 I think Sam did the same thing in Enduro. He came on the scene and set the bar much higher than it was. His fitness was unreal those 3 years he dominated as was his technical skill. This year a lot of guys caught up and surpassed him but I don't think he's done. Most of us would agree that is what happened with Aaron; although to be fair he had some tough injuries to deal with. I don't think AG is done either.
  • 2 0
 Surpassed? Idk, I think Sam in those days would have been competitive. He's always been an on off rider, he's either winning or just cruising without an in-between, that's been throughout his career. He got 3 in a row I don't think you can do much better than that, I doubt we will see that again for a long time. But remember Richie and Mae's were both cut out of the points race during that period
  • 3 0
 to be fair, he did elevate the sport. He was untouchable for season after season. I can't believe he never won worlds - it was just seen as a matter of time. Like Tiger Woods winning the most majors it seemed inevitable
  • 2 0
 Minnaar commented on the pinkbike podcast that everyone at the top look now look like meatheads. Surprised that guys like Bruni and especially Rude can carry so much muscle mass in their perceived endurance sports. Times and methods seem to be changing, the watts, power output and surviving fatigue seem to be key.
  • 2 0
 Can't go wrong with Gypsy Tales, he has an affinity with his guests that other podcasts don't. Go listen to the Sam Hill one if you haven't yet, he really gets him to open up.
  • 3 2
 Yeah, I appreciate the hard work he put in, and he's one of my favorite riders to watch. I am honestly disgusted by plenty of the views he's expressed. Not only was he a trumper, but he's now gone on to be pretty anti vax, and he's also one of those people who are, for some reason, against critical race theory. He's kind of just got kind of, indecent and honestly idiotic opinions on sooo many important issues. Guy can REALLY corner though, that's for sure.
  • 7 2
 baby GOAT
  • 2 0
 I'm a Gwin fan but it's a little odd right now. He's not on top, but he's not retired where we can look back at his amazing career. I want to just be happy for him...
  • 3 0
 He's still got more in the tank
  • 1 1
 @inside-plus: off course he's still competitive at a high level. But winning a WC? That likely isn't happening as competition is too incredible now. 3rd best american behind dak and charlie.
  • 5 0
 Jase kills it. period.
  • 1 1
 he is a great rider but no better than any other because we can not compare riders. If there was one male and one female that shone brighter I would name Nicolas Vouilloz and Anne Caroline Chausson . As far as life long then the GOAT is a no brainer but Gwin will be forever famous for his chainless wonders.
  • 3 1
 Nah dude, go watch replays of Gwins best runs, on Trek especially. He was riding with a looseness and agression that no one else other than Sam Hill has been able to pull off consistently. Gwin was hitting things with the throttle stuck on.
  • 2 1
 It is interesting in these comments how people seem to have forgotten how dominant Gwin was for two or three seasons. It got to the point where it almost wasn't enjoyable to watch downhill because if Gwin got to the bottom (and he usually did) he was going to win and by a wide margin. I can't remember which season it was but there was one where he almost won every race.

In today's racing the French as a country are similarly dominant but it takes like 4 guys to hit the same level of consistency as Gwin showed on his own.

That dominance could not happen now. The level of downhill is too high, you have to be on or beyond the limit to find the podium today. That increase in the level of DH racing is due in no small part to Gwin's early 2010s performance.
  • 1 0
 @inside-plus: throttle stuck and then he hit a tree and it ended unlike others who rose and continued Gwinning
  • 1 0
 if there are remaining folks still detracting from AG and everything he's accomplished, lol.... no, you're totally secure and fine, everything is fine.
  • 1 0
 I think the difference between downhill and motocross is 8 races a season compared to 60 races or there abouts.
  • 1 0
 One of these days... he shall rise again ! GUY IS A F#$&^*% UFO ON WHEELS
  • 2 2
 @Pinkbike you don't have to use click bait, i like your content as it is. Click bait is dishonest at its core and off-putting.
  • 3 2
 Haters are going to hate, but then again pinkbikers think Jared Graves and Loris are good role models for the sport.
  • 1 0
 Whats wrong with Loris?
  • 8 11
 Gwin can say whatever he wants, but the GOAT is and always will be Greg Minnaar. Numbers are there as hard evidence. If someone pushes it hard to make the sport progress it has been the GOAT for more than 20 years, not for a period of 5-6 years, and then partially go out.
  • 11 3
 You can say whatever you want, Gwin has been litterally killing everyone during a few years. It pushed everyone to progress and raise their level, whether you want it or not, it's a fact. He did not slow down, others accelerated. It was the same story with Sam Hill.
  • 2 0
 Twas a great podcast.
  • 2 1
 Hes so humble
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