# 2014 World Cup Thread



## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Cuz' someone had to do it.

New venues this year

*UCI Mountain Bike Calendar 2014 Season - World Cup and Champs*

April 10-13 2014.........UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 1	*Pietermaritzburg* 
April 24-27, 2014........UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 2	*Cairns* 
May 23-25, 2014........UCI World Cup XCO / XCE 3 *Nove Mesto na Morave* 
May 30-June 1, 2014...UCI World Cup XCO / XCE 4 *Albstadt	*
June 6-8, 2014...........UCI World Cup DHI 3	*Fort William* 
June 14-15, 2014........UCI World Cup DHI 4	*Leogang* 
July 31-Aug 3, 2014.....UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 5	*Mont-Sainte-Anne* 
Aug 7-10, 2014...........UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 6	*Windham* 
Aug 21-24, 2014.........UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 7	*Méribel* 
Sept 3-7, 2014...........UCI XCO/XCE/XCR/DHI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS	*Hafjell*


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## briscoelab (Oct 27, 2006)

I miss the XCO at Ft. Bill. 

Also, no World Cup after the WC is too bad. I like seeing the new rainbow kit at one big race before the end of the season.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Yeah...someone was bound to do it I guess. I am sad that the USA got shut out this year. I am excited to see a dry Albstadt, even though last years mud-fest was arguably the best race of the whole season!
Here's hoping all of the "Big Three" are healthy


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

criscobike said:


> Yeah...someone was bound to do it I guess. *I am sad that the USA got shut out this year.* I am excited to see a dry Albstadt, even though last years mud-fest was arguably the best race of the whole season!
> Here's hoping all of the "Big Three" are healthy


I see Windham on the schedule, is that not right?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Yep, Windham right after MSA this year.

https://www.redbull.com/us/en/bike/event-series/1331615760167/uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-2014

A lot of travel south of the equator this year. That flight between South Africa and Australia is at least 14 hours long. And South Africa is something like 30-35 hours from North America.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

SandSpur said:


> I see Windham on the schedule, is that not right?


Whoops! Yup my mistake. I got caught between thoughts as I typed about 2013 and 2014. Either way, I'm still a moron. 
The travel issue brought up is interesting. I know the racers are not fond of being in airplanes as they try to avoid catching colds. I wonder if we will see lots of guys skip races this next year.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Skipping early races screws up their starting position quite a bit, unless that have been doing lots of UCI points races pre-World Cup season. It's too bad that they changed the start order ranking from World Cup points to all UCI points, that works against riders running just the World Cup series, their start order ranking just gets worse and worse unless they are in the top 10 all the time at the finish.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

They have changed it again.

This year the first world cup will be by UCI points, after that the rest will be by world cup ranking.



rockyuphill said:


> Skipping early races screws up their starting position quite a bit, unless that have been doing lots of UCI points races pre-World Cup season. It's too bad that they changed the start order ranking from World Cup points to all UCI points, that works against riders running just the World Cup series, their start order ranking just gets worse and worse unless they are in the top 10 all the time at the finish.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Good thing too, that was a wacky idea and really hurt the non-Euro racers who have limited access to UCI points races outside of Europe.



LMN said:


> They have changed it again.
> 
> This year the first world cup will be by UCI points, after that the rest will be by world cup ranking.


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## briscoelab (Oct 27, 2006)

Yea, I know it was crappy for Lea Davidson last season. She was consistently in the top 10, had a few podiums, etc. But, she was always like number 15-16... barely on the second row.


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## jkirkpatri (Sep 16, 2008)

I don't want to miss out on this thread like I did last year, so subscribed.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

I am curious, has anyone here every actually been to a WC event? If so describe what it was like...


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

criscobike said:


> I am curious, has anyone here every actually been to a WC event? If so describe what it was like...


Might have been to a few WCs, not to mention a world championships and an Olympics or two.

What do you want to know? Course, atmosphere, ect...


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I've spectated at 4 World Cups and a World Champs at Mont Sainte Anne, and the World Cup at St Felicien in Quebec. They put on a great events in Quebec. Typically had 20,000 spectators at MSA when MHP was racing, a bit less without. And they put on a big party on the last night after the DH races.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

LMN said:


> Might have been to a few WCs, not to mention a world championships and an Olympics or two.
> 
> What do you want to know? Course, atmosphere, ect...


It's on my bucket list. Seems like having a WC event won't be coming back to the western US for a long time (if ever again). So I will have to convince the wife to let me go. Just wondering what could I expect if I did go? Do you feel like you can follow what's going on at all? Is it a fun time? Worth my time/money?


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

WC are a lot of fun. My experience at them it a bit different then most, with my wife racing they are far from relaxing weekends, but still a lot of fun. I usually get a ton of riding in during week and spend the week watching some racing.

How good of viewing experience it is depends entirely on the course. Mt. Saint Anne for example is superb to watch, with a bit of running you can catch the riders multiple time per laps. Other courses, like Windham for example, aren't as good. ( The course layout makes it really hard to follow the race. ) Fortunately the UCI brings in a big screen TV and you can watch the live feed while you are there spectating.

I don't know of a WC event in western US, but from what I have been hearing there is a good chance for a Whistler WC in the near future.



criscobike said:


> It's on my bucket list. Seems like having a WC event won't be coming back to the western US for a long time (if ever again). So I will have to convince the wife to let me go. Just wondering what could I expect if I did go? Do you feel like you can follow what's going on at all? Is it a fun time? Worth my time/money?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

LMN said:


> I don't know of a WC event in western US, but from what I have been hearing there is a good chance for a Whistler WC in the near future.


Been a long time since the World Cups on Grouse Mountain. Whistler would be good, it would be nice to drive to a WC race instead of fly.

If you were going to make a vacation trip out of it, Mont Sainte Anne is a great destination. Still lots of open XC and lift assist trails to ride during the week while the race is organized and taped, and it's only 35 minutes from old Quebec City which is a worthy tourist destination on its own for the SO that maybe isn't as gung ho about watching MTB racing.


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## craign (Feb 8, 2006)

Very tempting to make the trek up the coast the Cairns this year... Some awesome riding in North Queensland and I have no doubt the WC weekend will go off!


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

LMN said:


> WC are a lot of fun. My experience at them it a bit different then most, with my wife racing they are far from relaxing weekends, but still a lot of fun. I usually get a ton of riding in during week and spend the week watching some racing.


Dude! That's sweet that your wife is racing at that level! Bravo. Are you comfortable revealing who she is so we can root for her? Do you have a blog or anything?

That MSA course looks super sweet! If I ever make the trip there I will have to try out the course after the race (if people can get on it). It often seems that TV/video just doesn't do justice to how crazy the features are sometimes. I'd like to get a feel for how hard it really is. For example, that famous rock drop/left turn feature. It was taken out this last year. But I want to clean that sucker!
My wife's family is in Michigan so maybe I can talk her into letting me drive over there for a weekend during a family visit.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Ah... I just checked when you joined the forum, most posters know her. The tiny girl in the Luna outfit on 2nd step of the podium in one of pictures above is my wife. That picture was after a good day for her, her first top three at a world cup. The next weekend was better.

MSA is worth the trip. The course is generally closed during the week but, and you didn't hear this from me, you can often sneak on during the evenings. And your right TV doesn't do justice on how challenging the course is.



criscobike said:


> Dude! That's sweet that your wife is racing at that level! Bravo. Are you comfortable revealing who she is so we can root for her? Do you have a blog or anything?
> 
> That MSA course looks super sweet! If I ever make the trip there I will have to try out the course after the race (if people can get on it). It often seems that TV/video just doesn't do justice to how crazy the features are sometimes. I'd like to get a feel for how hard it really is. For example, that famous rock drop/left turn feature. It was taken out this last year. But I want to clean that sucker!
> My wife's family is in Michigan so maybe I can talk her into letting me drive over there for a weekend during a family visit.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I thought I likely had a photo of Mrs.LMN at MSA, better known as Catharine Pendrel.









Along with some shots of the very well attended pit area and La Beatrice. It's supposed to be back in the game in 2014, the trails above it were eroded like mad in the spring. In the dry it isn't so scary unless the stones have got a nice coating of dust, in the wet it can be greasy enough that walking is more dangerous than riding.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I see Topeak-Ergon has dumped their XCO team.
Topeak-Ergon Drops Cross Country To Focus On Marathon Racing | Cyclingnews.com
Irina deserves better! They all do, but this chick has too awesome of a resume to get this treatment!


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Ah! Mr. Pendrel it is a pleasure to meet you. Yes, I am a bit late to the party but I did discover the XC passion 4 years ago and have been totally hooked ever since. Besides, bike racing is far better for a family man tha hardcore rock climbing.
What's also cool is that we are big Luna fans in this house. I was so psyched to see Nash get her first win (been close so many times)! Watch Georgia almost get it last year. You could see the emotion from your wife when she reached her just before the line! That had to be tough passing your teammate like that.
After last year's disappointing year, I hope she comes back stronger than ever! 
Back on the original topic: the course at MSA is so classic, we are trying to convince our local ski resorts to cut XCO style courses modeled after it. We are slowly turning the gears if change out here in Utah. 
Despite my newness, I am pleased to meet you all and look forward to chatting up how awesome this next season will be. Hoorah!


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

ewarnerusa said:


> I see Topeak-Ergon has dumped their XCO team.
> Topeak-Ergon Drops Cross Country To Focus On Marathon Racing | Cyclingnews.com
> Irina deserves better!!


That IS bad news! Any word on where she will sign?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Irina has done quite well at MSA over the years, she's quite good at the technical trail surfaces. She's very tiny (5'-1") in person. Being small and light sure helps with her climbing speed.

Any bike company or race team looking at having a proven contender could do worse, but I bet she'll be an expensive hire with her resume.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

There's some rumours they added to that Cyclingnews article

"There are unconfirmed reports that Kalentieva will still race under Ergon sponsorship, but as part of a Russian team while Rieder will race for a German team. Cross country rider Wolfram Kurschat may still be under contract for 2014."


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## ERGON (Nov 9, 2006)

Irina will still race in 2014. She will race and help run a Russian development team. Ergon will still be involved with Irina, but just not under the Topeak-Ergon banner. The team is narrowing its focus to events and formats that best match the brands involved with the team.

Jeff K
Ergon USA


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

That's good news.


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## CptSydor (Sep 20, 2007)

criscobike said:


> That MSA course looks super sweet! If I ever make the trip there I will have to try out the course after the race (if people can get on it). It often seems that TV/video just doesn't do justice to how crazy the features are sometimes. I'd like to get a feel for how hard it really is. For example, that famous rock drop/left turn feature. It was taken out this last year. But I want to clean that sucker!
> My wife's family is in Michigan so maybe I can talk her into letting me drive over there for a weekend during a family visit.


I was at MSA this year (second time, also been to Windham). I rode the XC course the day after the races went off. I think officially it was closed, but no one said a thing or batted an eye lash as we rode it.

I feel I'm a pretty confident technical rider and I rode the entire course and all sections without inspection, but there were certainly a couple moments where I wouldn't call what I did, or the line I picked 'smooth' and was just holding on, rather than attacking the course. Certainly picking lines in a pre-ride would have helped, but counter balance that trying to do it at race pace, and I'd say it was close to being the toughest 5 km of 'XC' riding I did this year. From my experience, the 'average' sport rider would feel pretty intimidated on the course.

Any overall, WC's are fun to watch. I'd like to go back next year. We had our trailer right in the parking lot at MSA, right by the entry to where riders got pulled. It was tough to drink my beer in my lawn chair as a Junior or U23 rider got pulled and cried in his coaches arms. Awkward!


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## Devincicx (Nov 20, 2011)

The Beatrice (part taken off this year) looks hard on TV but when you get up there right before the sharp left turn before the rock ''stairs'' it looks even more crazy. That section has not been worked on this year so it is even more sketchy with long grass and rocks all over the place. The lines are not easy to pick and see. The left turn is just nuts. FYI, even the chicken line is somewhat hard as well.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

I have nothing to add except tag for awesomeness.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

With one HC race (Bonnelle) and another possible one (Fontana) now on the UCI schedule, you can't help but wonder if a future world cup in California is in the cards.

Pretty cool to see those big UCI races in North America. I wonder if they will draw Europeans.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I walked La Beatrice the day after the World Champs in 2010, it was slick enough that I nearly landed on my rear end a couple of times, The first 5 shots are the entrance at the top and then the sharp left. The last two shots are the view up and down from the rock paved descent. The chicken line is longer and just has fewer sharp rocks to land on, but just as off-camber in places.



Devincicx said:


> The Beatrice (part taken off this year) looks hard on TV but when you get up there right before the sharp left turn before the rock ''stairs'' it looks even more crazy. That section has not been worked on this year so it is even more sketchy with long grass and rocks all over the place. The lines are not easy to pick and see. The left turn is just nuts. FYI, even the chicken line is somewhat hard as well.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

No surprise that La Beatrice is a big spectating spot in wet or dry conditions...

















It's a shame they never put cameras in the twisty single track on the east end of the course, that rooty and rocky section is slick in the wet and there can be some good action in there. They do cover the one area with the steep descent and climb back up again, but the other twisty section that dumps them out in the bermed corners is fun to watch too.


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

I love that the season starts earlier this year. Yes, it does end earlier, but I don't have to wait as long now for it to start


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

LMN: Have you actually done or considered doing a video diary/blog at any of these races? It would be sweet IMO.


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## CulBaire (Jan 18, 2004)

criscobike said:


> LMN: Have you actually done or considered doing a video diary/blog at any of these races? It would be sweet IMO.


I agree a behind the scenes blog / video would be awesome.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Cycling news has an article about a UCI meeting to discuss what's working at certain WC venues. Fort William in England (remote location) pointed out something about a "Loyalty Incentive". Anyone know details on what that means here?
It does seem that the venues are figuring out how to cover the event better. Camera locations, and angles are improving. XCE courses are getting more entertaining. One cool thing I would like to see are live video blogs from the teams each day of the week. I would really enjoy a live pre ride. Have the racer talk us through what they are seeing. Talk strategy. Stuff like that. Then again, I'm hooked on this stuff.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Typically loyalty incentives would be something like "bring last year's ticket for a $5 discount on this year's parking".

Mont Sainte Anne doesn't charge any admission, they just charge for parking.

When the World Cups were at Grouse Mountain, they didn't charge admission, they just charged the usual prices for the gondola lift. You could ride up Mountain Highway (almost 4000' elevation gain to ride from the base of the mountain to the top where the races were) and get in for free. I think they have a mandate to not charge for admission to UCI MTB events.


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## NoBalance (Feb 23, 2007)

Colorado or California (Norsthar Resort in Tahoe) would be good options for XCO/DHI races. The summer trails at Northstar are pretty good and I can imagine designing a route that would be good for viewership. As usual, the problem is getting the fans out. Maybe build the weekend up with beer festival. It seems every CX race I watch from Belgium is basically a beerfest + race.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The biggest problem is getting enough sponsorship to pay out the UCI World Cup level prize money.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

UCI XCO at Washington DC: brought to you buy: THE US CONGRESS! We're all millionaires!


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The UCI just shifted Pietermaritzburg to April 10-13th with DH on Saturday and the XCO on Sunday.


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## guava (Jan 27, 2004)

Just so everyone knows, The New York State MTB Series will be presenting an xc race at the Windham World Cup on the same weekend as the WC, and on the same course! Ever wish you could race the course after the pros"? Here's your chance. The whole NYSMTB Series is pretty sick, actually.

https://www.facebook.com/NYSMTBSeries?fref=ts

New York State Mountain Bike Series

Ever race through a giant cave? Williams Lake.

Wanna challenge for the belt at The Backyard MTB World Championship? Take on The Burly! 




How about a German beer garden at the finish line? Reidlbaur's !


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## Devincicx (Nov 20, 2011)

guava

interesting. I will be racing the Catamount Pro XCT the week before, im from Canada and would like to make the trip with my GF down to race the Windam race and then see the worlcup after.

What are the categories for the Windam race? I assume there is a Pro category? 

That would be awesome!


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## guava (Jan 27, 2004)

The Categories are cat 1,2,3 ( beg. sport expert) in all age classes as well as SS open and pro/cat1 open.


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

Who will be the upcommer this year?
Who will challenge Nino?


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

I expect Jaro to be in good race shape again this year. Of course Julien will always be game as well. But I think the new big name guy that will really start to challenge will be Cink and Naf. Merida could be a force this coming season.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

I wonder if Jolonda Neff will be able to step up in the Women's field this year...? CLearly Julie B will be back in form and might run away with it early. Neff seems like a natural challenger if she has improved her endurance.


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

criscobike said:


> I wonder if Jolonda Neff will be able to step up in the Women's field this year...? CLearly Julie B will be back in form and might run away with it early. Neff seems like a natural challenger if she has improved her endurance.


I think Jolanda will be one of the best riders, but as always it is hard to be sure when. Young riders might get a year of racing when the results don't even get near the ones from the year before. But she will be there. Probably Jenny Rissveds when she is older.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

That certainly happened with Elizabeth Osl, she looked like the next big thing in 2009 and 2010 seasons, but she fell back quite a distance in the last few years. Emily Batty might mature a bit more this year and start to rival Catharine Pendrel for the Canadian gals.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Do you think Nash will have a shot? I was really disappointed when she wasn't able to mount a better finish at last years finale with the title on the line. 

Question two: not really a World Cup event, but does anyone know a way to watch the Absa Cape Epic? Does it stream online anywhere?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Nash was talking about retiring from MTB racing after her win at Mont Sainte Anne last year, but it doesn't appear that she'll really retire. Georgia Gould might reach her full potential this year.

BTB TV ? BTB TV Cross Talk: Katerina Nash

The Absa Cape Epic is broadcast on a cable sports channel in Canada, not live, but a recap of each day in documentary form. Might be a stream available, check their website as it gets closer Absa Cape Epic | The Untamed African MTB Race


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

rockyuphill said:


> Nash was talking about retiring from MTB racing after her win at Mont Sainte Anne last year, but it doesn't appear that she'll really retire. Georgia Gould might reach her full potential this year.
> 
> BTB TV ? BTB TV Cross Talk: Katerina Nash


THANKS! I am a big Nash fan and I hope she sticks around for one more big push...it's interesting that in the women's field in particular, women of a more experienced age find success often. Bravo to them for sure!


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

And to continue on womens, will superwoman Vos do more XC racing next year?


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

I am only familiar with a handfull of the female riders. So i was going through the rankings and googling name. If you could win races on having a fit body alone, Jenny Rissveds would be up there, girl is in amazing shape. 
https://www.jennyrissveds.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/bild-13.jpg


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Ha! I noticed that none of us have mentioned the current WC champion. Tanja Zakelj. Clearly we don't think too highly of her...


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Tanja Zakelj might be the real thing, two wins and some consistent top 5's last year and first place in World Cup showed she was ready at the start of the season. She's only 25 so she may have had the sort of breakout season that many of the riders do when they first start competing in Elite instead of U-23. 

A lot of the top riders had the typical post Olympic year where the first half of their season was pretty slow. Lots of unusual podium place finishes last year. The entire season was quite a bit of fun to watch as there were no runaway leaders through the whole season.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Rocky, you are exactly right. Last season random podiums were really fun.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

I too enjoy the womens races, almost more then the mens for that reason. 
I love the "it can be any one of 10 riders". The nino and julien show gets a bit old at times however, It is incredible ro watch the pace on the last lap for thoses guys. 

Is there anywhere to the lap time? Would love to see how the laps play out.


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

I like that the girls are running more aggressive or i guess that everyone is going for the win. After Nino and Julien most of the riders are happy with a top5 or top10 spot and keep defending the number 7 spot instead of attacking for a better placing.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

UCI Live timing is available on line during the race with lap times and splits. They used to keep the Analysis on the results page with lap times and splits, but the results archive just has results (and total race time .


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## jacoborf (Jun 5, 2013)

Who are the USA racers and teams for XCO women's and men's for 2014? Thanks


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Oh Jaroslav...Jaro Jaro Jaro...AVOID the ice! AVOID!!!


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

criscobike said:


> Oh Jaroslav...Jaro Jaro Jaro...AVOID the ice! AVOID!!!


Anyone with a better translation of what happened?



Google said:


> Unpleasant accident on Sunday inflicted Olympic champion Jaroslav
> Lame . The ice is dropped and a physician's diagnosis is - knee fracture
> patella.
> 
> ...


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Kulhavy Sidelined By Knee Injury | Cyclingnews.com


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

That sucks for Jaro! He's a fantastically strong rider. He was plagued with issues early in 2013, but was really stepping back into form towards the end. I'm glad he got a win on the last race in 2013. 

Speedy Recovery. Ondre Cink will be Czech's goldenboy this year.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

I was so looking forward to the battle between the big three this year. They all seemed to be coming in healthy. And even a few young guys were possibly going to mix it up too. Would have been really cool to see different guys winning each time (like the girls races).


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! Not even able to train for 6 weeks!!!!!!!! 

I was totally stoked for the next season after hafjell. I just hope he can get back to top form at least by the end of the season so that it's not a totally lost season.


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## sprocketjockey9 (Jul 18, 2006)

Anyone know of or have any access to strava or garmin files from the upcoming XCO courses? Be great to get a look at the lengths and the ups/downs of them


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Most WC courses aren't marked until the week of the race so it would be hard to find the exact course profile in advance.


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## sprocketjockey9 (Jul 18, 2006)

still though, most courses don't change dramatically as there's only so much land to work with (Windham has never changed even when it was just a local race). I'd be happy to see last seasons courses (Nova, Albstadt, MS etc). Don't need exact but whats there would be good to see


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

sprocketjockey9 said:


> Anyone know of or have any access to strava or garmin files from the upcoming XCO courses? Be great to get a look at the lengths and the ups/downs of them


Will get those to you when I am home. Send me your email through a PM


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

I'm curious to see what technical changes teams make. Most notably, BMC.

I realize XTR is a great component group, but there were too many problems for Absalon on it last year.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Here's Nino Schurter's Strava account Nino Schurter | Professional Cyclist on Strava


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Le Duke said:


> I'm curious to see what technical changes teams make. Most notably, BMC.
> 
> I realize XTR is a great component group, but there were too many problems for Absalon on it last year.


An interesting point. I know he had the rear derailleur blow up on him in race one. Wasn't the other just a chain issue? Maybe I am wrong...?


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

He snapped his chain guide off at Vallnord. Was running 1x10 and kept dropping his chain.

Made a spectacular comeback from dead last to 8th, and might have made the podium if he didn't have to get off the bike once or twice a lap to put his chain back on.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Le Duke said:


> He snapped his chain guide off at Vallnord. Was running 1x10 and kept dropping his chain.
> 
> Made a spectacular comeback from dead last to 8th, and might have made the podium if he didn't have to get off the bike once or twice a lap to put his chain back on.


Wonder what front sprocket he was running?


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

It was a Saint chainring, supposedly. No built in chain retention qualities like WT, RF or SRAM.


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## csteven71 (Jan 15, 2009)

Le Duke said:


> I'm curious to see what technical changes teams make. Most notably, BMC.
> 
> I realize XTR is a great component group, but there were too many problems for Absalon on it last year.


I bet we'll see him on some sort of narrow wide ring with a chain guide if he chooses to run 1x at races again, or perhaps we'll see some shimano single ring prototype systems? Who knows. I wonder how many of the guys/gals running full XTR have had issues? I like to believe that systems are engineered to work together and do best when not messed with, but that's just my own dorky opinion...

As always I look forward to seeing some cool setups this summer, hope cyclingnews will up their level of bike coverage for XC. I've always found it interesting that they profile so many pro tour bikes which to me have much less leeway and variance compared to setups raced in XC events.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

rockyuphill said:


> Here's Nino Schurter's Strava account Nino Schurter | Professional Cyclist on Strava


That data is amazing. He gets his heartrate up to almost 180 on a 800ft climb and during the descent, in less than 2 minutes, its below 100.... then does it 4 more times.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

Yep. Raw power is one thing, but the rate at which professionals recover, and their ability to replicate efforts over and over again, is what truly sets them apart.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Ok...BIG question: Will the Cannondale boys be back in baggies? And will a new trend emerge from their example?


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

criscobike said:


> Ok...BIG question: Will the Cannondale boys be back in baggies? And will a new trend emerge from their example?


I hope to see baggies. But there should be a rule that you must throw whips in the BMX sections if you wear baggies.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Here's an update on Nino Schurter's plans for 2014: 

---------------------------------------------

*Nino Schurter- Onroad, Offroad*

MTB World Champ will switch disciplines part-time and race the Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie with ORICA GreenEDGE.

After winning three World Championships and three World Cup titles in only five years, Nino Schurter is temporarily looking for a new challenge in 2014. He wants to switch part time to the road scene to compete in the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse, racing for the ORICA-GreenEDGE Pro Tour Team, which is also sponsored by SCOTT. This idea first had to get approval from the UCI and Swiss Cycling. Now they gave Nino and OGE a green light.

What's the reason behind this switch? Nino Schurter tells us that, "To do the Tour de Suisse once in my life has always been my dream. My heart is in mountain biking and will remain there. But if I ever wanted to ride a big stage race on the road, the 2014 season offers the perfect slot for it. To defend my World Championship title is still going to be my main goal for 2014 and furthermore I will 100% concentrate on mountain biking to hopefully add a missing Olympic medal to my collection. I believe that on my way there, I can gain a lot of knowledge and experience from racing on the road with ORICA-GreenEDGE this year."

...

*Nino will race the 2014 Cape Epic with SCOTT athlete Philipp Buys*

Additionally, there is another highlight marked in red on Nino's agenda- The Cape Epic in South Africa. It is going to be his first goal of the season. He will team up with South African rider Philip Buys.

Buys, also a SCOTT athlete, won the Cape Epic "best African team" classification in 2013. They look like a promising team for stage wins and contenders for the overall classification. Shortly thereafter, the World Cup season starts in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa where Schurter won the World Championship title last year. In order to race the Tour de Romandie he will skip the second World Cup stop in Cairns, Australia. This and the European Championships are the only big races Nino will miss for his road racing plans.

From June moving forward, it will be business as usual for Nino on his mountain bike.

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=4018eef54693b49f3a5d89099&id=56e5338b2e&e=

---------------------------------------------


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## iwanttolookatpics (Jun 5, 2006)

criscobike said:


> Ok...BIG question: Will the Cannondale boys be back in baggies? And will a new trend emerge from their example?


If you have to try hard to look "cool", it isn't cool. Baggies in XC look ridiculous and serve no purpose.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

iwanttolookatpics said:


> Baggies in XC look ridiculous and serve no purpose.


What's the purpose of lycra?


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

NordieBoy said:


> What's the purpose of lycra?


Besides comfort and aerodynamics? For me, baggies tend to get stuck on my seat.

But that's just me, and I'm no pro.


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## csteven71 (Jan 15, 2009)

My issue with baggies is that the chamois is never very good and it's fine when I'm not racing, but when I race I want to be comfortable. And at the point where I'm just putting baggy shorts over my normal bibs, whats the point?


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## iwanttolookatpics (Jun 5, 2006)

FNFAL said:


> Besides comfort and aerodynamics? For me, baggies tend to get stuck on my seat.
> 
> But that's just me, and I'm no pro.


Even ill-fitting lycra gets hooked up on the seat in a race situation, couldn't imagine how irritating wearing those baggies would be. They must be getting paid a nice little wage from whoever is promoting those shorts.


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

id say the shimano boys will be on Di2 11 speed of some sort.


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## sprocketjockey9 (Jul 18, 2006)

vizsladog said:


> id say the shimano boys will be on Di2 11 speed of some sort.


1x11 for sure and looks electric Shimano 2015 XTR - Premières images will this be out for the World Cup peeps this year though?


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

That's exactly what I was thinking. Always follow the money!


iwanttolookatpics said:


> Even ill-fitting lycra gets hooked up on the seat in a race situation, couldn't imagine how irritating wearing those baggies would be. They must be getting paid a nice little wage from whoever is promoting those shorts.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Somehow, I don't think they're wearing off the shelf, cheap baggies and liners with key, cell, wallet and mp3 player pockets...


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

NordieBoy said:


> Somehow, I don't think they're wearing off the shelf, cheap baggies and liners with key, cell, wallet and mp3 player pockets...


I'd say they are Cannondale Factory Racing Team issue shorts.
CFR TEAM BAGGY SHORT
Nothing extra special about them because they race WC, probably just comfy shorts that they say they wear while training. They like them so they wear them in races as well. As top pros, Marco and Manual are their own brands and it makes sense to market your own brand to increase visibility and value. So rock baggies and get noticed in a field of skin suits.
Instagram


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Yep, looking at WC racing pics, they're the shorts Manny wears.

2 side pockets and a cargo on the bottom of the right leg.


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Yes it will supposdly be for sale before summer so i imagine world cup racers like absalon will be on it


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

vizsladog said:


> Yes it will supposdly be for sale before summer so i imagine world cup racers like absalon will be on it


Wearing Cannondale Team shorts?


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

Will it be any live stream from the Sunshinecup in Cyprus this week? Looks like a lot of the pro team is there.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

plupp said:


> Will it be any live stream from the Sunshinecup in Cyprus this week? Looks like a lot of the pro team is there.


+1 I would love to see this


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

plupp said:


> Will it be any live stream from the Sunshinecup in Cyprus this week? Looks like a lot of the pro team is there.


Not that I know of. But I think there is a steam from the race in Texas this weekend.


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## Afrobiker (Dec 19, 2010)

link to this weekend's ProXCT race. Also looks like Sho Air US Cup will be live streaming all the series races this year.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Afrobiker said:


> link to this weekend's ProXCT race. Also looks like Sho Air US Cup will be live streaming all the series races this year.


I will be racing at the same time. I assume I can watch it on replay from the same link?


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## clk (Dec 16, 2012)

Red bull tv has an app on Xbox live now and will be streaming the wc 's live


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

clk said:


> Red bull tv has an app on Xbox live now and will be streaming the wc 's live


and redbull has finally got on board google chromecast, so no more having to stream it to my TV from my laptop with a 20 foot HDMI cable. :thumbsup:


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

anyway for ps3 users. As much as I love laying in bed on a sunday morning and watching the races. I would like to watch it on the big screen at times.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Preview Trailer!
UCI XCO preview 2014 - YouTube


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## Feideaux (Jan 14, 2004)

RE: Absolon's mechanicals riding shimano....I suspect some of those issues may have been the BMC frame - maybe the dropouts breaking. Cadel Evans also appears to have random technical issues on his road frame that only a bike swap will fix.


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## Devincicx (Nov 20, 2011)

in a french interview Absalon recently told a french magazine they would have a new frame by the end of the season, they would also have something big from Shimano. He also said they will not run tubulars anymore because they had too many troubles with them, instead they'll be on tubeless continental tires, which means no more Shimano carbon tubular


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The preview of 2105 XTR shows a 1x11 drivetrain, I might finally look at 1x11

Shimano 2015 XTR - Premières images


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

While I love some me good ol' XTR 2x10 stuff, this looks like a half-baked solution. 

There is a pretty decent spread in capability between a 10-42 and an 11-40 cassette.


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## iwanttolookatpics (Jun 5, 2006)

Not feeling the crank design. Although (imo) nothing is as pimp as the FC-M960 XTR cranks.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

criscobike said:


> Preview Trailer!
> UCI XCO preview 2014 - YouTube


Music sucks for XCO and I do not like the focus on crashing. If I was 15 I'd probably find the vid cool.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The obligatory shots of the guy on the lead moto showing off. The most showy trials motorcyclist I have seen was at the St.Felicien World Cup in 2007, where he was popping wheelies up several sections of trail and grabbing air over bridges. He was just on the edge of spinning the rear wheel and digging grooves in some of the climbing sections.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

I believe that was made by a fan. Itbseems to be making the rounds as an official video. 

I could be wrong though.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

machine4321 said:


> I believe that was made by a fan. Itbseems to be making the rounds as an official video.
> 
> I could be wrong though.


I found it originally posted by Jaroslav K on his FB page. No idea who actually created the original.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Just over 2 weeks away...

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

Cant wait. Still looking at a couple feet of snow. The new season should help me get over that......probably not.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

rockyuphill said:


> Just over 2 weeks away...
> 
> Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa


SWEET!!!

So I was thinking...will the International World Cup racers start to use the US Cup as their World Cup warm up more in the future? The announcers wondered aloud why Nino wasn't there (did they really not know about the Cape Epic?); but we have seen a strong contingent from Mexico & Canada plus WC racers like Fontana, McConnell and Fumic out there (I consider Nash an American racer by now). Our local USA racers have represented well, but will we see more WC level racers in the next few years? What do you all think?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

As long as US Cup races are UCI points races it's a good chance that these early XCO races will attract more riders, that and World Cup XCO course length. It's all about getting lots of UCI points for the starting positions in the first World Cup race. The fact that there is equal prize money doesn't hurt either.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Just 6 days away now, who's getting up at 3:50AM PDT to watch this race live?

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

...or are you laying around in bed until 6:20AM PDT for the men's race?

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa


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## OnThaCouch (Oct 2, 2010)

rockyuphill said:


> Just 6 days away now, who's getting up at 3:50AM PDT to watch this race live?
> 
> Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
> 
> ...


