Results: Mens XCO

 In Britain it's cos all the potential riders get dragged off to road cos there's more funding and money in that scene.

 Seems like forever since the days of Roland Green and the like. I think most of the talent there got absorbed by the road-scene as gregh mentioned. The rest found more success in either cyclocross or enduro.

 I think the level of XC racing is a bit higher here in europe as in north america - from what i heard. Maybee that's also a reason why north americans don't have top WC racer's.

 That is true, Lordofdogtown. I know the US cycling federation pretty-much caters to the road scene and everybody else gets to fight for scraps. Over there, they have a far better balance (and funding) for all disciplines.

It's amazing how off-the-back we are over here in that regard...and also very depressing.

 I wouldn't necessarily say it's not a priority, it's just more grassroots/regional type stuff these days. Hard to pay for racing or traveling even within North America when money is thin...let alone flying abroad to race.

 We have Enduro. I think thats only because its closer to downhill.

 We're not really on the radar at the elite-level in enduro either, but I have to agree with the reasons for its popularity state-side (globally, really).

 Did you miss the womens results? Lea Davison got Fourth, if I'm not mistaken that's a career best for her. We do lack a ton of funding for the MTB side of things, but Todd Wells, and Sam Schultz are both great examples of good American mtb riders that have produced decent results-unfortunately it seems both didn't compete at this event.

 Saw that, acutally - very impressed. We've always had one or two women near the top in xc for so long that I've actually taken that for granted. We have talent in both genders, they're just not getting the proper recognition for whatever reasons.

 I was going to say, the American woman do pretty well!

 I think we're on to something - that being the guys just want to pin it and huck.

 Yeah...had a flashback seeing Martinez still hanging with the big-guns of today. Also, glad I was sitting down when you mentioned Horner won the Vuelta. WOW! I haven't followed road for several years, now but I figured he was long-gone from the elites. Good on him!

 they're both doping, horner and martinez

 Unfortunately, I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the case, addyk.

 Interesting you say that 'cuz if UCI didn't change the "dress code" for DH, all would be wearing nothing but lycra

FYI, 5 years ago UCI banned the wearing of “tight-fitting clothing” after Tracy Moseley, wearing a skinsuit, won the women’s race by four seconds from Rachel Atherton in the Australian round of the mountain bike world cup. Food for thoughts.

 Same question goes for all equipment by your logic. Equipment plays a large role in the overall results. Does Gee have a better shot at winning against equally skilled competition because he's on a GT and gets the highest level of factory support on every component? Is Gwin having a tough year because he switched to Specialized and the bike isn't working as well as the Trek? From the XC side, I guaranty Nino Shurter gets better results on his custom dugast tires than if he was running off the shelf Schwalbes. So equipment does make a difference, including skin suits.

 Point noted. How can you say for certainty, that so and so is winning or losing because of specific equipment be it bike design, tires , outfit etc.. I think it's 90% all in your head. Sure top of the line helps.

 Ricky, they don't shave their legs for speed.

 I believe you wear what the sport requires you to, you need lycra for XC just like you need Speedos for swimming, and if a uniform defines your sexuality I feel real sorry for you...

 If being aero didn't help, then why are DH shorts and jerseys getting tighter and tighter, and Athertons use their race numbers to pin their jerseys tighter? Note that this behaviour is in contradiction to Rachel's 'skinsuits suck' statement.

If lycra was allowed, then I can guarantee that the top contenders would have run it at PMB. If you would rather come second in baggies than wear a skinsuit and come first, you ain't a real racer.

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 just an FYI, there's a site policy against profanity and that includes cheater profanity with asterixes and stuff slipped in place of vowels...