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2010 World Chamionships Mont Sainte-Anne - Live Thread

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
What happened to Brendog? Did he have an incident or did he ride his way into 28th?
Had a crash. From his facebook:

"Sam and Troy killed it so happy for them.... I smashed my hand not so ideal.No moto for me for a while. Can't wait to get home for a few beers or 10 with the crew."
 

TrailzHozer

Monkey
Jan 29, 2010
120
0
is it just me or does it look like Minnaar and Hill don't particularly like each other?

I got that impression from watching the podium ceremony at the end.
 

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
13,151
4,976
Copenhagen, Denmark
Had a crash. From his facebook:

"Sam and Troy killed it so happy for them.... I smashed my hand not so ideal.No moto for me for a while. Can't wait to get home for a few beers or 10 with the crew."
I really thought he was going to do better this season. He is always exciting to watch and he hope he will do even better next year.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,929
24
Over your shoulder whispering
I really thought he was going to do better this season. He is always exciting to watch and he hope he will do even better next year.
If they made a World Cup whose primary obstacle was ditches that had to be bunny hopped, he'd win hands down. That guy can boost across invisible kickers like no other.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,792
5,615
Ottawa, Canada
is it just me or does it look like Minnaar and Hill don't particularly like each other?

I got that impression from watching the podium ceremony at the end.
I don't know if it's personal, but my guess would be not. I think Greg was just dissapointed. You don't get to be where he is without being a fierce competitor. In the final Dirt TV video, they close with an interview of Greg where he says he's really dissapointed, and that he's so down he might go jump off the Golden Gate bridge in SF on the way to Interbike. I think it was a hard season for him, and he didn't get the results he wanted. Therefore the dour face on the podium. Hopefully he comes back with more fire next year.
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,774
532
2nd overall and 3rd in champs is something to be proud of when you are 50. its something to be really bummed about when you are 29, and something to really motivate you when you are 30
 

epic

Turbo Monkey
Sep 15, 2008
1,041
21
Look at the podium photo of Jonnier. I can't imagine that she's unhappy about TMo or has a grudge against her. She like Greg, wants to win every race.
 

swaussie

Chimp
Apr 14, 2009
29
0
If they made a World Cup whose primary obstacle was ditches that had to be bunny hopped, he'd win hands down. That guy can boost across invisible kickers like no other.
Shame he crashed, I was hoping he would be on the podium at the worlds. Brendog is the one guy who always makes riding a bike look like fun and he also treats his fans with huge respect :thumb:
 

Tdiddy

Monkey
Apr 8, 2009
222
1
ropelato's front tire exploded on the rock section that the crash video features alot. He had a fast line and looked like the tire rolled off the bead. I thought he was shot it was so loud. Tire completely came off the rim, no crash, just violent tire/tube failure, which subsequently caused him to slam hard into the pad at the bottom of the roll down.

Lots of crashes in that section, mainly for the juniors in the morning as it appeared much more wet on the rock sections, but steadily dried out. None of the rain in the open seemed to get on the rocks where we were, it just got faster and faster. Light raing followed by sun followed by rain all race. I can only see it affecting the open sections from where I stood, maybe visiblity in the high speed sections, but the rocks got faster throughout the race.

Definitely no deluge or hurricane from what I saw on the track, but the Commencal camp were adamant about it being far worse for Gee when I talked to them at the after party.

It was amazing talking to sam and stevie after their doping tests, both very nice and super happy with their results. Greg was also a very nice guy despite being disappointed with his season, but Peaty seemed very down and not that friendly at the time. Vanderhams were very nice as well, Ryan had a nasty looking crash right in front of us. Had a great time at the race.
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,776
459
MA
Too bad about Neko starting so early in the wetter conditions. I'm getting the impression that he would have easily (a few seconds) taken it if all things were equal, but alas that's racing.

I can't wait to see what the lad is going to accomplish next year.
 

karpi

Monkey
Apr 17, 2006
904
0
Santiasco, Chile
when its all or nothing, and when things don't go your way... then yeah, I understand Minnaar. I guess when your that good, if your not number 1, your loosing.

I agree about watching Brendan, when you see him ride, you can tell he's having so much fun and just carrying it loose, definitly inspiring. I got to watch him here for the VCA, and had some small talk to, real nice guy!
 

epic

Turbo Monkey
Sep 15, 2008
1,041
21
I haven't really seen that much in terms of photos and vids from this race yet (the party musta been killer), so here are mine.

Got up at 4 AM for a quick trip up North. Couldn't find anyone to ride with, so it was solo. Drove up in my trusty old 911 with broken CD player so had to listen to French radio the whole way. Pulled in to MSA about 9 AM, it was windy as hell and rain scudding in and out. There was a rainbow right over the mountain. Perfect as they'd be handing them out later that day.

Took a gondi ride right off the bat figured I'd walk down slow and get to the bottom just as Gee Atherton won another World Championship.

First rider of the day is Lauren Rosser. Here she is coming out the gate to pick up her World Championship.


Got some nice shots of the junior men in the woods. But I missed Neko Mullaly while discussing Alien Bees with some prophotog guy.


