5 Things We Learned in Val di Sole

Aug 29, 2017 at 9:54
by rasoulution  
Four months, eight countries, two continents, and a summer full of breathtaking action and spectacular racing and it all came down to the final stop. The 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season was one of the most entertaining seasons in recent memory and with incredibly tight standings and a perfect season on the line, Val di Sole promised plenty of excitement and drama. The Italian resort did not disappoint. Here are the 5 things we learned at the World Cup finals in Val di Sole:

1. UCI World Cup Final, Italian Style

Nestled in the mountains of the Northern Italian region of Trentino, Val di Sole is known for its uncompromising courses and passionate fans. This weekend’s finale to the 2017 season did not disappoint with both individual wins and overall crowns on offer and some of the best riding of the season. With only the slimmest of margins separating the top male and female Downhill athletes and a perfect season on the line for Nino Schurter (SUI), the fans lining the track were truly in for a treat.

Troy Brosnan performs at UCI DH World Cup in Val di Sole Italy on August 26 2017 Bartek Wolinski Red Bull Content Pool P-20170826-01634 Usage for editorial use only Please go to www.redbullcontentpool.com for further information.
Fans cheering on Troy Brosnan on the way to a 5th place finish and 2nd place in the overall
Competitiors perform at UCI XCO World Cup in Val di Sole Italy on August 27 2017 Bartek Wolinski Red Bull Content Pool P-20170827-10725 Usage for editorial use only Please go to www.redbullcontentpool.com for further information.
The crowd watching the women's XCO start

Catch all of the breathtaking racing excitement of the season’s finale on VOD replay including special in-depth interviews and surprise special tributes with the newly minted UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Champions led by the Red Bull broadcast team of Rob Warner, Claudio Calouri, and Bart Brentjens – only on Red Bull TV.

2. Seagrave Takes Val di Sole, Nicole Wins Overall.

Tahnée Seagrave (GBR) conquered the challenging track in Val di Sole for her 3rd win of the season, topping Myriam Nicole (FRA), and Tracey Hannah (AUS). However, it was the French fan favorite Myriam Nicole who won her career-first Overall World Cup, with her 2nd place in Val di Sole, two World Cup victories, and consistent placings all season long. Seagrave and Hannah round out the season-long podium in which fans saw the most competitive women’s downhill racing in history.

Season Recap 2017 - Myriam Nicole

by rasoulution
Views: 1,396    Faves: 2    Comments: 0



3. Gwin Wins the Battle and the War.

The American Aaron Gwin – last rider on the course as the fastest qualifier - pulled out all of the stops to win on the demanding Italian track a claim his 19th career World Cup victory. Gwin’s win in Val di Sole marks a hat-trick as his 3rd consecutive Overall World Cup title and 5th of his career. The much-anticipated battle with Greg Minnaar (RSA) for the title was one for ages with only 0.12 seconds separating the two in qualification. Minnaar pushed the pace on race day and posted impressive split times before a rear puncture ended his championship aspirations and left him having to walk his bike across the line. The French trio of Amaury Pierron, Loic Bruni and Loris Vergier and Australian Troy Brosnan rounded out the podium.

Season Recap 2017 - Aaron Gwin

by rasoulution
Views: 2,930    Faves: 4    Comments: 1



4. Neff Delivers First Win of the Season, Belomoina Wins Overall.

Jolanda Neff (SUI) caps a season marked by injury with a hard-fought victory on the demanding Italian XC course. Neff’s 9th career World Cup win was all the more special as it was also the first one for her new Kross team. Yana Belomoina (UKR), who clinched the Overall World Cup title and Maja Włoszczowska (POL) racing with a broken wrist, both had amazing rides to finish in 2nd and 3rd place on the podium. With three World Cup wins and six straight podiums, Belomoina finishes the season-long battle for the overall title in impressive form, with Włoszczowska taking 2nd and World Champion Annika Langvad (DEN) taking the 3rd in the overall ranking.