Loved the coverage last year! I will be up at early o'clock to catch it live.:thumbsup:


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

Jaro won't race at pietermaritzburg, he has the flu. Poor guy can't get a break.

No Pietermaritzburg World Cup For Kulhavy | Cyclingnews.com


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

rockyuphill said:


> Just 6 days away now, who's getting up at 3:50AM PDT to watch this race live?
> 
> Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
> 
> ...


I have a race starting at the time the men's might be ending their suffer fest...replay for me...


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Man,he hasnt been on form since the olympics really. Im gonna hook my lap top up to my tv to watch the race


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

And Catharine Pendrel has a broken collar bone (second year in a row) so she'll miss the the first two races. Be interesting to see how many early season injuries there are.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I was just looking at the schedule for Sportsnet One in Canada and they are showing the women's and men's World Cup from Pietremaritzburg on Sunday morning just 4.5 hours delayed from live. Assuming they don't bump it for something else, that's impressive. The women's race starts at 8:30AM PDT on Sunday and the men's race at 10AM PDT on Sunday. So in Canada you can sleep in and still watch it in HD on cable TV.


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Kulhavy is out PMB. He'll stay at home, flu. Bad news for the show, although there are plenty of racers that will make it up, it's going to be quite a race!
BTW, apparently, there are new sections for PMB course.
Saw this on Hermida's twitter


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## oshaden (Feb 5, 2010)

Here is a video preview of the course.

MTB World Cup XCO Course 2014 - YouTube


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

I usually try and stay away from race prediction when Catharine is racing. But since she isn't racing (which is really too bad because she had some seriously good form) I will chip in.

Women: 
Right now I think there is only women in the world with form to match Jolanda Neff, and that is Katerina Nash, who is staying at home racing Sea Otter. Jolanda has been winning everything in sight by a significant margin. The other top riders aren't at full speed; Maja, Julie, and Zakel or not there yet. If she races aggressively Batty could also be a contender.

Men: I don't think there is anybody ready to take down Nino and Absalon. Assuming they both have a clean race it will be tight between the two of them, just for a change I call Absalon to take the victory. Cink and McConnell are my dark horses.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Is Neff winning because everyone else is still building form, or has she finally done what it takes to keep her pace beyond the first 2-3 laps? She has been a barnstormer for the first couple of laps and then falls way back through the pack.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

LMN said:


> I usually try and stay away from race prediction when Catharine is racing. But since she isn't racing (which is really too bad because she had some seriously good form) I will chip in.
> 
> Women:
> Right now I think there is only women in the world with form to match Jolanda Neff, and that is Katerina Nash, who is staying at home racing Sea Otter. Jolanda has been winning everything in sight by a significant margin. The other top riders aren't at full speed; Maja, Julie, and Zakel or not there yet. If she races aggressively Batty could also be a contender.
> ...


You pretty much have my same predictions nailed. Nash is looking really strong thus far in the US Cup. Who know what she can do this year. It will be interesting to see how Neff does.

BTW: Are you going to take on everyone's suggestion of doing some kind of video blog of race week for us the fans? That would be EPIC!


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## jeffgre_6163 (Jan 23, 2010)

*Comments on the [percieved] difficulty of the Cairns round XC course*

In the current issue of Australian Mountain Biking magazine Dan McConnell and Bec Henderson [two of Australia's leading world class XC competitors] are asked to comment on the increasing level of difficulty for WC XC courses
On page 63 Ben says "it seems to be more common in countries where the sport is less popular, where its perceived that bigger features make for bigger audiences"
Bec is quoted as saying "We are yet to see the Cairns course, but it sounds like its heading more in the four-cross, downhill direction, which is not what we do, really: we're on 100mm hard tails with a small bucket on our heads"
I am fortunate enough to live in the Cairns area and have had the opportunity to ride the WC XC course several times since completion in recent months. I could in no way be considered an "elite" level rider, in fact I am a 50 year clubman racer with moderate to good fitness but a decidedly average skill set, however I can successfully negotiate the lap [with the exception of the "rockslide" feature which admittedly does my head in] with some degree of speed and control
If a rider of my standard can handle the lap on a dual suspension trail bike then surely a world class XC rider should have no trouble on a 100mm hard tail with their undoubtedly vastly superior fitness and theoretically stratospheric skills.
My point being that if Bec thinks that its "not what they do" and that "they are on 100mm hardtails" maybe she should consider riding a 100mm dual suspension bike with wider bars and slacker head angle or even something with longer travel or perhaps [Gasp, shock and horror] actually improve her skill set if she elects to stay on the hard tail and wants to ride at that level!.
Or maybe it is "what they do" in world XC now and Bec needs to step up
Surely the XC category of our sport at the very highest level should not only be a test of fitness but also a true test of technical skill?

Who would you prefer to see crowned XC WC champ: the rider with superior fitness but a smaller set of skills or the slightly less adept climber but one with much better bike handling skills?

The course is not in any way a four cross or downhill track, those claims are absurd.
It is a common topic among riders around the trailheads and rest stops on group rides that often there is not enough emphasis on bike handling skill in XC races and more on fitness. The RRR MTB classic held every year in far North Queensland for example really only has one section [the bump track] where a rider with superior bike handling skills can hope to make ground on a part time MTBer, full time, leg shaving, 400km a week roady who brushes the cob webs from his MTB maybe once or twice a year. The majority of the 35km short course is a fire road & beach drag race where skill counts for nothing.
Do we really want to see this at the highest level?
The design of a course at WC level should demand the highest level of not only fitness but also skill from the riders.
If a rider doesn't feel they can ride it safely on a "100mm hard tail with a small bucket on their head" then I think the course designers and builders have done a brilliant job and eliminated those from the results who don't have the skill set to ride at the highest level of competitive mountain biking.

A bit harsh maybe but I am sure I am not alone in thinking this.

Comments welcomed


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## craign (Feb 8, 2006)

I've not ridden the course, nor do I know Bec/Dan. However I know 3rd hand that neither is lacking in technical skills. Nor are many people racing at that level.

I suspect they are referring to the way the course has been spun by the media to be about jumps, drops, berms etc... i.e. man made features. Where there is sometimes an intentional added element of danger for spectacle. Whereas they are expecting XC to be about riding more natural terrain, i.e. rocks, logs, roots, etc...


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Despite I find interesting and would love to have some laps on vastly man made courses(I mean, with lots of man made rock gardens, drops, jumps, and wooden sections), because it looks like fun, and challenging, I do think that those features are being over used nowadays.
I like much more natural courses,MSA comes to my mind, technically challenging, but nature made.
It's just dissapointing that, in order to get audience, the courses are going in a bike park direction.(even though WC races are not being broadcasted by the mass media, and in my opinion, the same folks would go to RedBullTV and watch the race no matter how spectacular the course was...)


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## iwanttolookatpics (Jun 5, 2006)

jeffgre_6163 said:


> I could in no way be considered an "elite" level rider, in fact I am a 50 year clubman racer with moderate to good fitness but a decidedly average skill set, however I can successfully negotiate the lap [with the exception of the "rockslide" feature which admittedly does my head in] with some degree of speed and control


You're pottering round, anyone can do that. You don't realise how fast Elite racers RACE over this terrain. It's an entirely different skill-set.
The problem seems to be these courses are getting designed by people who don't race and think throwing a few large rocks around the place is intelligent course design.



jeffgre_6163 said:


> If a rider doesn't feel they can ride it safely on a "100mm hard tail with a small bucket on their head" then I think the course designers and builders have done a brilliant job and eliminated those from the results who don't have the skill set to ride at the highest level of competitive mountain biking.


The point they're making is it DOESN'T have any effect on the outcome of the results, since all the riders at this level possess the technical skill to ride these sections. All it adds is is a higher risk factor when somebody does make a mistake, rather than getting back on the bike they're getting taken out of the race. Pointless, and does nothing but detract from the racing. 
XC racing doesn't need to be "downhill-lite", and it certainly doesn't need more man made features.


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## jeffgre_6163 (Jan 23, 2010)

iwanttolookatpics said:


> You're pottering round, anyone can do that. You don't realise how fast Elite racers RACE over this terrain. It's an entirely different skill-set.
> The problem seems to be these courses are getting designed by people who don't race and think throwing a few large rocks around the place is intelligent course design.
> The point they're making is it DOESN'T have any effect on the outcome of the results, since all the riders at this level possess the technical skill to ride these sections. All it adds is is a higher risk factor when somebody does make a mistake, rather than getting back on the bike they're getting taken out of the race. Pointless, and does nothing but detract from the racing.
> XC racing doesn't need to be "downhill-lite", and it certainly doesn't need more man made features.


What a lot of politically correct B**S**T
There are no real downhill features on the course! at no time in a lap are your forced to jump anything if you choose not to. You will be slow if you don't but hey, that's the game isn't it?
The scary, technically difficult "Rockslide" IS 100% natural, nothing man made about it. 
Come one, these guys and girls are supposed to be the worlds best. Risk and danger come with the territory. It is called "Mountain biking" for a reason, Mountains have rocks, roots, boulders, ravines, gulley's, steep scree slopes, off camber slippery sections etc etc, Its not called "gravel road riding with the occasional lump and bump and maybe the odd steepish climb"
The winner is the entrant who can balance risk vs reward, skill, speed, fitness etc to the greatest advantage and come out on top.
There are A and B lines, if the fastest line is the A line and the rider is prepared to run the risk and has the skills to pull it off surely they are the rightful winner? 
My comment in regard to eliminating those without the skill set to ride the course was not a reference to them axing themselves and getting hurt, nobody wants to see that I hope, it was meant to be a reference to those without the skill set riding very conservatively and hence eliminating them from the results.
While I don't want to get in to a pointless pissing contest about what I do I don't know about elite level racing, let I be known that I raced my first XC race in 1988 and have been around MTB racing ever since - I know how fast elite level riders are, I've been lapped by them often enough!.
One last comment on this:
"The problem seems to be these courses are getting designed by people who don't race and think throwing a few large rocks around the place is intelligent course design"
You might want to look up the CV of World Trail who built the course.
Here let me help:
http://www.world-trail.com/history.php


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Mont Sainte Anne, Spa Francorchamps, and Offenburg are examples of courses with lots of naturally challenging trail features and a variety of trail routing to choose from. The man made feature push seems to come from places that didn't have existing challenging trails. If the venues plan on holding more World Cup races, they should just develop some new World Cup level natural trails instead of relying so heavily on rock gardens. The features should challenge the rider's skills without exposing the riders to season ending injury potential. Falling in dirt and roots is seldom as damaging as falling on rocks.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

I don't think any of us can speak at the specifics of the Cairns track, very few of us have seen pictures and even less of us have ridden it. I think iwanttolookatpics was referring to general changes in worlds cups not Cairns specifically, as I am sure Bec and Dan were also referring too. As was quoted they haven't seen Cairns course themselves.

In my opinion the trend in world cup courses has been to become more dangerous while becoming less technically significant. I have ridden a lot of world cups courses over the years and the features on them are getting bigger and bigger and riskier and riskier. Riders are adapting training and becoming better at these features. They are becoming good enough that gaps are only being produced when something goes wrong, and something going wrong is usually a big crash that hurts someone.

I definitely have a little bias here. My wife is out of the first two world cups because she broke her collar bone while training to do these technical features. She cased a 6 foot step down with an 8 foot gap, a jump that five years ago no XC racer would think about attempting.

But the jump was nothing. Well we were picking her up half a dozen 14 years olds on DH bikes hit with speed and style making it look like nothing at all. The new "technical features" do a very poor job of show casing the technical skills of a world class XC racer. XC racers excel at riding technical single track quickly, the bikes are designed to do that, and racers train to do that. I think "Features" do a poor job of show casing the technical skills of XC racers.



jeffgre_6163 said:


> What a lot of politically correct B**S**T
> There are no real downhill features on the course! at no time in a lap are your forced to jump anything if you choose not to. You will be slow if you don't but hey, that's the game isn't it?
> The scary, technically difficult "Rockslide" IS 100% natural, nothing man made about it.
> Come one, these guys and girls are supposed to be the worlds best. Risk and danger come with the territory. It is called "Mountain biking" for a reason, Mountains have rocks, roots, boulders, ravines, gulley's, steep scree slopes, off camber slippery sections etc etc, Its not called "gravel road riding with the occasional lump and bump and maybe the odd steepish climb"
> ...


----------



## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Checking out some of the action from last years race, that treehouse rock garden is terrifying. Schurter does everything well and of course he's a great climber but generally he seems to win by flying downhill and over technical sections and then somewhat resting on the climbs while most everyone else does the opposite. 

How's he looking for this race?


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## Derkson91 (Aug 14, 2013)

I think Schurter will dominate the WC season again this year and take the overall victory even though I think he is skipping a round to do a road race instead. He is the best XC rider/racer on the planet right now. It seems only Absalon can hang with him on a regular basis. I'd also love to Absalon stick around for a few more years and give the Rio 2016 Olympics a shot. I'd love to see the big three battle it out at the Olympics. As a side note....Kulhavy needs to stay healthy, dude is freakishly talented but seems to get hurt alot and have many health related problems. Hope he comes around this season so the big three can duke it out towards the end of this WC season. 

Want to give a big thank you to RedBull Media/TV for being so awesome to video the WC races, what an effort it must be to set everything up. I hope this continues to catch steam and continues for years to come....maybe someday a WC race will make a TV appearance here in the US someday, that would be awesome!


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## rydbyk (Oct 13, 2009)

I am always a bit bummed when a contender flats and gets eliminated from the podium. Many of these courses certainly seem to increase the risk of flats. While the features really serve to entertain the viewers, they don't seem to separate the top riders unless there is a wreck causing injury.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

I watched the full preview of the XCO course and thought it looked pretty good.

It sucks to hear about Rachael Atherton's situation, hopefully she'll beat it down before race day.

Sucks to hear Kulhavy and Pendrel missing out.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

rydbyk said:


> I am always a bit bummed when a contender flats and gets eliminated from the podium. Many of these courses certainly seem to increase the risk of flats. While the features really serve to entertain the viewers, they don't seem to separate the top riders unless there is a wreck causing injury.


Agreed. Making these burly sections into climbs rather than descents could help them function as a means to separate the field based on skill. They usually seem wide enough to offer parallel routes; however, they could just become bottlenecks if they only allow one rider through at a time. And they would have to be able to be climbed at a speed worth riding so they don't just turn into run ups.

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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

I saw a race highlight on youtube from the 94 world champs and im sorry, but the one drop I saw in the video puts all of the WC tech sections to shame. 98% walked it and a few crazies tried to ride it and ate it badly. there was a tonne of people waiting to see the carnage.

I dont agree but back in those days that was "mountain biking" Im guessing alot of the course was smooth but cant say for sure.

I love the added tech sections but somtimes they are silly and do nothing for the racers except to "get through it" 

The S.A course looks like a blast. I would like to ride/ race it.


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## Purulento (Aug 27, 2009)

machine4321 said:


> I saw a race highlight on youtube from the 94 world champs...


Is it this video (around 2:00)?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

...and Lene Byberg is out of the XCO after breaking fingers in a training crash.


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

That's some pretty technical stuff even for today's standards...
It looks steep, and video makes things look less steep...I'd love to see Nino et al doing that.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

, thats the one. Pretty nearly for 26" ht with rubber suspension lol

It does suck about injuries in training but as others have said, there is always a B line.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Puxa! said:


> That's some pretty technical stuff even for today's standards...
> It looks steep, and video makes things look less steep...I'd love to see Nino et al doing that.


Aside from the bailout section (which was kind of dumb because no one could ride it) I didn't see anything there that any current pro couldn't easily handle. A lot of the stuff on today's WC courses look a lot knarlier in places to me.

Super cool vid btw.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Finally we can actually talk about the races themselves! Watched both the Men's and Women's races (bummed there was no Eliminator this time. I'm really getting to enjoy something specialized for the pure sprinters). 
Neff answered the elephant in the room by CRUSHING the field! That was really impressive. Granted, the women's race were missing a few of the big guns. I'm excited to see if KP will return in good form to challenge. What surprises me though is that Julie B used to be so dominant! What happened to that girl? She was the female version of Nino. Then again, THIS is what makes the girls so exciting to watch. You never know who's going to step up and have a strong day. 
In the Men's race, I was really happy to see Fumic up front and manage that second place (was that his best finish in a WC race {besides the World Championship finish}?) Sure, you don't want a race decided by a mechanical, but after Nino's flat, it was REALLY impressive to see him still ride hard and fast all the way to the zone. And how often do you actually get to see the flat happen on a slow-mo shot? That was pretty cool. But it made it kind of exciting to wonder how much he had for a comeback a la Andorra from last year. 
When I saw McConnell in the top ten at the start, I wondered what kind of late charge he might muster (like he usually does). I wouldn't mind at all to see him improve over the season. As cool as it is to see JA and NS battle it out every time...they battle it out EVERY time. A little variation would be fun. 
My thoughts on the courses: I dunno. IMO, the two coolest looking courses are Mont Saint Anne and La Bresse. From what I know, they are almost totally "natural" (how "natural" is a trail anyway?) and looked like a blast to ride. Sometimes the man-made features have gotten ridiculous though and I wouldn't blame the riders at all if they complained. Maybe the builders are consciously designing courses for a danger element to bring in spectators. But hey, if nobody wants to watch...sponsors aren't going to show up either. So there's got to be some level of "danger" I guess. I like the idea that the most well rounded racer has the best advantage. Look at what Nino was able to do on the Treehouse today. If JA and NS were neck and neck on the final lap, Nino's ability to pass in that section would be a HUGE variable. It brings in the cerebral part of racing too.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I couldn't decide if I was more impressed by Jolanda Neff being in form to carry that speed to the end of the race (even after the crash we didn't see), or by Gunn-Rita Dahle Flejsaa for finishing second just 25 seconds behind Neff. There's almost a full 20 years of age difference there. Gunn-Rita has really raised her technical skills game, she looked pretty comfy in the rocks and jumps, she's shooting for the World Champs in Norway this year. 

That was the first race of any sort for Bresset this season, so she'll pick up the pace. The first race is always a guessing game on where racers are in their fitness curve. Cairns in 2 weeks will start to point at the real fitness of the racers.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

Awesome day for the old folks! By old I mean over 30. 
I would have liked to see NS and JA go till the end. Nino didnt look to be 100% at his usual, to bad about the flat.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

First of all, I must say I impressed myself with race predictions. 

Women's race: Not overly surprised by any of the results. Neff has been on great form all season, can she maintain it for the year? Only time will tell. The rest of the girls looked like they still have a ways for their form to go. I must say it was a super tough one to watch in our house. Catharine had some really good form, she would have been battling at the front today.

Men's race: Really too bad Nino flatted, they were both at their absolute limit when he punctured. I don't if anybody else saw Absalon's face when they entered the last single track together, he was suffering. Interestingly Absalon moved away from tubulars this year because of too many flats. This is Nino's 3rd flat at a world cup in less then a year. Equipment choice is part of the game.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Sucks that Schurter flatted, I was looking forward to a classic duel on the last lap. I have a feeling that Nino would have taken Julien because as usual he was crushing it on the technical sections and forcing Absalon to work afterwards. Guess we'll never know.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Pinkbike of all places have some great photos of the XC races

Photo Recap: Pietermaritzburg XC World Cup - Pinkbike


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## Purulento (Aug 27, 2009)

Lots of pics

XCO World Cup 2014 #1 ? Pietermaritzburg: Fotostory vom Finale - MTB-News.de


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The one thing that Nino's rear flat demonstrated is why tubulars might be superior to tubeless when they go flat in a full on race situation. The fact that he only lost 1:40 by riding out the end of that lap, including the Tree House rock gardens and drops, getting to the tech zone and changing the wheel and rejoining the race, is really amazing. That must have sucked up a lot of leg power to maintain that speed.


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## rallymaniac (Oct 12, 2011)

I'm curious why don't they just keep the pressure up by like 2lb or so to prevent these flats. This is like 3rd flat for Nino in last 12 months and it appears that none of them were caused by cuts but rather pinches from rim strike. 
Will they lose that much time by going slightly higher with the pressure and what's better, DNFing/losing several spots with flat or having slightly less traction with higher pressure?


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

The tires are super thin. Doesn't take much to slice a Dugast. Nino's bike is under 18lbs, there has to be some compromises.

The question is with heavier tires does Nino have the legs to follow Absalon?



rallymaniac said:


> I'm curious why don't they just keep the pressure up by like 2lb or so to prevent these flats. This is like 3rd flat for Nino in last 12 months and it appears that none of them were caused by cuts but rather pinches from rim strike.
> Will they lose that much time by going slightly higher with the pressure and what's better, DNFing/losing several spots with flat or having slightly less traction with higher pressure?


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

The interesting thing for me was the contrast between the flustered rear wheel change by one of the riders (shown at around 39 minutes elapsed time on the race clock in the men's race) and then the smooth wheel change where after Nino Schurter had punctured he allowed his mechanics to take the bike, change the rear wheel rapidly and set off again. 

They both had 142x12mm rear thru axle frames but Nino Schurter's wheel change was at least twice as fast.

They mentioned in the commentary that Julien Absalon was taking the "easier" slow line on the main rock garden, which made sense as that was where he'd crashed and broken three ribs last year. He said as much in the post race interview - that he'd been a bit scared of that section after his bad crash so took it cautiously to stay out of trouble in the race.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Don't let the guy with the 180bpm heart rate work on his own bike.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I remember when watching live it seemed like Nino's mechanics took a while, but they were calm and deliberate and professional. Then when they replayed it, I thought it actually went down pretty fast. Plus the recap was played in a slight slow motion! 

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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

That wheel change looked really good to me, and I loved how casual and non-perturbed Nino was during his short wait.


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## jackattack (Nov 27, 2009)

WR304 said:


> The interesting thing for me was the contrast between the flustered rear wheel change by one of the rider's (shown at around 39 minutes elapsed time on the race clock in the men's race) and then the smooth wheel change where after Nino Schurter had punctured he allowed his mechanics to take the bike, change the rear wheel rapidly and set off again.
> 
> They both had 142x12mm rear thru axle frames but Nino Schurter's wheel change was at least twice as fast.
> 
> They mentioned in the commentary that Julien Absalon was taking the "easier" slow line on the main rock garden, which made sense as that was where he'd crashed and broken three ribs last year. He said as much in the post race interview - that he'd been a bit scared of that section after his bad crash so took it cautiously to stay out of trouble in the race.


Niño was having a drink while his wheel was being replaced while the other racer was basically changing his wheel by himself, no comparison there.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I noticed the mechanics gave Nino a bottle first thing when he entered the pit, almost like s distraction for him to keep him out of their way. Nino kept cool and let them work, very professional. 

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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

*Cool slideshow of Pietermaritzburg*

Slideshow | Vital MTB






World Cup Cross Country Race Action from Pietermaritzburg - More Mountain Bike Photos


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

jackattack said:


> Niño was having a drink while his wheel was being replaced while the other racer was basically changing his wheel by himself, no comparison there.


He did exactly the same during the wheel change after he punctured at the Andorra World Cup round last year too. It looks like they have a pre-rehearsed routine that's arranged beforehand to make wheel changes as smooth and fluid as possible.


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## Goran_injo (Jul 4, 2007)

LMN said:


> The tires are super thin. Doesn't take much to slice a Dugast. Nino's bike is under 18lbs, there has to be some compromises.
> 
> The question is with heavier tires does Nino have the legs to follow Absalon?


Good question - I am also wondering why would they not use a pressurized sealant kit or plain CO2 that would bring the sealant up?
For tubeless, that is a gamechanger that can cost some 60g in pocket, and I know that tufo has it's own tubular friendly kits.

I am pretty sure that extra 60g would not cost more than a second per lap, I know it is a lot, but still..to lose a race over this..


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

When they slice the tire no sealant would fix it. I guess most of the riders not running tubular are going with sealant.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

ewarnerusa said:


> I noticed the mechanics gave Nino a bottle first thing when he entered the pit, almost like s distraction for him to keep him out of their way. Nino kept cool and let them work, very professional.


Id sure hope so :thumbsup:


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

SandSpur said:


> Id sure hope so :thumbsup:


Almost as if they'd practiced it...


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

One of the features of Cairns.
Not a bad drop...


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

Holy cow, Neff was on fire! - visibly faster on all the Tech sections. Downhill skills like that combined with ability to actually keep up that crazy pace for 1.5 hrs and she's looking pretty tough to beat. Gunn Rita awesome - I really want to see her get a win and take the record.

Agree about Schurter and the tyres. Given his advantage, it would seem to make sense to trade off a little weight for reliability but I'm sure every time he thinks about Absalon right behind him, Nino thinks he better go for the lower weight to counter Julien's crazy low body fat. I'm sorry to see Nino puncture but I think Julien's experience shows here. He looks a bit more careful a rider and a bit more tactical about how he makes Nino ride (he did this last year too - put Nino under pressure, Nino speeds up on a downhill and flats as a result)

Very impressed with Scott team wheel change...No panic, let the mechanic do their job, no rush and get it right, let the rider recover and exit feeling positive. Very tidy.

Really enjoy the commentary of Warner and Brentjens but when the Cape Epic is mentioned (several times), Bart is too modest to mention that he won (masters cat) this year. He's still got it.


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

WR304 said:


> It looks like they have a pre-rehearsed routine that's arranged beforehand to make wheel changes as smooth and fluid as possible.


I find it amazing that any rider and team would NOT have a smooth and quick routine worked out beforehand (a la the other rider's awkward wheel change). Seems like that would be a basic part of race preparation.



rockyuphill said:


> Pinkbike of all places have some great photos of the XC races


I'm actually really enjoying the coverage from "downhill" sites (Pinkbike, Vital). Or maybe it's just the Pinkbike comment sections I find so entertaining.


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Great race. I agree that i think tubes are not the way to go. Im sure they ride awesome but they seem to fragile.

Wonder how long before JA is on the new 11 speed xtr?

I did my first race after getting a road bike and actually training somewhat, watching the start of the world cup blows me away how hard they go off the line.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

vizsladog said:


> Great race. I agree that i think tubes are not the way to go. Im sure they ride awesome but they seem to fragile.


Tubes?! Who is still running tubes in WC racing?


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

SandSpur said:


> Tubes?! Who is still running tubes in WC racing?


I'm sure he thinks of tubulars. I understand why they are doing tubulars, the performance with low pressure is far way better than tubeless with sealing. And as seen on Nino you are able to race even when you puncture with them.


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Yes, they make a difference when flat.
Look at Carlos Coloma, who had a flat rear wheel, and continued like this


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

And look at this pic...










That's scary


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Yes i meant tubulars. I thought i typed tubs...


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

Regnskogsbana! | Pics from the next track, sorry for Swedish

A comment on the track from Jolanda

_"One of the greatest & most playful tracks I've ever ridden"_


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Emily Batty posted photos of a couple of the drops

Instagram


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## zrm (Oct 11, 2006)

Purulento said:


> Is it this video (around 2:00)?


That was originally called "Bailey's bailout" for the guy who designed those courses. If I remember right, you had to do it exactly right or you'd stuff your front wheel and take a nasty tumble. There where no alternate lines back then, you either did it or not. Totally natural feature, none of this man made, pile of boulders nonsense. :lol:


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Did i hear the anoucer say Nino wasnt going to austraila?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Yep, to do road races

Schurter To Race Tours De Suisse And Romandie With Orica GreenEdge | Cyclingnews.com


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## Purulento (Aug 27, 2009)




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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

Purulento said:


> View attachment 886908


I think that Fontana is considering a longer travel fork here...yikes!!!


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## rallymaniac (Oct 12, 2011)

i think girls may be walking there


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

You heard right. Kinda saddens me, but he doesn't leave EU very often for races.

But after what happened in SA, I would think he'd be itching to podium and reclaim some lost points.

Or he's preparing for the road race he's working on this year.


vizsladog said:


> Did i hear the anoucer say Nino wasnt going to austraila?


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Puxa! said:


> Yes, they make a difference when flat.
> Look at Carlos Coloma, who had a flat rear wheel, and continued like this


Your picture link isn't showing up for me. Could you re-post it please so I can see it?


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## Goran_injo (Jul 4, 2007)

carlostruco said:


> I think that Fontana is considering a longer travel fork here...yikes!!!


I think he is just looking at chainring clearance on the "left" line - and possibly calculating suspension bottoming in as a factor.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

I was seriously bummed that there wasn't a race today...and maybe a bit jealous that I wasn't on the big snorkeling trip all those pro's took.


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

WR304 said:


> Your picture link isn't showing up for me. Could you re-post it please so I can see it?


Ok, I'll attach it instead of linking. Sometimes it happens, when I opened this thread today I couldn't see it either on my post, but I can on your reply. Weird computer things that go waaaay beyond my knowledge 8)


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Thanks for that. I can see the picture now.

There was an awesome no tyre picture from a race posted on mtbr a few years ago. Someone had punctured their front tyre so they took the tyre off and rode it on the rim with no front tyre. The picture was of the rider going down a steep rocky descent, a descent that wouldn't be easy with a fully working bike, only they were riding down it with no front tyre!

If I can remember where it was I'll post the link.

*Edit:* Found it. Several cool no tyre pics here:

https://forums.mtbr.com/general-discussion/new-front-wheel-stans-no-tire-front-wheel-803107.html



















.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

This was posted today on Cycling News: Absalon Mulls Over Retirement Decision | Cyclingnews.com

I get he's been around for a while, but right now, he's be the only consistent challenger to Nino. It would be a bummer to lose him for lots of reasons.


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## Derkson91 (Aug 14, 2013)

Agreed about JA. Clearly the best male mountain bike racer of all time (27 world cup wins), at least in the XC world. He seems in excellent shape and is still one of (if not) the best rider....challenging Nino every race, a true legend of our sport! The dude was in dead last place last year in a WC race because his chain kept falling off and he smoked through some of the best mountain bike racers in the world and finished in 8th place, clearly one of the most impressive rides and feats of strength in XC racing history. Then he finished in 6th place at the world championships with 3 broken ribs.....just insane. 

I'm really hoping he sticks around at least two more seasons and makes a run at the Rio Olympic games. It would be a major bummer to see him retire after this season.....if he does, maybe he will join his brother in the Enduro side of mountain bike racing...or maybe he will become a Marathon racer like Christoph Sauser. I guess we will find out in a matter of weeks if he resigns his contract with the BMC XC racing team......


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

I was intrigued by some absences in PMB, like Kabush, Nash, Wells, Plaxton, and some other americans and canadians who use to do well in elite and U23, and I'm seeing that many of them will skip Cairns as well, since they will be racing the Whiskey50 this weekend.
How is that they prefer racing Sea Otter or Whiskey50(well, seing the prize money for this I can understand)than the World Cup.
Could be to dodge the long trips, but South Africa and Australia are at least as far for the europeans as they are for north americans.
Whatever the reason, it's a pity not seeing them racing in those spectacular courses, they(specially canadians)use to put up a good show.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Puxa! said:


> I was intrigued by some absences in PMB, like Kabush, Nash, Wells, Plaxton, and some other americans and canadians who use to do well in elite and U23, and I'm seeing that many of them will skip Cairns as well, since they will be racing the Whiskey50 this weekend.
> How is that they prefer racing Sea Otter or Whiskey50(well, seing the prize money for this I can understand)than the World Cup.
> Could be to dodge the long trips, but South Africa and Australia are at least as far for the europeans as they are for north americans.
> Whatever the reason, it's a pity not seeing them racing in those spectacular courses, they(specially canadians)use to put up a good show.


Could there be requirements in their contract to do certain home events? The US Cup series is keeping some of the big names home; but Nash has decided to not travel to other continents anymore (which bums me out). Wells is potentially getting to the XCO retirement point? I'm hoping some of the young guns can make some strong showings in the World Cup races later in the season.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Wells just became a dad and in a cyclingdirt interview said no world cups this season. I'm not sure if that is this year only. I figured with Plaxton's promotion to the CFR team he would be obligated to do all world cups. Apparently not? Lea Davison is recovering from surgery/injury. 

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

I thought wells was doing windham?


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Could be, I'm just going off memory of that cyclingdirt video that I think was from Bonelli.

On another note, I just saw that Sauser is on the startlist for Whiskey 50. Damn, I'm guessing the rainbow stripes are going to take home the grand prize there!


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## CptSydor (Sep 20, 2007)

Puxa! said:


> I was intrigued by some absences in PMB, like Kabush, Nash, Wells, Plaxton, and some other americans and canadians who use to do well in elite and U23, and I'm seeing that many of them will skip Cairns as well, since they will be racing the Whiskey50 this weekend.
> How is that they prefer racing Sea Otter or Whiskey50(well, seing the prize money for this I can understand)than the World Cup.
> Could be to dodge the long trips, but South Africa and Australia are at least as far for the europeans as they are for north americans.
> Whatever the reason, it's a pity not seeing them racing in those spectacular courses, they(specially canadians)use to put up a good show.