I did at least catch Troy Brosnan though. This kid is awesome. We'll be seeing him again for sure.

The junior men's field was pretty packed and there was only a short lull in the action while the women prepared for battle.

The weather was getting pretty wild and changeable. So Petra Bernhard had this:

while Sabrina Jonnier had this:

Not ideal conditions for charging down the roughest, fastest, and maybe longest track of the year.
Pugin was focused on the task at hand

Ragot was visibly faster than anyone else

but in the end it was TMo that got it done fastest


When the women were done I moved down into the carousel section. Guys were boosting the jumps and the crowd was going nuts. They even had a jumbotron streaming the race so you could see what was happening elsewhere.



Go America! Kyle Strait before he got himself dirty.

Erm, go Australia too! Chris Kovarik enters the woods.

Mitch Delfs was smashing it. Right up until it turned around and smashed him.

It was so crowded in the lower sections I could hardly get a shot. I missed Sam Hill. It was strange to have him running in the middle of the pack. Grabbed a few photos of Peat and Gee.


I was shocked to hear over the loudspeaker that Hill had won. With the season he has had, I don't think too many people were expecting that. Including himself. It rained pretty hard toward the end and that may have really played into his hands. If the weather did give it to him, I guess it makes up for Val do Sol, so no one can complain.

Then it was 5 more hours of driving in the rain and listening to French radio.
 

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
Too bad about Neko starting so early in the wetter conditions. I'm getting the impression that he would have easily (a few seconds) taken it if all things were equal, but alas that's racing.

I can't wait to see what the lad is going to accomplish next year.
Agreed. The US team mgr decided to send him off in the first 10-15 riders, and I don't know WTF he was thinking. The course was MUCH drier by the time Brosnan, Buchanon, etc. came down at the end of the pack.

I can only assume the US thought the track would get worse as the day wore on, but if you've got a fast guy in the race that you think will be competitive with all the other fast guys, don't you want them all going in the same conditions?? Why bother trying to get sneaky with it when there's so much at stake?

BTW, Brosnan beating Neko by 0.06 seconds on a 4m50s course is a winning margin of 0.02%! Christ! I hope that doesn't eat Neko up over the next year.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
Agreed. The US team mgr decided to send him off in the first 10-15 riders, and I don't know WTF he was thinking. The course was MUCH drier by the time Brosnan, Buchanon, etc. came down at the end of the pack.
they dont go off in order of UCI rankings like the seniors do?
 

Pegboy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2003
1,139
27
New Hamp-sha
?

BTW, Brosnan beating Neko by 0.06 seconds on a 4m50s course is a winning margin of 0.02%! Christ! I hope that doesn't eat Neko up over the next year.
Nah, I would think if anything he might be pretty pleased. He was out most of the season with an injury, that alone should let him know where he stands and if in fact there was a difference in the course, the riders know. I also found it interesting that Neko's first timed run was 4:39...Much faster ...and right there with the winning elite time of 4:38 (obviously Hill had slower conditions on race day).

Another intersting fact: Sam Hill was "only" 3rd in worlds @ Vail in '01 as a junior at the same age.

Next year will be interesting...can't wait.
 

Nagaredama

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
1,596
2
Manhattan Beach, CA USA
Another intersting fact: Sam Hill was "only" 3rd in worlds @ Vail in '01 as a junior at the same age.
Sorry to make a stink over the minor details but Sam was 16 when he came in 3rd at Vail and was Junior World Champ at age 17 in 2002 at Kaprun.

In any case Neko is fast. Maybe double rainbows for the USA next year? Mullaly and Gwin!
 

mccdh

Monkey
Sep 9, 2008
181
0
Comox
Agreed. The US team mgr decided to send him off in the first 10-15 riders, and I don't know WTF he was thinking. The course was MUCH drier by the time Brosnan, Buchanon, etc. came down at the end of the pack.

I can only assume the US thought the track would get worse as the day wore on, but if you've got a fast guy in the race that you think will be competitive with all the other fast guys, don't you want them all going in the same conditions?? Why bother trying to get sneaky with it when there's so much at stake?

BTW, Brosnan beating Neko by 0.06 seconds on a 4m50s course is a winning margin of 0.02%! Christ! I hope that doesn't eat Neko up over the next year.
Because if it had payed off you would be praising him for his genius. Matti in Champery 07 seemed to be a pretty good call. Perhaps they forecasted the rain that ended up coming late in the mens field would be an hour or two sooner. Lets not kick this horse anymore. It was a gamble and it didn't pay off. Shoulda coulda and woulda...
 

Pip3r

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2001
1,112
0
Foxboro MA
Some loose math figuring out their average speed given the course length and their time shows that Neko losing by .06 equates to 2ft of distance. Totally gutted for him, but pumped considering everything!
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
Stik this is ridemonkey where people make up the facts. The reason he went then is because that is where he was ranked. That is also why George B, Lewis and Troy went last.
haha

And its the 2nd time that same dude has gone off on 'the american coach screwed up sending him down early"

Love me some RM coaching, in addition to the engineering.
 

