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2010 World Chamionships Mont Sainte-Anne - Live Thread

Ridemonkey.com

News & Reviews
Jun 26, 2009
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After last weekend's showing at World Cup finals, heartbreak for Minaar and elation for Gee, World Champs will be a different ball game. Will the result be the same?
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MSA is an entirely different beast from Windham; it will be interesting to see how everything unfolds. Great Britain seems to have the most solid crew, but the Kiwis are charging hard, as you can see in
. But seriously, Blenkinsop will be challenging for top spot, and Brook MacDonald has had some strong finishes of late.

Gwin is obviously the most competitive American racer, and Stevie Smith has begun to realize the potential that everyone's seen for the past few seasons.

Those are just a few contenders for the podium, who are your picks?
 

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xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
Fabien Barel is on the start list as well, this is going to be sick!-KT
love it! fairly improbable that he could come back in top form after such an extensive layoff, but if anyone could perform such miracles, it'd be him. hoping he makes it to the start line (on an appropriately whacked out course specific bike of course).


^whoa; scrubbing the start ramp! hardcore!
 

BigHitComp04

Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
586
3
Morgantown, WV
Soooo dry and fast! Course looks awesome. Anybody else notice in the Vital slideshow than the top 10 have to wear helmet cams for the news feed? Does that mean during their race runs as well?
 

illflip

Monkey
Aug 20, 2007
548
0
Newark, NJ
Soooo dry and fast! Course looks awesome. Anybody else notice in the Vital slideshow than the top 10 have to wear helmet cams for the news feed? Does that mean during their race runs as well?
i couldnt tell if Vital was being sarcastic about that or not. it's hard to tell sometimes
 

numerik

Monkey
Jul 22, 2005
473
8
Slovenia, Europe
Some of the top riders contracts end at the end of this year....GT, CRC, Trek, Yeti, Santa Cruz (?), Specialized (?), Evil...about time for some to get a result!
 

MDJ

Monkey
Dec 15, 2005
669
0
San Jose, CA
I just watched this and for some reason I was thinking that this was the best practice video I've seen in a while. I think it was because my time wasn't wasted watching a time-lapse of clouds, the same riders saying the same thing (track is good, I feel good, want to win, blah, blah, blah,), no really annoying music - just a bunch of riding. Maybe it's just because I watch these at work and need to get straight to the good stuff.
 

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
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General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
why does Hill have a #10 plate? he had a #44 plate last week at Windham
#44 was his ranking in the World Cup series. #10 is his Uci ranking (based on UCI points, not WC points). As far as I know, World Champs has always used UCI rank for the #.

John P: as of last year there were no qualies, and thus no seeding games to mess up TV coverage or play tactics. Riders come down in reverse UCI ranking order (again, not World Cup ranking). So Hill should mark the start of the top 10 and Gee will be last. [edit] looks like you figured that out while I was typing.

Pretty sure that makes Gee last man down 3 years in a row.
 
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bpatterson6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 1, 2004
1,049
0
Colorado
I'm so stoked for Worlds this year!

Who are your picks?

DH:
Gee
Minnaar
Peaty
Blenky

It's tough to pick one!

4x:
Graves
Mitch

so excited all the way around...:thumb::thumb:
 

SylentK

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
2,641
1,089
coloRADo
I think they find the guy in rainbows and give him the #1. Everyone else gets assigned a number based on their tattoos. Sam Hill's number just increased because he just got a new tattoo.



photo from Vitalmtb
 

jon-boy

Monkey
May 26, 2004
799
0
Vancouver BC
I think Peaty has a good chance if he can continue the form from last week. Minnaar will be hungry for it too. SC must be happy to have two strong contenders there.

Blenki will do well but I don't see him winning. He may surprise me, but he doesn't seem to have the focus come finals time.

Gwin may have it in him here.

Gee, maybe he'll open it up here now the pressure of the World Cup is off of his shoulders.

This track may well suit Beaumont too. Fast and loose (if it stays like that) is similar to Val Di Sole. He's my wild(ish) card in this.

Hill... well we'll see how much the shoulder holds him back. I think he was playing it cautious last week to keep people guessing. He's a mysterious chap.

Bredan, well if he can have a good run and keep it rubber side down he could position well. Again though I don't think he has the ability to pull it out in a final to win.

This is all couch opinionating and I could well be proved totally wrong. In fact I look forward to being proven wrong. :)
 

Pslide

Turbo Monkey
Sam seems quieter than ever. And his new body mods seem a bit on the angry side. I miss his light hearted quips...

FYI, he did update his blog with this: "I am still struggling with holding on for a full run, Im sure when the adrenaline kicks in for the race I will be fine though."

PS - jon-boy, you got all the basis covered there don't you!
 

epic

Turbo Monkey
Sep 15, 2008
1,041
21
I'd like it to be someone new, but with a long rough track it's hard to bet against a strong veteran. I'd love to say it'll be Danny Hart, but will he be able to hold on for 4 minutes on a track like that? Gwin has had good showings and just keeps getting better but if I had to bet my own money I'd spread it across Gee, Peaty, and Minnaar.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,929
24
Over your shoulder whispering
Big, open, lots of speed and momentum. One and two are the Santa Cruz twin towers. Flip a coin between Minnarr and Peat. Only real differentiation is if one is healthier than the other from last week's crashes.