I'm guessing it's a combination of a bunch of varied factors. One certainly has to be budget. A trip to South Africa, then Australia is pretty expensive (compared to centralizing yourself in Europe for a block of races). Even the big teams I can't image have 'unlimited' budgets. Given the alternatives, and if you aren't expecting to really contend for a great overall placing in the world cup (Nash the potential exception), I would think a Sea Otter/Whiskey result, possibly a win, is looking pretty good.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

And there's actually some money to be won in the US races for the likes of Kabush and Plaxton, they'd generally be well out of the decent prize money in a World Cup race. The US races are also providing some UCI points so it isn't as big a hit to the starting position (although by Cairns they will probably be lining up again on World Cup points instead of all UCI points totals). 

The cost in money, time and fitness to travel to South Africa and Australia is big for the sponsors that aren't likely to get podium finishes.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

I hope they go back to WC points for starting.
I understand the uci points draw people to uci point events but I just think the rewards should be related to world cup caliber events.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

OK, so with the International date line in the mix, the live event times for the Red Bull coverage are mind benders

UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2014 - UCI MTB World Cup, Australia: XCE 1/XCO 2/DH 2 | Red Bull Bike

XC Eliminator Friday April 25 at 2:20AM EDT, or April 24 at 11:20PM PDT.

XCO Women Elite race is Saturday April 26 at 10:50PM EDT, or 7:50PM PDT, men's race starts about 30 minutes after the Women are done.

It's going to be easy to tell if they line them up by World Cup points in Cairns.

In overall UCI points the top 10 women are

Zakelj
Wloszczowska
Lechner 
Neff
Engen
Nash
Suss
Dahle Flesjaa
Leumann
Stirnemann

The top 10 ranking in World Cup points are

Neff
Dahle Flesjaa
Wloszczowska
Langvad
Engen
Spitz
Kalentieva
Bresset
Batty
Hurikova


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

On Canadian front, injuries are keeping a couple of riders out and budgets are keep the others.



Puxa! said:


> I was intrigued by some absences in PMB, like Kabush, Nash, Wells, Plaxton, and some other americans and canadians who use to do well in elite and U23, and I'm seeing that many of them will skip Cairns as well, since they will be racing the Whiskey50 this weekend.
> How is that they prefer racing Sea Otter or Whiskey50(well, seing the prize money for this I can understand)than the World Cup.
> Could be to dodge the long trips, but South Africa and Australia are at least as far for the europeans as they are for north americans.
> Whatever the reason, it's a pity not seeing them racing in those spectacular courses, they(specially canadians)use to put up a good show.


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

LMN said:


> On Canadian front, injuries are keeping a couple of riders out and budgets are keep the others.


Do you know if Gagne is racing in Oz?
He did a hell of a race in PMB, I think he could do well in the tricky(and now wet)course in Cairns.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Gagne's Twitter feed has him riding a road bike in Quebec on Monday, so it's unlikely that he's going to be in Cairns.


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Rainy Eliminator right now, live: 
Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Go Kiwi!


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Video on board Michiel van der Heijden's bike


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Start lists for Cairns XCO are up. Very small fields for elite men and women. 51 men and 32 women.

Union Cycliste Internationale


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

It should be a blowout by JA then. But the course will prolly be very muddy


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

Watching the XCE right now.

Holy Carp!!!


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

That was a sketchy DH...


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

GREAT to see an American get into the XCE. Boy or girl, doesn't matter to me. And Kate Courtney made a darn good showing! Hopefully this will be the beginning of more US sprinters getting into the mix. 

I also just saw that video of the DH spectator who decided to be a hero without a helmet...it went REALLY well for him. 

Can't wait for the start of the Men's/Women's XCO!!!

Here's hoping Keegan Swenson and Kate C both make a strong showing representing us in the U23 ranks! Does anyone know if the U23 races ever get shown anywhere?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The only time I recall U-23 video coverage is during one of the World Champs. I think they did just so they had a dress rehearsal for the TV coverage of the Elite races.

Here's the live timing with the U-23 and Elite riders

Union Cycliste Internationale



criscobike said:


> GREAT to see an American get into the XCE. Boy or girl, doesn't matter to me. And Kate Courtney made a darn good showing! Hopefully this will be the beginning of more US sprinters getting into the mix.
> 
> I also just saw that video of the DH spectator who decided to be a hero without a helmet...it went REALLY well for him.
> 
> ...


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

Glad someone else is as fired up as i am about the u-23 Americans. Incredibly stoked to see kate in the xce small final. would it really be that hard for red bull to even just leave the cameras on and give us a raw feed of the u23 xco? pleeeesssseeeeee?


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

What happened with the DH spectator? I didn't catch that.


criscobike said:


> GREAT to see an American get into the XCE. Boy or girl, doesn't matter to me. And Kate Courtney made a darn good showing! Hopefully this will be the beginning of more US sprinters getting into the mix.
> 
> I also just saw that video of the DH spectator who decided to be a hero without a helmet...it went REALLY well for him.
> 
> ...


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

FNFAL said:


> What happened with the DH spectator? I didn't catch that.


All the news here

Ridiculous! Spectator Takes World Cup Bike and Crashes Hard - Pinkbike


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

dwperry said:


> Glad someone else is as fired up as i am about the u-23 Americans. Incredibly stoked to see kate in the xce small final. would it really be that hard for red bull to even just leave the cameras on and give us a raw feed of the u23 xco? pleeeesssseeeeee?


Outstanding! Kate gets a podium with 4th place! I would LOVE to watch that. So glad to see an American climbing the ranks. UCI doesn't have a finish time for Keegan...DNF? Pulled?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Can Emily Batty hold off Sabine Spitz to keep 2nd. 13 seconds isn't a big gap.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

criscobike said:


> GREAT to see an American get into the XCE. Boy or girl, doesn't matter to me. And Kate Courtney made a darn good showing! Hopefully this will be the beginning of more US sprinters getting into the mix.


And a Kiwi U23 winning!



criscobike said:


> I also just saw that video of the DH spectator who decided to be a hero without a helmet...it went REALLY well for him.


Sounds like the Tail End Charlie rider also had a huge crash.


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

criscobike said:


> Outstanding! Kate gets a podium with 4th place! I would LOVE to watch that. So glad to see an American climbing the ranks. UCI doesn't have a finish time for Keegan...DNF? Pulled?


The UCI website has live timing, which gives you an idea of what's happening. Still, we really need that video stream. Looking at the timing, Keegan got lapped and was pulled between intermediate 3 and the end of lap 3. Finished 21st.

Union Cycliste Internationale


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Flat front to win!
In style too!


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

If anyone is trying to watch the replay of the men's race, the resolution setting seems to determine what content you get. The default 240P setting and the HD setting seems to have a 35 minute course ride and then a bunch of chatter and interviews, the race start is around 1:45:00 of a 1:58:32 long replay video, so you just get past the start and the video ends. The 540P setting seems to have a replay with full race coverage, the race starts about 12 minutes in.

The 540P replay stream has a bunch of problems at various points, around 1:20:00 to the end it seems to skip frames like it's a DVD in fast forward every once in a while.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

rockyuphill said:


> If anyone is trying to watch the replay of the men's race, the resolution setting seems to determine what content you get. The default 240P setting and the HD setting seems to have a 35 minute course ride and then a bunch of chatter and interviews, the race start is around 1:45:00 of a 1:58:32 long replay video, so you just get past the start and the video ends. The 540P setting seems to have a replay with full race coverage, the race starts about 12 minutes in.


Very cool info...thanks for posting!!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

BTW, for the diehard World Cup nerds, on the UCI Results page, there is a second tab for Analysis which takes you to a link to a PDF of the lap by lap timing of each rider. The average lap time calculation is a bit skewed by the short start loop.

Union Cycliste Internationale

Examples from Pietermaritzburg and Cairns

View attachment Pietremaritzburg XCO_WE_Analysis.PDF


View attachment cairns XCO_WE_Analysis.PDF
.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> If anyone is trying to watch the replay of the men's race, the resolution setting seems to determine what content you get. The default 240P setting and the HD setting seems to have a 35 minute course ride and then a bunch of chatter and interviews, the race start is around 1:45:00 of a 1:58:32 long replay video, so you just get past the start and the video ends. The 540P setting seems to have a replay with full race coverage, the race starts about 12 minutes in.
> 
> The 540P replay stream has a bunch of problems at various points, around 1:20:00 to the end it seems to skip frames like it's a DVD in fast forward every once in a while.


Thanks for that. I was raging after sitting down and trying to watch the women's race, only to find the replay barely showed any race before stopping. I then tried to watch the men's race in 720p and that was even worse.:madman:

The 540p replay of the men's race was ok apart from the last 15 minutes of the race, which was just horrible with the skipping picture and sound.

It was a good race though. I enjoyed watching it once the replay started working. It was quite unpredictable with the punctures. If you watch the mechanic changing the front wheel you can see he's spinning an allen key to tighten the "Kabolt" thru axle.


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

My replays are cut off, and only really shows 30 minutes of each race. Weird.


WR304 said:


> Thanks for that. I was raging after sitting down and trying to watch the women's race, only to find the replay barely showed any race before stopping. I then tried to watch the men's race in 720p and that was even worse.:madman:
> 
> The 540p replay of the men's race was ok apart from the last 15 minutes of the race, which was just horrible with the skipping picture and sound.
> 
> It was a good race though. I enjoyed watching it once the replay started working. It was quite unpredictable with the punctures. If you watch the mechanic changing the front wheel you can see he's spinning an allen key to tighten the "Kabolt" thru axle.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Switch to the 540P quality setting, that has the full race.


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

All of these problems with the replay were also happening with the live feed: 240p and hd were in some alternate universe, and 540p was okay except for the last part of the mens race when it skipped forward constantly, making it hard to hear anything the commentators said. the replay problem is annoying because I was hoping to be able to rewatch the end of the mens race with decent quality, but that seems not likely to happen :madman:


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The live Women's race had all sorts of weird problems with interviews being looped on the 240P and HD settings.
It was just luck finding out the 540P setting worked properly

The Quality setting is the Gear shaped symbol on the right side of the video control bar.


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

Got it, thanks!

Also, anyone else see this?











rockyuphill said:


> Switch to the 540P quality setting, that has the full race.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Yeah, the video quality distracted from two great races. I hope Red Bull is able to work it all out by next race.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

FNFAL said:


> Got it, thanks!
> 
> Also, anyone else see this?
> 
> View attachment 888816


There was also a human banana just a bit farther up the track. If the damned heat hadn't got their brains before the race, it certainly would have while wandering around in those outfits.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Well at least none of the spectators tried riding a competitor's bike on the XC course. Dressed as a sumo or any other bizarre thing.


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

I cant for the life of me find the replay on redbull. I use an ipad


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

vizsladog said:


> I cant for the life of me find the replay on redbull. I use an ipad


Open the Red Bull TV iPad app - tap the menu icon at the top left and click on "Live". You should then see the XC races listed and available to view.

Computer links below: Select 540p for the XC races. The downhill stream seems ok in 720p. You need to fast forward through the thirty minute break in the middle where nothing happens in the downhill race after the crashes.

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

They seemed to have made their website navigation annoyingly complicated. Here ya go...

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Thank you


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

rockyuphill said:


> They seemed to have made their website navigation annoyingly complicated. Here ya go...
> 
> Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia
> 
> Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Cairns, Australia


Yeah I just don't understand Redbull. They put all that effort into great filming (problems this weekend aside) and then make it impossible to find. Why not just some simple index: "Films / MTB / 2014 / Cairns / XCO" or similar...

Great race though, shame the footage screwed up just as Absalon was making his charge..


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

FNFAL said:


> Got it, thanks!
> 
> Also, anyone else see this?
> 
> View attachment 888816


when i saw that, I laughed so hard that my wife woke up!!!

Also, at some point Bart and Rob are talikng about the long climb, to which Bart says: "The climb is nice"...to what Rob replies: "The climb is nice? ARE YOU MAD?!?!?"

That woke the wife again and that time I got slapped!!!


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

^^^I had to back it up and check it out again, I was thinking "did I really just see that?".


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

Can't believe Warner didn't comment on that!!


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

And Sportsnet One in Canada loses all the thumbs up it had for showing the full length Pietermaritzburg races just 5 hours delayed when they ran the Tour of Turkeys (or some such thing) road race in the time slots their schedule had listed as the Cairns World Cup XCO. So every attempt to record the mountain bike races resulted in basketball (XCE races on Friday) or road racing coverage instead. Bastages!


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## Zoo1424 (Jul 20, 2010)

I really liked what I was able to see of this course. Parts of it actually looked like trails I might encounter and not just a road race on dirt.


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## Purulento (Aug 27, 2009)

Absalon was really lucky to flat right before a tech zone. And I love Rob speaking riders' names wrong, despite Bar doing it corretly...


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

> I really liked what I was able to see of this course. Parts of it actually looked like trails I might encounter and not just a road race on dirt.


I'm always left scratching my head when I read comments like this about World Cup courses. These courses look tough to me, all of them. Sure it's not all gnar all the time, but they all have super tough sections mixed with tame sections. I've never seen a "road race on dirt" WC course in several years of watching, except for the start/finish stretches which are that way by design. Or start loops designed to let the field spread out before a hole shot/bottleneck. If top pro racers are riding together, then tactics come into play. Is that what makes it a road race on dirt?


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

Speed can turn an easy course into a technical course.

Just like most weekend-warriors can tackle most of a WC course, doing it fast takes all sorts of bike handling.


Zoo1424 said:


> I really liked what I was able to see of this course. Parts of it actually looked like trails I might encounter and not just a road race on dirt.


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

So I'm going to go ahead and say one of the BEST performances of this latest race was one that got practically no coverage.

Stephen Ettinger was involved in that big pile-up right at the beginning of the race. He then went on to fight is way all the way to 12th place.

*That's right, an American Male rider was in the top 20. Not only that, in the top 15. *

I think that's pretty awesome. He's on the BMC team, and has been looking great all year.

Gould got 11th this time around, which was awesome. I think the track suited her a bit more than S.A.


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## rallymaniac (Oct 12, 2011)

jimification said:


> Yeah I just don't understand Redbull. They put all that effort into great filming (problems this weekend aside) and then make it impossible to find. Why not just some simple index: "Films / MTB / 2014 / Cairns / XCO" or similar...
> 
> Great race though, shame the footage screwed up just as Absalon was making his charge..


+1 on this. It's impossible to find what you want on that website. 
The coverages are annoying at times. Just like in South Africa, they had a pretty poor coverage of the track showing only handful of places and losing the field for many many minutes. The DH race was even worse, showing start and then jumping into minute 3 of the track 
seems a bit amateurish. In Petermaritzburg the camera guy in the Treehouse rockgarden missed some pretty nice battles by not panning the camera but being fixated on the entrance of the rock garden instead


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

Same here. Though coverage has become much better (compared to previously) I really do not understand why I have to use google to find the streams on Redbull's site. Impossible to find it through their site alone.


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

ewarnerusa said:


> I'm always left scratching my head when I read comments like this about World Cup courses. These courses look tough to me, all of them. Sure it's not all gnar all the time, but they all have super tough sections mixed with tame sections. I've never seen a "road race on dirt" WC course in several years of watching, except for the start/finish stretches which are that way by design. Or start loops designed to let the field spread out before a hole shot/bottleneck. If top pro racers are riding together, then tactics come into play. Is that what makes it a road race on dirt?


I think its because most of the WC courses aren't natural. Most of the time the only real technical sections are all man made so they just don't look like trails most people ride. I am kind of undecided if I like the new trend or not. While I love seeing just how fast the guys are over some really nasty stuff. I also know how less technical natural features spread out over a whole course can rip an XC field apart.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

FNFAL said:


> So I'm going to go ahead and say one of the BEST performances of this latest race was one that got practically no coverage.
> 
> Stephen Ettinger was involved in that big pile-up right at the beginning of the race. He then went on to fight is way all the way to 12th place.
> 
> ...


My thoughts exactly...you can seen him almost dead last after all mayhem from the crash cleared, and even though the field was not as packed as in other races, he still managed to at lest over come some pretty good talent and more that half the field!!!


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I agree and was hoping to see some footage of him. I saw him on screen a few times and Rob Warner said his name once. But you could tell he wasn't really on their radar. 

I like Stephen's Nat champ kit, it looks good. 

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

carlostruco said:


> My thoughts exactly...you can seen him almost dead last after all mayhem from the crash cleared, and even though the field was not as packed as in other races, he still managed to at lest over come some pretty good talent and more that half the field!!!


 Yes, then mentioned him once as "an American rider" and that was pretty much it. But that was a GREAT race for Steve. I think that was our best Non-Wells finish in years. I'll be keeping an eye on him for the rest of the season for sure.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

criscobike said:


> I think that was our best Non-Wells finish in years.


Aside from Wells, Craig and Bishop have also slotted in a couple of higher results over the years, but still a great outcome and effort from Ettinger given the circumstances. Lucky for him it wasn't one of those insanely large start groups like at the Euro world cups. Getting sent to the back of pack at the start in those events is just about a death sentence for any chance of a good result.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

There's a photo gallery of World Cup bikes and equipment from the Cairns round here:

https://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gallery/article/cairns-mtb-world-cup-crosscountry-pits-gallery-40859/

Rebecca Henderson (Trek Factory Racing) had this -40 degree stem on her Trek Superfly 29er.










CulBaire posted this on the Weightweenies forum a few weeks ago:

Paul Van Der Ploeg (Current XCE World Champion) short duration power output.


__
http://instagr.am/p/m14eZZBkW6/


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

WR304 said:


> CulBaire posted this on the Weightweenies forum a few weeks ago:
> 
> Paul Van Der Ploeg (Current XCE World Champion) short duration power output.


Holy crap.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

WR304 said:


> Paul Van Der Ploeg (Current XCE World Champion) short duration power output.


And he was beaten by a skinny XCO U23 racer


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

I am disappointed by the DH coverage not showing every tech section for the top riders. That big rock garden shoulda had two cameras!!


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

NordieBoy said:


> And he was beaten by a skinny XCO U23 racer


That was actually pretty rad to watch. Great to see REAL passion!!!


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

WR304 said:


> There's a photo gallery of World Cup bikes and equipment from the Cairns round here:
> 
> Gallery: Cairns MTB World Cup cross-country pits - gallery Review - BikeRadar
> 
> ...


Ishe the guy with the jucied up quads?


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

machine4321 said:


> Ishe the guy with the jucied up quads?


Yep. That's him...


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

That guy behind is totally checking him out


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

He came from the road series right?


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Nah, he's been a mountain biker for ages, but it does appear he rejects the trend toward wide bars. He's a big unit.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

So it seems like Nino hasn't had much impact in the Tour De Romandie. I'm not sure where his characteristics would shine when translated to road, but he's currently 65th in GC at 1:24 back and based on the cyclingnews.com reports hasn't done anything worthy of print. Swiss Orica-Greenedge teammate Micheal Albasini has won back to back stages. Looks like Nino finished with the main field today and was credited with 18th place.


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

Honestly, I'd say that given his background, that's a pretty decent standing for his first major road cycling event.

It'll only make him stronger, but I hope it doesn't take away from his mtb form.


ewarnerusa said:


> So it seems like Nino hasn't had much impact in the Tour De Romandie. I'm not sure where his characteristics would shine when translated to road, but he's currently 65th in GC at 1:24 back and based on the cyclingnews.com reports hasn't done anything worthy of print. Swiss Orica-Greenedge teammate Micheal Albasini has won back to back stages. Looks like Nino finished with the main field today and was credited with 18th place.


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## PlanB (Nov 22, 2007)

Without actually watching the race it's hard to judge his performance. I doubt his role is to make any sort of personal "impact." Was he working hard for the team all day? Sitting in and learning? Slobbering all over his stem for hours trying to hold on? My guess is he's learning the ropes while gaining serious fitness. This is a very high level of racing he's jumped into.


ewarnerusa said:


> So it seems like Nino hasn't had much impact in the Tour De Romandie. I'm not sure where his characteristics would shine when translated to road, but he's currently 65th in GC at 1:24 back and based on the cyclingnews.com reports hasn't done anything worthy of print. Swiss Orica-Greenedge teammate Micheal Albasini has won back to back stages. Looks like Nino finished with the main field today and was credited with 18th place.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

ewarnerusa said:


> So it seems like Nino hasn't had much impact in the Tour De Romandie.


Although this is pure speculation, I strongly suspect the primary goal that has been defined for Nino by his (temporary) team is to avoid crashing anyone out, and try to finish with the main group when possible. When I refer to avoiding crashing anyone out, I fully realize that Nino probably has a lot of handling chops that are above the norm in many ways, has probably spent a lot of time on a road bike including riding in groups over the group of his career, a general awareness in keeping with his level of experience, and has done tons of racing in close quarters with groups at events like Cape Epic not to mention clumps at regular XC events. That being said, the ebb and flow within a pro road peloton probably has its own nuances and the totally financial budget for these teams and their riders is way more than anything on the MTB side, and they're not likely to risk that in a first little exploratory appearance from Nino. Maybe they'll give him the OK to go out with an early break on some stage to give him a chance to show in front of the home crowd, when it's a smaller group that may be more comfortable for him?


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I know I'm being a bit hard on Nino. I've read some translated Swiss web stories where he said his goals are just what you folks have said, don't screw up and get to the finish. But on a personal level, if the World Champ skips WC races for road races, then I want to see him lighting up those road races! 

In one of those translated Swiss stories, he did say that Romandie is his "warm up" race and Tour of Switzerland is his A-race. 
Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Double post, sorry


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

ewarnerusa said:


> But on a personal level, if the World Champ skips WC races for road races, then I want to see him lighting up those road races!


As a mountain biker, sure we'd like to see our WC demonstrate that he has some fitness that is comparable to pro roadies. Several former mountain bikers have gone on to great success in the pro road ranks, albeit some of these with subsequent blowback from PED scandals unfortunately. Still, what we'd like to see from him may be completely different in the reasons for Nino and his team for this arrangement, which is most likely just to see if he likes the pro road environment in prep for a possible move to the road at some point in his career. They probably already know lots about his test values in basic physiological capabilities or just from looking at some of his training power files, relative to different classes of pro roadies (although applying those capabilities is some useful way within a race is an additional step).


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

So how come the guys on the podium get flowers and a kiss from some hot babes and the girls on the podium get a handshake from some girls with STAFF written on the back of their shirts? Seems kind of lame.

Just wondering....


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

I agree.

I will volunteer to kiss the female winners and give flowers. With a little persuasion, I might even take them all out to a celebratory dinner.


J.B. Weld said:


> So how come the guys on the podium get flowers and a kiss from some hot babes and the girls on the podium get a handshake from some girls with STAFF written on the back of their shirts? Seems kind of lame.
> 
> Just wondering....


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

lets be honest....they aren't all kiss worthy


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I imagine they'd be thinking the same thing about trophy boys.


machine4321 said:


> lets be honest....they aren't all kiss worthy


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## Feideaux (Jan 14, 2004)

Here's the final kms of Stage 2, Tour of Romandie.

Tour de Romandie 2014 HD - Stage 2 - FINAL KILOMETERS - YouTube

Watch the vid. For Nino to jump into a world tour race and finish comfortably in the front group when half the peloton are absolutely smashing it is quite astonishing, IMO.

Looks like his bunch skills must be as good as his rock garden skills...


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

I was just looking at his results so far. I would say after next Olympics or maybe sooner we will see him on a road race team full time. WAAAYYYYYY more money


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

vizsladog said:


> I was just looking at his results so far. I would say after next Olympics or maybe sooner we will see him on a road race team full time. WAAAYYYYYY more money


Are you sure about that? There is a lot more money in mountain biking then most think, particularly if you are good. The salary that Nino makes is large, probably only 15 road riders make as much as he does.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Yeah, it looks like he did just fine for a first Pro Road race (as far as I know...). What were we really expecting anyway?


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

LMN said:


> Are you sure about that? There is a lot more money in mountain biking then most think, particularly if you are good. The salary that Nino makes is large, probably only 15 road riders make as much as he does.


Sure he makes good money (he is the top rider in MTB at the moment after all) but if you compare the top 15 mtb and the top 15 roadies the salaries will be way higher. Not sure what they are exactly but I'll bet roadies make on average way more.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I was thinking along the lines of LMN regarding Nino making better money on the road. As the 3-time world champ, icon of the 27.5", World Cup dominating boss, my guess is that he is pulling in a HEALTHY salary that is certainly more than the pack fodder in the Pro Tour peloton. Now is a champion Pro Tour roadie pulling in an even bigger salary? Yes, I'm sure he is. Nino's experiment may be to see if he has the chops to be one of those champion Pro Tour roadies. Finishing in the pack proves he has the fitness to be at least pack fodder, but I'd say it doesn't suggest anything more yet. He'll have another chance in Tour de Suisse to try and make an impact. Two stage races aren't enough to base a career decision on, but I'd like to think that he'll try and do something to test himself versus the others to answer that question for himself. I'm sure he has no interest in being a domestique in the Pro Tour. 

What was I personally expecting in his first Pro Road race? Realistically exactly what he did, finish and not mess up. But MTBer pride has me hoping he makes some highlight reels and doesn't just finish ambiguously in the pack. 

I'm a cyclocross junkie and Nino's experiment has parallels with Zdenek Stybar's career. He went all in on the road to see what he's got, and he's got what it takes to win BIG road races. He turned down what was estimated at over 1 million Euro/year in CX to be a minor leader on a Pro Tour team with a smaller salary than that. His road success didn't happen right away and so it isn't fair to judge Nino on these two races. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to anyway!


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

team_wee said:


> Sure he makes good money (he is the top rider in MTB at the moment after all) but if you compare the top 15 mtb and the top 15 roadies the salaries will be way higher. Not sure what they are exactly but I'll bet roadies make on average way more.


No doubt.

I don't know the number but I do know what Orbea paid Absalon. I suspect Nino is paid at least as well, which means his salary is pretty close to the 7 figure range. Which is about half of what he would make if he was a top 15 road racer.

But there is no guarantee that he would be a top 15 road racer. Some mountain bikers have a lot of success on the road, others not so much.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

*Nino on the road*

Sounds like he was making an impact today, or at least a positive impression, by riding in the lead group on a climbing stage until he had a mechanical. That's the kind of impact I was hoping to see (or maybe secretly not hoping?)! 4th on the day, 2nd finisher of the chasing group, was former MTBer Jakob Fuglsang. Nino ended up finishing 14+ minutes down from the winner in 43rd. But it sounded like a mechanical ended his competitive day.
ORICA GreenEDGE Cycling Australia : News : Nino Schurter Posts Best Result for ORICA-GreenEDGE on Romandie Queen Stage


> "Nino really surprised me," said Stephens. "I said to him before the start that I wasn't sure how to categorise him today in terms of the work that needed to be done. We're still learning about his capacities and he's learning about himself on the road as well. I didn't expect him to last as long as he did. When it came down to a select group of 30 riders, Nino was the only rider from the team who was still there. That's when I realised - we have a very talented athlete in this group."


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

ewarnerusa said:


> Sounds like he was making an impact today, or at least a positive impression, by riding in the lead group on a climbing stage until he had a mechanical. That's the kind of impact I was hoping to see (or maybe secretly not hoping?)! 4th on the day, 2nd finisher of the chasing group, was former MTBer Jakob Fuglsang. Nino ended up finishing 14+ minutes down from the winner in 43rd. But it sounded like a mechanical ended his competitive day.
> ORICA GreenEDGE Cycling Australia : News : Nino Schurter Posts Best Result for ORICA-GreenEDGE on Romandie Queen Stage
> 
> View attachment 890148


He does loose in coolness department. Roadies look like crap compared to mtbers.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Nino is just getting his feet wet in the road sector. I'm sure there is a bit to learn as far as strategy and approach. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Look! Hes riding shimano!!!! Sram must be shiting themselves. Wonder what the agreement was?


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## Goran_injo (Jul 4, 2007)

Agreement is that Orica rides on Shimano. And Pro Tour (and all others professional riders) don't really can what they ride, as long as it gets the job done and food on the table.


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## briscoelab (Oct 27, 2006)

Also, we should remember that if Nino did shift to the road, he would likely be racing a LOT more than he does now. The dynamic of longer races and having them more often is a hard transition for some riders. As mentioned, it would probably be for less money as well 

But, some people just want to try something different. Stybar is a perfect example. Of course, he still comes back for a few races and kills it though


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

team_wee said:


> He does loose in coolness department. Roadies look like crap compared to mtbers.


That helmet doesn't help in the coolness department :eekster:


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## Stonerider (Feb 25, 2008)

After his decent results this week at the Tour of Romandie, I can't wait to see what he does in the Tour de Sussie. He'll take what he learned this week and be better prepared for his next Stage race. Nino is truly a gifted cyclist (road or MTB...heck I'd love to see him give CX a try).


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

Stonerider said:


> Nino is truly a gifted cyclist (road or MTB...heck I'd love to see him give CX a try).


Now that you mention it, Nino would probably be a *fantastic* CX racer.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

In my highly-biased CX-lovin' opinion, elite off-road bike racers should be OBLIGATED to race cyclocross! It rules!
On a vice versa angle, Sven Nys got 3rd this weekend in Houffalize MTB. Despite it seeming to work for him, I disapprove of his excessive use of the chicken line.
sporza video: Samenvatting van de MTB-wedstrijd in Houffalize


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It looks like Schurter finished 62nd overall. Not bad for a first shot at road racing, but likely far enough back that he'll be happy finishing at the front of MTB races.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

So are there any pics or vids yet of Nino busting out tail whips during the tour? ha ha


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Nino is back into serious business.
Won the BMC Cup in Solothurn, and Absalon was fourth.
Next WC is going to be interesting...


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Jolanda Neff was racing in the women's Tour of Britain this week. She was riding for the Swiss national team and showed strongly, fighting for the Strava queen of the mountains competition each day, finishing second in that competition.

This picture from the Tour website is a classic. 










https://www.womenstour.co.uk/teams/switzerland.php

This picture of Jolanda Neff is taken from the ITV player stream.










If you want to watch the race all the stages are on ITV player for the next 28 days.

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/cycling-tour-of-britain

.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

WR304 said:


> Jolanda Neff was racing in the women's Tour of Britain this week. She was riding for the Swiss national team and showed strongly, fighting for the Strava queen of the mountains competition each day, finishing second in that competition.
> 
> This picture from the Tour website is a classic.
> 
> ...


That chick is super rad!!! If I wanted to bust like that, I wold land straight on my face!!!


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## csteven71 (Jan 15, 2009)

Can the UCI ban the helmet advertisements. Is it just me or do they look silly?


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

The shimano mtb facebook feed showed giegers bike with all new xtr 9000 1x11

It said all the world cup shimano guys will be on it next round


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

But how will I know which products to buy in order to be accepted into the "you're cool" biking group?!


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

zippinveedub said:


> Can the UCI ban the helmet advertisements. Is it just me or do they look silly?


Since pros are moving billboards for their sponsors, selling every square inch of their visible real estate makes good financial sense. UCI interfering with that that would just be yet another reason to dislike their meddling.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Ok. We are a week out from Nove Mesto. What are your predictions? Kulhavy says he feels well and ready to go for the podium. Nino will be back. Julien has a big lead in the standings. Or will someone else finally break through and take this win? 
For the ladies, I expect the usual. Neff will be in there, but someone different will take the win. Maybe this is the week for Pendral coming back from her injury?


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

I had good projections last race 3 of my picks made the podium.

im going to go 

Nino
Absalon
Fontana
Hermida 
Jaro

On a side note, I saw some pics on facebook and nino had ritchey tires. Mabye this is the end of tubulars for him to after PMB


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## bikerbert (Aug 28, 2004)

Don't discount Batty on the women's side. She's having a pretty strong season. 

Pendral is awesome, but building fitness at that level after an injury could be tough. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

I think that anybody who went Australia is going to be missing some form.

Men:
Nino will win over Absalon by a small margin, either a sprint or will distance him on the last downhill.

Women: 
Gunrita is the favorite in my opinion. Jolanda is coming off of form and Lechner is suffering a bit from travel. 

Catharine is ready to go. Other then the fact that she is avoiding large gap jumps you would have no idea that she broke her collar bone six weeks ago.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

I dont predict the women, to unpredictable (I love that about the womens races).


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Jaro was racing in wet conditions last weekend in Czech







And tomorrow there will be the Prague stairs race, where Kabush will be racing.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Puxa! said:


> Jaro was racing in wet conditions last weekend in Czech


Now THAT'S called having confidence in your front end!


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## superlightracer (Feb 11, 2004)

LMN said:


> Catharine is ready to go. Other then the fact that she is avoiding large gap jumps you would have no idea that she broke her collar bone six weeks ago.


Solid ride by her in the sloppy Tremblant conditions this past weekend!


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

superlightracer said:


> Solid ride by her in the sloppy Tremblant conditions this past weekend!


She was fairly happy with it. Found it tough to get good sensations in those conditions.

Unfortunately she managed to pick up a cold after the race. Form for this weekend may not be 100%.


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## vizsladog (Mar 15, 2009)

Nino only rides ritchey clinchers at the cape epic (so he can do trail repairs) and on his trail/ training bikes. He will be on tubulars at the wc


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

vizsladog said:


> Nino only rides ritchey clinchers at the cape epic (so he can do trail repairs) and on his trail/ training bikes. He will be on tubulars at the wc


He's had a good number of flats whatever he's been using.


