Well to bad there wasn't more live footage of the riders. As a swede it felt a little sad that we didn't get to se Wallners last run and like some one here in sweden put it: "Double facepalm when Brad J & Keene asked them selves who that mystic Wallner-guy was who was in the hot seat with only the top riders left..
"Who is this Robin Wallner guy?" - Brad J "I think he's a Norwegian rider who left downhilling to try his hands at enduro." – Keene
A hint to Keene would be to tip up his re-bull cap and look 44 places above him in the EWS total...
He doesn't have to know who Wallner is, I have never heard of him up until now and by inferring that Keene had no respect for him is kinda wrong, he simply cannot know who each and every racer is, where they come from and their previous racing history.
Gotta say this is really boring to watch. I think its a truly great part of the sport but watching some of the Missy stuff from the early 90's this looks almost the same. Just long fire road shots on the tamest parts of the course. shame they cant get in the good stuff to show how good these guys really are :/
Not only is the coverage horrible, but they don't tell you what's really going on. For example, what were the times on stage 5? Who won the stage? How much advantage or disadvantage did each competitor have at the top of stage 5? (Rude won the stage, Graves was second. The competitive stage times were in the 13 minute range). Horrible coverage. Does not help the image of Enduro.
Someone explain Enduro races to me, I watched the last part to see Richie Rude come down since he seems to be the clear spectacle here, but it looked like a bunch of fire roads and switchbacks. How are these races set up ? I'm so used to watching downhill I don't get this stuff
Enduro is nice cause it is Mountain Biking but this Enduro hype is boring. Im a downhill racer and dont like Enduro races its boring, tons of places for"smart" riders to cut the track... Im happy this Enduro shit is almost over...
The coverage never shows you anything. Essentially, racing on DH trails on trail bikes with the addition thousands of feet of climbing. Add in some short climbs in the timed stages and you have a proper enduro race. Pretty much the most mentally and physically demanding gravity racing out there. Definitely here to stay, unfortunately the TV coverage blows.
Really good coverage if you like men in a booth, a fire road dash or a 100 metre tech descent. I'm pumped bro.
Ews coverage last year was brilliant in comparison, it's not just this round, they've all been very badly covered for whatever reason.
"Double facepalm when Brad J & Keene asked them selves who that mystic Wallner-guy was who was in the hot seat with only the top riders left..
"Who is this Robin Wallner guy?" - Brad J
"I think he's a Norwegian rider who left downhilling to try his hands at enduro." – Keene
A hint to Keene would be to tip up his re-bull cap and look 44 places above him in the EWS total...
^watch Atherton's pov, it should answer your question.
TL;DR: the coverage is awful, the tracks are gnarly. Stage 5 in whistler was basically a 15 minute DH track, unreal.
#COisthebomb
Richie kicked all their A's. Long live King Richard!