Season Recap 2017 - Yana Belomoina

by rasoulution
Views: 1,029    Faves: 1    Comments: 0



5. Nino is Perfect.

Swiss Superman Nino Schurter delivers a record-breaking 6th straight World Cup victory to make it a dominant, perfect 2017 season, winning the overall World Cup title with an unprecedented perfect record. Schurter added another win, his career 26th, to an already unprecedented run in the last 12 months which also included an Olympic Gold Medal and XCO World Championship. Stephane Tempier (FRA) was the only rider to stay within striking distance in Val di Sole, finishing 2nd. A strong showing from the resurgent Julien Abslaon (FRA) earned the Frechman 3rd place. Trempier’s result elevated him to 2nd place in the overall, followed by fellow countryman Maxime Marotte.

Season Recap 2017 - Nico Schurter

by rasoulution
Views: 4,010    Faves: 3    Comments: 2


Re-watch round nine of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2017 free of charge and on-demand at redbull.tv/uci and get the latest on everything bike related on the Red Bull Bike Channel at redbull.tv/bike. Red Bull TV is available on connected TVs, gaming consoles, mobile devices and more. For a full list of supported devices, visit this page.


MENTIONS: @rasoulution


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75 Comments
  • 345 3
 Usually when someone writes a "things we learned from..." article, it provides analysis of an event and explains conclusions that can be drawn from it. I don't understand the point of an article that restates facts:

1) What we learned from Val Di Sole: it was the last race of the season and it was in Val Di Sole.
2-5) What we learned from Val Di Sole: these people won the races.
  • 52 0
 I keep clicking on these thinking I was going to read something like: '27.5 still dominating despite 29er hype' or 'Gwin secretly is running a prototype solid tire'.

But no, just a recap with no analysis or things that were 'learned'.
  • 26 1
 @Klainmeister: @emarquar ---EXACTLY! Journalism is dead.
  • 26 1
 I learned all these things last weekend when I watched the races...
  • 6 1
 Snap. Then I saw it was a PR piece and cruised to the comments Wink
  • 7 0
 I'm glad you said! This was exactly what I was thinking! I think the term here is click bait!
  • 16 1
 The main thing I learned is there's apparently more than one Aaron Gwin. There's the American Aaron Gwin, which means there must be another, as yet unclaimed Aaron Gwin destroying berms and Flat Tire Defenders out there in the woods somewhere. I intend to mount an expidition to find him and place a British Cycling jersey on him so that we may field an effective counter measure to the American Aaron Gwin...
  • 2 2
 @Fix-the-Spade: You guys already have Danny Hart. The guy who won the last 4 races last season but decided to switch to 29 inch wheels. I think he will be back with a vengeance next year so don't worry.
  • 7 0
 well, gary and ben cathro helped us learn that gwin will make 7 figures this year.

dirtmountainbike.com/videos/much-aaron-gwin-earn.html

yep.
1 million.
  • 3 1
 @stacykohut: I heard 9 figure salary, no?
  • 4 0
 We also learned that the pinkbike editing staff isn't very good at catching typos.
And I use the word "learned" in the same manner as stated above.
  • 3 1
 @stacykohut: Worth more than that IMO. He deserves every penny.
  • 6 1
 @stacykohut: Compare this to some sissy boy footballer who plays 2 games a week and earns £300k a week for kicking a bloody ball.

Top DH riders (boys and girls) deserve more for what they out their body through.