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## Devincicx (Nov 20, 2011)

LMN said:


> She was fairly happy with it. Found it tough to get good sensations in those conditions.
> 
> Unfortunately she managed to pick up a cold after the race. Form for this weekend may not be 100%.


I picked up a cold right before Tremblant, it kind of sucked bad. Maybe I infected her with the cold when she caught me.I thought it was awesome when she did on her final km (mid-men field) following her in the last part of the descent was interesting!


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

machine4321 said:


> On a side note, I saw some pics on facebook and nino had ritchey tires. Mabye this is the end of tubulars for him to after PMB


That was his bike on a training ride...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Interesting name on the start list

80 CHN19860920 REN Chengyuan

When she is on there is nobody who can ride with her. But she is not on very often.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

LMN said:


> Interesting name on the start list
> 
> 80 CHN19860920 REN Chengyuan
> 
> When she is on there is nobody who can ride with her. But she is not on very often.


Ren is back?! She's like that old crusty dude you see on some random trail out in the middle of nowhere riding an old steel full rigid singlespeed with springs under the saddle, wearing cutoff jeans, high top sneakers and tank top and still CRUSHES you on a 3,000 ft climb above 10,000ft. It just leaves you wondering, "who WAS that?"


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I think she's the MTB version of the sasquatch in roadie jargon. 
Shows up out of nowhere, crushes the competition, then disappears back into the wilderness. 

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It would be really interesting to see her biologic passport data, from what I recall in the 2 years leading up to the Beijing Olympics they weren't getting any out of competition drug tests for her in China, she was only getting tested at competitions. I wonder if that changed?



LMN said:


> Interesting name on the start list
> 
> 80 CHN19860920 REN Chengyuan
> 
> When she is on there is nobody who can ride with her. But she is not on very often.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

It's an Oakely ad of Nino. He's got MTB skills.




Nino Schurter: Master of the Trail - YouTube


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The out takes at the end are a chuckle

UCI World Cup 2014: Nové Mesto XCO course preview


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Ouch. Poor Sam Gaze. Breaking a chain at the start of the eliminator.


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## Tyrone Shoelaces (Nov 6, 2006)

Congrats to USA junior team member Neilson Powless for his 6th place at Nove Mesto. Nearly nabbed 5th...


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## Puxa! (Apr 10, 2008)

Am I the only one shocked by the awesome sprints Miha Halzer pulled out in the uphill section of the Eliminator?
He did pretty poor starts, stayed at the back in all the heaths, and when climbing, booooom! He came from nowhere to rip the stickers off the other's bikes.
Amazing power.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Miha was also virtually running slicks and at high pressure. Optimized for the sealed sections.
He almost came a cropper in the wet rocks.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

Ladies lining up...


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## iwanttolookatpics (Jun 5, 2006)

rockyuphill said:


> It would be really interesting to see her biologic passport data, from what I recall in the 2 years leading up to the Beijing Olympics they weren't getting any out of competition drug tests for her in China, she was only getting tested at competitions. I wonder if that changed?


It would also be interesting to see the biological passport data from certain female riders who seem to be able to maintain a completely unnaturally low bodyfat while outputting podium level power at world cup level. But I suppose the bio-pass wouldn't show much, they all know how to beat it.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Nove Mesto 2014 Red Bull TV Links:

Men's Race
Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Nove Mesto, Czech Republic

Women's Race
Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Nove Mesto, Czech Republic

I thought the televised aspects of the Nove Mesto race worked well. Compared to the previous two races, where you didn't get to see huge amounts of the action, this one seemed to have more cameras around the course for better coverage and a better picture of what was going on. The motorbike being able to drive alongside on the road and film the riders as they rode on the singletrack next to it was a nice touch.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

WR304 said:


> Nove Mesto 2014 Red Bull TV Links:
> 
> Men's Race
> Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Nove Mesto, Czech Republic
> ...


I agree. This was one of the better filmed races I have watched.

Did anybody else notice how many people were there spectating? They sure like their cross country racing.


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## PlanB (Nov 22, 2007)

Anyone got a link to a replay of the women's race? I have found it in about a half dozen places on both of Redbull's confusing sites but I get a "coming soon" message and some weird video of a Luna rider training on the course. Too bad. Men's video works fine.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

PlanB said:


> Anyone got a link to a replay of the women's race? I have found it in about a half dozen places on both of Redbull's confusing sites but I get a "coming soon" message and some weird video of a Luna rider training on the course. Too bad. Men's video works fine.


Just fast forward in the women's feed. The race starts at about 15 minutes.


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## Feideaux (Jan 14, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> It would be really interesting to see her biologic passport data, from what I recall in the 2 years leading up to the Beijing Olympics they weren't getting any out of competition drug tests for her in China, she was only getting tested at competitions. I wonder if that changed?


This is unfair. Evidence please.

It was really good to see some different faces contesting the win in both the mens and womens XC.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Schurter rode the Spark today....neat!


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## squareback (Sep 19, 2011)

Tyrone Shoelaces said:


> Congrats to USA junior team member Neilson Powless for his 6th place at Nove Mesto. Nearly nabbed 5th...


Wow.

Any idea where I can watch this?
sent remotely


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Feideaux said:


> This is unfair. Evidence please.
> 
> It was really good to see some different faces contesting the win in both the mens and womens XC.


The women's races seem to have a different winner almost every race. Part of what makes it so exciting! Paulina was dominant! That was a masterful, Nino-like performance. And hey! How about the charge of Catherine Pendral?! Second place coming off injury and if I remember, didn't LMN say she had been sick recently? 
In the men's race the flats were DEVASTATING! Jaro looked to be ready to catch Nino and make for a VERY exciting race in front of the home crowd; I face slapped and called out "NO!" Then the young challenger (what was his name?) who had been holding Nino the whole race, got his flat on the 5th lap, I again face slapped. UGH!!! Still, it was an overall great bunch of races. And yes, Miha was sick and wrong in the Eliminator. Sick and wrong!


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## PlanB (Nov 22, 2007)

Just watched the ladies' race. Great to see Pendrel up there again! She sure looked happy at the finish line. Must have been quite a relief.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

There never was real evidence of course, but in 2007 and 2008 the Chinese racers weren't getting the same WADA scrutiny as the other women and apparently weren't getting the out of competition tests, there was a fair bit of concern among the other women competitors about the fairness of the testing (or non-testing). There was suspicion about masking agents as their coach would hand them an enormous coffee or Coke immediately after they crossed the finish line, before the post competition drug tests. Their on/off performance and the skipped event pattern they had was very similar to Marga Fullana before she was busted for EPO. And after kicking butt through World Cup races, in Beijing they had nowhere near the performance they did during the World Cup season, raising suspicion about doping related performance and the time it takes to clear their system. So no evidence, just a lot of suspicions.



Feideaux said:


> This is unfair. Evidence please.


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## Tyrone Shoelaces (Nov 6, 2006)

squareback said:


> Wow.
> 
> Any idea where I can watch this?
> sent remotely


Nah i don't think the juniors races are recorded (i could be wrong but i have never seen anything).


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

After watching the women's race I would love to find out of there are some interesting talks going on at Giant. I wonder if they will be asking more of the road riders if they want to do more mountain bike races. With modern bicycle racing being so hard its really cool to see people race more then one discipline and do well.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

NordieBoy said:


> Ouch. Poor Sam Gaze. Breaking a chain at the start of the eliminator.


And got 3rd in the U23's.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Punctures seem to be a real issue for the front runners this year. This time Jaroslav Kulhavy and the Specialized team gave a masterclass in how not to change a wheel.










Moritz Milatz was going for an extreme position on the road section. Don't try this at home!










I couldn't get a clear picture from the streamed playback but Nino Schurter looked to be having fun on the descents.










Is there a good picture of Nino Schurter's Scott Spark anywhere? He was using DT Swiss shocks with a lockout lever on the bars. Was the lockout a standard Scott twinloc system?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

WR304 said:


> Is there a good picture of Nino Schurter's Scott Spark anywhere? He was using DT Swiss shocks with a lockout lever on the bars. Was the lockout a standard Scott twinloc system?


There will be some Nino shots here

Canadian Cyclist - Photo Galleries

Canadian Cyclist - Photo Galleries


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

There is some info here on his bike:
Nino Schurter official website - Bikes

I complained on Pinkbike's 4 XC WC bikes article about them showing his Scale when he rode the Spark, they said they were gonna feature his Spark next time.


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## tarnishd (Apr 14, 2014)

Was there any video of Absalon's fall? I never saw it on the RedbullTV cast.... I was really hoping him and Schurter would have gone at it... guess we'll need to wait until Albstadt


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Jaro's flat change was a sh*tshow. Scott-Odlo's dialed in routine as demonstrated for Nino in round #1 should be the norm for these top level WC teams. BMC pit was shown a couple different times with a similar strategy, hand the racer a bottle and keep them preoccupied and out of the way while the mechanics do the work. The racer can almost treat the pit stop as an unplanned "rest and recovery" moment. Specialized Factory Racing did not seem to have a routine figured out, it was Jaro himself trying to get it done with his anxiety and temper surely not helping things. Where was Benno and why wasn't he running the pit? It almost looked like Kulhavy's family or something.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

I prefer changing the rear wheel with bike upside down...seems easier and less problematic.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

I just finished watching Nino absolutely crush his rivals, he's in such great form right now that aside from a really off day or a mechanical everyone else is racing for second place. Impressive.



zephxiii said:


> I prefer changing the rear wheel with bike upside down...seems easier and less problematic.


For anyone used to using a stand it's the opposite, I'm lost working on an upside down bike. That wheel change was literally painful for me to watch, I had to look away.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

womens' race: I thought I have a déjà-vu of certain Tour de France stages where certain people crushed the competion and got off the bike like having just ridden around the block.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

quax said:


> womens' race: I thought I have a déjà-vu of certain Tour de France stages where certain people crushed the competion and got off the bike like having just ridden around the block.


There is a lot of reason the gap was so huge. I know most of the field is suffering from the after effects of the massive travel to Africa and Australia. There is also a lot of injuries amoung the top riders; both Julie and Catharine are coming off of injuries and not at 100%.

My attitude with bike racing is, "I'd rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right." Albert Einstein


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

J.B. Weld said:


> I just finished watching Nino absolutely crush his rivals, he's in such great form right now that aside from a really off day or a mechanical everyone else is racing for second place. Impressive.
> 
> For anyone used to using a stand it's the opposite, I'm lost working on an upside down bike. That wheel change was literally painful for me to watch, I had to look away.


oh u could get used to both.. the problem was that they did not have a bike stand. You have Kulhavy holding the bike and operating one side of the operation, and the mechanic fiddling around with the other side. I'd prefer to have total control over the situation so u can see all aspects of it.

If it was just one person then u have to hold and control the bike while trying to get the wheel/axle lined up. Whereas with it upside down, the bike is held and stabilized on the ground, all u have to focus on is getting the wheel in and locked down.

Front wheel isn't so bad. It is easier when u can directly look at the axle setup.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

aw and where was Rob Warner this weekend?


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

zephxiii said:


> oh u could get used to both.. the problem was that they did not have a bike stand. You have Kulhavy holding the bike and operating one side of the operation, and the mechanic fiddling around with the other side. I'd prefer to have total control over the situation so u can see all aspects of it.
> 
> If it was just one person then u have to hold and control the bike while trying to get the wheel/axle lined up. Whereas with it upside down, the bike is held and stabilized on the ground, all u have to focus on is getting the wheel in and locked down.
> 
> Front wheel isn't so bad. It is easier when u can directly look at the axle setup.


Never seen a pro wrench flip a bike to change a wheel, and their entire focus is speed.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

I could see with a QR where the axel stays with the wheel doing it right side up means when you seat the wheel it will be all the way up in the dropouts.

On a through axel, though, does it matter?


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

J.B. Weld said:


> Never seen a pro wrench flip a bike to change a wheel, and their entire focus is speed.


Which is where through axles are a huge fail. Watching all the wheel changes, front and rear, at this year's World Cups have been painful. Open dropouts and QRs are SO much quicker and easier. Some of the riders lost so much time getting to the pit and struggling with the TAs it could have been faster if they had just fixed the flat themselves on course.

I have always found it easier to change wheels with the bike right side up, especially if the bike is being supported, but even if alone.


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## Feideaux (Jan 14, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> There never was real evidence of course, but in 2007 and 2008 the Chinese racers weren't getting the same WADA scrutiny as the other women and apparently weren't getting the out of competition tests, there was a fair bit of concern among the other women competitors about the fairness of the testing (or non-testing). There was suspicion about masking agents as their coach would hand them an enormous coffee or Coke immediately after they crossed the finish line, before the post competition drug tests. Their on/off performance and the skipped event pattern they had was very similar to Marga Fullana before she was busted for EPO. And after kicking butt through World Cup races, in Beijing they had nowhere near the performance they did during the World Cup season, raising suspicion about doping related performance and the time it takes to clear their system. So no evidence, just a lot of suspicions.


Yeah, I guess the images of grossly misshapen Chinese swimmers may have forever tainted the opinion of every other sporting Nation as to the lengths the Chinese might go to achieve sporting success. The flip side of this is that every other nation also have their own long lists of cyclists that have been caught doping. Mine, yours, everyone. If anything, there have been fewer Chinese doping scandals in cycling than some other countries that we might be familiar with. Also, coffee and coke after a race. That's........ not _that _ uncommon 

Having said all that, they might have been gassed up to the eyelids on Xenon and you are right - massively inconsistent form and results is a red flag at the elite level as you are supposedly dealing with athletes who are getting everything right more often than not.

One idea that is rarely mentioned is the population pool the Chinese government handpick their athletes from when identifying elite sporting talent. Even when you narrow it down to those of the right age and gender, it's still probably 220 million people vs whatever club system or district talent search program is operating in other parts of the world. Food for thought.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Feideaux said:


> Yeah, I guess the images of grossly misshapen Chinese swimmers may have forever tainted the opinion of every other sporting Nation as to the lengths the Chinese might go to achieve sporting success. The flip side of this is that every other nation also have their own long lists of cyclists that have been caught doping. Mine, yours, everyone. If anything, there have been fewer Chinese doping scandals in cycling than some other countries that we might be familiar with. Also, coffee and coke after a race. That's........ not _that _ uncommon
> 
> Having said all that, they might have been gassed up to the eyelids on Xenon and you are right - massively inconsistent form and results is a red flag at the elite level as you are supposedly dealing with athletes who are getting everything right more often than not.
> 
> One idea that is rarely mentioned is the population pool the Chinese government handpick their athletes from when identifying elite sporting talent. Even when you narrow it down to those of the right age and gender, it's still probably 220 million people vs whatever club system or district talent search program is operating in other parts of the world. Food for thought.


There are always only a very small number of true elites. Some of those selected athletes may have potential, but others are there because that is the "job" the government gave them. Kids who live on the flat can become ski instructors a thousand km away - that's what they get.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

a few pictures from the race in Nove Mesto
UCI World Cup XCO / XCE 3 Nove Mesto na Morave / World Cup - MTBCrossCountry


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

lots of pics

XCO World Cup #3 ? Nove Mesto Elite: Nino Schurter und Pauline Ferrand-Prevot siegen [Fotostory] - MTB-News.de


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## white79bu (Jul 5, 2009)

I am a FS guy so I tend to root for the bigger riders like Kulhavy on FS bikes. My question is most of the top guys were on FS bikes but why do the BMC guys never ride FS. Is the fourstroke fs01 just not that good? It looks awesome and I would love to have one just for the fact that in my area I have never seen a BMC let alone a fourstroke.


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## CptSydor (Sep 20, 2007)

white79bu said:


> I am a FS guy so I tend to root for the bigger riders like Kulhavy on FS bikes. My question is most of the top guys were on FS bikes but why do the BMC guys never ride FS. Is the fourstroke fs01 just not that good? It looks awesome and I would love to have one just for the fact that in my area I have never seen a BMC let alone a fourstroke.


Moritz Milatz was on a FS BMC.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

> There is some info here on his bike:
> Nino Schurter official website - Bikes


Wow, a 36 or 38t front ring...that's amazing. Can't even imagine getting up that expert climb 1 (that was the really rocky one, right?) pushing 36/42. Let alone stomping it six times. The power is really insane.

Interesting there isn't more wheel size switching depending on the course. Seems like Nove Mesto with all those continual roots and small rocks and such would have offered a bit of advantage for the 29 rollover, so that Schurter would just pull a Scale or spark 900 out for that kind of stuff if there were a perceptible advantage to doing so?


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## tarnishd (Apr 14, 2014)

montana_ben said:


> Seems like Nove Mesto with all those continual roots and small rocks and such would have offered a bit of advantage for the 29 rollover, so that Schurter would just pull a Scale or spark 900 out for that kind of stuff if there were a perceptible advantage to doing so?


I think they'll ride whatever is the fastest or they're most comfortable with at that time.

What shocked me was that coming from the Tour de Romandie I would have expected him to ride the 29er what with the 700cc tires on road bikes.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

tarnishd said:


> What shocked me was that coming from the Tour de Romandie I would have expected him to ride the 29er what with the 700cc tires on road bikes.


He says he can't get into the riding position he likes on a 29" (mtb) bike, at any rate those smaller wheels don't seem to be slowing him down much.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

montana_ben said:


> Wow, a 36 or 38t front ring...that's amazing. Can't even imagine getting up that expert climb 1 (that was the really rocky one, right?) pushing 36/42. Let alone stomping it six times. The power is really insane.


I was thinking the same thing. 38T in the front holy crap that's some power!!! On an other note, anyone know who is riding 650B this year?


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

team_wee said:


> On an other note, anyone know who is riding 650B this year?


Other than Nino?


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

"On an other note, anyone know who is riding 650B this year?"


I think these teams are complete on or partially on 650Bs:
BH Suntour, Giant, Luna, Hiabike, 3-Rocks, and Scott.

I am sure there are others.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

By the way big thanks to WR304 and Rockyuphill for always posting the links to the vids--they've saved my bacon since trying to find them on Redbull is...awful. Redbull TV seems very halfhearted about showing XCO at all, but glad to be able to watch the races in any form, it's really fun. I guess I'm an XC geek after all...


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## fsrxc (Jan 31, 2004)

shiggy said:


> Which is where through axles are a huge fail. Watching all the wheel changes, front and rear, at this year's World Cups have been painful. Open dropouts and QRs are SO much quicker and easier. Some of the riders lost so much time getting to the pit and struggling with the TAs it could have been faster if they had just fixed the flat themselves on course.
> 
> I have always found it easier to change wheels with the bike right side up, especially if the bike is being supported, but even if alone.


I find it painful to watch too. 
I have to wonder, when a wheel change with a rear TA especially can lose them over a minute, why aren't some riders requesting a QR rear setup? At least some teams might be able to provide the frame.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

white79bu said:


> I am a FS guy so I tend to root for the bigger riders like Kulhavy on FS bikes. My question is most of the top guys were on FS bikes but why do the BMC guys never ride FS. Is the fourstroke fs01 just not that good? It looks awesome and I would love to have one just for the fact that in my area I have never seen a BMC let alone a fourstroke.


The main thing to look at with the full suspension bikes is what rear shock and lockout system they're using. The rear shock technology is a big decider for how well the bike works when pedalling hard.

Moritz Milatz was riding a BMC Fourstroke FS01 29 fitted with Fox iCD electronic shocks.

XCO World Cup #3 - Nove Mesto Elite: Nino Schurter und Pauline Ferrand-Prevot siegen [Fotostory] - MTB-News.de

Dan McConnell rides a Trek Superfly 29er and also has the Fox iCD electronic shocks. If you look in the mtb-news.de pictures the iCD rear shock is distinctive.

XCO World Cup #3 - Nove Mesto Elite: Nino Schurter und Pauline Ferrand-Prevot siegen [Fotostory] - MTB-News.de

Pinkbike link about Fox iCD:

Fox iCD Suspension: Electronic Warfare Begins in Earnest - Pinkbike


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Not really an option for 29" bikes with 142mm rear hubs and 12mm axles. Someone has to be able think of better race axle setup. The big headache is getting the RD to swing far enough out of the way to get the pie plate size cassette to sit properly quickly. It's a pain with the Shimano drivetrain on my 29" unless I flip the bike over


fsrxc said:


> I find it painful to watch too.
> I have to wonder, when a wheel change with a rear TA especially can lose them over a minute, why aren't some riders requesting a QR rear setup? At least some teams might be able to provide the frame.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

tarnishd said:


> I think they'll ride whatever is the fastest or they're most comfortable with at that time.
> 
> What shocked me was that coming from the Tour de Romandie I would have expected him to ride the 29er what with the 700cc tires on road bikes.


My 26x2.0 setup with low knob Fast Traks was just slighty shorter than my 700x23 on my Speedster. It was nearly identical.

A 650B mtb is going to have just about identical wheel height as a 700c roadbike. Heck it might even be larger depending on the tire.

My 29er assemblies are noticeably much larger than the road bike wheel.

So 650B is really kinda perfect.

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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

zephxiii said:


> My 26x2.0 setup with low knob Fast Traks was just slighty shorter than my 700x23 on my Speedster. It was nearly identical.
> 
> A 650B mtb is going to have just about identical wheel height as a 700c roadbike. Heck it might even be larger depending on the tire.
> 
> ...


This could be an interesting discussion.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

I'm not sure why people think thru axle wheel changes are slower. I've timed mine (26" AM FS 10mm TB and 29er HT 12x142mm) and had no discernible time difference. 


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

A few short amateur interviews after the Nove Mesto race. Excuse the low quality of the sound. (interviews posted with no edititing)

Tanja Žakelj - Tanja Zakelj - Interview - MTBCrossCountry
Fabian Giger - Fabian Giger - Interview - MTBCrossCountry
Anton Cooper - Anton Cooper - Interview - MTBCrossCountry
Samuel Gaze - Samuel Gaze - Interview - MTBCrossCountry
Honza Škarnitzl - Jan Skarnitzl - Interview - MTBCrossCountry


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Cool. Good to see some kiwi's getting interviewed.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Wanted to interview Kate Fluker as well, since she did pretty well. But missed my chance kind of.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

*Specialîzed Factory Racing*

Nove Mesto recap for Specialized Factory Racing.




Inside Specialized Racing: Nove Mesto Na Morave - YouTube


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Not surprised to hear that Jaro was really mad. You only get so many shots at a race like Nove Mesto when you are in your prime. A bit of bad luck compounded by a poor wheel change...ugh! That was just ugly and I bet the mechanics got a bit of a rebuke.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Does seem really incredible that the specialized race team doesn't have a protocol for changing a wheel out. Like watching a formula one driver jump out and try to change a tire in the pit, or a pro football player tape his own knee...just crazy. Those guys should have that wired, and Jaro shouldn't have been touching that bike. Or am I completely misreading the level of professionalism in UCI World Cup racing?


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Other World Cup teams have demonstrated well-drilled pit routines. SFR botched it in Nove Mesto.

Start it at 1:32:25. Nino is stopped for less than 25 sec for this rear wheel change. But including the time lost from riding with a flat, that's still long enough to loose like 6 places!
Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

ewarnerusa said:


> Other World Cup teams have demonstrated well-drilled pit routines. SFR botched it in Nove Mesto.
> 
> Start it at 1:32:25. Nino is stopped for less than 25 sec for this rear wheel change. That's still long enough to loose like 6 places though!
> Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa


That Nino pit is really nice to watch. As we said before, Schurter calms down and has a drink and a gel and lets the mechanics do their job without hassling them. They are good and even put the bike in a nice gear for him to start  In contrast, Jaro's pit at NM was a mess and why was he interfering?, let the mechanic do it!

Unlucky for the Czech supporters with both Cink and Jaro having bad luck.

nya: I love your site, good work!


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## Goran_injo (Jul 4, 2007)

Insider info wanted 

1. Do the WC riders have (any) sealant in their tires if running tubelesss?
2. If yes, why don't they use CO2 or flat sets?

This would cost from 70-150g of pocket weight, and from what I see, could easily save a race.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

jimification said:


> nya: I love your site, good work!


Thanks, happy to hear that.



Goran_injo said:


> Insider info wanted
> 
> 1. Do the WC riders have (any) sealant in their tires if running tubelesss?
> 2. If yes, why don't they use CO2 or flat sets?
> ...


They do use sealant, but that does not seal the bigger cuts and not even CO2 would help. So here and there they are forced to run to the technical zone. They often use lightweight tires more prone to cuts and they do not ride very carefully.


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## Goran_injo (Jul 4, 2007)

Well, I don't know. 

"Here and there" seems very often - I haven't seen any of the major players even attempting to use CO2 or puncture canisters in case of flats - so I am inclined to conclude they don't have them.

They are seen on marathon races, but not on XC WC.

Is perhaps the weight penalty really that big of a factor for them?


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

Goran_injo said:


> Well, I don't know.
> 
> "Here and there" seems very often - I haven't seen any of the major players even attempting to use CO2 or puncture canisters in case of flats - so I am inclined to conclude they don't have them.
> 
> ...


Thats like asking would it really kill them to use a tire that won't flat so easy? I think some of this obsession over grams might be biting people in the butt when they lose races because of a flat.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

pulser said:


> Thats like asking would it really kill them to use a tire that won't flat so easy? I think some of this obsession over grams might be biting people in the butt when they lose races because of a flat.


I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that teams are constantly striving to find the ideal balance between weight and durability. Grams are a priority when competition levels are so high and so tight, and a rider can ill afford excess wheel weight when the guy he's chasing is running 1200 gram wheels with tubular tires. The results from top riders and the equipment they choose speak for themselves.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

SFR has to be having a reevaluation of their practices after this. It may look like we are bagging extra on them, but it was so obvious while watching and their time to change destroyed his chances. Granted, Jaro needed to get out of the way! But I get it to some degree; he was in front of his home crowd, racing well, coming off injury...that flat had to crush him.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

I can't recall exactly but wasn't Kulhavy already about 40 seconds back when he flatted? With a perfect wheel change he would have still been out of it and even had he not flatted at all I doubt it would have mattered much, it was Nino's day.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Kulhavy was riding in a strong 3rd position only a handful of seconds back before he flatted is what I recall. I don't remember seeing him flat or riding with a flat in the footage, so he could have certainly fallen back that far by the time he was shown in the pit. 

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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

ewarnerusa said:


> Kulhavy was riding in a strong 3rd position only a handful of seconds back before he flatted is what I recall.


Yeah I stand corrected, I checked out that hideous wheel change again and it looked like Kulhavy was less than 20 seconds down at that time, the whole wheel change wasn't on video but it took at least 45 grueling seconds.

It would have been more interesting without the flat but I stand by my statement that it was probably Nino's day anyway. He controlled that race beautifully from start to finish, riding comfortably and only as hard as he needed to, when he needed to. Riders were flatting and going OTB left and right in Nino's wake as he forced them to ride outside of their comfort zones, a fact that the announcers seemed oblivious to as they were rambling on about wheel sizes or something else meaningless.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

J.B. Weld said:


> I can't recall exactly but wasn't Kulhavy already about 40 seconds back when he flatted? With a perfect wheel change he would have still been out of it and even had he not flatted at all I doubt it would have mattered much, it was Nino's day.


That depends on your definition of "out of it". Maybe the win is out of reach, but even in a world cup race a quick wheel change is probably only going to result in a loss of a few of positions going by the time gaps at a typical finish, and sometimes not even that many. Of course, depending on when it occurs during the race that may change the dynamic of having to get past other riders (especially in the first lap) and being able to ride together with close competitors, but unless they place no value in a possible podium or racking up some points for the world cup, then it still seems like it's important for them to make the best of the situation. With a quick change the killer for them wouldn't be the time for the fix, it would be time lost in a slower ride - or run - to the next tech zone.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Circlip said:


> That depends on your definition of "out of it". Maybe the win is out of reach, but even in a world cup race a quick wheel change is probably only going to result in a loss of a few of positions going by the time gaps at a typical finish, and sometimes not even that many. Of course, depending on when it occurs during the race that may change the dynamic of having to get past other riders (especially in the first lap) and being able to ride together with close competitors, but unless they place no value in a possible podium or racking up some points for the world cup, then it still seems like it's important for them to make the best of the situation. With a quick change the killer for them wouldn't be the time for the fix, it would be time lost in a slower ride - or run - to the next tech zone.


I agree completely. I was referring to the win on this particular race and after checking out the wheel change again I saw that Kulhavy wasn't so far back and riding strong. A win may not have been out of the question but he sure had a hard row to plow.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

If track design forced riders to be more self-sufficient (ie longer loops with less chance of reaching service areas), maybe heavier tyres and CO2 canisters would be more popular. While it's a race, the concept of "cross-country" doesn't really exist in the UCI races. They are more like NASCAR stadium races than what we all do when we go for a MTB ride in the country. It's a little hard to feel sorry for factory teams losing out to technology they promote to us. I'm waiting for a 29er wheel to taco on a seriously rough section while the 26ers smash on past.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

Ridnparadise said:


> If track design forced riders to be more self-sufficient (ie longer loops with less chance of reaching service areas), maybe heavier tyres and CO2 canisters would be more popular. While it's a race, the concept of "cross-country" doesn't really exist in the UCI races. They are more like NASCAR stadium races than what we all do when we go for a MTB ride in the country. It's a little hard to feel sorry for factory teams losing out to technology they promote to us. I'm waiting for a 29er wheel to taco on a seriously rough section while the 26ers smash on past.


That might be possible if people still used 26ers, but no one is racing on them this year.

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## Derkson91 (Aug 14, 2013)

Are any of the Pro men still racing 26er?


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

No one on any of the big teams is. Merida, Cannondale, Scott, Specialized, Giant, Trek, etc are all on either 650B (Scott, some of the Giant men) or 29ers.

Perhaps some of the women are, but even those look to be few and far between.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Le Duke said:


> Perhaps some of the women are, but even those look to be few and far between.


I believe there is only one and her remaining time on a 26 is limited.

Catharine actually had a junior say to her "I thought it was an urban legend that you still road 26inch wheels"


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

I guess what I meant is there is as much chance of a 26er passing a taco'd 29er as there is a UCI XC race that actually is across country. You guys and gals are really enthusiastic but


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## rallymaniac (Oct 12, 2011)

I just wish someone invented a rear derailleur that has a function allowing it to be swung all the way our and down for when the wheel needs to be mounted. It's a major PITA to work around the RD hanging freely when you're trying to mount the wheel. I bet this would improve the 142 axle hassle for the teams as well.


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## briscoelab (Oct 27, 2006)

I've found the Sram clutch type ders to be great when doing a wheel change. you just lock the spring and it hangs. This is what SFR are on, so I'm perplexed as to why it was such a cluster f$*k... 

For me, the thru axle isn't any slower to take off, especially if you have a nice big L or T wrench to spin in out/on quickly. 

Maybe they need some Snapon battery impact wrenches preset at the right torque  Although, for SFR, the limiting factor didn't seem to be the time to get the axle undone/tightened.


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## rayztoyz (Jan 13, 2008)

Shimano XTR Di2 is here


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

briscoelab said:


> Maybe they need some Snapon battery impact wrenches preset at the right torque  Although, for SFR, the limiting factor didn't seem to be the time to get the axle undone/tightened.


Kabush and others are using a special Fox 15mm TA that requires a T25 or similar bit to install/remove.

Seems like that's right along these lines.

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## briscoelab (Oct 27, 2006)

Specialized bikes use a similar setup already on the rear axles. They take a 6mm hex head.

But, that would be a nice setup on the front as well.


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

Anybody else can't find the XCE video feed from Germany? Or are they not showing that one?


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I think it is already over and done with.
Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Albstadt, Germany


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Not to geek out too hard on gear, but are Fontana and Fumic going to be on that new cannondale F-SI this next race, or have they already been racing on it? Looks pretty sexy.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

montana_ben said:


> Not to geek out too hard on gear, but are Fontana and Fumic going to be on that new cannondale F-SI this next race, or have they already been racing on it? Looks pretty sexy.


Apparently they're using it already.

2015 Cannondale F-Si Carbon Race Hardtail Unveiled, Integrates Everything

Marco Fontana warming up on the old bike:

XCO World Cup #3 ? Nove Mesto Elite: Nino Schurter und Pauline Ferrand-Prevot siegen [Fotostory] - MTB-News.de

New bike for race (if you look at the Lefty forks this bike has the new just launched fork fitted):

XCO World Cup #3 ? Nove Mesto Elite: Nino Schurter und Pauline Ferrand-Prevot siegen [Fotostory] - MTB-News.de

An asymmetric frame that you can only use with rear wheels specifically dished for that frame has the potential to be quite frustrating. You just know that for day to day use that's going to be a headache.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Those are cool pics WR304--do you know if there's a European web feed of the races that would be better than RedBull or is RedBull it? I don't care if the commentary is in German or whatever...

More proprietary technology is a mixed bag for sure... Surly of course did the asymmetric thing with the Pugsly (for a different reason) and folks seemed to deal with it OK, but it is being left behind in favor of wider hub standards now, so... I guess Cdale figures, hey, we have a front wheel that's basically cannondale specific, might as well make the rear wheel the same. It's asymmetric warfare...


