DH & XC World Champs Teams Announced

 I came to the comments just to see if anyone else appreciated! and they do!

 I've been checking back regularly in the hope for a helmet review...

 @JakeWI: Ha! Beat me to it...

 @JakeWI: and a 5.10 article that just few enough people complain about. Maybe an off brand clipless shoe so it doesn't get too many comments and stays in it's rightful place.

 Failure to wear the rainbow jersey where required carries a penalty of 2500 to 5000 Swiss francs.[3]

 They did it. Yes PB.

 Pretty sure Luca is going to qualify the fastest.

 It has gotten even better, flic.kr/p/MxVajh

 @TOU93: That's fantastic, well done Pinkbike.

 This is how you win internet @Pinkbike !

 kfox@usacycling.org needs to answer why they picked a kid who has lost 14 out of 16 times to Morgan,
Morgan beat him 2 of 3 times this year.
AND Morgan won a 2018 ProGRT
AND Morgan has multiple 2018 results at World Cups & Crankworx events....all coming off a crusher injury.

Smells like an unearned favor. Corruption???
I mean...you can't miss it.

 @bizutch: Agreed. Sounds like advertising dollars and bullshit politics wins again. Bummer for kids to see that a privateer gets robbed of earning this spot. Shows that if you don't make it on a team by the time they are 18 then they won't make it in the downhill world. Which is literally killing the sport. Great job USA Cycling.

 @bizutch: USAC probably more scared of the "Q factor" haha.

 Garbage decision by USA Cycling... Max is trending in the right direction and has superior results, especially recently. Not a knock on Nik, but performance is performance and this decision is clearly being based on something other than that. The potential excuse that it's about setting Nik up for the future is horseshit, make him earn it, that's a much better lesson for a young kid than giving the equivalent of an unearned handout, and might be the wake up call that would prompt him to focus and buck the negative trend he's been on the past couple of years. Never mind that decisions like this are universally bad for the sport in the US as it sends a message of a rigged game to talented athletes and families who are thinking about getting involved. There's no room for feelings or favorites at the top level of sport if the actual goal is to win....

 @briannestoroff: so your saying that USAC should pick a possibly injured rider who hasn't qualified for a WC all year? I do sense some bias in your screen name so not sure if a difference of opinion will even matter.

 I would guess that age is a big factor. I think I have read in the past they try to use spots they designate for building the future. So if am building fo the future a teenager is better than someone in mid 20s. Based on UCI rankings you could say a few other were screwed over more.

 @briannestoroff: Ignoring the fact that your screen name SCREAMS bias, Bizutch was stating the results which have all year been in favor of Morgan. He is not slighting or bashing Nik but rather bashing the fact that USAC gave the spot to someone who is less deserving than Morgan purely based on results. We all understand that Nik has a great future, he is a young kid with a shit load of potential. But this year, he should not have gotten that spot, purely based on results alone, not mentioning the fact that he may be injured from Andorra. This is a handout because he is young and they are using it as a "development opportunity". But that decision has stolen the spot of someone equally, probably more deserving, because that guy isn't a young gun with as much time ahead. He should earn it. And in order to do that, he needs to consistently beat all the guys ahead of him. He will start to do that at some point, but this year he did not have those results, and somehow he still got the spot. So please explain to me how that is not in some case biased or playing favorites by USAC?

 Typical USA Cycling west coast bias. Been going on for decades.

 @briannestoroff:

Be cool, dad. You're not helping Nik by calling people idiots online.

 Oh... oh yea @SangamonTaylor:

 It doesn’t say “crashed” “hurt” or “unprepared” next to your name on the results list. Results are results. I’ve been on both sides of this coin. Gutted for max. @ianswilson815:

 @dnorton19: Yup. They use these slots to "give experience" and it screws deserving riders that just happen to be a few years older. Its sad but the way they do things for some reason. World Champs should not be a "development opportunity". Its a huge honor and privilege so give that honor to someone who earned it through his results, not just cuz he might have those results in a couple years.

 Email I received from Marc Gullickson when I inquired about how they came to their decision:

"Hello Melanie,

Thank you for your email. I have read through it thoroughly and would like to bring to your attention the reasons for our selection. The decision on the 7th and final position for the team this year was not an easy one to make and there were several factors that the committee weighed in their selection process.


Our USA Cycling Selection Committee ultimately made the unanimous decision to choose Nik Nestoroff for the final position on our team based on his future medal capability. We determined that Nik’s result trajectory over his short racing career provides a higher probability that he will at some point in the future be a medal capable rider at the DH World Championships. Since Max and Nik’s results this season were by and large comparable to each other, we looked to our Principles of Athlete Selection document which the USAC Selection Committee is tasked with adhering to when making the selections. This part of the selection document prioritizes future medal capability over immediate results when there is a reasonable argument that a riders result trajectory is improving at a faster rate.