Good on Gwin for sharing as it will help others.
  • 2 0
 I was about to ask "What this article was about?" once I read this article, but then thought that I might be alone with this opinion and cleaned the text field... Now I'm quite sure that there are at least 283 of us.
  • 1 0
 @Fix-the-Spade: ahhh, grammar jokes apparently lost on the many, but appreciated by the few.
Let's find this nation-less Gwinn !!!
  • 1 0
 @Fix-the-Spade: We can't even be certain that it was the Aaron Gwin from the US that he's talking about; it's possible the Gwin being referred to is from Canada, or Brazil. For all we know there's a small army of Gwins in the Americas out in the forests and jungles, shredding various mountains and hillsides. There could be an Aaron Gwin out there doing backflips in the jungles of Panama as we speak.
  • 78 0
 6. V10s don't like poles
  • 87 1
 6.5. Bicycles can develop 'post' traumatic stress disorder.
  • 14 0
 @MTBrent: That 'cracked' me up.
  • 3 1
 @MTBrent: You won the internetz today.
  • 12 0
 @MTBrent: OOOH SNAAAP!
  • 37 1
 8 countries but 2 continents. I know it's been said many times before but make the season longer. Here's my opinion on what should happen:
-10 races per season with 2 weeks between races (still gives riders training and off time, no weird 6 week gaps between rounds)
-national champs take place before the WC season starts
-UCI championship at the end of the season (just like it has been the past couple years)

I understand that traveling logistics for big teams and privateers are tough so maybe have one season be in the northern hemisphere (kind of like this years WC). Then the next year have it be in the southern hemisphere. Or you could do it by continent too, just as long as every season it changes. That way you only have to get support into one region. Think of how cool a western pacific WC would be with New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China etc. Also I realize weather plays a big factor and while April-September is summer up north you could split the season based on the part of the world you are racing in.

This is all just an opinion and we know the UCI is just after the $$$ so it will likely never happen.
  • 11 0
 April to September is not summer in northern England more like a week in June if your lucky
  • 3 0
 @mikeyspaff: haha, well then lets plan on it being there in June!
  • 3 0
 The problem is venues have to pay the UCI to host events. Most of them struggle to break even so many venues just don't bother to bid as it isn't financially viable.
  • 1 0
 Sounds good!

The UCI should take a leaf out of EWS and ntegrate some of their events into crankworx. You'd add NZ onto the WC tour. Also throw in one for South America, Asia and Africa too. Each continent should get at least 1 WC (and Antarctica if anyone's interested)
  • 1 0
 @metaam: Why am I not surprised? However, surely the UCI are charging far too much for 'hosting fees'. Something we see all to often in motorsport; venues that can pay host, those that can't won't.
Do they honestly think 6-7 rounds (over a short 3 months) is enough for a global Elite level sport? This is no way to grow a sport.

The UCI should solely rule & govern; and leave the promotion of the sport to the experts; RedBull...
  • 2 0
 @Starch-Anton: In my opinion the best thing for the sport would be to break from the UCI, much like the EWS did.
  • 28 0
 Can any article exist on the internet without a clickbait title or in simpleton friendly list form? Please Pinkbike stop treating us like idiots and becoming just like the other bottom of the barrel sensationalist bullshit that makes up most of the internet. You have smart writers and your audience is passionate and dedicated, show a little more dignity.
  • 7 0
 Yep! I was expecting some sort of analysis from this. On Facebook, I know right away that such lists are just clickbaity bullshit, but I was expecting more from Pinkbike... Frown
  • 1 0
 To be fair this was one of the "user generated" things thus I imagine not Pinkbike staff as it was done by "rasoulution Communication Agency" .. still on the front page though...
  • 23 0
 A truly amazing achievement by Nino. Not that I follow the XC side of things, but that's amazing.
  • 2 0
 unprecedented
  • 4 1
 @stretchza: "unpresidented"
  • 1 0
 agreed! I don't know anything about XC, but certainly know Nino!
  • 3 1
 @spankthewan: I now know the definition of "covfefe" - it's this fake-news article.
  • 2 0
 He's probably got carbon lungs. Damn can't imagine suffering for that long
  • 1 0
 Drugy You prople obviously have never seen a road bike race Hahhaha
  • 1 0
 @MtbSince84: ooooooooo goteeem
  • 11 1
 6) Regardless of Hi-res video proof, people will still find a way to blame catastrophic failures on carbon fiber and 29" wheels.
  • 3 1
 Exactly. Ha!
  • 10 5
 I don't get why they call Minnaar the GOAT. To me the GOAT not only has longevity but also completely dominates. He only has 3 overall titles. Amazing rider, one of the greats but not every sport even has a GOAT IMO.
  • 4 3
 Goat shagging thread again...
  • 2 0
 Well he's won the most races of all time so ....
  • 1 1
 It will probably be Gwin by mid next season with his success rate. Both Minnaar and Gwin are still a long way off Nico's 10 seasons.
  • 4 0
 @fartymarty: well even Nico fades by Anne Caroline Chausson.
  • 3 1
 @WAKIdesigns: ACC is the female,goat! One of my daughters middle name is Caroline Smile
  • 6 1
 @WAKIdesigns: good call. She is the GOAT.