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Miha...Miha...Miha...come on dude.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

It seems like RedBull.tv is it for watching the World Cups, in the UK anyway. The mountain biking doesn't seem to be on Eurosport or Sky Sports.

I like the look of the Cannondale SAVE 2 seatpost. It's basically a Thomson Elite layback seatpost made from carbon with some flex built in also. That two bolt head design is the best as it gives a solid saddle position with no chance of the saddle angle slipping. They'll probably only be available in 27.2mm diameter though I'd have thought.

With the Cannondale F-Si I was trying to work out if all the frames come pre-drilled for XTR Di2 or whether it's just the top of the range frame that is ready for it. That's the next minefield if you're looking at buying a new frame over the next few years - whether the frame you choose now will be able to have Di2 retro fitted at some point without needing unsightly external wiring everywhere.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

That was stomping your authority on the race in no uncertain terms...


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Pauline seems to dominate little bit too much for my taste, hopefully won't last forever. Great fight for 3rd place though.

Women's results : UCI World Cup XCO / XCE 4 Albstadt - Women Elite / World Cup - MTBCrossCountry

Women's WC standings after Albstadt : Women Elite - Current standings in World Cup 2014 - MTBCrossCountry


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## Bike29 (Feb 20, 2009)

Nice umbrellas


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Nice men's race, Julien dominated but fight for 2nd was exciting!

Men's Albstadt results - UCI World Cup XCO / XCE 4 Albstadt - Men Elite / World Cup - MTBCrossCountry

Men's World cup standings - Men Elite - Current standings in World Cup 2014 - MTBCrossCountry


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## Ojos Azules (Sep 23, 2008)

First race and first win with XTR DI2 !

Giger in fourth used DI2 2x11 with synchronized shift.

Side note: Great ride from Sven Nys today - 15th at the end with no.64 on the grid.


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## OLx6 (Feb 5, 2011)

After watching the men's race Absalon put in a great performance! He is really something special, so many years of dominant races. I work for a French company and travel to France frequently and I am amazed that few people in France know who he is?!


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Hey LMN, what was Catharine saying to Adelheid Morath after the race finish? Morath looked beat up and quite gutted from her untimely crash that cost her a podium spot.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Catharine was giving her some kudos for a strong race. Morath had a strong race and had the legs to be on the podium, with some better luck she would have been there.

To quote Catharine's text about the race "That was $%^&$ hard."

Catharine is going to have make some significant changes to her riding to match Pauline. Catharine's form right now is pretty similar to her end of 2011 form, she is a little bit slower, but not 4 minutes slower. When I watch Pauline race I see someone who is not only on top form but technically perfect. I am not sure I have ever seen somebody so efficient on a bicycle.



rockyuphill said:


> Hey LMN, what was Catharine saying to Adelheid Morath after the race finish? Morath looked beat up and quite gutted from her untimely crash that cost her a podium spot.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Pauline like a smoother and faster Neff, which is saying something. Not bad for a roadie. But that's also where Julie Bresset was in 2011 when she first hit the scene. Must be something in the water in France.

Honestly the most impressive performance was Gunn-Rita, who might have been 3 minutes behind Ferrand Prevot, but she was still ahead of that chase group of nearly every other fast woman in the field.

That's the thing I like about the women's races, there's a lot of camaraderie and compassion between the racers.



LMN said:


> Catharine is going to have make some significant changes to her riding to match Pauline. Catharine's form right now is pretty similar to her end of 2011 form, she is a little bit slower, but not 4 minutes slower. When I watch Pauline race I see someone who is not only on top form but technically perfect. I am not sure I have ever seen somebody so efficient on a bicycle.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Did anyone interview the umbrella holders? I would like to hear their thoughts about that difficult job.


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

LMN said:


> Catharine was giving her some kudos for a strong race. Morath had a strong race and had the legs to be on the podium, with some better luck she would have been there.
> 
> To quote Catharine's text about the race "That was $%^&$ hard."
> 
> Catharine is going to have make some significant changes to her riding to match Pauline. Catharine's form right now is pretty similar to her end of 2011 form, she is a little bit slower, but not 4 minutes slower. When I watch Pauline race I see someone who is not only on top form but technically perfect. I am not sure I have ever seen somebody so efficient on a bicycle.


Next year will be really fun to watch if Pauline has the same form and does world cups with Vos.


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## Goran_injo (Jul 4, 2007)

Absalon really brought the race to another level, Schurter went out like popcorn when Giger attacked.

Shimano took a big gamble introducing XTR Di2 here, especially after last year, and at such a big event for Absalon and others with the hand tattoos. I can only imagine the disaster for Absalon to have had a mechanical there - although it is not not completely clear on terminology - it can now be electrical .


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

There's an interview with Jose Antonio Hermida here where he comments on various subjects: 

------------------------------------------------

*Wheel size of choice?*
I'm going to use my 29er, not officially, but probably for the whole season. It's not the perfect wheel for me based on my height - I do fit better on the 27.5 - but for the World Cups you greatly benefit from a 29" wheel. It's safer, smoother and faster as the courses get rougher.

The 27.5 also accelerates better, but at the end of a race when you have to repeat a dangerous rock garden for the seventh time, it's just safer to be on the larger wheel and it lets you get away with far more when you're tired.
...
Hermida has his non-tubeless rear tyre set up tubeless, but unusually uses a tube in the front. With the low tyre pressures used, he claims this ensures he doesn't roll the tyre when pushing hard into corners.

*Is there an example of a course where you would swap to a 27.5" bike?*
In South Africa, Australia and Canada they like to create real mountain bike courses with rough rock gardens and dangerous obstacles. In Europe, the terrain is a little smoother and faster and, on these cleaner courses, the acceleration of a 27.5 may be better. But any time its rough, the 29 is my choice.

*Is there something you insist you have on your bike?*
My bar ends I couldn't do without. A painter has a signature in their paint, the bar ends are my signature. 90 percent of riders don't use them, but I think it's an advantage as you can open more of your chest, breathe better and push a little harder. I think they are underrated these days.

*Dual suspension vs hardtail?*
I'm a hardtail rider, but at stage races such as Cape Epic I use full suspension. On those longer races where you are often improvising to the changing terrain, the dual suspension affords you that extra control and comfort. But, in a cross country race where we learn every rock and root, the acceleration of a hardtail makes it the obvious choice.

*Will we ever see you racing in baggy shorts?*
Nah! It's not really a trend at the moment, the guys from Cannondale - Fontanna (Marco) and Fumic (Manuel) - are doing it. To me, baggy shorts are like Photoshop to photographers - you're trying to cover something you don't want to show!

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/pro-bike-jos-antonio-hermidas-merida-big-nine-41209/

-------------------------------


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

LMN said:


> Catharine was giving her some kudos for a strong race. Morath had a strong race and had the legs to be on the podium, with some better luck she would have been there.
> 
> To quote Catharine's text about the race "That was $%^&$ hard."
> 
> Catharine is going to have make some significant changes to her riding to match Pauline. Catharine's form right now is pretty similar to her end of 2011 form, she is a little bit slower, but not 4 minutes slower. When I watch Pauline race I see someone who is not only on top form but technically perfect. I am not sure I have ever seen somebody so efficient on a bicycle.


I often wonder how aware the racers are of what's going on beyond their little bubble. Catherine is always one who seems to get the significance of things around her. I still remember a couple seasons ago when Georgia Gold flatted right before the finish line. Catherine saw it and you could tell she had a moment where she considered letting Georgia go for the win. I've seen her multiple times reach out to other racers for one reason or another. 
As for the race, Pauline blast away again and just end the race basically on lap one was nuts! Clearly she's sandbagging and needs to move up...the race for third was a real battle and lots of fun to watch. Catherine looks strong and that course clearly looked HARD! Once Pauline leaves (didn't she say that in the post race interview?) it's clear Neff isn't going to blow away the field, so it should make for some very interesting racing from here on out.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

heh his 29er comments are weird...

Ironically Schurter looked so much smoother through the rock garden than anyone else at Nove Mesto.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

zephxiii said:


> Ironically Schurter looked so much smoother through the rock garden than anyone else at Nove Mesto.


Schurter would look smoother on a 26er than anyone else through rock gardens. He also looks smoother on a 275er than anyone else through rock gardens. He would also look smoother on a 29er than anyone else through rock gardens.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Finally got time to watch the mens race and I thought it was a pretty good one, Absalon was on fire. I agree with Ninos mechanic that the course didn't particularly suit him well because it was lacking in technical sections, which is where Schurter shines. I guess it goes to show that there are different courses for different horses, looking forward to the next duel.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

rockyuphill said:


> Pauline like a smoother and faster Neff, which is saying something. Not bad for a roadie. But that's also where Julie Bresset was in 2011 when she first hit the scene. Must be something in the water in France.
> 
> Honestly the most impressive performance was Gunn-Rita, who might have been 3 minutes behind Ferrand Prevot, but she was still ahead of that chase group of nearly every other fast woman in the field.
> 
> That's the thing I like about the women's races, there's a lot of camaraderie and compassion between the racers.


To be perfectly clear:

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot is not just some "roadie" that signed up for an XC race on a whim.

She's been doing XCO WC races for years. Back to the Rabobank era, racing on the same team as Adam Craig.

If Marianne Vos ever gets bored with winning 50% of the road and CX races she enters, and gives XCO a full season's attention, the podium might get very different.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

After long time Nino was replaced on the top of UCI ranking, obviously by Julien.
Jolanda keeps her first spot with 200 points ahead of Tanja. UCI ranking - MTBCrossCountry


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It was tongue in cheek, since Rob and Bart kept talking about her road training. In 2013 she was more focused on the road events. In 2012 she had more road and CX results than VTT/MTB, even though she was doing very well off road in the Elite category as a U-23 in 2012.

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot ? Palmarès

Pauline Ferrand Prevot - Results - MTBCrossCountry



Le Duke said:


> To be perfectly clear:
> 
> Pauline Ferrand-Prevot is not just some "roadie" that signed up for an XC race on a whim.
> 
> She's been doing XCO WC races for years. Back to the Rabobank era, racing on the same team as Adam Craig.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

This website has done a really nice job with databases of riders, results and rankings, in a much easier to access arrangement than the UCI website

MTBCrossCountry


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Speaking of Roadies:

Ever wonder what this guy could do on the world cup circuit:


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

rockyuphill said:


> This website has done a really nice job with databases of riders, results and rankings, in a much easier to access arrangement than the UCI website
> 
> MTBCrossCountry


Thanks, nice to hear that.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

That guy can ride in the dirt. That would explain his propensity for road bike wheelies too. All the Cannondale off road riders seem to have some mad bike handling skills.

The lure of the open road (bike) and the money that those teams offer must be hard to ignore. LMN, you must have an inkling into the magnitude of the pay differential between road and MTB racers.



LMN said:


> Speaking of Roadies:
> 
> Ever wonder what this guy could do on the world cup circuit:


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## primoz (Jun 7, 2006)

No idea what he could do on WC now, but if I remember right, he was junior World Champion in mtb  Unless you are talking about Fontana, but for him, we all know what he can do


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

According to wikipedia in 2008, the year before he turned professional, Peter Sagan was mountain bike World Junior Champion in 2008, along with being mountain bike European Junior Champion, 2nd in the Junior World Cyclocross Championships and 2nd in the Junior Paris Roubaix that year:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sagan#Major_results

I'd have thought he would be quite fast if he was racing in the XC World Cups.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

When Sagan begins wearing baggy shorts on the road, _that_ will be a statement.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

So what happened to Jaroslav Kulhavy at Albstadt? I only caught the last 30 min of the race when it was live. I see Jaro was 2 laps down in the final results? WTF?


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

> This website has done a really nice job with databases of riders, results and rankings, in a much easier to access arrangement than the UCI website
> 
> MTBCrossCountry


Oh, that is nice--no more searching all around to find schedules, video feeds, etc... Very helpful. Thanks nya if I'm understanding correctly that that is your gig.


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## pulser (Dec 6, 2004)

Le Duke said:


> To be perfectly clear:
> 
> Pauline Ferrand-Prevot is not just some "roadie" that signed up for an XC race on a whim.
> 
> ...


We should see Vos racing WC's next year. She wants the MTB Gold in the 2016 Olympics. From what the guys were saying during the race she will start her prep by racing next year.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

ewarnerusa said:


> So what happened to Jaroslav Kulhavy at Albstadt? I only caught the last 30 min of the race when it was live. I see Jaro was 2 laps down in the final results? WTF?


Jaro posted on FB a picture of his knee all wrapped up. He posted that he hoped it wasn't broken again. Guess that means he took a bad crash. He clearly had trained to peak at Nove Mesto.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Albstadt 2014: Red Bull TV links:
Replay: UCI XCO World Cup 2014 - Albstadt

If you have some spare time the Red Bull ErzbergRodeo 2014 hare scramble motocross event is one to watch on Red Bull TV too. I liked the bit where the leader was riding over some big rocks and the commentators were saying "this used to be the hardest part a few years ago, before things got really crazy!" The waves of no hopers being sent out to ride up a vertical slope and having to be hauled to the top with ropes.:lol:

ErzbergRodeo 2014: Red Bull Hare Scramble Live

Watching the women's XC race from Albstadt this shot from the end of lap 1 sums it up:










That first lap was ridiculous. Pauline Ferrand Prevot just rode away from everyone and disappeared. Catharine Pendrel put in a good effort. I thought she was dropped a few times but each time she fought her way back up to the leaders again.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

montana_ben said:


> Oh, that is nice--no more searching all around to find schedules, video feeds, etc... Very helpful. Thanks nya if I'm understanding correctly that that is your gig.


Thanks. Yes you are understanding correctly, it is my "baby". If anyone has any suggestions what you would like to see there as well etc, just let me know. I have a lot of ideas, but not enough time!


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## Purulento (Aug 27, 2009)

nya said:


> Thanks. Yes you are understanding correctly, it is my "baby". If anyone has any suggestions what you would like to see there as well etc, just let me know. I have a lot of ideas, but not enough time!


Under the menu/races tab you could create an entry just for race pictures, since not all races have pics...


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## moab63 (Dec 29, 2003)

*Great job*



nya said:


> Thanks. Yes you are understanding correctly, it is my "baby". If anyone has any suggestions what you would like to see there as well etc, just let me know. I have a lot of ideas, but not enough time!


You update stuff really fast, you are a proud pa pa.
thanks


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Anyways...interesting race!

I think with the two weekends in a row...it was all gonna be about recovery. 

Schurter prob blew up in his legs I would imagine. Absalon may have a lil more exp on that...

I thought his #XTRDi2 tattoos were a lil derp. But... if it's good it is good.

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## csteven71 (Jan 15, 2009)

zephxiii said:


> I thought his #XTRDi2 tattoos were a lil derp. But... if it's good it is good.


Yeah. The worst part was the hash tag, why not a nice bike sticker if they want a little more publicity. But I suppose it worked, because here we are talking about it.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

...and because it's hashtag it's easy for them to search to find out how much people are talking about XTR on the web. The one thing I haven't seen is a price tag on the hash tag, any indication what Di2 is supposed to cost (other than "if you have to ask, you can't afford it...")


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

lol maybe #XTRDI2$$$$ would be more appropriate.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It looks like the Ultegra Di2 is around $1600 and Dura-Ace around $2100 just for brifters, batteries and F&R derailleurs, so I imagine this must put a full XTR Di2 grouppo up around $2500+


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## csteven71 (Jan 15, 2009)

I'm excited for the eventual XTDi2! 2017 or so I bet


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## jetboy23 (Jun 14, 2011)

primoz said:


> No idea what he could do on WC now, but if I remember right, he was junior World Champion in mtb  Unless you are talking about Fontana, but for him, we all know what he can do


Heres Sagan and Fontana on MTBs


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## Derkson91 (Aug 14, 2013)

I watched the Novo Mesto race and it looked like Stephane Tempier is still riding a 26er...didn't look like 27.5 wheels, he was next to Nino at one camera and it appeared Nino's tires were larger riding 27.5 wheels.


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## philvitt (Sep 15, 2010)

I just saw this article and I haven't seen it posted here:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/nove-mesto-xc-world-cup-day-one-in-the-pits


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

XC Bike Checks: 4 World Cup Race Machines - Pinkbike
Fixed the link! Cool photos.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

ewarnerusa said:


> XC Bike Checks: 4 World Cup Race Machines - Pinkbike
> Fixed the link! Cool photos.


In the Pinkbike comments there's a bit about the ride stats that are supposedly shown from Nino Schurter's Garmin Edge 510 in the article photo.

Those aren't actually stats from his riding at Nove Mesto. It's a dummy unit sticker only. See the picture here:

https://www.peterverdone.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/DSC_2275.jpg

.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I run an Edge 510 and frequent the Garmin 510 forum. The 510 seems to have a lot bugs and if you based a review on what you find in that forum you'd think the 510 doesn't work at all. That hasn't been my experience fortunately. Anyway, I thought it was interesting he used a 510 and thought that there was a good example of it working fine despite the haters on the 510 forum. Then I saw that link in the comments you referred to and realized it was a photo prop! Besides, Nino rode the Spark and not Scale on Nove Mesto. I follow him on Strava and he uses an Edge 1000. 

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

This looks like the Nove Mesto lap from 2014 on Strava:

http://www.strava.com/segments/7272105?filter=overall

In the practice sessions according to Strava Nino Schurter did a single 2.3 mile lap (221 feet of climbing) of the Nove Mesto course in 12 minutes 9 seconds at an average speed of 11.4mph.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

*Nino's Tour de Suisse*

Nino was active on Stage 3 and was called to the podium for Most Active Rider.
Notice the kit on the fan to the right of Nino? Nino should think it's familiar. Photo from velonews.com
Gallery: Tour de Suisse, stage 3 - VeloNews.com


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## philvitt (Sep 15, 2010)

Schurter is performing really well in Tour de Suisse. He finished in top 10 today in a very messy sprint. I doubt he will be racing mtb next year... Anyone wants to take bets?


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I'll take that bet. He's a full time MTB pro until Rio Olympics. If he wins gold, then maybe converts to road. 

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## philvitt (Sep 15, 2010)

Excellent point. But he's already 28 y/o and he'll be 30 when Rio arrives. Time is running against him. He could negotiate a 1 year road pro contract for 2015 and see how it goes. It would be a much better investment in his future.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

philvitt said:


> It would be a much better investment in his future.


Why? I'll guess his compensation for MTB is about what he'd get in a road contract even if he were to achieve some success. There's way more money overall on the road side, but we're talking about a guy who is probably in the top tier for MTB earning way more than the average MTB pro, versus what might be only a low starting tier with potential for more on the road.

Really this is all speculation of course, since I don't actually know his salary for MTB currently. Just guesstimates.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

My thoughts, too. This is a guy who is probably the top 1 or 2 salary in MTB. I have no idea what that is and I'm sure is a lot less than the top pro roadie salary. But Nino will not land a top roadie salary, regardless of the promise he shows. If he mops up wins in a rookie road season, then he'll have some leverage to justify a raise. 

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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

If there's any real reason for him to do more road.... imo it is because it is a new challenge for him that he finds interesting and enjoys it... not so much about money.

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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm kinda wondering at this point is if he wants to step into the Tour de France... 

I mean if u have been doing well enough as a newbie in his first set of tours and he can... fuk it why not? I would if I could. 

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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Circlip said:


> Really this is all speculation of course, since I don't actually know his salary for MTB currently. Just guesstimates.


From what I have heard, more than 500,000 Euro.

But that is rumors and speculation. From my knowledge of other peoples salaries I would expect it to be close to that figure.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

LMN said:


> From what I have heard, more than 500,000 Euro.
> 
> But that is rumors and speculation. From my knowledge of other peoples salaries I would expect it to be close to that figure.


That's right along the lines of the guesstimate I was using. Quite a few roadies are in this salary range, and some well beyond, but you have to be producing decent results on the road to get that type of road contract. Not saying Nino couldn't get to that point, but sticking with MTB is probably a more secure and conservative financial path for him at this stage in his career. If he goes to the road, I would assume it's because he's made decent money from MTB already, and has enough of a financial cushion to try something different to keep himself motivated and entertained. He's kind of been there, done that, for just about everything on the MTB side already.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

IMO, Nino's road racing is not about $$$$. When you add up salary and sponsorship, and from what LMN said, he makes some decent dough. If I had the same options as he and other guys from the WC circuit have, I would do road races for fun only. It has already been proven that not always the best or strongest rider wins all road races, team work plays a key role in it. If you don't get the right pull at the right time before the last climb or the finishing stretch for a sprint, you might just not get there...

I like the notion that its "me against the world''...so MTB races make more sense to me...but that's just me...


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Looking at this vid that Nino posted on fb wall:






It looks like a lot of it is strategy, positioning, and how things play out in the end sprint. Him placing 8th in one stage, 14th (highest of his team it looks) in the most recent one seems pretty awesome lol.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Great footage! ^


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

these videos on board the bike that they are showing this year on road races are definitely awesome! new respect for what goes on in a bunch sprint finish. It was already obvious that these are chaotic affairs, but all the shouting and bumping and pushing that you witness in the video is intense. Much respect deserved for putting yourself through that! 

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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Sounds like Jaro is having some good success in the marathon events. Wonder if it will hurt him in the sprints? Or is he looking to make a switch.


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## spsoon (Jul 28, 2008)

Sheesh, people think mountain biking is dangerous.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

criscobike said:


> Sounds like Jaro is having some good success in the marathon events. Wonder if it will hurt him in the sprints? Or is he looking to make a switch.


A couple of years ago he won the Cape Epic in a commanding fashion...even after being down in the first few stages...


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

(Nino) i wonder if part of it is having some different training stimulus? He's had many years of pushing himself as hard as he can with MTB racing and training. There must come a point where it gets really hard to provoke further adaption from the body with the same type of stimulus besides the mental burnout of training for MTB all the time.

Also, as with all professional sports people, he must also think of what he will do when he retires from racing and start to prepare a little for that career (manager, coach etc.) Some road racing will broaden his experience, connections and future opportunities.


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## scottg (Mar 30, 2004)

zephxiii said:


> Looking at this vid that Nino posted on fb wall:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Finishing around the top 10 on a bunch sprint is sometimes more a product of circumstance than of a great ride. Orica's sprinter was taken down in a crash at the end and that would be why Schurter was the first Orica finisher - otherwise he would have peeled off after leading out Goss. It's surprising and impressive that Schurter's team wanted him near the front of the pack on a tricky sprint stage like that though, given his lack of experience in the pro peloton.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Does anyone have the link for the live stream of the US Pro race tomorrow?


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## sooshee (Jun 16, 2012)

2014 US Cup Pro Series Live Stream - USA Cycling


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

*World Cup XC too hard, switch to road*

Kind of a neat interview on velonews.com with pro roadie on Garmin-Sharp Nathan Haas. I didn't know he started as an MTBer. But I like how he talks about switching to the road because it's easier than MTB! OK, not exactly what he says but I can have an MTB bias.
From gravity racing to the grupetto: a chat with Nathan Haas - VeloNews.com


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Did the World Championship race just happen or something? 

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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

zephxiii said:


> Did the World Championship race just happen or something?
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


Marathon world championships happened - UCI MTB Marathon World Championships - MTBCrossCountry


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Oh OK. 

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## Derkson91 (Aug 14, 2013)

I wonder what Jaro will do now since he has won all the major titles in XC mountain biking?! I think winning the XC Marathon World Championship race was the last on his list before deciding what to do next. I remember him saying last year when he re-signed to stay with Specialized focusing on just MTB that he would make a run to repeat his Gold Medal at the Olympics. I wonder if he will stick to that or consider a move to road, which I know he has also expressed interest in. I could see him being a fairly successful road racer, but would love him to stick with MTB


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## chomxxo (Oct 15, 2008)

Kulhavy has unfortunately had some bad luck with injuries throughout his very successful, but inconsistent career. This Winter he had to come back from a serious leg injury that had him pedaling one-legged for a couple of months. If I were him I'd want to give the road a shot too. That said, going full roadie is not for me; I just don't have the passion for it, and that can affect your dedication to training.

I have a feeling that the Marathon World Cup would come easily to him, since apparently the 100k races in Europe are not very technical and when he is in top form, he can put out watts with the best in the Grand Tour curcuit. It would be a great way to go out on top.



Derkson91 said:


> I wonder what Jaro will do now since he has won all the major titles in XC mountain biking?! I think winning the XC Marathon World Championship race was the last on his list before deciding what to do next. I remember him saying last year when he re-signed to stay with Specialized focusing on just MTB that he would make a run to repeat his Gold Medal at the Olympics. I wonder if he will stick to that or consider a move to road, which I know he has also expressed interest in. I could see him being a fairly successful road racer, but would love him to stick with MTB


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

chomxxo said:


> I have a feeling that the Marathon World Cup would come easily to him, since apparently the 100k races in Europe are not very technical and when he is in top form, he can put out watts with the best in the Grand Tour curcuit. It would be a great way to go out on top.


Marathon world cup gets sparse visibility and has limited promotion / sponsorship value compared to XCO. No way his team would pay him on anywhere near the same salary scale if he were to refocus on marathon. I'd guess he could make multiple times the salary just continuing along with what he's doing now.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

Lets not beat around the bush here....it didnt look like there was a ton of fast riders there. I know its the marathon and they are fast in their own right, but that seemed like easy pickings for him.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

machine4321 said:


> Lets not beat around the bush here....it didnt look like there was a ton of fast riders there. I know its the marathon and they are fast in their own right, but that seemed like easy pickings for him.


Tell that to Lakata, Perikilis, Sauser, Huber and Co.

They would like to have a word with you...

Yes, its marathon...but you are still competing against the best in the world at the top of their game...my gues is that if Sauser had not had that mechanical, things could have been a bit different...


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Yup. Plus this isn't the first marathon WC that Jaro has raced.


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## chomxxo (Oct 15, 2008)

Susi didn't look too impressive at Leadville last year. But I'm not trying to pick on one of my favorite racers.

I'd just like to make the point that endurance racing is so much better in America. Besides the Roadville spectacle, there's the fantastic National Ultra Endurance Series, which is so good that the USAC and UCI tried to ban it! I got to line up with Tinker Juarez last month in Ohio (for those counting, the purse was $10k). Then there was Tennessee where I said hi to Jeremiah Bishop. Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Virginia round out my tour of 100 milers this year. Traveling the country to see the amazing geography and scenery that the USA has gets one in a flag-waving mood.



carlostruco said:


> Tell that to Lakata, Perikilis, Sauser, Huber and Co.
> 
> They would like to have a word with you...
> 
> Yes, its marathon...but you are still competing against the best in the world at the top of their game...my gues is that if Sauser had not had that mechanical, things could have been a bit different...


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

chomxxo said:


> Susi didn't look too impressive at Leadville last year.


Is Leadville at altitude?


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

NordieBoy said:


> Is Leadville at altitude?


10,000 ft.+ (3,000 m +)


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

carlostruco said:


> 10,000 ft.+ (3,000 m +)


That'll be the race he was saying that each climb and out of saddle exertion was like getting hit over the head by a hammer.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Meanwhile it looks like Schurter was off getting married, congrats to him! 

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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I think it is kind of funny that Nino's wife's name is Nina. That's like couples named Chris and Chris, or Aaron and Erin.


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## Eric Marshall (Nov 28, 2012)

*I'll be at Mont-Sainte-Anne for the races this summer!*

The wifey wants to visit Quebec this summer, so why not catch the mtb racing too  This will be the first time I'll attend a WC event. Any suggestions of what to see while I'm there? I only plan to watch the XC races on Sunday afternoon.

Thanks in advance.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Old Quebec City is good for a day of wandering around, the oldest city in North America. Some terrific cafes and restaurants to hang out on the terrace. There's a huge parking structure underground just outside the city walls. Montmorency Falls between Quebec City and MSA is pretty cool attraction. A tour around the Ilse de Orleans is a good family outing. There's actually a pretty cool art gallery just between Mont Sainte Anne and Beaupre. The Museum of Civilization in Quebec City is quite cool too.

Parc de la Chute-Montmorency - Centres touristiques - Sépaq

» Île d'Orléans »

Galerie d'Art Mont-Sainte-Anne - Giovanni Gerometta - Québec - Canada

Musée de la civilisation : Les Musées le la civilisation

There's some bike related action in old Quebec City on the Thursday.

Vélirium - CITY8

South of Mont Sainte Anne there's some nice hiking trails (Jean-Larose Falls)

http://mont-sainte-anne.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/carteSentiersPedestres.pdf

If you're flying in/out, the place I always hang out before going to the airport and filling the rental car is Base de plein air de Sainte-Foy just a short distance from the airport, a chance to get some fresh air and leg stretching before sitting on a plane for 6 hours. There's a gas station just outside the exit toward the airport so you can top up the rental car within a km of the airport.

Ville de Québec - Base de plein air de Sainte-Foy



Eric Marshall said:


> The wifey wants to visit Quebec this summer, so why not catch the mtb racing too  This will be the first time I'll attend a WC event. Any suggestions of what to see while I'm there? I only plan to watch the XC races on Sunday afternoon.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

So just a few days until the Mont Sainte Anne world cup, and many of the gals (Catharine Pendrel, Emily Batty, Rebecca Henderson, Annie Last...) who are part of the Commonwealth were just out punishing their legs early this morning putting in a very very fast race pace at the Commonwealth Games MTB race. Catharine Pendrel took gold and Emily Batty took silver after running wheel to wheel with Rebecca Henderson for most of the race. 

Good news for everyone else. And it looks like MHP will be entering her first world cup race since becoming a mom, but starting in the back since she only has 30 UCI points right now, so likely an entire race of getting through traffic. So the elite women's race ought to be interesting to watch if all the European gals make it across the pond (especially the fast French women). 

So who do you suppose is not making the trip across the Atlantic to do the MSA/Windham double?


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> So who do you suppose is not making the trip across the Atlantic to do the MSA/Windham double?


PFP crashed out in the run up to the sprint Jul 27 at "La Course" with Vos taking the win. That probably puts them in a similar position to the CW games participants albeit with a couple more days for recovery - if either of them were even planning to do one or both of MSA or Windham in the first place.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> So just a few days until the Mont Sainte Anne world cup, and many of the gals (Catharine Pendrel, Emily Batty, Rebecca Henderson, Annie Last...) who are part of the Commonwealth were just out punishing their legs early this morning putting in a very very fast race pace at the Commonwealth Games MTB race. Catharine Pendrel took gold and Emily Batty took silver after running wheel to wheel with Rebecca Henderson for most of the race.


Also good news for the Kiwi's Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze doing the 1-2 and beating Dan McConnell. U21 MSA should be a cracker


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The Commonwealth Games men's race was wild to watch, when they stopped covering wrestling and trap shooting long enough to get back to the race. Plaxton with the two kiwis and McConnell all running within 1-2 seconds until they burned Plaxton's legs out in that last lap sprint through the dual slalom section, he couldn't recover from that in time. Too bad Raphael Gagne had drifted back to 7th, I thought he might have been able to get into the top 5.

From the entry list http://62.50.72.82/uciroot/wcmtb/2014/XC_Entries.aspx?id=47567&language=eng

it looks like PFP is not entered, Neff is, Bresset is, and most of the other top euro riders are entered (likely with Windham the week after it makes sense to make the trip). The start lists will likely be available Saturday. Luckily the Elite women's entries only total 57 right now, so MHP has number plate 53, Annie Last has number plate 57 at the very back, so that isn't a huge crowd to work through compared to many of the euro races.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

NordieBoy said:


> Also good news for the Kiwi's Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze doing the 1-2 and beating Dan McConnell. U21 MSA should be a cracker


I saw a podium pic and either Gaze and McConnell are fairly tall or Cooper is trending toward the "compact" side of things! Not as if size has proven to be a barrier to the top end of XC racing though. We've seen larger riders like Kulhavy and smaller riders like "Little Mig" Martinez both demonstrate how to leave everyone in their wake equally effectively. Whatever works...


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

I just did a couple laps of the Saint Anne course. They change that course every year.

Beatrice is back and still rather uncomfortable to ride. New switchback climb up to Beatrice which is very steep and challenging. There is also a new descent with some fun features like a 6 foot gap over a creek.

The course this year is going to really favor a strong climber. There are three hard climbs per lap, when you consider that it is a little over 4km lap this is significant. The trails are as technical as always but the descents are so quick that differences will be small.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

This new L'Enfer de Sainte Anne climb in the woods beside La Beatrice is new, that looks like a rework of the old L'ecureuil descent (which was pretty eroded and washed out anyway).


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

About time we get back to big boy racing!


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Circlip said:


> I saw a podium pic and either Gaze and McConnell are fairly tall or Cooper is trending toward the "compact" side of things! Not as if size has proven to be a barrier to the top end of XC racing though. We've seen larger riders like Kulhavy and smaller riders like "Little Mig" Martinez both demonstrate how to leave everyone in their wake equally effectively. Whatever works...