Without a doubt Max has had a good season and we wish him continued luck in the future."

 Disagree. He hasn't proven himself at the highest level yet.

 @bizutch: at smaller events, you mean? Fine. But Nesteroff has the experience to perform under pressure at the highest level and that's a bit important.

 @thesharkman: logic here please? The rider some feel got snubbed in this decision has qualified for WC's this year while the guys who got the team selection has not. And finished higher at the national champs event, who's one day format for a title is similar to world champs. Is there a higher level that he is more preppared for? experience other than never racing an elite final at a world cup level?

Not hating just stating facts and looking for clarity.

 @melaniehess: Thanks. This is the kind of reporting that Pinkbike should have done.

 @aaronjb: these debates come up with everyone's national team selection. So for PB to delve into the minutia of each one isn't practical. And to just follow up on one is a bit biased for the site on a whole (my own bias would certainly prevent me from pushing this much further outside of the comments section). That of course doesn't mean individual members of the community can't take the issue to comments as dine here. If anything I wish the comments section was this productive on a regular basis.

 @davetrumpore: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! right?!? that guy is scary!

 @caliripper12345: why did you change your name from @briannesteroff to @caliripper12345 ?

@briannestoroff: I actually DO know what it takes. I've been in DH since 1992. I've tried to make it, been offered a pro card at age 30 & declined it because it's silly to turn pro at 30 if you're not going to make money at it. I've taken trips all over the US with other riders who were making it pro. Have raced with many of these guys who grew from tiny groms to the pros they are now.

Your argument is a PITY PARTY. I don't teach my daughters to get places in life out of pity. Max was broken this year too & came back from it. Here is the hard cold math head to head. I'll copy & paste the FACTS from VitalMTB. And don't use the ProGRT stacking of points crap. Points don't equal FASTER:

Max has beaten him at 6 events of 7 this year. (Nick only actually beat him at 1 event because the other 2 of the 7 they both didn't qualify for the W.C. Final)
Max beat N.N. at the Windrock ProGRT
Max beat N.N. at US National Championships
Maxes seeding at Ft. Bill & Leogang was higher by an average of 25 places when they both missed the cut
Max raced all 5 World Cups
Max made TWO World Cup Finals & finished his race runs at both
Nick missed qualifying at all 4 of his World Cup attempts
It's completely wrong that we are sending someone who could not qualify for a World Cup.
Max won the Downhill Southeast race against Neko & Dakotah. Nick has Zero 2018 pro wins anywhere
Max dislocated a toe & still qualified at Andorra

No doubt N.N. could stomp a big old pro mudhole in most of the US, but Worlds is about what you've earned in 2018.

Again, head to head he beat Max once in 7 tries.

Clock....don't...lie.

 @davetrumpore: hahahaha he changed his username from @briannestoroff to caliripper12345 so that no one would see the insane bias coming from behind his comments and to protect his kid from his dad insulting people on the internet.

 @thesharkman: huh? I think you went dyslexic for a sec my friend & argued in reverse.

 @melaniehess: @melaniehess: "Without a doubt Max has had a good season and we wish him continued luck in the future."

Let me translate that last sentence for those who don't speak good English: Mark Gullickson said "f*ck you Max Morgan. We don't care how fast the clock says you were time after time. We're picking the kid cause we found a loophole."

For those like @davetrumpore who do speak USAC English, this is a more literal translation:
"Fokk you double hard Max. Fokk your privateer self right in the arse. Quit! USAC fokking hates you. Never succeed again. Take all your wipe ass downhill ridership and suck our collective USAC scrotum.
P.S. Your membership dues are increasing Bisshes!!"

 @bizutch: Well, they took at least one privateer to worlds, so...

 @melaniehess: higher probability/growth rate..omg, are these the same guys that made the hockey stick graph to show global warming?

 @bizutch: Please change your user name to "TheTruth"!

 any who is Abigail Hogie?!

 @bizutch: agreed.

I don't think Lil Nik has even qualifed for a world cup this year. that's saying something.

Only thing i can think of is max with company support is essentially a privateer out there and Nik has 2 years of full factory support and more experience in that arena.

 I blame Bruce Klein & @loganbinggeli for not racing full time this year or we'd reallllllyyyyyy be splitting some hairs this year.