@meathooker GOAT is genderless. ACC is the GOAT.
  • 6 0
 1. Someone needs to engineer a wheel / tire design that is a bead-lock design....
  • 4 1
 That would have a massive negative impact on acceleration. Would be great for holding momentum when up to speed though.
  • 2 1
 @cofo11: it's not actually impossible to do light enough though, and iirc some are looking into it. There's also the tubular idea, and a few others being thrown about.
  • 2 0
 @atrokz: It'll probably be for racing only - it will require a hybrid of materials and pressed fasteners and will most likely include a insert or secondary material or volume. The suspension is so good, yet tire and rim technology lags
  • 2 0
 @cofo11: Could you explain how that would negatively impact acceleration? Just trying to understand why that would be the case.
  • 2 1
 @BDKR: I think he's thinking of additional weight added to the rim. Ways to negate that, but cost might be high.
  • 1 0
 @atrokz: Ahhh.... Of course! Thanx!
  • 2 0
 @atrokz: Racer's don't care about cost. Gwin would be $5k+ for a wheelset that guarantees that a puncture is the only failure mode. How much has he lost in the last year alone...
  • 2 0
 @nicolai12: consider how much it costs to get that whole team out for a race weekend and back home again... im sure they would be willing to pay far in excess of $5k for a wheelset like that
  • 6 0
 We can talk all we want. Nobody is going to figure out how to keep a tire on a rim.
  • 2 0
 That should be added to the list.
  • 2 0
 D...d...d... Duct tape!!!!
  • 1 0
 Nino glues his tires to the rims, maybe DH racers should do the same?
  • 5 0
 #6 - There was no Enduro rider switching discliplines and being an instant contender, like many EWS fans hoped, with Cecile Ravanel placing 10th.
  • 2 0
 #7 XC is too easy for Nino. He commits to a full EWS schedule in 2018
  • 1 0
 @BudGreen: and he would probably win that too.
  • 1 0
 @BudGreen: I'd be really interested to see how Nino would fare on the EWS. There was a video of him riding with Brendog. He held up really well on the bigger bike and more rough terrain. No Rampage obviously but I do trust him on a true enduro course.
  • 4 0
 I think that after all Minnaar should be happy he didn't snap his foot instead of the bike, that pole was close and that would've been brutal.
  • 2 0
 I have learnt I'm over the wheel size. Bore off and let them ride what ever makes racing down the the last race. Great season bar the Marketing bullshite..... Racing with so much ups and downs will get people talking.
  • 5 1
 What about Tracy Hanna's bike? No one got any more info on that?
  • 3 0
 I didn't learn anything from this. These "recaps" are pointless.
  • 2 0
 sorry "rasoulution Communication Agency" but that really is a load of old rubbish
  • 1 0
 7. In Italy: "It ain't over till the fat lady sings" does not just apply to opera
  • 2 1
 before his career is up, i believe he will wear the GOAT crown.
  • 1 0
 thats awsome for gwin, i feel a bit bad for greg tho.
  • 1 0
 "It's a race till the end" 'Greg Minnaar' Big Grin
  • 1 0
 I wish I'd learnt to avoid click bait.







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