Anton is just under 5'5"


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

NordieBoy said:


> Anton is just under 5'5"


Hence his CFR team nickname: "Mini Cooper"


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The Canadian National Team MTB coach working with some of the younger Team Canada riders on La Beatrice descent. And a shot of the new switchback climb to reach La Beatrice.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

2015 world cup up - World Cup - MTBCrossCountry far less traveling next year at last


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Le River Gap was getting a lot of practice too, and according to some team mechanics, it has been responsible for a few exploded back wheels from not having quite enough speed to clear the rocks on the landing lip


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## jkirkpatri (Sep 16, 2008)

That's a pretty cool feature for an XC course!


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

If you haven't seen it here are the BBC iplayer links for the XC races at the Commonwealth games. They're supposed to be available for the next month:

Women's XC MTB Commonwealth Games

BBC iPlayer - Commonwealth Mountain Biking - Glasgow 2014: Day 6: Mountain Bike finals

Men's XC MTB Commonwealth Games

BBC iPlayer - Commonwealth Mountain Biking - Glasgow 2014: 1. Day six finals

There was an interesting comment from one of the commentators about Emily Batty's pearl necklace during the race. Apparently she found it in her mother's jewellery box at the age of 11 and wears it because it brings her good luck.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Damn, only available in the UK.


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

Darn it, UK only.


edit- there's an echo in here...mindpiss.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

Install free of charge Expat Shield and you can watch it.


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## khardrunner14 (Aug 16, 2010)

Tried with HOLA and no go...


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

NordieBoy said:


> Damn, only available in the UK.


I realised after I posted the links.

If you can't view the iplayer streams I've downloaded the two races and I'll upload the files for you as a direct download a bit later.


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## Purulento (Aug 27, 2009)

La beatrice from 2009 (?). Nice shot of Emily around 7:00


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

WR304 said:


> If you haven't seen it here are the BBC iplayer links for the XC races at the Commonwealth games. They're supposed to be available for the next month:
> 
> Women's XC MTB Commonwealth Games
> 
> ...


Here are the two Commonwealth XC races as zipped .mp4 files. I've cropped it down to just the race and resized the files to 320x176 also to try and get the file size down. The original files were 1.3gb each.

I'd suggest using VLC media player and watch them windowed.

VLC media player
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.en_GB.html

Men's race 710mb
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6DcTKJdrf_geVJsNC15S0lzNlk/edit?usp=sharing

Women's race 741mb
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6DcTKJdrf_gcXR1ZTBRRFdyN0U/edit?usp=sharing


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Rain just pounded down again tonight, so the drying after Thursday's torrential rain has had a setback. There's a chance of showers in the afternoon tomorrow which could make La Beatrice a bit slick. This will be a different course if it's wet and muddy after all the most;y dry practice.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Sweet, downloading now...


WR304 said:


> Here are the two Commonwealth XC races as zipped .mp4 files. I've cropped it down to just the race and resized the files to 320x176 also to try and get the file size down. The original files were 1.3gb each.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Dang! The replay link for the XCE continues to be a black screen no matter what I do. Any suggestions?


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## gsmith11 (Jun 15, 2014)

criscobike said:


> Dang! The replay link for the XCE continues to be a black screen no matter what I do. Any suggestions?


Is this what you're looking for?

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Red Bull's website is getting to be an impossible to navigate mess, they need to have someone make it easier to find live and replay events, they keep ending up with links that go nowhere useful or take you to the page you're on.

Here's the links to the XCO races today

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

I find their app on my iPad is a lot easier to use than their website.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Congrats to LMN's wife on her 2nd today. I'm sure she was gunning for first, but Neff looked incredibly strong all the way through.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

criscobike said:


> Dang! The replay link for the XCE continues to be a black screen no matter what I do. Any suggestions?


Red Bull TV uses Adobe Flash player if you're watching on a PC. The XCE race is ok here and the stream plays properly.

I'd try clearing your web browser cache and history (ccleaner is a convenient way of doing this quickly) and then also try updating your flash player to make sure you have the latest version.

ccleaner
CCleaner - Download

Adobe Flash Player
https://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html

You could also try a different browser. I use Mozilla Firefox along with adblock plus.

Mozilla Firefox
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

Adblock Plus
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

If you're watching on a tablet or phone close the Red Bull TV app, give the tablet or phone a restart and see if that helps.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Nice race for 3rd+ position, Jolanda kind of dominated the race and Catherine did hold her 2nd really well as well. WIll see what the men's race will look like. (full women results - UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 5 Mont Sainte Anne - Women Elite / World Cup - MTBCrossCountry )


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

ARGH! I got so excited about the race that I inadvertently unplugged my internet connection. So, I missed the first lap, 

Next week- UCI MTB World Cup, USA: XCE 5/XCO 6/DHI 6 | Red Bull Bike


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Impressive to see the kick Nino had today. Absolon just couldn't counter? Is Nino coming back into form? or was JA jet-lagged after flying in so late?


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Duel of 2 strongest guys, nice stuff. Still would be nice to see some other guys step up and start beating these 2 regularly. Was quite lucky that Nino didn't take down Julien on the top of beatrice when he took the shortcut.

Wondering how Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze feel after seeing that they beat in commonwealth games Dan McConnell who finishes 3rd in MSA.

(results - UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 5 Mont Sainte Anne - Men Elite - MTBCrossCountry )


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

Absalon had a terrible start and had to chase from maybe 20th position at some point to 2nd. He even remounted 15 seconds to Nino on one lap!!! Jet lag or not, he must have ran out of gas since he did not looked the same after closing in on Nino...

Race for 3rd, 4th and 5th was amazing...even 6 and 7 were very close!!!

That course looked amazing!!!


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

The course did look like a blast. 

I injured my knee 7 weeks ago, and watching that makes me die to go on a ride!

Didn't Bart call it the Alpe d'Huez of mountain biking?


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

carlostruco said:


> Absalon had a terrible start and had to chase from maybe 20th position at some point to 2nd. He even remounted 15 seconds to Nino on one lap!!! Jet lag or not, he must have ran out of gas since he did not looked the same after closing in on Nino...


Seems like a good explanation, burning all his matches chasing. The energy consumption in that mode is high also, as many explosive efforts are often needed for passing up through the field, increasing in intensity as one comes across progressively stronger riders. You don't get by Nino with having some matches left to burn in the process. Anyhow, Julien's fault and to Nino's credit for their contrasting starts. That's part of the game, and a very critical one at this level.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

Gregg K said:


> The course did look like a blast.
> 
> I injured my knee 7 weeks ago, and watching that makes me die to go on a ride!
> 
> Didn't Bart call it the Alpe d'Huez of mountain biking?


yep...on the climb with all the switchbacks...i thought that was hilarious...


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I noticed that the MSA First Aid responders were all clustered around Le River Gap jump on the opening lap of the Elite Women's race, there were a bunch of the ATV's there, but after the second lap went by with no calamity, they dispersed and just left one. There were a few rear wheel impacts on the far side of the jump, some needed a bit more speed and a bit more of a bunny hop. There were a few wobbly landings too.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Mont Sainte Anne always seems to be one of the best races.

When it came to the start the thing to watch out for is the surface of the start loop. Julien Absalon was going ok initially, only one rider behind Nino Schurter and alongside Dan McConnell, but he was boxed in on the left hand side as the field spread out wide. The left hand side of the course was covered in loose gravel at this point, losing traction, whilst the right hand side of the course was clear tarmac. It's at this point that the riders on the right hand side accelerate and sweep across, squeezing the riders on the left into the verge as the left hand bend tightens.










In the next camera shot after the bend you can see that the riders who were at the front but on the left before the bend have been swamped. Julien Absalon is way back and so is Dan McConnell. The interesting one is the rider in red wearing a yellow/black helmet. He was directly behind Julien Absalon but after the bend had stopped and was scooting with one foot trying to get going again. I'm wondering whether he may have got tangled up with Julien Absalon. There's no camera view to tell but it's possible.










In the commentary they mentioned that apparently Jaroslav Kulhavy was using a 1x11 setup but with a 38 tooth front chainring!

Jaroslav Kulhavy was using what looked like SRAM Guide brakes with the chrome finish too. His brakes had the distinctive larger reservoir. They're the four piston AM/Trail SRAM brakes, rather than the lighter two piston XX brakes. I'm guessing he wanted some extra brake performance on the steep descents.

First Look: SRAM Guide Trail Brakes ? Power, Precision and Control - Pinkbike










The best gap jump was this one I thought. What appeared to have happened was that one of Maxime Marrotte's feet had come unclipped from the pedal on the descent beforehand. Instead of taking the easier B line he comes up to the jump, stops, jumps down into the stream, walks through it and then sets off again. It didn't cost that much time either.




























Nino Schurter's crash was a crunching one. Watching it on TV I was like "noooo!" as I wasn't sure if he'd get up again. Straight down on his outstretched arms. He was holding back and waiting for Julien Absalon to go past on the outside line, but then as Nino Schurter went to take the steep left turn onto the Beatrice descent proper he blocked the front wheel and went straight over the bars. Just look at the angle of his front wheel in this picture (and the expressions of the spectators in the background).










What was most impressive was that he then remounted cyclocross style and rode down through the big rocks with his feet unclipped from the pedals before going on to win. You can see Nino Schurter looking down and clipping back in after the second switchback at the bottom of La Beatrice.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I saw that they had put a short wood bridge deck and plank into the creek at the bottom of the gap jump, I didn't see that in place on Friday, that would have made Marrotte's creek pass through a lot easier than the mud bog that was there. Maybe after the rains they were afraid someone would droen if they fell in.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

I found this scene so soothing. Capturing the beauty of cycling! However, you got to watch it in motion.

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada









However, from a consumer perspective I must say how boring! Always the same people winning. The only unexpected element is if someone has a defect. I've been racing myself for over 20 years now. I fully appreciate what the athletes accomplish. But it is still boring to watch.

The TV coverage has become much better, though. If I remember those pathetic first attempts from Red Bull TV. Nonetheless, still boring. Always the same people, hardly ever a real fight. Even though I'm not really into road cycling the races are more thrilling.

This is just my personal view, no need to be angry at me.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

You should watch the Men's Commonwealth Games XC race (linked in Post #523). That was a good race to watch without a predictable result. It kept me guessing all the way to the finish.


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## sprocketjockey9 (Jul 18, 2006)

Circlip said:


> Seems like a good explanation, burning all his matches chasing. The energy consumption in that mode is high also, as many explosive efforts are often needed for passing up through the field, increasing in intensity as one comes across progressively stronger riders. You don't get by Nino with having some matches left to burn in the process. Anyhow, Julien's fault and to Nino's credit for their contrasting starts. That's part of the game, and a very critical one at this level.


Absalons starts have been lacking all year and he's worked his way up to Nino each and every time. You can tell he lacks that significant pop out of the gate & even during sprinting/attacking. Kudos to Nino for sticking to his guns and forcing JA to chase and stretch himself to close that gap. Nino was significantly descending better and forcing Julien to work harder on the climbs to re-close those gaps and you could see he was truly gassed by the end. Hopefully this was just fatigue/stress from having a baby on Friday before hand and we'll see Absalon riding stronger at Windham.

Heavy climbing course with non-technical descending could play into his favor. Though last time there before MSA worlds a few years back, he was outside top 5 (7th? I think he had a flat)


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Finally watched the Comm Games race.

Excellent!
Even knowing the results, it was nail biting!


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## team huffy (Feb 26, 2014)

Nino crushed the field on 27.5 wheels, no doubt would have done the same on 26" wheels as well. Just goes to show wheel size makes marginal differences, it's the rider. Nino is a beast, so is absalom, in a class all their own.


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## GoldenDragoon (Apr 21, 2013)

I was suprised that the comentators mentioned Nino's bike was very light at 17.8lbs (8.07kg). I would have thought a high end 27er would be sub 8kg? My 29er HT race bike is 8.1kg (soon to be sub 8kg). Are all the pros riding bikes around this weight?

BTW: I agree with above. JA burned himself out too much making up for a poor start while NS cruised it in. I thought NS would have a better reserve at the end which turned out to be the case so well done NS. Nothing boring about watching some of those guys really tear up those decents though!


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

Jaro's been know to push a bigger gear than everyone else. I would not even try a 38T up front on that course even if they pay me!!!

Nino's bike at 17 lbs.? That's still pretty light. And again, I would not ride a 17# HT 27.5 down La Beatrice even if they pay me!!!

Gravel or not, Absalon needs to work on his start...maybe it would have been a different result had he not chased from way back down...still, he's one of the best and kicks some serious ass!!!

McConnell has gotten two hole shots already that I remember, and he still falls behind quickly, only to turn on the diesel turbo engines and finish super strong!!!

I think Sergio Mantecon had a great race!!! As well and the Swiss Fluck brothers and Jaro...also Hermida!!!

Has anyone seen M.A. Fontana this season? What's the matter with him? 

Two bad Giger had a flat...he looks hes getting stronger as the season goes on...

...and lucky Fumic that he did not damaged his bike on that crash...he was a long way from the tech zone...

Kudos for Kabush...

...and I think that what Catriel Soto a Coloma did was training for XCE...they killed the start, but faded to 30th or more...


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Something I meant to comment on was that in the Commonwealth Games men's XC race Sam Gaze was wearing a Specialized Evade aero helmet. I've been thinking of getting one (mostly to keep the rain off  ) It's about the only time I can remember seeing someone wearing one in an XC race.










Anton Cooper (19) (2012 Junior XC World Champion) and Sam Gaze (18) are definitely some riders to watch out for in future. They'll be up there in the World Cup series sooner rather than later I think.

Some links and interviews:

Anton Cooper:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/commo...9/Anton-Cooper-headlines-mountain-biking-team

https://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/cycling_mountain_bike/1032492/a_cooper.html

Sam Gaze:
https://www.roadcycling.co.nz/TeamTalk/commonwealth-games-catch-up-sam-gaze.html

https://www.fromthepits.co.uk/bursting-onto-the-scene-with-sam-gaze/


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

WR304 said:


> Something I meant to comment on was that in the Commonwealth Games men's XC race Sam Gaze was wearing a Specialized Evade aero helmet. I've been thinking of getting one (mostly to keep the rain off  ) It's about the only time I can remember seeing someone wearing one in an XC race.


And no gloves.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Just watched the race last night... 

Nino's approach to Beatrice and the time he gained from it was pretty awesome. Even when Beatrice bit back though he made up that time pretty quickly. 

Sucked to see Fumic go down on such a corner like that, I knew it was sketchy the first time I saw the close camera view of it lol.


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## Derkson91 (Aug 14, 2013)

Watching the world cup races on Red Bull TV are not boring at all! Even if NS & JA dominate each race, they are the best and we should be blessed to watch them race each world cup. Redbull TV does an excellent job providing us viewership into these races, setting up all their video equipment in mountainous terrain has to be a large task, so thank you to them. 

Yes, NS & JA would dominate on any wheel size, even 26. I doubt the wheel size does much for these guys, but more so ride the wheel sizes they do to support market trends and sponsor requests. 

I think (and hope) Redbull TV's coverage of these races keeps getting better and better. The more of us that tune in the more effort they will pour into better coverage for these races! 

I hope JA sticks around for two more years and makes a run at Rio 2016!


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## scottg (Mar 30, 2004)

Every time I watch a world cup xc race I am amazed at how hard these guys are pushing for an hour and a half or more. They are so strong and push themselves so hard.....and have serious skills downhill on bikes that are not set up for descending.


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

All I can do is watch with nostalgia, at my age. I used to ride with some of the very first national pros in the sport. That was back when they had a keg of beer at the finish line!



scottg said:


> Every time I watch a world cup xc race I am amazed at how hard these guys are pushing for an hour and a half or more. They are so strong and push themselves so hard.....and have serious skills downhill on bikes that are not set up for descending.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

Really puts things into perspective for me, many on the best from my provincial race series were pulled on the 80%. I am so far off of their fitness, I can only imagine how much better the top 10 are at world cup levels.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Manon VS Rachel head to head at MSA.

Rach was up by 5s at one point, Manon pulled it all back through the lower rock sections.

Manon Carpenter versus Rachel Atherton GoPro Race run


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

pics, pics, pics

XCO World Cup #5 - Mont-Sainte-Anne: Doppelsieg der Schweizer in der Fotostory - MTB-News.de


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

quax said:


> pics, pics, pics
> 
> XCO World Cup #5 - Mont-Sainte-Anne: Doppelsieg der Schweizer in der Fotostory - MTB-News.de


There are some nice pictures in that MTB-News.de page.

I particularly like this one of Emily Batty warming up on the turbo trainer. You can see the mental visualisation that's she's doing pre-race, even through her sunglasses. "Grrrrrrrr".










https://www.mtb-news.de/news/2014/0...der-schweizer-der-fotostory/#fa-photo-1676731

Who's Superranger Kanadaman? :lol:

https://www.mtb-news.de/news/2014/0...der-schweizer-der-fotostory/#fa-photo-1676743

https://www.mtb-news.de/news/2014/0...der-schweizer-der-fotostory/#fa-photo-1676749


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

WR304 said:


> I particularly like this one of Emily Batty warming up on the turbo trainer. You can see the mental visualisation that's she's doing pre-race, even through her sunglasses. "Grrrrrrrr".


Maybe she's just asking someone to see if she has any food stuck between her teeth?


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Continuing the Emily Batty theme there's a fairly detailed article about her Trek Superfly 29er race bike here: 










_"Full team mechanic support brings with it a bike that's perpetually in perfect tune and Batty's Superfly was literally lemony fresh during the photo shoot thanks to a fresh coat of polish. In addition, though, are several neat tricks that heighten the tune even further.

Instead of the standard quick-release front and rear thru-axles, for example, Batty's bike is equipped with bolt-on axles from Fox and FRM to save weight. Team mechanics even hand file the aluminum non-driveside dropout flange to produce a better interface for the FRM axle's flat head.

Meanwhile, a small pad is zip-tied inside the front derailleur cage to reduce chain noise on bumpy terrain and the unused bottom-pull cable arm is sawed off. Team mechanic Matt Opperman even omits the pad retaining pin safety clips and bleed port covers from the XTR disc brake calipers, and the rubber hose nut covers on the brake levers, saying they just add needless weight and hassle, anyway.

Standing at 1.61m (5ft 3in) tall, Batty does have to make some adjustments to get the faster-rolling big wheels to fit underneath her. Out back, the saddle is pushed way forward on the rails and the seatpost is also flipped around to produce a +5mm setback. Up front, Bontrager has actually gone so far as to custom machine a 100mm-long stem with a -25° angle. According to Opperman, Bontrager's Race-level stem would have also done the job in terms of fit but these are significantly lighter and apparently also noticeably stiffer given their big, rectangular cross-sections. Production versions are supposedly going to be released soon.

Tire and suspension setup is about what one would expect from a top-level cross-country racer. Opperman said that Batty would run a slightly higher-than-usual (but still low) 21-22 psi to tackle the rocky Windham course but fork pressure is somewhat high at 72psi given her slight 48kg (106lb) weight."_ *Bikeradar*

https://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/pro-bike-emily-battys-trek-superfly-42030/

I was quite surprised at the quoted weight of 9.20kg (20.28lb) for the 15.5" size bike. I'd have expected it to be lighter. Compare that with the quoted weight of 8.1kg (17.8lb) for Nino Schurter's Scott Scale.

https://www.nsracing.ch/en/Bikes


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Double vs. single is about a 1lb, the bigger wheels are another 1/2lb, and electronic fork with clincher wheels is another 1/2.

20lbs is pretty close to standard for Shimano riders on fox forks with ICD.

Once the new XTR starts to appear in greater numbers more bikes are going to be a lot closer to the 19lb mark.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

I know she has to run a Bontrager stem but the bike would look so much better with a Syntace Flatforce.


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## sooshee (Jun 16, 2012)

WR304 said:


> I was quite surprised at the quoted weight of 9.20kg (20.28lb) for the 15.5" size bike. I'd have expected it to be lighter. Compare that with the quoted weight of 8.1kg (17.8lb) for Nino Schurter's Scott Scale.


Wow, that is surprising... my fresh out of the box '13 S-Works Fate in a 19" size weighed 20.5 pounds with test pedals and tubes. I guess I should stop even thinking for a second my bike is heavy!

I always like these write ups on pros' bikes and seeing what they have to do for best fit and performance. Though I'm half a foot taller than Emily, it's nice to know that we both have to have our saddles all the way forward


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

Funny you'd mention that. I have been embarrassed by having my seat all of the way forward. When I saw Emily Batty's setup, I realized I wasn't alone. Now you too.



sooshee said:


> Wow, that is surprising... my fresh out of the box '13 S-Works Fate in a 19" size weighed 20.5 pounds with test pedals and tubes. I guess I should stop even thinking for a second my bike is heavy!
> 
> I always like these write ups on pros' bikes and seeing what they have to do for best fit and performance. Though I'm half a foot taller than Emily, it's nice to know that we both have to have our saddles all the way forward


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

:skep:.
Annika Langvad im Ziel - Fotoalbum auf MTB-News.de

Thats a pretty hairy leg for a chick, never mind a pro cyclist.


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## sooshee (Jun 16, 2012)

Gregg K said:


> Funny you'd mention that. I have been embarrassed by having my seat all of the way forward. When I saw Emily Batty's setup, I realized I wasn't alone. Now you too.


Woo hoo! We are certainly an awesome select few 



machine4321 said:


> Thats a pretty hairy leg for a chick, never mind a pro cyclist.


Most female cyclists I know are more lax with leg shaving than their male counterparts...

I'll admit, I only shave knee down regularly, and give the knee up-to-tan-line a once over every week or two. Granted, I never get as bad as Annika, but I'm definitely not as smooth as most guys I'm seeing at races.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Anyone else think that the XCE course course laid out at Windham was really pretty sad? Not an interesting feature on it, looks like they just wandered around with some tape in the grass, done...


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## Fakie1999 (Feb 14, 2010)

sooshee said:


> Woo hoo! We are certainly an awesome select few


And another one with the seat pretty much all the way forward! On all my bikes.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

montana_ben said:


> Anyone else think that the XCE course course laid out at Windham was really pretty sad? Not an interesting feature on it, looks like they just wandered around with some tape in the grass, done...


That sucks... Why do we have to be such shitty hosts?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## Kawigreen99 (Oct 9, 2011)

montana_ben said:


> Anyone else think that the XCE course course laid out at Windham was really pretty sad? Not an interesting feature on it, looks like they just wandered around with some tape in the grass, done...


There weren't any stand-out features, but I had a lot of fun racing it yesterday. Well, except for the climbs... I'm too fat for all of that climbing


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## team huffy (Feb 26, 2014)

i'm calling NS for the win right now, he's looking so strong, JA looks like he's struggling to keep pace, lap 4 we shall see..


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

Absalon will have to take 20 seconds out of Schirter on the climb is he is to do it. Nino has been taking that much out of him on each descent.

Nailbiter.

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Meribel, France


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Schurter kills it on the descents. Absalon doesn't look as comfortable. 

Cool to see Nino on the Spark again. 

I'm pissed at the video people for not showing Nino congratzing Absalon after the race ... Error on them. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Great races,both women's and men's imo. Nice Jolanda's comeback during the race. And McConnel's end of the race was awesome.

results and standings : UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 6 Windham / World Cup - MTBCrossCountry


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

It was pretty awesome--and the XCE wasn't bad either, despite my earlier comment about the track being boring. I came to appreciate the absolute climbing beat-down it delivered. 

Hate to admit it but Scott's marketing through racing works--every time I see Schurter crush it on his Spark 700 I want to run out and buy one. Full suspension XC really seemed to come into it's own on that course.


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## mtb_beginner (Jul 20, 2013)

Equipment strategy helped Nino get the win. That was a good call on going with a full-suspension. Their team probably got that idea from Todd Wells.


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## jellyhead9 (Feb 28, 2014)

Could someone provide the link to watch the men's cross country; I am striking out!

Thanks


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

jellyhead9 said:


> Could someone provide the link to watch the men's cross country; I am striking out!
> 
> Thanks


Here ya go...

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Windham, US


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## Stonerider (Feb 25, 2008)

I hate to say it but the full suspension bikes were killing it on the descents. Nino and Lukas weren't bouncing around nearly badly as Absalon was on the descents. It's true that Absalon was making up time on the climbs but not as much time as he was losing on the downhills.


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## Kawigreen99 (Oct 9, 2011)

The descents weren't overly technical, but they were definitely fast, and at speed, rough


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Nino kills it on descents whether he is on a hardtail of fs.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

No one's commented on Rob Warner's correct 2013 prediction of the use of a dropper post in XCO. Tanja Zakelj used one at MSA and Windham, and she was definitely looking more comfortable on some of the more technical descents than some of the other riders. I wonder how long before it becomes more common on technical XCO courses.


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## mosovich (Apr 19, 2004)

That was a GREAT weekend. Getting to meet all the guys and gals you just read about and they were all so nice and patient with kids etc.


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## dwperry (Dec 8, 2013)

rockyuphill said:


> No one's commented on Rob Warner's correct 2013 prediction of the use of a dropper post in XCO. Tanja Zakelj used one at MSA and Windham, and she was definitely looking more comfortable on some of the more technical descents than some of the other riders. I wonder how long before it becomes more common on technical XCO courses.


I think the Windham course particularly suited the use of a dropper post because the climbs and descents were so long and defined. On a more undulating course the benefits might be less noticeable.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

rockyuphill said:


> I wonder how long before it becomes more common on technical XCO courses.


Would you describe Windham as a technical course?


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Did you all catch that interview with Van der Ploeg where he mentions his bike got stolen in town? Ouch, welcome to America...probably in a pawn shop in Jersey. 

Droppers are nice, no doubt about it. Specialized seems to think they can get them to crossover to XC with the pics of that new short travel one they have coming out. More levers to push though, not such a good thing when you're redlining your HR and the brain is starving for oxygen...


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

3 of the top 5 were on FS bikes...if you look at it from another approach, the advantage over rough terrain proved far bigger than the weight penalty it might present. Dropping someone on a fast descent will take a toll on the chaser if what awaits is a long climb. Nino can climb, but Julien is better on those kind of climbs and he proved it. But if he loses 10 seconds on the downhills every lap, and the finish line is just after a long descent, what chance does he have? From what I saw, none of the BMC guys were on HT...so, why doesn't he use a FS on a course like this? 

On another topics, Lukas had a great race, and that Aussie kid keeps proving everybody that he's no fluke...

I think it is far to say that this year the level of competition has increased, regardless of who's winning...there are interesting battles waged on every race for almost the top 10 spots...


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## fsrxc (Jan 31, 2004)

montana_ben said:


> Did you all catch that interview with Van der Ploeg where he mentions his bike got stolen in town? Ouch, welcome to America...probably in a pawn shop in Jersey.
> 
> Droppers are nice, no doubt about it. Specialized seems to think they can get them to crossover to XC with the pics of that new short travel one they have coming out. More levers to push though, not such a good thing when you're redlining your HR and the brain is starving for oxygen...


Yeah, a lot of riders already have suspension remotes on their bars, so adding a seatpost remote will make things very busy... (having only 1 shifter helps though)


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Although Specialized uses brain forks and shocks, so no levers.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

quax said:


> Would you describe Windham as a technical course?


Not compared to MSA.


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## Kawigreen99 (Oct 9, 2011)

montana_ben said:


> Did you all catch that interview with Van der Ploeg where he mentions his bike got stolen in town? Ouch, welcome to America...probably in a pawn shop in Jersey.


These guys only have 1 bike?


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Kawigreen99 said:


> These guys only have 1 bike?


Maybe only one XXXXL, that guy is huge! You'd think a bike thief would think twice before stealing a super high end, giant Giant...


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

carlostruco said:


> Nino can climb, but Julien is better on those kind of climbs and he proved it. But if he loses 10 seconds on the downhills every lap, and the finish line is just after a long descent, what chance does he have? From what I saw, none of the BMC guys were on HT...so, why doesn't he use a FS on a course like this?


Definitely food for thought, but on the other hand Absalon is the most decorated athlete in the history of the sport, is almost a lock to win the world cup series yet again, and has done it all on his HT. The last few years Schurter has gotten him lots of times, but it's not as if he's getting blown away even the last couple of races. If he likes riding HT better even on the rougher courses so that he always has the same consistent setup and feel, it's difficult to argue given his palmares.


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## craign (Feb 8, 2006)

Kawigreen99 said:


> These guys only have 1 bike?


PVP is not in the same league as the top XCO guys in terms of support & backing. He'd be lucky to have full support given what other Australian riders of his standing are on. He probably only has the 1 race bike he's travelling with.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

The two rides that I thought were most notable at Windham were Catharine Pendrel and Dan McConnell.

After those collar bone breaks and a difficult early season Catharine Pendrel is showing that she's getting back to near her best again. Winning convincingly at the Commonwealth Games and then hammering the field at Windham by disappearing off into the distance too. If she can hold this form I wouldn't bet against her winning the World Championships this year.

Does anyone know what the gloves are that she's wearing at the moment? They're very spotty.

In the men's race did you keep a close eye on the split times for Dan McConnell over the last four laps? If he'd managed to stay in contact from the beginning (instead of his traditional poor start) he would have been very close to winning that. 

Although he finished 4th he was closing the leaders down significantly throughout the last laps, on both the uphill and downhill sections. There was one scruffy lap but by the finish he was only 22 seconds behind Nino Schurter. 

Is the number of full suspension bikes in the top five a record for World Cups? This course looked like having full suspension was the right choice. On one lap Lukas Fluckinger on his BMC Fourstroke FS01 29er took 18 seconds out of Julien Absalon (riding a hardtail) on the descent. Julien Absalon looked to be descending ok too. He didn't look nervous or out of sorts. Lukas Fluckinger looked really surprised when he looked behind and realised his teammate was out of sight behind. Later in the race Lukas Fluckinger simply cruised up behind Julien Absalon on the descent as though it was easy.

On the subject of BMC the BMC MTB team are all still using the older Giro Aeon helmets. The BMC road team have been using the newer Giro Synthe helmets since the Tour De France. I'd have expected the MTB team to get the newer kit too but it seems not. Unless they're choosing to use the Giro Aeon in preference?


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

A couple of people are using droppers. Georgia used them at the first two rounds and obviously Tanya is using one. I don't think they will become common place, but I have been wrong before.

Windham is a dually course. Not because of the long descent but because of all the long flat, rough traverses and the relatively gental grade of the climbs. Funny enough I think Windham is more technical decisive then Mt. saint Anne. The descents at Saint Ann are more technical but they are so short that it is hard to make a difference.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

craign said:


> PVP is not in the same league as the top XCO guys in terms of support & backing. He'd be lucky to have full support given what other Australian riders of his standing are on. He probably only has the 1 race bike he's travelling with.


Catharine and I spent some time riding with him this summer (he was training in my home town Revelstoek for a couple of weeks), great guy. But man do the Australian's ever get the shaft on MTB support.

It was great to hear that he got his bike back. Stolen bikes are found in what, 1 out of ever 10 000?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It was interesting listening to interviews with Emily after both MSA and Windham, she seemed genuinely surprised by her finishing positions in both races, like she was expecting to be further up the field with the fitness she felt she had. LMN, how hard did Catharine have to go out at the Nationals and Commonwealth Games? It seemed that Emily was gauging her fitness on her ability to keep up with Catharine.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

LMN said:


> Catharine and I spent some time riding with him this summer (he was training in my home town Revelstoek for a couple of weeks), great guy. But man do the Australian's ever get the shaft on MTB support.
> 
> It was great to hear that he got his bike back. Stolen bikes are found in what, 1 out of ever 10 000?


He got it back? Wow, pretty lucky. although not a hard bike to spot.

I dont think McConnel has bad starts at all. He was No more then 10th and always has gas left at the end. The fact he took 5 seconds off of Nino in one lap says a lot. Im always amazed how much time he can make up in the end. If only I had that tactic instead of balls out....then dead lol


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

I don't think McConnell has bad starts...he has had the hole shot on a couple of races, but he fades after that and comes back stronger later during the race. ( This happens to me also in every single race...) I wonder how good would he be in a XCM...

Julien is a victim of his own success. He's great if not the greatest...but then again, if you can gain an edge over your competition due to equipment that is legal and available at your disposal, why not? I know I would...I don't know how much important winning the WC is, but come World Championships Hafjell, when last year top podium finishers were on FS, I just hope it does not affect his performance. 

WR304, the Giro Aeon is super light...but my guess is the road team switched to the Synthe due to the aero effect...the Aeon gets turned sideways on strong cross winds on the road!!! ( it has happened to me a few times...) 

...and how big is PVP? I saw his interview, but did not seemed like a big or huge guy...maybe it was the camera angle...


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## sooshee (Jun 16, 2012)

WR304 said:


> Does anyone know what the gloves are that she's wearing at the moment? They're very spotty.


I do believe they're the Giro LA DND women's MTB gloves: LA DND Womens Cycling Glove

At least that's the closest I can find... I'm pretty sure they're Giro regardless


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

rockyuphill said:


> It was interesting listening to interviews with Emily after both MSA and Windham, she seemed genuinely surprised by her finishing positions in both races, like she was expecting to be further up the field with the fitness she felt she had. LMN, how hard did Catharine have to go out at the Nationals and Commonwealth Games? It seemed that Emily was gauging her fitness on her ability to keep up with Catharine.