Eastern States Cup

Turbo Monkey
Feb 29, 2008
2,465
2
East Coast
not taking sides BUT:

UCI Rule 9.2.038 states:For the DHI Men Juniors and Women Juniors events, the start order of teams during the official timed session and the final is determined by the placing of the nation in the preceding world championship.Then an alternating sequence of unranked nations shall be determined by drawing lots.Within each team, the start order will be determined and communicated by the national federations.

Page 16
 

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
Stik this is ridemonkey where people make up the facts. The reason he went then is because that is where he was ranked. That is also why George B, Lewis and Troy went last.
Yeah, I so completely 'made that up' that I somehow convinced the UCI to agree with me. Besides the rule that George cites above, look for yourself at the official start list for Junior Finals:
http://oldsite.uci.ch/UciDoc/MTB/2010/CM/DH_SL_MJR.pdf

You may notice at the top of the first page to the far right it says "Start Order given by Team Manager."

haha

And its the 2nd time that same dude has gone off on 'the american coach screwed up sending him down early"

Love me some RM coaching, in addition to the engineering.
I realize that it's a super fun and popular practice to slag anyone expressing their opinion on the internet as a total idiot (and especially love the irony of making such a statement . . . via a F*CKING POST ON THE INTERNET!), but I'm not the type of guy to just pull stuff outta my ass.

Sorry to spoil your guys' fun,

--JP
P.S. Leigh looked great out there; it's a shame she doesn't race more often. We all went nuts when she came over that hip jump at mid-course, and I gave her an extra loud blast on the vuvuzela. :-)
 
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John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
Because if it had payed off you would be praising him for his genius. Matti in Champery 07 seemed to be a pretty good call. Perhaps they forecasted the rain that ended up coming late in the mens field would be an hour or two sooner. Lets not kick this horse anymore. It was a gamble and it didn't pay off. Shoulda coulda and woulda...
I think we're sort of agreeing, in a way. Matti is incredibly talented, but he's not usually a threat for the win at a WC race. If Neko faced the same sort of odds, then sure, pull out every trick in the book to get him on top, including trying to predict the weather.

The difference is that anyone who saw Neko race this year knew he had a very good chance of winning this thing, especially after he tore it apart in his timed run. Knowing that, why roll the dice by trying to guess what the weather's going to be like? Just send him off with the other fast guys and leave it up to skill, not weather. If he loses straight up, so be it.

I'm not sure why my questioning of the US tactics has people looking at me like I'm the bad guy. Like the rest of you, I'm a huge fan of the sport and especially my country's top guys. If someone came forth with a logical explanation to the start order of these guys, I'd humbly eat my words here. In the meantime, I'm just voicing my opinion as a disappointed fan.
 

epic

Turbo Monkey
Sep 15, 2008
1,041
21
Maybe the US coach thought that all the fast guys would go early? Do they have any way to know how the other coaches have seeded their riders?
 

Eastern States Cup

Turbo Monkey
Feb 29, 2008
2,465
2
East Coast
Again not chosing sides but the start order for USA was based on Rankings and Results in the Automatic Qualifiers. The first two junior starters from the USA finished first and second in the Nationall Champs and raced the qualifiers. The other picks were discretionary and Neko did start ahead of all of them. It is a simple formula and works well.

Side Note:The fastest American Juniors from the past two World Champs were from the East Coast and raced at Plattekill Bike Park regularly.
 

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
Maybe the US coach thought that all the fast guys would go early? Do they have any way to know how the other coaches have seeded their riders?
Great question, and I don't know the answer. I guess it's sort of standard that the faster guys go last at most races, but you bring up a great point!

Again not chosing sides but the start order for USA was based on Rankings and Results in the Automatic Qualifiers. The first two junior starters from the USA finished first and second in the Nationall Champs and raced the qualifiers. The other picks were discretionary and Neko did start ahead of all of them. It is a simple formula and works well.

Side Note:The fastest American Juniors from the past two World Champs were from the East Coast and raced at Plattekill Bike Park regularly.
No worries, George. I'm not taking sides either, just expressing an opinion like I mentioned earlier.

Anyway, if I understand your post, the Americans sent their top-qualified riders down first (and presumably, their slower riders down last?). If that's a system they have in place, then fair enough. I guess I'd just question the logic behind that start order, especially considering most other countries did the exact opposite.

In any event, as I've said all along, I'm just bummed for Neko, and judging by the look on his face on the podium, he was pretty disappointed, too.

Next year should be great though, especially considering it's on a steeper, more technical track - similar to Plattekill conditions! :)

--JP
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,792
5,615
Ottawa, Canada
You guys see the Santa Cruz video that's been posted on PinkBike? In it Greg says that the weather didn't really affect the terrain that much for the riders, it was more that they had to contend with dealing with their tear-aways. that makes a bit more sense to me. I couldn't understand why people were saying it was the weather, when Greg, Aaron and Steve all posted faster speeds in the speed traps. Peaty also said that insted of coming out of a corner or off a ledge on the gas, they'd have to reach for the tear-away first, then get on the gas.

I'm surprised that the top 10 would be separated by the use or non-use of tear-aways, but then again, what do I know...