Hey Logan, until Bruce gutted his arm like a whale off the coast of Japan....how was he feeling at Nationals? Was eager to see if he was gonna crack...wait for this year's most popular overused phrase...…….."the pointy end" of the podium?

 @bizutch: I've seen Bruce race in person (Mammoth GRT) and he is one to watch! Dude is a ripper!! I had on my Fantasy team til I realized he was injured.

 @endlessblockades: Before he was hurt, I felt like he was going to post bigger numbers than Dak & Neko this year based on his World Cup trajectory last season with Neko, Dak & Luca making big leaps themselves.

 Full disclaimer, I love Nik and Bruce, I had the opportunity to talk with Max and he sounds like a great guy as well.
Decisions are always difficult, I hope they don't read these comments because stirring this sh*t don't help them to cope with it!
It makes it sour for everybody!

Let's agree on few facts. Everything is possible but the odd of Nik or Max being world champion this year are small.
So what is the motive for USAC to spend money on these guys? It's an investment to give them experience, it's not an award to celebrate their results!
Max had a great season and he already went to the worlds in 2014 and to the continental champs twice, he definitively received some support from USAC in the past.
I would love to see him "clicking" and to get to the highest level but It's unlikely that racing the worlds this year will help him to step up his game.
In the other hand, there's is more to learn for a first year pro rider and it might benefit his mental strength, experience and yadi yada.
I often disagree on USAC but for once I'm glad my money is spent to support the future of the sport.

#GoTeamUSA

 @khsfactoryracing: Nope! Just someone who thinks the person who performs at the highest level and has EARNED their spot on the team should go. Thats all.

 @khsfactoryracing: if you're the guy who was yelling, making an embarrassing scene, and picking a fight with one of the organizers in the pits at the Pro GRT in Windrock then yes.

 *shots fired*

 Ladies and gentlemen... Let's all check the who's and opinions at the door and stop this detailed train right here. No one comes out of this looking good, not me, not KHS, or Butch, or Dak, or Max, or Melanie... It's bike racing. Deep breaths, relax and everyone just stop. No one is changing anyone's mind here, but we can support whoever pulls on the stars and stripes or we don't... Be on the right side of that decsision.

 And that should read egos and opinions T the door and stop detailed train... Autocorrect fails.

 @davetrumpore: I am now smiling at a failed attempt at correcting yourself. I am also severely disappointed in having missed the tantrum at Windrock you speak of.

Please humor me and send me a PM or message or smoke signals describing the ass-hattery.
You know I love ass-hattery in cycling.

 @endlessblockades: ... @briannestoroff @caliripper12345 ... LaVar Ball, is that you?

 Gee has had his time being realistic and been super successfull at that, time to give the young uns a chance and Brendan really hasnt pulled the results out this year, there are probably a few other riders who would get the go before him realistically based on results.

 @justanotherusername: I'll agree that gee isn't as fast as he used to be, but he's still consistently getting top 20 results given that he's no injured I reckon, but then he seems to get injured quite often.. Still I'd say he's still faster than a few names on the list.. Oh well I guess that's the hard part of having a country with so many strong contenders...

 @macimecdufour: Thats it isnt it, so many good riders to choose from, remember what happened when Gee pulled out through injury and his replacement nearly won the thing? (greenland wasnt it?)

 @justanotherusername: I believe it was Bernard Kerr (4th maybe?)

 @thesharkman: LOL this is his first full year coming back from a huge, season-ending injury and he's currently sitting 24th in the world. You have zero clue about what it takes to race a world cup.

 @thesharkman: I know right. 24th fastest rider in the world. What a piece of shit. You should send an email to Trek, tell them what a mistake they're making. Maybe they'd hire you. You sound like a fun guy.

 @thesharkman: lolz at your dumb ass comment, my dog knows more about downhill than you if your coming out with crap like that.

 Yeah. Especially considering both of them are currently ranked quite a bit higher than Phil Atwill.

 is there someone here that knows how they select their team? I mean both Gee and Greg Williamson have significantly more points on the world cup than Phil, so not really sure what their deciding factor is to bring Atwill.

 @ianswilson815: I think when it comes to a one off balls out, do or die scenario someone like Atwill who has very few f*cks left in his drawer to give out is ideally suited! Pin it or bin it! :-) good luck chaps! :-)

 As far as I am aware the UK team selection prioritises individual race results over standings. Out of the selected riders, only Adam Brayton and Phil Atwill have not had a top 10 finish this season, with their best results being 13th and 15th place respectively. Brenda Fairclough's best result has been a 21st. Gee Atherton has had a 15th place which would tie him with Atwill, so I don't know how they decide who makes the cut.