She went hard, really hard. Her average power at nationals was significantly higher then at either world cups. I would say her best race of the year, or perhaps ever, was at nationals this year. (Both her and Emily would have been top 15 in the elite men's field)

Emily had wicked form at nationals, I suspect that with all the travel in the last couple of weeks she couldn't hold that form. Catharine on the other hand, due to breaking her collarbone, has a wicked base and was able to maintain her form a bit better.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

carlostruco said:


> WR304, the Giro Aeon is super light...but my guess is the road team switched to the Synthe due to the aero effect...the Aeon gets turned sideways on strong cross winds on the road!!! ( it has happened to me a few times...)
> 
> ...and how big is PVP? I saw his interview, but did not seemed like a big or huge guy...maybe it was the camera angle...


It just seems odd from a marketing perspective, especially if you remember the claims when the Giro Synthe was launched. Why not have Julien Absalon winning races in their new helmet? It's not as though the Aeon is sold as an MTB helmet either.

*Cooling Claims*
_"The Synthe has only 19 vents to the Aeon's 24. But the science of cooling has moved far beyond counting the number of vents in a helmet. The new model has a wide collection of cooling features, including the excellent RocLoc Air fit system, a number of wide cooling channels inside the helmet itself, and those big front and rear vents to evacuate air.

Cooling is a subjective measure, highly dependent on head angle, ride speed, how much hair you have, etc. But Giro claims that the Synthe, at a normal head angle (30 degrees), is actually 2 percent cooler than the Aeon at normal riding speeds.

That's a big deal, and if true, Giro may be shooting itself in the foot. Why buy the Aeon if the Synthe is just as cool and far more aerodynamic? The 30-gram weight difference is surely not enough of a selling point.

Giro tests cooling using a device it calls the Therminator, essentially an aluminum head covered in 24 temperature sensors, which allow the company to create a map of heat across the skull. The Therminator is put in a wind tunnel with a helmet on. Wind is blown at it at 25 miles per hour, and Giro tracks the rate of cooling.

The test is certainly relevant for high-speed, flat riding, but Giro hasn't done extensive testing at lower speeds. It admits that it needs to, and has already started collecting data. This leaves a big question unanswered: is the Synthe cooler than the Aeon when you're climbing, moving far slower than 25 miles per hour? The Synthe's design is based around moving air front to back - it may not be as effective as the Aeon at moving hot air up and out, given the solid panels across its top."_ *Velonews*

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/news/first-look-giro-synthe-semi-aero-road-helmet_333198

According to this Paul Van Der Ploeg is 190cm tall and weighs around 88kg. Have a look at these two interviews with him which go into some detail:

http://issuu.com/freewheel/docs/enduro24_pvdp

http://cyclingabout.com/index.php/2012/08/get-to-know-a-pro-mountain-biker-paul-van-der-ploeg/



sooshee said:


> I do believe they're the Giro LA DND women's MTB gloves: LA DND Womens Cycling Glove
> 
> At least that's the closest I can find... I'm pretty sure they're Giro regardless


Thanks for that. They do look like her gloves. Good spot.


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## mosovich (Apr 19, 2004)

According to Benno with Specialized, they bring like a bike for each rider, then have a couple of frames... I thought they'd just have a few bikes for each rider, but apparently not.. It was an interesting event for sure..


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## teamdicky (Jan 12, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> No one's commented on Rob Warner's correct 2013 prediction of the use of a dropper post in XCO. Tanja Zakelj used one at MSA and Windham, and she was definitely looking more comfortable on some of the more technical descents than some of the other riders. I wonder how long before it becomes more common on technical XCO courses.


It got me thinking enough to jabber about it for way too long.

Bad Idea Racing: Droop, There It Is










And for what it's worth, notice that NSMB.com thinks next year will see less droopers, not more:

"With Pietermaritzburg and Cairns off the schedule, we may not see a dropper post in 2015&#8230;" ~ NSMB.com


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Teamdicky, it was a pic of your rigid bike in another thread that inspired me to finally try putting a dropper on my rigid stumpy ht, which had been in the back of my mind for awhile. Thanks for that! The only possible downside (yeah besides the weight I know) is having to look at your niner rdo post sitting there on the shelf. That hurts a little. But the bike is just as fast climbing and WAY more fun descending.

XC racing does strike me as rather conservative...like everyone waits until Schurter wins a race on 27.5 to really consider it, or use a full squish until someone wins on that. When there's big money behind a product (Shimano Di2) it makes a big appearance--I'm still kind of suspecting that Specialized will really push their short travel dropper when it comes out, and team riders will be on it... If Scott was making one Nino would probably be riding it.


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## teamdicky (Jan 12, 2004)

montana_ben said:


> Teamdicky, it was a pic of your rigid bike in another thread that inspired me to finally try putting a dropper on my rigid stumpy ht, which had been in the back of my mind for awhile. Thanks for that! The only possible downside (yeah besides the weight I know) is having to look at your niner rdo post sitting there on the shelf. That hurts a little. But the bike is just as fast climbing and WAY more fun descending.


I've got a Moots ti post and an Eriksen sitting over by my fireplace. I'll be putting the Eriksen on my rigid bike this winter... at least that's what I tell myself.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

teamdicky said:


> It got me thinking enough to jabber about it for way too long.
> 
> Bad Idea Racing: Droop, There It Is


Having just swapped out the Niner RDO post on my Stumpy hard tail for the drooper from my old Blur XC, I fully expect it to feel like its gained 10kg. But as I have an inability to get back behind the seat, it may be the difference between coming last and coming second to last.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

carlostruco said:


> ...Julien is a victim of his own success. He's great if not the greatest...but then again, if you can gain an edge over your competition due to equipment that is legal and available at your disposal, why not? I know I would...I don't know how much important winning the WC is, but come World Championships Hafjell, when last year top podium finishers were on FS, I just hope it does not affect his performance...


Absalon targets mountain bike World Cup overall victory | Cyclingnews.com
Cool article where Julien says he'll give FS a go for some situations next season. It makes sense that the most prolific WC winner of all time knows that a HT works for him so he sticks to it. But also cool that he seems willing to use a different tool when it might be a benefit.


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

If only we could reverse time and see the results of Absalon on a suspension bike. Maybe next year, we'll see. He's still in his prime. 

20 seconds is what Schurter was gaining on the downhill over Absalon's hardtail. It's a lot of time in a race. But in "real" life, I found it shockingly small. So much so that for the first time since the 1990's, I'm rethinking the notion of only riding suspension. 

To be honest, I was pretty amazed at the essentially small difference between hardtail and suspension times. One could argue with that, but from a general perspective given the complexity and weight of suspension over a hardtail, other than comfort, it makes me rethink riding with an extra few POUNDS.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

I prefer the few extra pounds...


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

Gregg K said:


> If only we could reverse time and see the results of Absalon on a suspension bike. Maybe next year, we'll see. He's still in his prime.
> 
> 20 seconds is what Schurter was gaining on the downhill over Absalon's hardtail. It's a lot of time in a race. But in "real" life, I found it shockingly small. So much so that for the first time since the 1990's, I'm rethinking the notion of only riding suspension.
> 
> To be honest, I was pretty amazed at the essentially small difference between hardtail and suspension times. One could argue with that, but from a general perspective given the complexity and weight of suspension over a hardtail, other than comfort, it makes me rethink riding with an extra few POUNDS.


Nino wasn't making that much time on the descent. Thanks to Strava we all know how fast Nino and a couple of others descend. Catharine on average was 15s slower the Nino on the descent and she was on a hardtail. She is a good descender but she isn't putting time into Absalon.

I suspect Nino was getting most of his gap on Julien on the transverse which had the short punchy climbs he is so good at.

BTW my experience is similar to yours. The difference between the dually and Hardtails is very minimal on the descents. Same holds for climbs. I have always felt that dually really shine on flat rough terrain, like the traverse at the top of the climb at Windham.


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## Circlip (Mar 29, 2004)

Breaking news, Julien says he will start to dabble with FS;

Absalon targets mountain bike World Cup overall victory | Cyclingnews.com


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

LMN said:


> I suspect Nino was getting most of his gap on Julien on the transverse which had the short punchy climbs he is so good at.


I was lucky enough to visit Andorra last year to watch the XCO in Vallnord (a thoroughly enjoyable weekend). Before the mens race, many of the riders did a lap to warm up and we were stood next to a short, sharp hill they were using for a little "full gas" burst. They all looked to be sprinting up this slope at much the same pace, with one exception: Schurter was noticeably faster up there than anyone else by some margin. Presumably, not only is he good at sprinter type accelerations, but he's exceptionally good at recovering from them as well. Those seem like very "high cost" efforts for an endurance sport.

It surprises me that there's less convergence to a single body type in world class XCO as compared to something like sprinting or marathon running, for example. If you just take Absalon vs Schurter, they are really quite different physique. McConnell vs Schurter even more so. Even our local 6hr XC race ("national" level riders, though) this weekend&#8230;Winner was short, stocky guy and 3rd place was tall, very skinny guy.

I guess the different types of acceleration required in an XC race allow for quite a bit of variation in physique (sprinter to distance runner)


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Video stream question maybe someone could answer. If I go to the redbull video replay (thanks mtbcrosscountry) for older seasons on my ipad, it acts like it's going to work fine but then gives me a "video currently unavailable" message. But if I try on my Mac it plays fine. My Mac won't airplay to TV however, which means I can't lay on the couch with a beer and catch up on 2011, a real tragedy I know. But hey... So is there a way to make those older videos play on the ipad so I can watch Schurter rocking barends at Houffalize?


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

montana_ben said:


> Video stream question maybe someone could answer. If I go to the redbull video replay (thanks mtbcrosscountry) for older seasons on my ipad, it acts like it's going to work fine but then gives me a "video currently unavailable" message. But if I try on my Mac it plays fine. My Mac won't airplay to TV however, which means I can't lay on the couch with a beer and catch up on 2011, a real tragedy I know. But hey... So is there a way to make those older videos play on the ipad so I can watch Schurter rocking barends at Houffalize?


are you going to the website on Safari or using the Redbull TV App?


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

I am going here: http://http://live.redbull.tv/events/39/uci-houffalize-xco-men/

I have the redbull tv app but I can never find anything (older replays anyway) using the app... Probably it doesn't support these older vids? Thanks for trying to help Sandspur.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

montana_ben said:


> I am going here: http://http://live.redbull.tv/events/39/uci-houffalize-xco-men/
> 
> I have the redbull tv app but I can never find anything (older replays anyway) using the app... Probably it doesn't support these older vids? Thanks for trying to help Sandspur.


THe oldest I can find on the App is march 2013.. so yea, if youre trying to go farther back than that it probably isnt possible.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

According to UCI World Cup Facebook page, it looks like Pauline Ferrand Prevot is back for Meribel, so it might be race for second place.

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Meribel, France XCE

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Meribel, France XCO Women

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB World Cup 2014: Meribel, France XCO Men


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

Now that Neff has sealed the overall, Im not surprised to see her back.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

Just saw a video of the Cannondale boys at the Meribel course...looks super fun!!!

...and Manuel Fumic was in a Scalpel...hmmmm...


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

carlostruco said:


> Just saw a video of the Cannondale boys at the Meribel course...looks super fun!!!
> ..


I have done a bunch of laps of the course. Quite technical, I would say more technical than Mt. saint Anne. Nothing scary or uncomfortable to ride, but lots of terrain where a strong technical rider can make time.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

Sounds like a perfect course for Nino.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

*Mountain biker fell during qualifying*

_"Dutch cyclist Annefleur Kalvenhaar has died in hospital after crashing during qualifying at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Méribel, France.

The Focus XC Team rider fell during qualifying on Friday and was taken to Grenoble hospital, where she was put into intensive care. Kalvenhaar passed away on Saturday morning. " "I'm devastated to hear that the cycling family has lost one of its members at such a young age. Our deepest thoughts are with her family and friends," said UCI president Brian Cookson in a statement.

The 20-year-old Kalvenhaar was the reigning under-23 European Cyclocross champion and under-23 Dutch mountain bike champion."_ *Cycling News*

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kalvenhaar-dies-after-crash-at-meribel-world-cup

.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

That's tragic, they mentioned her crash during the XCE coverage when Lisa Mitterbauer held up a small sign wishing her well. Anytime someone is airlifted out after a crash, it is usually a bad sign. She apparently overshot the bridge crossing and went over the bars on the landing.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

Rip. :'(


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## Devincicx (Nov 20, 2011)

That is very sad.

I don't want to blame XCE, but I always thought it was a dangerous and rather boring event. They should change that for some short track races.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

That...really...sucks.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

What a disaster. I doubt anyone would think racing XC could be fatal, although we all ride with the chance of a tree hit etc. This may bring up the design of race courses again. Some of the features creeping into XC tracks seem way too manufactured and out of context with with the smooth, cardio nature of much of each track. It is starting to seem that the UCI standard 4-6km "clover leaf" design is encouraging designers to add stuff where it doesn't really exist, rather than siting tracks on genuine terrain; something the DH riders were all over when complimenting the Meribel DH track. Regardless, now is perhaps not the right time for this subject. Very, very sad. It will be a subdued event today I think.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Große Trauer in Méribel | a cross the country

Working from the Google German to English translation, she apparently had a traumatic brain injury (cerebral hemorrhage) when she struck her head on the OTB landing. She was unconscious immediately on impact. She was flown to the same hospital that treated Michael Schumacher after his skiing accident but they were not able to revive her and she died Saturday morning.

This is the first fatality in 24 years of World Cup XCO racing.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Neff Jolanda	1	01:36:19	Switzerland
Dahle Flesjaa Gunn-Rita	2	01:36:33	Norway
Ferrand Prevot Pauline	3	01:37:13	France
Pendrel Catharine	4	01:38:07	Canada
Lechner Eva	5	01:38:40	Italy
Batty Emily	6	01:38:47	Canada
Włoszczowska Maja	7	01:38:53	Poland
Kalentieva Irina	8	01:39:13	Russian Federation
Klemencic Blaza	9	01:39:29	Slovenia
Davison Lea	10	01:39:31	United States

Neff showed that she is the top 1, nice race behind her, interesting to see Prevot not dominating as most expected. Results/Standings: UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 7 - Méribel / World Cup - MTBCrossCountry


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

This is one of the first races at any elevation for a while, both MSA and Windham weren't at much elevation. It looks like some riders might have been suffering. Although some riders like Georgia Gould live in Colorado, which has more elevation than the 1450m of Meribel. 

Again, I'd have to say that Gunn-Rita's ride was one of the most impressive, considering she was 40 seconds and 20 years behind Neff for the whole race.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Schurter Nino	1	01:33:06	Switzerland
Absalon Julien	2	01:33:19	France
Fumic Manuel	3	01:33:43	Germany
Flückiger Lukas	4	01:33:52	Switzerland
Kerschbaumer Gerhard	5	01:34:18	Italy
McConnell Daniel	6	01:34:23	Australia
Näf Ralph	7	01:34:54	Switzerland
Flückiger Mathias	8	01:35:12	Switzerland
Vogel Florian	9	01:35:13	Switzerland
Hermida Ramos José Antonio	10	01:35:17	Spain

Again duel between Julien and Nino, glad to see Fumic peeking there as well. Dan McConnell again strong finish. Kulhavy out again...

I really liked the course there, natural, technical, nothing overly extreme. FS bike was an advantage again imo.

UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 7 - Méribel - Men Elite - MTBCrossCountry

photos will be in next couple days hopefully


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

nya said:


> interesting to see Prevot not dominating as most expected


I suspect Prevot domination in those earlier rounds was more a case of the other girls not being on super form and her being on super form. Now that worlds is around the corner, other girls are riding at her level or above.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Hey LMN, what is the conversation among the racers regarding Annefleur's tragic death, is it just a unfortunate racing incident or does this raise concerns about man made course obstacles and features? The way Simon Burney described it, she went long on a bridge overpass and the front wheel cleared it on the downside and the rear wheel hit and bucked her off and she fell the full height of the bridge. 

This is the sort of thing I have been concerned about with the escalating TTF's, especially manufactured rock gardens and jumps. 

Micayla Gatto had a big crash in the DH at Windham where she landed face first in a full face helmet and ended up with a black eye and concussion, and she sat out the Meribel race hoping to be back for World Champs, but XC racers don't have that extra protection of body armour and full face helmet.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

rockyuphill said:


> Again, I'd have to say that Gunn-Rita's ride was one of the most impressive, considering she was 40 seconds and 20 years behind Neff for the whole race.


Completely agree, rider of the day, amazing performance!


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## jkirkpatri (Sep 16, 2008)

rockyuphill said:


> Hey LMN, what is the conversation among the racers regarding Annefleur's tragic death, is it just a unfortunate racing incident or does this raise concerns about man made course obstacles and features? The way Simon Burney described it, she went long on a bridge overpass and the front wheel cleared it on the downside and the rear wheel hit and bucked her off and she fell the full height of the bridge.
> 
> This is the sort of thing I have been concerned about with the escalating TTF's, especially manufactured rock gardens and jumps.
> 
> Micayla Gatto had a big crash in the DH at Windham where she landed face first in a full face helmet and ended up with a black eye and concussion, and she sat out the Meribel race hoping to be back for World Champs, but XC racers don't have that extra protection of body armour and full face helmet.


There's a thread in the general discussion forum about this. This link is from that thread. If this is the bridge, than it's a very unfortunate accident that doesn't appear to be tied back to a dangerous course added feature (based solely on the picture in the link).

Tragedy in Meribel: Dutch Mountain Biker Killed at the World Cup | Mpora


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

The bridge that was involved in the incident wasn't a risky trail feature at all, this looks like just a bad case of misjudging the speed to hit that bridge. But the advent of the man made features, especially the jumps and nasty rock garden descents make the consequences of bad judgement really severe, especially for high siding or out the front door incidents. 

There some really challenging natural trail features at Meribel like those steep rock face descents, and rock gardens, but for the most part, natural trails only develop in places with a ridable line. A riding mistake in a race should cost the rider some time and places, and maybe some scrapes and bruises, but the consequences shouldn't be life threatening. 

Absalon had some fairly significant injuries after his rock garden crash in Pietremaritzburg. Sabine Spitz ended up with some injuries in a crash at La Beatrice at Mont Sainte Anne in 2012. Those are both top level riders, things happen. I'm just a bit concerned that the urge to make things exciting for TV could eventually lead to a serious incident like this happening in an XCO race.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

Sad when someone gets badly hurt. Dying, I can't even start to imagine what it must feel like.
Personally I think the courses are fine the way they are. We finally have XC courses where roadies have a hard time competing (that's good!). The real mountain biker now wins. I love that the downhill is just as important as the uphill portions of the course and teams have DH coaches. The bikes maybe should adapt to this. The day when everyone is on a dual suspension with dropper posts is when the courses finally reflect real mountain biking.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I can't think of a time when "roadies" won MTB world cup races.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

team_wee said:


> Sad when someone gets badly hurt. Dying, I can't even start to imagine what it must feel like.
> Personally I think the courses are fine the way they are. We finally have XC courses where roadies have a hard time competing (that's good!). The real mountain biker now wins. I love that the downhill is just as important as the uphill portions of the course and teams have DH coaches. The bikes maybe should adapt to this. The day when everyone is on a dual suspension with dropper posts is when the courses finally reflect real mountain biking.


I like the courses they are getting more technical and the riders seem to adopt. They are using fullys on some races and the dropper posts are popping up too (Tanja Zakelj used it all season).


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

ewarnerusa said:


> I can't think of a time when "roadies" won MTB world cup races.


Pauline Prevot considered as a roadie and she won two races this year and a third place in Meribel.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Is someone who races elite road, CX, and MTB considered a roadie?


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

ewarnerusa said:


> Is someone who races elite road, CX, and MTB considered a roadie?


Many roadies race CX during winter and probably do some other training too so it's hard to classify somebody as a pure roadie. But Prevot this year mainly raced road and jumped in for three XCO races in her "free time" and won two of them. You don't see this very often and I am not sure if any of the XCO ladies would achieve similar to Prevot this year's road results if they would jump in for a couple of road races.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I think Pauline is a young phenom finding her way. I think many who can succeed in all disciplines settle on road because it pays the best and has the most history and prestige. My impression was that earlier post implied that works cups had been ruled by roadies. But I can't think of an example of that. Maybe mixing their personal experience with what they see on tv.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

OK it's clear now...  Anyways, it's great to see some great young talents like Pauline Prevot and Jolanda Neff. I really enjoyed watching them this season but I can tell the same about the not that young Gunn-Rita Dahle, she was amazing too.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

Ha! When I say roadie I mean big lung types... My point is, technical skills now are a BIG DEAL compared to the past. If you have an off day technically you wont win and I think it's good for the sport, that's all.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

team_wee said:


> The day when everyone is on a dual suspension with dropper posts is when the courses finally reflect real mountain biking.


Yep. A multi lap enduro with gut busting uphills that ARE timed...


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

team_wee said:


> Ha! When I say roadie I mean big lung types... My point is, technical skills now are a BIG DEAL compared to the past. If you have an off day technically you wont win and I think it's good for the sport, that's all.


Funny, I have been at world cups for years and I would say they are on average less technically demanding then they use to be. Jumps, drops and rock gardens are more about risk taking then skills. The old school courses had descents that really favored those with strong bike handling skills. Merible was an old school course, a course that favored skills over bravery. Technical skills have always been a big deal, in past we didn't have TV coverage to show how big of a deal they were.

It is the challenge of filming. Truly technical features don't film very well. At merible the two sections where people were making mistakes that cost them massive amounts of time, looked like nothing on camera. Where as features that film well and look impressive, like the Beatrice, are actually fairly easy to ride.

Really though fitness still governs the sport, even in the technical sections. Catharine really struggled in the technical sections during the race, which was a bit of a surprise, because in training she looked really good. Unfortunately during the race she was in the red every time she entered the tech sections, which led to mistakes.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Looking back at some of John Tomac's races and the only people riding some descents were getting to the bottom faster than their bikes...


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Perhaps it is being petty and I am not an XC racer, let alone elite, but I think the perception of XC racing in the MTB community is one of riding what we all ride, just relentlessly and faster. It does not hinge around advertising and media coverage, nor having 2 chances each lap to feed, drink and get **** fixed. It should not demand a track where only a big error damages your bike or your pace and it should not just be about big lungs. We want to see bike handling skills every bit of the race, not just in selected locations designed to look good on video.

I don't recall seeing tracks change in F1 or Moto GP so that every mechanical failure has twice the chance of being fixed in competitive time, but that is what seems to drive competitive XC from the UCI. 4-6km laps, twice through the service area is not even what any standard of rider would call XC MTB riding. XCE - I guess that is different!

If a 100m sandpit was added to an XCO course in place of some BS manufactured rock garden or gap jump any bozo could learn to do in 10 minutes, everyone would whine about grit in their nether regions, but no-one would risk serious injury riding it. Manufactured features don't sit well with anyone. Manufactured features in short laps come up more often and annoy more often.

In the age of tiny, high quality video cameras and the potential to uplink data, the only reason to confine XC races to a child sized loop is the same reason to build manufactured trail features - ignorance and control. Every MTBer experiences ignorance about their passion and we also know how negative and ineffective control of the sport via restrictive land management has been. 

MTB is a changing canvas. What was MTB 20 years ago is different now and has changed progressively over time. Seems to me the way XC racing has developed at the elite level is out of touch with the actual art of riding a bike in the bush. XCO is still really impressive to us that do understand how tough it is, but I just don't get why trying to impress people who don't know has become so important.


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## CptSydor (Sep 20, 2007)

Ridnparadise said:


> Seems to me the way XC racing has developed at the elite level is out of touch with the actual art of riding a bike in the bush. XCO is still really impressive to us that do understand how tough it is, but I just don't get why trying to impress people who don't know has become so important.


Racing and riding are not the same thing. I think that is where lots of people get hung up. They are intrinsically different, stemming from the major fundamental difference that riding is for enjoyment, racing is to go as fast as possible. To complete those to highest level, will require differences in presentation (as example, passing opportunities).

In saying that however, I've ridden/raced a world cup course, nationals course (Pan Am games courses), Canada cup courses, and I don't think it's out of touch with the art of riding a bike in the bush. There are differences certainly, but I ride trails that have natural features, I ride trails that have man made features, I do rides that have connectors with double track, rail trail or road. I race all those as well. I've even done a few races that are 100% singletrack and didn't like them.

As for impressing people who don't know, it's about the $$$ and viewership. Mountain biking is a fringe sport. To get the pros paid it needs to be marketed beyond our little society. If we don't market it beyond this, none of us would be able to watch it on Redbull.


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## CptSydor (Sep 20, 2007)

team_wee said:


> The day when everyone is on a dual suspension with dropper posts is when the courses finally reflect real mountain biking.


Thank you for imposing your definition of mountain biking on everyone else.

I'm sad to say that in almost 25 years of riding, from Halifax to Whistler, according to your definition I've never done real mountain biking.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

LMN said:


> Jumps, drops and rock gardens are more about risk taking then skills.


 Yes. And I have to say that it is disappointing that the UCI and the course designers can't tell the difference between risk taking and things requiring bike handling skill.


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## zrm (Oct 11, 2006)

rockyuphill said:


> Yes. And I have to say that it is disappointing that the UCI and the course designers can't tell the difference between risk taking and things requiring bike handling skill.


Well, they very well might understand the difference, but as LMN mentioned, they're looking for something that looks X-stream on TV. It's too bad that they feel -and maybe do need - to resort to that kind of stuff to hold the attention of the current audience.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

rockyuphill said:


> Yes. And I have to say that it is disappointing that the UCI and the course designers can't tell the difference between risk taking and things requiring bike handling skill.


To be honest I think the UCI and course designers are doing a great job. I haven't ridden single feature which I think is dangerous and doesn't belong on a course. The UCI has also made the b-line less of a penalty, this way riders without the skills to ride the feature don't end up trying it because the penalty is to great.

Riders have also made adjustments. Many have worked and developed the skills to become proficient on those features. You saw the gap jump at Saint Ann this year, three years ago that would have been a big deal, now many riders stopped looked at it once and then hit it. They had put in the practice to be good at it. For those who hadn't been practicing those skill, it was an issue.

But as I said earlier, I don't think the sport is more technical then it use to be. Different technical skills but not more technical.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

I could be mistaken, but I thought I read somewere here that Nino does not use a PM for training...well, maybe for training, because if you look at Bikerumor's bike check, and if I'm not mistakes, there is a Quarq on his crank on what it looks like a spare warm up bike set up for rollers...

Meribel World Cup XC Pro Bike Checks - Scott 3Rox & Haibike-Sabine Spitz


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Bikerumor did a series looking at XC bikes specs and actual weights from the Meribel World Cup.

The riders' had a flower attached to their number plates in memory of Annefleur Kalvenhaar:










Liv/Giant and BMC:
https://www.bikerumor.com/2014/08/2...pro-bike-checks-livgiant-bmc-w-prototype-xtr/

Scott and Haibike:
https://www.bikerumor.com/2014/08/2...-bike-checks-scott-3rox-haibike-sabine-spitz/

Cannondale and Bianchi:
https://www.bikerumor.com/2014/08/25/meribel-world-cup-xc-pro-bike-checks-cannondale-bianchi/

In other important news in order to go really fast on a mountain bike wearing turquoise sunglasses is essential.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

CptSydor said:


> Thank you for imposing your definition of mountain biking on everyone else.
> 
> I'm sad to say that in almost 25 years of riding, from Halifax to Whistler, according to your definition I've never done real mountain biking.


It's just my opinion, nothing more. To be perfectly honest I'm fairly new to XC racing (maybe 5-6 years) I'm from the DH side of the sport. Been riding the Shore/Whistler park for a very long time. If it was up to me we would have skinnies on XCO courses, now that for sure would be real mountain biking


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

carlostruco said:


> I could be mistaken, but I thought I read somewere here that Nino does not use a PM for training...well, maybe for training, because if you look at Bikerumor's bike check, and if I'm not mistakes, there is a Quarq on his crank on what it looks like a spare warm up bike set up for rollers...
> 
> Meribel World Cup XC Pro Bike Checks - Scott 3Rox & Haibike-Sabine Spitz


Yes he uses a power meter, it's on his strava logs.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

I don't know if it's just me or anyone else noticed it but when I watched the Meribel XCO race I didn't see Schurter's bike's rear suspension moving at all. Even in slow motion it looked like it was fully locked but in the interview he mentioned that the fully had the advantage on the downhill sections. ?????  
(I ride fully and can't imagine riding HT on those sections - I'm old and I like the fully's comfort - but my shock is fully open on the downs)


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

LOL every time he rides the Spark I am always looking for suspension movement. I thought I saw it move once on a big hit at Meribel. 

Maybe he runs a high psi and or with it in lesser travel mode and only unlocks it on certain parts..

Or the cameras simply don't pick it up well?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

As I mentioned I couldn't see it even in slow motion. Maybe it's just marketing stuff and he has to ride the Spark to increase sales 
I know the setup is personal preference, in downhill Gwin rides the Demo almost rigid.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

950sm07 said:


> I don't know if it's just me or anyone else noticed it but when I watched the Meribel XCO race I didn't see Schurter's bike's rear suspension moving at all. Even in slow motion it looked like it was fully locked but in the interview he mentioned that the fully had the advantage on the downhill sections. ?????
> (I ride fully and can't imagine riding HT on those sections - I'm old and I like the fully's comfort - but my shock is fully open on the downs)


When you're watching full suspension bikes descend on TV the rear suspension never seems to move. The forks visibly go up and down but it's much harder to see movement from the rear suspension.

I think it's something to do with watching it via TV that makes it difficult to spot. When you watch the downhill bikes racing on Red Bull TV, where the rear suspension is definitely fully active and moving constantly, there is hardly any visible movement from them either, apart from on the very largest hits if they bottom out.

If you look at this picture of Nino Schurter's Scott Spark post race from Nove Mesto, and look closely at the shocks, you can just about see the travel he was getting on the fork and rear shock from the travel o-rings (the black changes from clean shiny where the shock has compressed to duller with dirt on the stanchions of both the fork and rear shock also). It looks to be about 85% travel or so.

The other pictures on the same page where the riders' are jumping have the rear shock travel o-rings visible also if you zoom the pictures.

SCOTT ODLO MTB RACING TEAM » World Cup Victory on*Spark










Bikerumor have added another article about bikes from Meribel too. This time Jaroslav Kulhavy's Specialized Epic. In those pictures you can see the travel o-rings on the fork and rear shock on his bike:

Meribel World Cup XC Pro Bike Check ? Jaroslav Kulhavy

Jaroslav Kulhavy was also running Rock Shox RS-1 forks. Have a look at this RS-1 fork video:


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

:skep:

I don't know. There is still the possibility that the internet has just revealed an evil marketing strategy by Scott to make us all believe that we need an additional FS bike. The shock on Nino's bike could be fake, just some empty lighweight can.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

Yes, it's probably less visible on the rear especially because the travel is only 100mm while it's ~200mm on the DH bikes.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

950sm07 said:


> Yes, it's probably less visible on the rear especially because the travel is only 100mm while it's ~200mm on the DH bikes.


100mm @ the wheel, the shock travel is far less (maybe ~25mm) that's hard to see on a moving bike.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

that's flexy...doesn't even look like they are twisting it that hard...


WR304 said:


> When you're watching full suspension bikes descend on TV the rear suspension never seems to move. The forks visibly go up and down but it's much harder to see movement from the rear suspension.
> 
> I think it's something to do with watching it via TV that makes it difficult to spot. When you watch the downhill bikes racing on Red Bull TV, where the rear suspension is definitely fully active and moving constantly, there is hardly any visible movement from them either, apart from on the very largest hits if they bottom out.
> 
> ...


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

team_wee said:


> that's flexy...doesn't even look like they are twisting it that hard...


It looks very scary  I don't know what are the big performance benefits of this fork.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

950sm07 said:


> It looks very scary  I don't know what are the big performance benefits of this fork.


This review is raving about its stiffness.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

950sm07 said:


> It looks very scary  I don't know what are the big performance benefits of this fork.


I did a search, also finding so many rave reviews about how amazing it is... but could only find one more video on its noodliness.. RockShox RS-1 - flexible? - YouTube


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

maybe it stiffens up dramatically as you go down in it's travel??? Every review seems to rave about it.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

950sm07 said:


> I don't know if it's just me or anyone else noticed it but when I watched the Meribel XCO race I didn't see Schurter's bike's rear suspension moving at all. Even in slow motion it looked like it was fully locked but in the interview he mentioned that the fully had the advantage on the downhill sections. ?????
> (I ride fully and can't imagine riding HT on those sections - I'm old and I like the fully's comfort - but my shock is fully open on the downs)


I thought the same thing!! Marketing propaganda?

Maybe they have a lot left in stock


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## euro-trash (Feb 9, 2008)

I hope this does not come across as preachy or critical in any way: 
I race xc and love the RedBull coverage. I've sent the links to tons of friends, who have also enjoyed it. That said, I'm struck by how many active riders (xc and dh alike) and racers are unaware of the coverage. From a sustainability perspective I'm also a little worried. Where would we be without RedBull? I know like BMC they are committed to the sport to a level that exceeds simple BCA, but still, it is a bit concerning to rely on one entity, as great and supporting as they have been to the sport. 
I have not done this myself, so I ask all of us, myself included, to write an email to Redbull expressing our appreciation of XC coverage (and DH too, but I'm more concerned for the long-term viability of XC coverage). If anyone has a specific email to which these letters would be more effectively targeted, please post it here. 
Same thing with the Sho-Air series this year. Thank you Scott Tedro, it's a great series. While the video coverage started 'rough' (Colt did a good job there were just too few cameras), it improved dramatically as the series went on--if it improves a little bit more next year we have another great thing going!!!


