Aaron Gwin Likely Out Until Mont-Sainte-Anne

 ...and the World Champs. I would love to see him win it this year.

 i had my thumb fold into my palm in a very forceful accident. the meaty section connected to my thumb right below the center of my palm turned purple. had to take ~6 weeks off from riding because i couldn't in my mind safely hold on to handlebars. and i'm riding at far less than 1/2 the pace and 1/2 the gnar of UCI DH. yeah...thumb injuries seem small but it really messes with your confidence. when you apply brake, it also forces your hand more into the bar and causes more pain. hoping gwin can fully fight at worlds. heal up, g-man!

 for sure! I'm currently healing from a ruptured tendon in my index finger, you don't realize how much you need it till its gone!!

 Especially when you hurt your wrists. Nights will never be the same.

 Hand injuries take the longest time to heal 100%. I took me about 3 months to heal a soft tissue injury to my right palm.

 @chyu: ahahaaaaha!

 Yes, in second place after Minnaar.

 @SimonD: Nah...Minnaar already has 3. That said, kudos to Minnaar for being such a badass for this long in a tough sport.

 I imagine that like most things UCI they will make an exception for the right rider. But Gwin being Gwin he'll no doubt come back and dominate the last couple rounds and keep his protected status, even if the overall is too far.

 to finish in the top 10 he'll probably need to compete in and get a top 10ish finish in one of the three remaining races. After half the season Gwin has 481 points and Wallace (currently 10th) has only 277.
Of course to be protected for the first round of 2019, he only needs to finish 20th this year; which is pretty much a given already with 481 points. from there, he needs to finish top 10 in the first race to then be protected going forward.

 Even if he wasn't protected for the first race, there's a rather slim chance he wouldn't manage to qualify in a decent position anyway.

 @HankBizzle: you are right.
10th is Jack Moir with 625 points just now and Aaron has 1321 points with Troy next on 1092 and Loic on 1009.
Maybe Aaron will come back and be pretty much on top still.

 The only real way to save his season. Hope he finally gets one.

 A terrifying thought for the rest of the field.

 I would say no because you have to figure Pierron will be up there regardless of Gwin winning. Mathematically, I have no clue

 Amaury has won three now, he'd have to get a couple DNFs or abysmal results for Gwin to catch him

 im going to say that the basis that his chances (even if he did not miss any races) of taking the overall were so low that it factored into him affording himself to properly heal. pierron is on such a tear right now. no such thing as a sure thing...but yeah. he's killing it right now. and better to save the effort in racing and put it towards rehab.

 Probably not. This is why the UCI needs to expand the calendar instead of just having 6 fuckin rounds at the same damn venues every year. 1 tiny injury can screw you for the whole season unless it happens to be right before a big break between races.

 @ianswilson815: amen to that, brotha!

 @ianswilson815: Would be nice to see another North American stop for sure