 @ianswilson815: Atwill has been nursing an injury this season and in the last 2 years has had more top 10's than other riders. The selection process is a bit of a mystery but previous seasons are taken into account, not just this one.

 @dingus: just wish Greg Williamson made it in, had a lot of bad luck this year but 5th in qualis at fort William shows his pace!

 Stupid decisions. Seriously, who picked those and why? I think it's based on the local series scores so maybe that's it, but surely a WC level tells a better truth about the level of the racer and on full courses.

 No results

 @pinkbikeaudience: Fair enough, just seems a bit odd. Past seasons shows overall success but doesn't really provide a fair platform for picking riders for the current season. I mean if we did that we should pick Steve pete cuz that dude crushed for years. ANd if you have been injured and not racing....to me that is an indication that you should not go to world champs just because in the past you have been solid. I mean I get it, but if you aren't performing THIS year, then why should you have to privilege and honor of going to world champs.

 all other teams will likely be rendered hopeless the second France releases its own rider list. Myriam Nicole did a quite dominant run on this very course last season and Amaury's been on an absolute tear this season. Not to mention Pierron will have a supporting cast of former world champion Loic Bruni and the winner of the most recent world cup stop Loris Vergier. In other words it would take a damn miracle to beat the French... ( hopefully a british miracle)

 @d-man: He isn't trying to impress you at dinner you know - maybe the older you become the further away from being young and having fun you get?, that's OK, he is also capable of top 20 WC results which in the current field is a pretty decent achievement, no?

 @d-man: Phil Atwill is not a 'low class rider'. He's coming back from injury so is just getting his speed back, but he's had better individual results in the recent years than both Fairclough and Atherton. Out of the three of them, only Atwill managed to podium last season and was the only one to make the top 10. Fairclough's last top 20 was at the first World Cup of 2017.

 Yeah pretty hilarious that a bunch of people arguing over whether some scrub who can't qualify for a World Cup makes the USA team, but Gee Atherton & Brendan Fairclough get left off the GB team.......... :o

 @justanotherusername: if having fun means being a prick about the difficulty of the course someone else built for you then ya I'll have none if it.
Being a professional means more than having skill, it means you present yourself, your country and your sponsors properly and not like a spoiled drunken bum coming out of the pub.

 @I could not agree more. It’s embarrassing.

 That was to @raybao in agreement. Silly phone :-)

 Well desreved!

 1 elite woman and only 3 junior women...great way to build a program. USAC was allocated 7 junior womens spots and they filled 3 (43%). They were allocate 6 mens juniors spots and filled 5 (83%). If we want to build our womens downhill program then we need to send more junior women to worlds - not 3 out of 7 possible spots. There are more qualified junior women that want to go. There are junior women with better results than some of the junior men selected. Send alll of the qualified junior women. Give them the experience to eventually compete at a World Cup level! Hmmm...

 with no ProGRT results too.

 Atwills only that low cause he's been injured all season, he has more chance of getting on the podium than Gee or Greg (he came 5th at lenzerheide last year)

 I don't get it either. Some of those guys haven't done much, Gee is having a tough patch and maybe he's getting on a bit, but the numbers tell the truth.. he's doing better than a few of those guys.

 @clarky78: All of them have had better results than Gee in recent years. I think that is a higher priority than constancy for the team selection process.

 @Themightyowls: I think he got on with the track history for sure! He's always done good at lenzerheide, so it was a smart choice by them.

 A large reason is our national organization (USAC) is not far from worthless unless it's road biking. Several really good race series around the country not involving them because they are the absolute larges buzz kill in MTB going. That said, many of those series that are actually fun to attend, don't provide any UCI points. #usacisworthless

 @bman33: Preach

 It also seems that two of the 4 DH riders aren’t even originally from the US.

 What racers are they going to support? I’m sure they’d love it if they had a bunch of pro or top women DH racers fighting over spots. But have ANY female Americans contested a DH WC this year?

 @LeDuke: Valid point indeed. Seems a catch 22. USAC doesn't provide much support at all to MTB outside of XC. No promotion and very little support when there are involved (I was at a Dual Slalom race this weekend in Colorado with USAC 'support' and it was abysmal and the official appeared ready for a nap and retirement in Florida). There aren't many women in the US DH scene that truly are in it to compete at the WC level. Perhaps some of the blame is on them. I still stand by my very low opinion of USAC.

Cheers

 What happened to Samantha Kingshill?

 Because there's no US women who have been racing or ranking in UCI DH worldcups this season.

 @mfoga: as long as they're a citizen, who cares?