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## plupp (Sep 19, 2011)

euro-trash said:


> I hope this does not come across as preachy or critical in any way:
> I race xc and love the RedBull coverage. I've sent the links to tons of friends, who have also enjoyed it. That said, I'm struck by how many active riders (xc and dh alike) and racers are unaware of the coverage. From a sustainability perspective I'm also a little worried. Where would we be without RedBull? I know like BMC they are committed to the sport to a level that exceeds simple BCA, but still, it is a bit concerning to rely on one entity, as great and supporting as they have been to the sport.
> I have not done this myself, so I ask all of us, myself included, to write an email to Redbull expressing our appreciation of XC coverage (and DH too, but I'm more concerned for the long-term viability of XC coverage). If anyone has a specific email to which these letters would be more effectively targeted, please post it here.
> Same thing with the Sho-Air series this year. Thank you Scott Tedro, it's a great series. While the video coverage started 'rough' (Colt did a good job there were just too few cameras), it improved dramatically as the series went on--if it improves a little bit more next year we have another great thing going!!!


I think showing your support on their official Facebook-page for Bikes would be a good way
https://www.facebook.com/RedBullBike


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Some pictures from Meribel World Cup - UCI World Cup XCO / XCE / DHI 7 - Méribel / World Cup - MTBCrossCountry


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

team_wee said:


> maybe it stiffens up dramatically as you go down in it's travel??? Every review seems to rave about it.


Wasn't Hermida on this fork at Meribel too?

I don't think it will stiffen as it compresses. The hybrid lefty's have a fixed bushing combined with a moving needle roller. That means the distance between them does get longer as it compresses. I presume this fork has two fixed bushings, so the distance between them would remain constant. You might gain some stiffness from having the portion of stanchion outside the bushing smaller when it's compressed, though (though in the clip it's the uppers that look really flexy)

Maybe the fork is plush but it's quite heavy (for an XC race fork) even without the great big hub it needs....

For some types of riding that noodliness probably doesn't matter so much but sometimes the stiffness becomes the most important trait...picking my way slowly down a steep trail over big rocks there's no way I'd want the front wheel twisting under me like that. I'm surprised it made it past the prototype stage...still, marketing decides everything these days so maybe they think it will be easy to sell, it certainly looks nice.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Wow, that RS fork sure looks noodly! I thought that the hype is about its stiffness, so that video is really revealing. And these forks cost a fortune, too. I tried that type of twist test on my bike after watching the video and while there was certainly some flex it wasn't as much deviation as those clips suggested. I'm running a RS Reba RL with tapered HT.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

That looks worse than the old 28mm stanchion SIDs.


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

Not to digress further from the world cup thread, but...

The stiffness of the RS fork is in the crown/stanchion area. The weakness of inverted forks has always been the torque in a rotational sense about the perpendicular axis to the axle.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Going to go with wheel doing most of the flexing. It's trapped so doesn't appear to move. But the deflection is occurring in the spokes. More than the stanchions .or the crown or whatever.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

montana_ben said:


> Going to go with wheel doing most of the flexing. It's trapped so doesn't appear to move. But the deflection is occurring in the spokes. More than the stanchions .or the crown or whatever.


Nope. Axle stays pretty still, crown twists a lot. The wheel has some flex, but that just shows how much effort they're putting in to get the flex.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

The RS-1 forks are prohibitively expensive in my opinion; therefore, their current use is by those paid to ride them such as World Cup pros. Therefore, we are right on topic to be discussing them! ;-)

I can see the wheel and spokes being the source of some flex. However, when I tried this twist on my bike with Reba RL fork it didn't show near that much deflection. My wheels are Roval Control SL, so I would think in line with what the XC pros are running, too. The vids look like it twists at the crown quite a bit.

I scanned some reviews about this fork after watching the video clips and many of them point out the torsional stiffness issues with inverted forks and then go on to discuss how this fork has addressed it. But the video clips don't seem to support that. The reviews also universally gush about how well the suspension works, so Rock Shox must be on to something.


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

Agree with Norrie. I'm watching the axle and its not moving much. The twist looks to be in the uppers & stanchions. 

I also just tried this test on a 29er lefty with very light front wheel and a 26er with fox 32 / QR15. In both cases the twist was (at a wild guess) less than half what you see in that clip.

I take your point, though, ewarner - the RS1's must have *something* going for them.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

NordieBoy said:


> Nope. Axle stays pretty still, crown twists a lot. The wheel has some flex, but that just shows how much effort they're putting in to get the flex.


Yeah you're right--just tried twisting my rigid chisel fork the same way, (9mm qr/ roval wheel) get a little movement out of it for sure, but wheel becomes really hard to 'trap' long before that kind of handlebar movement can be achieved.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

So, back to the main topic...is the course for this week's race going to be the same as last year's final round? That was a bumpy course with some heavy climbing!!! 

Predictions?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

At least the UCI made it much easier to find the link to live timing

Mountain Bike - UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships

The last ever XCE race goes tomorrow (UCI dropped XCE from the 2015 season)

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB and Trials World Championships 2014 in Hafjell

the XCO races on Saturday,

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB and Trials World Championships 2014 in Hafjell

Red Bull TV - UCI MTB and Trials World Championships 2014 in Hafjell


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

They should replace XCE with something more Super D-ish. Something where the downhillers could also participate and have a shot at winning.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

alphajaguars said:


> They should replace XCE with something more Super D-ish. Something where the downhillers could also participate and have a shot at winning.


Yea, something that combines a little downhill, with more pedaling.. using a bike with less suspension than a downhill bike, but more than an XC bike... but what would we call it?

(Enduro)


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## jimification (Apr 12, 2011)

Comment moved to Nino on FS thread, as more relevant there.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Short Track Enduro (STE)?

Or they could just put 4X back, but the riders have to ride up the hill instead of throwing their bikes in a truck. Or to make it more Red Bull friendly, it could be like rally cross and they use four off-road trucks and race up the hill and then the riders get out and race down the hill.



SandSpur said:


> Yea, something that combines a little downhill, with more pedaling.. using a bike with less suspension than a downhill bike, but more than an XC bike... but what would we call it?
> 
> (Enduro)


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

The UCI is getting rid of XCE for 2015? Why? Anybody got a reason?

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the XCE events. I think they let some of the hard-and-fast people with good bike handling have a chance at putting together more UCI points, giving them better start positions.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Interesting....

*Canadian Cyclist*

New RockShox RS1 inverted fork on Kulhavy's backup bike. Will not be used in racing since wheel changes too slow - at Hafjell, Norway


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

2015 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar published

"Although XCE will not be represented in the World Cup, this format will remain an important part of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships."

No explanation, but based on the fact that at the World Champs it's on Tuesday and the XCO races are on Saturday, I wonder if there was not enough recovery time for XCO racers to race XCE and then do well in the XCO races. Maybe they were going to get less involvement from XCO racers.



FNFAL said:


> The UCI is getting rid of XCE for 2015? Why? Anybody got a reason?
> 
> I thoroughly enjoyed watching the XCE events. I think they let some of the hard-and-fast people with good bike handling have a chance at putting together more UCI points, giving them better start positions.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

SandSpur said:


> Yea, something that combines a little downhill, with more pedaling.. using a bike with less suspension than a downhill bike, but more than an XC bike... but what would we call it?


Only if there's no stages and the uphills are timed.
We could call it XC...


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

euro-trash said:


> I hope this does not come across as preachy or critical in any way:
> I race xc and love the RedBull coverage. I've sent the links to tons of friends, who have also enjoyed it. That said, I'm struck by how many active riders (xc and dh alike) and racers are unaware of the coverage. From a sustainability perspective I'm also a little worried. Where would we be without RedBull? I know like BMC they are committed to the sport to a level that exceeds simple BCA, but still, it is a bit concerning to rely on one entity, as great and supporting as they have been to the sport.
> I have not done this myself, so I ask all of us, myself included, to write an email to Redbull expressing our appreciation of XC coverage (and DH too, but I'm more concerned for the long-term viability of XC coverage). If anyone has a specific email to which these letters would be more effectively targeted, please post it here.
> Same thing with the Sho-Air series this year. Thank you Scott Tedro, it's a great series. While the video coverage started 'rough' (Colt did a good job there were just too few cameras), it improved dramatically as the series went on--if it improves a little bit more next year we have another great thing going!!!


Red Bull does not need our online support. They need you to support their product, their brand and all the others that benefit from it, individually. Same as they want everyone to. Please don't lobby for a massive corporate here.


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## PlanB (Nov 22, 2007)

Pretty exciting finale for the men's XCE today! Seems like some of the XX1-equipped riders should consider adding a chain guide. This wasn't the first crucial derailment this year in that discipline. Looks bad on SRAM.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

Yes, it was exciting for sure.  Wasn't Federspiel running XTR?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It was an interesting XCE course, and there were some wild crashes and collisions. Checkers or wreckers for sure.


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## PlanB (Nov 22, 2007)

950sm07 said:


> Yes, it was exciting for sure.  Wasn't Federspiel running XTR?


I think you're right. Chalk my mistake up to confirmation bias!


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

Hard to predict who will win, but I will try and give my podium finishers...in no order in particular

Women:
Same top 5 as in Meribel...sleeper would be Batty...so same top 6...

Men:
Nino
Absalon
McConnell
L. Fluckiger
Giger

Sleeper: Jaro or Hermida 

Who do you got?


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

2014 World Championship predictions.

Ladies
1. Pendrel
2. Gunn-Rita
3. Tanja Z
Sleeper = Batty or Maja

Ladies U-23, since that's where Neff and PFP will race!
1. Neff
2. PFP

Men (I agree with carlostruco)
1. Nino
2. Absalon
3. McConnell
Sleeper = Fumic or L. Fluckiger


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

Well, apparently Jaro put in an impressive lap on the team relay...


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

I did like Claudio's XCE preview run.

Made the poor bugger pedal a bit though


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Neff dominated the U23 race, PFP had bad luck, but even then she was 46s behind Jolanda before her chain snaped.

Neff Jolanda	1	01:17:49	Switzerland
Moschetti Margot	2	01:19:36	France
Indergand Linda	3	01:19:42	Switzerland
Belomoyna Yana	4	01:20:57	Ukraine
Crnogorac Jovana	5	01:21:14	Serbia

Full results UCI XCO/XCE/XCR/DHI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Women Under 23 - MTBCrossCountry


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

nya said:


> Neff dominated the U23 race, PFP had bad luck, but even then she was 46s behind Jolanda before her chain snaped.
> 
> Neff Jolanda	1	01:17:49	Switzerland
> Moschetti Margot	2	01:19:36	France
> ...


I supper impressed with Neff this year. Over the years I have seen lots of racers get fast for a couple of races, and then fade, but Neff has been the dominant rider for the entire year.

Crazy to think that she still has another year in U23.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

LMN said:


> I supper impressed with Neff this year. Over the years I have seen lots of racers get fast for a couple of races, and then fade, but Neff has been the dominant rider for the entire year.
> 
> Crazy to think that she still has another year in U23.


Impressive indeed...


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

Jolanda is a superstar in the making for sure and she has very impressive style!  Sorry to hear about Pauline's bad luck I watched the live timing but didn't know what happened when the gap jumped to ~5min.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Bad that Gaze crashed, i was rooting for him. Heijden and Sarrou are no surprise. Grotts had awesome end of the race, faster than Heijden.

UCI XCO/XCE/XCR/DHI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Men Under 23 - MTBCrossCountry

Van Der Heijden Michiel	1	01:18:40	Netherlands
Sarrou Jordan	2	01:19:29	France
Grotts Howard	3	01:19:52	United States
Vastl Jan	4	01:20:08	Czech Republic
Ferguson Grant	5	01:20:19	United Kingdom


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It's a shame the U-23 women's race wasn't televised by Red Bull, it sounds like it would have been a good race to watch.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Is Neff gonna be in the Elite race too? 

If she doesn't win that, can she still wear her u23 jersey in the elite races? I'm thinking no. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

zephxiii said:


> Is Neff gonna be in the Elite race too?
> 
> If she doesn't win that, can she still wear her u23 jersey in the elite races? I'm thinking no.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


no she can't do the elite race


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

U23 men, 11 countries represented in the top 11...


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Any online footage of the U23 races?


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Awesome race, great job by Catharine!
Lea Davison must be stokes, great ride by her.
Bad luck for Maja (flat tire)

Pendrel Catharine	1	01:31:30	Canada
Kalentieva Irina	2	01:31:51	Russian Federation
Davison Lea	3	01:32:13	United States
Zakelj Tanja	4	01:32:42	Slovenia
Klemencic Blaza	5	01:33:16	Slovenia

results: UCI XCO/XCE/XCR/DHI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Women Elite - MTBCrossCountry


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## csteven71 (Jan 15, 2009)

Anyone notice kulhavy took off the rs1?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

There's no fast wheel change with the RS-1, makes it kind of pointless as a race fork.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

Men's race was amazing. The uphill sprint between Nino and Julien was awesome. Marco did great as well. I hope Nino will be ok after the crash, looked quite bad. Jaro had a decent race as well. 
Now I expect everyone to sell their HTs and buy FS 

Absalon Julien	1	01:27:06	France
Schurter Nino	2	01:28:57	Switzerland
Fontana Marco Aurelio	3	01:30:34	Italy
Milatz Moritz	4	01:30:39	Germany
Fumic Manuel	5	01:30:49	Germany
Mantecon Gutierrez Sergio	6	01:31:02	Spain
Flückiger Lukas	7	01:31:31	Switzerland
Kulhavý Jaroslav	8	01:31:39	Czech Republic
Hermida Ramos José Antonio	9	01:31:46	Spain
Näf Ralph	10	01:32:12	Switzerland

results: UCI XCO/XCE/XCR/DHI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Men Elite - MTBCrossCountry


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

Disregard this post. The link suddenly appeared. I guess it took a while before the replay link was displayed. 


Can anyone be so kind as to point me to the replay of Cross Country Finals - Men 2014 in Hafjell.

Redbull! I was literally on the live page, but didn't want to see just the last 10 minutes, so waited until it was over. On the very page that one watches live coverage, after it's over, there is no link or indication of where to go to watch the replay. This is truly a poor way to set up a website. 


The only link that works on the page where the live coverage was is the "home" page. And we all know how easy it is to navigate to what we are looking for from that. 

Now that I've ranted, someone will probably point out how easy it is.


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## khardrunner14 (Aug 16, 2010)

I didn't see or hear about the crash, and I watched almost the entire thing live… news on this?


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

Great race. Great finale!

It almost looked like the doc was relocating a finger. The crash happened on the steep rocky face just before the bottom of the descent towards the finish line. 

I'm betting this opens up a new discussion on full suspension all over again.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Psyched for Fontana! He pretty much salvaged a lousy season with one great race and another big bronze medal. 
Also psyched for Absalon. There's something gratifying about him getting another rainbow jersey several years since his last and legitimately beating Schurter.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

That climb where Schurter passed Absalon, and then Absalon went back in front, and then they were neck and neck, seemed to be what cracked Nino.

Hope he isn't too banged up from the header, though. Looked brutal!


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

Best race of the season and the most impressive ride I ever seen from Absalon! Shcurter looked unstoppable in the last world cup races but today Absalon had the proper answer and won fair and square. The way he charged on the climbs even in the last lap was unreal. It looked like he could do a couple of more laps with the same pace.  
The FS bike was a great choice he looked relaxed on the downhills unlike in the last two world cup races.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

alphajaguars said:


> That climb where Schurter passed Absalon, and then Absalon went back in front, and then they were neck and neck, seemed to be what cracked Nino.
> 
> Hope he isn't too banged up from the header, though. Looked brutal!


When I saw that climb and Nino stayed at front I thought he's got it but it turned out that was just a warm up for Absalon and Schurter blew himself.

Hope he's OK it was an ugly crash!


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

rockyuphill said:


> There's no fast wheel change with the RS-1, makes it kind of pointless as a race fork.


RS-1 isn't lightest either so it's just an expensive fork without any real benefits for the racer.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

and to retouch on what was mentioned earlier in this thread.. again, watching the slow motion replays of Nino (especially immediately before his tumble) i again dont see any rear suspension movement at all.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Gregg K said:


> Disregard this post. The link suddenly appeared. I guess it took a while before the replay link was displayed.
> 
> Can anyone be so kind as to point me to the replay of Cross Country Finals - Men 2014 in Hafjell.
> 
> ...


It took me several minutes to work out where they were. I eventually clicked on the Live play for the downhill race and at the bottom of the page were the related streams for the two XC races.

Not easy at all.

Women's Race:
Red Bull TV - UCI MTB and Trials World Championships 2014 in Hafjell

Men's Race:
Red Bull TV - UCI MTB and Trials World Championships 2014 in Hafjell


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

The trick with the Red Bull site it's to make it calendar view. I've never had a issue finding race replays


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

ewarnerusa said:


> make it calendar view


???


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

quax said:


> ???


I've just spent ten minutes trying to figure that out. I gave up.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

ewarnerusa said:


> The trick with the Red Bull site it's to make it calendar view. I've never had a issue finding race replays


This is exactly what I do.



quax said:


> ???





Gregg K said:


> I've just spent ten minutes trying to figure that out. I gave up.


When you go to the Live events page, default is a list view. Youll see a small icon that is always set for "Mar 14". Clicking that icon brings you to calendar view.


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## npridmore (Feb 14, 2013)

It looks like Nino just took the trail drop much slower that last lap, compared with the first lap. Maybe he was trying to play it safe, or maybe he was just so fried physically and mentally that he forgot to attack that section as usual, but going slow proved to be more dangerous. I think a dropper would have saved his ass  He would have been able to get his weight farther back to lessen the fork dive and keep the seat out of the way which bucked him into the endo. But damn that crash was brutal. Absalon is wicked fast on climbs. When Absalon had made contact but Nino was still leading, Nino stalled out Absalon on that tech climb. He had to put a foot down, get off the bike and run for a bit. Didn't seem to help Nino much. I wonder if Absalon is one to let out his frustration in situations like that.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

On the right side of this Red Bull Live page, the calendar view is just below the big preview image

Red Bull TV Live


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> On the right side of this Red Bull Live page, the calendar view is just below the big preview image
> 
> Well this is interesting: When clicking on the home link from the race page, it takes you to redbull.tv/Redbulltv]Red Bull TV - Watch sports, music and entertainment TV online. Free.[/url] where there is no calendar link.
> 
> ...


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

That's the key. Update your bookmark to the live.redbull.tv and then click on calendar view. Same process for the mobile app.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

npridmore said:


> "Nino stalled out Absalon on that tech climb. He had to put a foot down, get off the bike and run for a bit. Didn't seem to help Nino much. I wonder if Absalon is one to let out his frustration in situations like that."


When I saw that I thought it was intentional from Schurter but Absalon kept his cool and answered properly.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

ewarnerusa said:


> The trick with the Red Bull site it's to make it calendar view. I've never had a issue finding race replays


I always found them before but this way is much easier, thanks!


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

Ninos speed though the tech climb where JA had to put a foot down looked like a tactic for sure. I know Nino is a pretty good sport but the sloppy riding seemed out of the norm for him, this was way before JA cracked him.

I was really happy to see the FS work for JA! The difference in the decent was only a couple seconds, Easily made up on the climbs. When he cracked nino, you could tell by his body language that nino was toast. Although I was surprised that Abs was able to keep that crazy pace up for the rest of the race!

By far my fave of the year, Im a big JA fan and also a fan of the older guys.


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## Goran_injo (Jul 4, 2007)

For one, I was happy to see no tail whipping from Schurter.

When the going gets tough, you don't show off but ride.

Congrats to Absalon, having a second child probablyinfluenced the last round of WC races, he came back with some form - and he would have nailed this with his HT also.


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## nya (Oct 22, 2011)

about the replays, if you have troubles finding correct link feel free to head to my website and either on the main page in top right corner is list of streams, or on the page of the worldcup/champs events is list of their streams which should link to proper redbull page (sometimes redbull moves them around, so the links might not be always working either, but I try to fix them asap)


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

machine4321 said:


> I was really happy to see the FS work for JA! The difference in the decent was only a couple seconds, Easily made up on the climbs. When he cracked nino, you could tell by his body language that nino was toast. Although I was surprised that Abs was able to keep that crazy pace up for the rest of the race!


I think the confidence/smoothness that the FS gave on the descends counted more than the couple of second in time. He didn't have to work that hard or risk as much as with HT.


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## 950sm07 (Oct 28, 2011)

nya said:


> about the replays, if you have troubles finding correct link feel free to head to my website and either on the main page in top right corner is list of streams, or on the page of the worldcup/champs events is list of their streams which should link to proper redbull page (sometimes redbull moves them around, so the links might not be always working either, but I try to fix them asap)


Great job on your site with all the info/statistics!


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## mik_git (Feb 4, 2004)

Yeah, using the calander is the only way to make sense of the silly RB site.
I did come across this a while ago, usefull whenever the stream won't pick up over here in Australia, seems much more stable, not sure what it the difference is though:
MTB | Red Bull


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

my take on Schurter's crash: lack of concentration (he must have been demoralized at that point) + smaller wheels on a worn-out track.


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## mtb_beginner (Jul 20, 2013)

I never heard of any riders complain about this, but I hate photographers using camera flash that can cause split-second visual impairment for riders. 

Eye protection worn by riders makes the effect of camera flash even worse.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Irina Kalentieva was whacked in the head by some photog's long lens a couple of years ago, she was not amused.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Dang ratboy blew up his foot! That was nuts!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

mtb_beginner said:


> I never heard of any riders complain about this, but I hate photographers using camera flash that can cause split-second visual impairment for riders.
> 
> Eye protection worn by riders makes the effect of camera flash even worse.


Most riders don't even know you're there, let alone using a flash.
Unless you're looking directly at the flash, sunlight through branches is worse.


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## criscobike (Feb 21, 2013)

Congrats to KP and her dedicated, forum chatting husband! It was cool to kinda share the ride with you this year. If in the future, you do decide to take us up on our suggestion of blogging about the race events, let us know. Gotta also send up a big congrats to Leah D and her third place. 
JA and NS had a great back n forth season. JA has proven he is the greatest mtb racer of all time (if we didn't already know). That side by side battle was epic! Nino admitted he was bummed out about not winning and lost concentration, hence the crash. But it looked pretty nasty. 

2014 season is now over...now what do we talk about?


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## primoz (Jun 7, 2006)

You never heard riders complain about this, simply because it doesn't bother them  I had enough of discussion about this with all sort of pro athletes (including mtb riders) and not even one single one, has problems with this. Normal response is, if you see flash, you are looking in wrong way, and you shouldn't be doing this anyway. Even if I remember myself from my racing years, when you concentrate on racing, outside world doesn't exist, and some flash on side of track (flashes are NEVER set on line you ride, as if nothing else, you would run over them) is last thing you care about.
Only people who I have complaining all the time, are those from end of result list, who are searching for 1000 and one excuse, why they suck.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

We've had some professional photographers at our events, and even in dark areas of the trail under heavy tree canopy, and 2 remote flashes set up on both sides of the trail to fire at the same time, I did notice the flash but it wasnt something that was came close to effecting me. It probably effected me more thinking that I just had my picture taken and hope I didnt have a stupid look on my face.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

criscobike said:


> Congrats to KP and her dedicated, forum chatting husband! It was cool to kinda share the ride with you this year. If in the future, you do decide to take us up on our suggestion of blogging about the race events, let us know. Gotta also send up a big congrats to Leah D and her third place.
> JA and NS had a great back n forth season. JA has proven he is the greatest mtb racer of all time (if we didn't already know). That side by side battle was epic! Nino admitted he was bummed out about not winning and lost concentration, hence the crash. But it looked pretty nasty.
> 
> 2014 season is now over...now what do we talk about?


Thanks. It was a pretty exciting race, way to tense for my comfort though. The flat last lap was really not necessary.

I was super happy for Leah. To come back from surgery and perform like that is amazing.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

It does emphasize the point that there is no such thing as a safe cushion of time out in front, it's a good thing Catharine kept stretching the lead so she had that 20 seconds in hand for a flat. If it had happened after the tech zone, that 43 second lead would have evaporated in a flash.

In the Rob Jones interview she described having Stan's sealant spraying in her face, wondering if it would seal on the way to the tech zone 






LMN said:


> Thanks. It was a pretty exciting race, way to tense for my comfort though. The flat last lap was really not necessary.
> 
> I was super happy for Leah. To come back from surgery and perform like that is amazing.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

WR304 said:


> After those collar bone breaks and a difficult early season Catharine Pendrel is showing that she's getting back to near her best again. Winning convincingly at the Commonwealth Games and then hammering the field at Windham by disappearing off into the distance too. If she can hold this form I wouldn't bet against her winning the World Championships this year.


Quoted for posterity from three weeks ago.

Overall two out the first three finishers in both the Women's race (Catharine Pendrel and Leah Davidson) were on full suspension bikes and two out of the first three finishers in the Men's race (Julien Absalon and Nino Schurter) were on full suspension bikes also. Further down the field it looked like most of the women were sticking to hardtails whilst a lot more of the men than usual were on full suspension bikes. On the rocky climbs in particular the riders on hardtails seemed to be finding it harder with more opting to get off and run whilst the riders on full suspension bikes made it up more frequently without having to run.

Along with the last lap puncture Catharine Pendrel was really really lucky to stay upright on the final rocky descent immediately before the finish. On the last lap she ran wide and hit a glancing blow to a tree stump with her front wheel. It almost sent her over the bars but fortunately she just about had her weight far enough back and with a quick dab recovered to hold on for the win.




























Now bear in mind the location of that tree stump. Here's where Nino Schurter crashed on his final lap. He lost it before the corner and went straight over the bars. Do you recognise the tree stump he's sitting by in the third picture?





































The most impressive part of the race for me was just after Julien Absalon had caught Nino Schurter on lap 4. They were both on full suspension bikes and on the steepest climb of the race it was a straight head to head fight sprinting side by side as though it was for the finish. They went up that climb like it was flat. For a defining moment that is right up there I'd say.










This screenshot of Julien Absalon's win came out surprisingly well. Someone needs to tell him that doing big skids is bad as it contributes to trail erosion. It's sending out the wrong message to the kids.:lol:










At the end of the race Lukas Fluckinger finished with his jersey flapping. I was trying to work out what had happened as his full zip jersey was open at the bottom but not the top. There's dirt on his shoulder and his race number looked loose so it could have been pulled apart in a crash?










There was an interesting comment from Rob Warner about Nino Schurter's bike after the Windham round. He was saying that apparently Nino Schurter had blown a seal on the DT Swiss rear shock of his Scott Spark near the end and it had no air in the shock afterwards. I haven't seen any pictures of this anywhere though?


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

Does anyone know the actual percent grade of the section where Schurter and Absalon went head to head? 

There is no doubt it was steep, judging from the angle of the spectators and the ground. But it could have been anything from 10% to 20%. One being relatively insignificant, and the other being mindblowing.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

one aspect that always puzzles me: when they hammer up those slopes in standing position do their back wheels slip or not? It doesn't look as if they really shift their weight backwards. Or are these sections always hard packed?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Here's the Hafjell XCO profile. All of those climbs are nasty steep.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

The whole climb averages 14%, but the steep section is more than 20%.

Strava Segment | Hafjell Grinder



Gregg K said:


> Does anyone know the actual percent grade of the section where Schurter and Absalon went head to head?
> 
> There is no doubt it was steep, judging from the angle of the spectators and the ground. But it could have been anything from 10% to 20%. One being relatively insignificant, and the other being mindblowing.


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## carlostruco (May 22, 2009)

I guess that since WC season is over, we all could talk about bikes then...right?

That climb where Nino and Julien dukes it out reminded me of the climb on the 2012 London Olympics...the one that had the camera rolling along the riders while going uphill...it gave a flashback and goosebumps since every time I see that, I get humbled by how fast they were going!!! I also see Bury Stander and remind myself to push harder every day and enjoy my time in Earth...

Hey LMN, what tires did CP use? I know she uses Maxxis, but could tire choice may be that cause of the flat, or was she just going super fast there? And again, congrats on a super comeback and winning the most important races of the season!!!


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## Gregg K (Jan 12, 2004)

LMN said:


> The whole climb averages 14%, but the steep section is more than 20%.
> 
> Strava Segment | Hafjell Grinder


I'm going to try and not let that depress me.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

carlostruco said:


> Hey LMN, what tires did CP use? I know she uses Maxxis, but could tire choice may be that cause of the flat, or was she just going super fast there? And again, congrats on a super comeback and winning the most important races of the season!!!


She used a Maxxis Pace, EXO on the rear, non-EXO on the front.

I have to confess when I was watching her race and saw white label front tire (white means Non-EXO), I thought "what are you doing running a light tire on this course".

But the light tire wasn't the cause of her flat. She drove a sharp rock straight through the tread. Tires with sidewall protection are no thicker or stronger at the thread. Her flat was due to a mistake (hitting the sharp rock) not due to the equipment choice.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

quax said:


> one aspect that always puzzles me: when they hammer up those slopes in standing position do their back wheels slip or not? It doesn't look as if they really shift their weight backwards. Or are these sections always hard packed?


That is one of reasons they are pro's. They know how to weight the bike to find traction out of the saddle. Very few people practice climbing out of the saddle off road, it is a complex skill that most of us could improve at.


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## machine4321 (Jun 3, 2011)

WR304 said:


> There was an interesting comment from Rob Warner about Nino Schurter's bike after the Windham round. He was saying that apparently Nino Schurter had blown a seal on the DT Swiss rear shock of his Scott Spark near the end and it had no air in the shock afterwards. I haven't seen any pictures of this anywhere though?


This makes sense, as we all though there was no movment, he could have locked it out and the oil would have held it.

I did see some movement on the worlds course.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

PFP coming back like the terminator next year

Ferrand Prevot to focus on mountain bike World Cup in 2015 | Cyclingnews.com


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

rockyuphill said:


> PFP coming back like the terminator next year
> 
> Ferrand Prevot to focus on mountain bike World Cup in 2015 | Cyclingnews.com


If the article is accurate, that means she's not the French champ in bmx, trials, or downhill. I think she's slacking off...


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Gregg K said:


> I'm going to try and not let that depress me.


It's normally safest to assume the climbs are steep but the pros are still going really fast.

Stage 4 of The Tour of Britain came through the Cotswolds yesterday. It left a trail of Strava devastation and crushed local KOMs in its wake as always.

http://www.strava.com/activities/192612765#4526838254

.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

zephxiii said:


> Dang ratboy blew up his foot! That was nuts!
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


Did you see the pictures of his landing? That suspension is properly bottomed out.










He had multiple fractures and dislocations in his foot as a result.










Here's the GoPro video of his run. All he had to do was scrub some speed off and not overjump the bridge for an easy win.











.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

Oh snap!


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

lol yah. That was wild, and such a historical scene there at the end. 

Ratboy "I didn't want to brake for that jump" 
Greg Minnaar "I noticed" 

lol

I wonder if they will extend that transition *again* after this lol.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

Not so easy to do if you want to win... I think the problem now in DH is by trying to have the women and men race on the same courses it's making it dangerous for the men. Jumps are built smaller for women to ride but are to small for the men. They need to separate them like they do in DH skiing.



WR304 said:


> Did you see the pictures of his landing? That suspension is properly bottomed out.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

team_wee said:


> Not so easy to do if you want to win... I think the problem now in DH is by trying to have the women and men race on the same courses it's making it dangerous for the men. Jumps are built smaller for women to ride but are to small for the men. They need to separate them like they do in DH skiing.


Using "easy win" was definitely the wrong word for me to use. "Decisive win" would probably have been a better description.

You have to be slightly unhinged to be good at downhill racing in the first place. That Josh Bryceland helmet cam video looks like it's speeded up footage at first glance, only it's actually playing at normal 1x speed.

That's where someone like Gee Atherton excels. He's very fast but at the same time he's consistent and rarely crashes on his timed race runs when it counts.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

They don't need separate lines or jumps, those are technical features of the course that both women and men have to 'deal' with. 

Bryceland made the error of hitting the jump too fast when he didn't need to which cost him time and pain. Gee made a mistake as well in the rock garden, however his mistake didn't cost him as much.


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## team_wee (Mar 26, 2006)

Why do they do that in DH skiing? Fact is, women cant do certain things that men can and vise versa. btw I'm a father of to girls, in no way am I disrespecting women, it's just reality and my opinion.


zephxiii said:


> They don't need separate lines or jumps, those are technical features of the course that both women and men have to 'deal' with.
> 
> Bryceland made the error of hitting the jump too fast when he didn't need to which cost him time and pain. Gee made a mistake as well in the rock garden, however his mistake didn't cost him as much.


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