 @aaronjb: she doesn't race world cups...

 @mattsavage: I dont but when your talking about the state of US women's DH and find half of them are from other countries, that says even more to me. Sure maybe they have been here for most their life but still at first look seemed odd.

 @mfoga: what crack are you smoking?

 @aaronjb: Wondering the same thing.

 Can we at least pick a woman who supports usac dh races?there are handfull of women racing grt that would love a shot at worlds @LeDuke:

 @bman33: There are 5 or 6 junior women that should be going and only 3 selected. USAC was allocated 7 spots for Junior women and is only taking 3. There are junior women with world cup experience that would like to go and have not been given spots. There are junior men with no world cup experience that have been given spots. Great way to support women and build a program!

 Apparently that is ok. And to find that odd means you are on crack.

 Because Switzerland focuses more on XC than they do DH. It's just a far more popular version of the sport so more people are getting into it vs. DH. You see the same reflection in skiing, alpine racing vs. freeskiing. They're generally a more conservative country concerning their outlook to sports.

 Maybe they like to go uphill more? Could also have something to do with XC being at the olympics and get more funds to local teams. Also if you look at the people from Alps they were almost never into DH but usually XC and marathon, you can look at the Italian, German or Austrian teams and see there aren't many downhillers.

 @ka-brap: what a nice way to say that your neighbors have a massive brum up their buts looool Let's face it if most of the German speaking countries (no offence I actually like those countries and these people) have pretty much zero contenders in the fun sports that's not for no reason lol On the other hand the Scands despite being small countries and pretty serious people too do fairly well in cool stuff like DJ, Freestyle skiing or Freeride skiing,

 We don't shuttle ...

 @leopaul: clearly you shouldn't shuttle you have ski lifts FFS !

 @Balgaroth: For real. So many lifts and gondolas going to every which peak, accessing all sorts of ridiculous terrain.
Coming from N.A. and seeing that access blows my mind.

 @Balgaroth: There you have the problem. It is a FUN Sport.
Just freaks are doing fun sports therefore it is not serious enough to support.
And yes, you're also right with your broom in the butt theory...

 You could conversely ask why Great Britain has a shit hot DH team and no XCO team.

 @stretchza: it is because of BC, they steal any possible talent in XC to push them in the direction of road cycling. They don’t do anything much for uk mountain biking in general. It’s good that for a country with no real mountain range we have such a lot of DH talent coming through the ranks though!

 @Balgaroth: well our bike parks aren’t that good either. But MTBing has been the fastest growing sport in Switzerland in the past few years. And it can’t only be XC. So there is hope

 @kipvr: Annie Last won a world cup last year, and was second at Worlds. If she still has a pulse, she should be at Worlds.

 @Balgaroth: I wasn't saying Austria, Germany, and even Italy are excluded from that either It's definitely true of all of their sports cultures. With almost any of the non-ball sports, they fall on the conservative side of the spectrum rather than the progressive side. Lots of XC, very little DH or Enduro or slopestyle. Same for skiing- lots of alpine racing, very little freestyle or freeride in comparison to the total market. In contrast, the Scandis (as you point out) are on the progressive side of things, for both biking and skiing.

 @ka-brap: Skiing is a bit different in alpine countries (your southern neighbour). Alpine and nordic disciplines are so well established and provide expousure from good results at large events (larger than anything in MTB or freeride/freestyle skiing) that they put in large funds and can't risk giving money to develop something that may not even bring good results. I understand this policy but don't approve it.

 I find that hard to believe. Nino and Jolanda?

 @DaveJube: XCO is anything but boring and now they're airing short track on Redbull tv as well. The courses areshorter, faster and way more technical than they were 10 years ago. and the races are shorter in duration so the intensity is way up.

 USA Kate Courtney, dude. Rob Warner did a visit w her on redbull.tv and she is killing it in her first year Elite XC.

 @endlessblockades: Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for her.

 Second time's the charm?

 I hope he doesn't get a Hard on mid way through his run. That would be stiff competition for the other riders.

 Only when he is on set. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 Well done.

 Yeah. Let's poke that particular hornet's nest...

 =Insert Homer backing up into the hedge.gif here=

 @dubiousdesigns: It may be a hornets nest but still needs to be able explained. Regardless of everyone having a cry after the fact Kate still won the nats fair and square....

 It would be interesting to see if Kate can compete against the world's most elite female DH racers. Imagine if Kate won? Every team/country would have at least 1 rider in the female category that used to be a man.

 Yup! On the positive side, the US is fielding three jr women DH racers. They're the future of the sport.

 Cutting and pasting is hard...