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2020 Racing

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,933
13,186
Hannah just won the women's Crankworx DH race by 25 seconds.

Clearly she means business this season again.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,602
5,904
in a single wide, cooking meth...
Holy Hannah, I don't know which is more incredible: Tracey won by such a large margin she could've shot gunned a beer trailside and still won by a comfortable margin, or that Mik actually won a race. Either way, I'm proper stoked for the Hannah clan!

That said, I am curious how Trace obliterated the field, as the race feed didnt really show much of the course. Thinking she left'em for dead in the larches section where is was steep AF.

Also props to Dak for getting the W at the Rock. Great to see him already back up to pace after a very solid result at Snowshoe last season. Lousã can't get here fast enough.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,362
1,598
Warsaw :/
Anybody else wondering if the whole covid 19 outbreak is gonna impact the WC season?
Torquato Testa couldn't Start in Rotorua Slopestyle. NZ didn't let him in. Wonder if the same will happen for some DH'ers. Fingers crossed Lousa still happens as I'm going but overall it would suck massively if anyone got blocked at the border. I doubt UCI will cancel any events since they love them Euro Benjamins so they will only act if they lose sponsors like in Dubai.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,384
20,175
Sleazattle
Anybody else wondering if the whole covid 19 outbreak is gonna impact the WC season?

I don't know, but watching some coverage of Crankworks Roturea, fans have started the whole high pitched "yeew" thing. If this continues during world cup DH I hope they just hold the races without fans.
 

shelteringsky

Monkey
May 21, 2010
307
257
I don't know, but watching some coverage of Crankworks Roturea, fans have started the whole high pitched "yeew" thing. If this continues during world cup DH I hope they just hold the races without fans.
Would take a few "yews" over the low-effort chainsaw that the local hicks in the rock garden seem to be doing these days.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,602
5,904
in a single wide, cooking meth...
against who?

exactly.
While obviously it wasn't a full WC field, Kitner was there (someone who actually beat Tracey here a couple years ago), as was Kate Weatherly (who seemed to have a mech issue fwiw), Vaea Verbeeck and Casey Brown. It was certainly fair to say that Tracey was favored to win, perhaps even heavily favored, but that still seemed like an obliteration of some otherwise world class riders IMO.
 

fwp

Monkey
Jun 5, 2013
410
400
Stoked for SikMik, He took down some top 30 WC guys. Although Tracey didn't race top competition, Her race run was definitely a few levels up, visibly faster in every section, and fun to watch.
2020 is shaping up to be a great year, mens and womens fields are going to be very exciting to watch.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,602
5,904
in a single wide, cooking meth...
None of the top WC racers. This is why the annual "racer X won NZ Crankworx downhill" hype is worthless. Blenki won last yeasr CWX DH and you wouldn't say he dominated the World Cups
I don't think anyone is saying that just because Tracey crushed the field by 25+ seconds we can expect a similar demolition of the usual WC podium occupants, but simply that she destroyed some damn fine riders. To put it in perspective, Kitner won the air DH last year at Whistler, beating Vali Holl and some notable lady pinners in the process. Hannah won the Canadian DH race at Whistler last year, where Casey Brown was 3.7 seconds back and Verbeeck was 5.5 seconds back (just behind Pom Pom and Holl), and that was a pretty legit track. But now we're seeing Tracey put crazy time into them, albeit on a different track that I still think is pretty legit. To me it strongly suggests that Tracey will be a real threat to win any race, so matter what the other top contenders are doing.
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,362
1,598
Warsaw :/
I don't think anyone is saying that just because Tracey crushed the field by 25+ seconds we can expect a similar demolition of the usual WC podium occupants, but simply that she destroyed some damn fine riders. To put it in perspective, Kitner won the air DH last year at Whistler, beating Vali Holl and some notable lady pinners in the process. Hannah won the Canadian DH race at Whistler last year, where Casey Brown was 3.7 seconds back and Verbeeck was 5.5 seconds back (just behind Pom Pom and Holl), and that was a pretty legit track. But now we're seeing Tracey put crazy time into them, albeit on a different track that I still think is pretty legit. To me it strongly suggests that Tracey will be a real threat to win any race, so matter what the other top contenders are doing.
Have in mind many top racers don't go full tilt on pre season, non WC races. This alone makes it less important.

Also the logic of Hannah is faster this year because she won this year over someone who won last year over someone who is fast but still generally slower than Hannah was in 2019 is a bit hard to support.

Also how does the last year result on a different track relate to this? Tracey is a real threat to win any race but every year we get the same hype. Someone wins in Rotorua or in Whistler and people think it's an indicator of something. The thing is I don't remember a case that prove that those racers are strong predictors of world cup performance. Just look at 2019 Rotorua DH. Loic was 24s behind Blenkinsop. Blenki was 5s before Hannah and 15s before #3 racer. Did that predict strong performance? Not really
 

fwp

Monkey
Jun 5, 2013
410
400
None of the top WC racers. This is why the annual "racer X won NZ Crankworx downhill" hype is worthless. Blenki won last yeasr CWX DH and you wouldn't say he dominated the World Cups
I don't think anyone is trying to say Tracey beat a stacked field of the worlds best female DH racers, or that SicMik is destined to dethrone the Frenchies because he won at crankworks.
Just cool to see them getting wins, thats all.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,933
13,186
I guess we'll have to wait a little longer, if we survive, to see who's fastest this year.

PB/Vital reporting that the Lousa WC is cancelled.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,805
24,381
media blackout
I guess we'll have to wait a little longer, if we survive, to see who's fastest this year.

PB/Vital reporting that the Lousa WC is cancelled.
that makes me a sad panda. but in all honesty, given the fact that you've got riders coming from all over, i can't say i'm surprised.

vai de sole isn't until september, so maybe that one will happen.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,602
5,904
in a single wide, cooking meth...
I guess we'll have to wait a little longer, if we survive, to see who's fastest this year.

PB/Vital reporting that the Lousa WC is cancelled.



**EDIT - see @norbar , I was right: Tracey is now the galactic DH champion because she won at Rotorua. Congrats to both Hannahs for a great season. Maybe we'll get some more competition next year if anyone is still alive.

And given that our time on the blue marble is now very short, perhaps we should organize a DH race at Lousa for just us monkeys post haste. We could get (drunk) Warner to commentate on our collectively amazing DH performances, as that would be comedy gold. I'm stockpiling cigarettes and bourbon, so I got that covered for us if this gets green lighted.
 
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norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,362
1,598
Warsaw :/
I guess we'll have to wait a little longer, if we survive, to see who's fastest this year.

PB/Vital reporting that the Lousa WC is cancelled.
PB and Vital are reporting that the major suggests to cancel it, the main place where covid is in portugal is Porto, 150km from Lousa. There are some guidelines for events over 5000 people but no bans. So PB and Vital are so far speculating because a German news site read those articles. So while there is a chance it gets canceled it's shitty speculation.

Also while I get it's mostly not to overburden hospitals I'm pissed. It is going to be my first longer Holiday in 3+ years, after not really riding my bike for the same time and I'm going even if they inject the virus in my brain.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,362
1,598
Warsaw :/
Also I want to say if they cancel it's triple BS since they held E-Bike world cup thing in Monaco. As in France. France has a ban on large gatherings and it canceled MIPCOM TV trade show, a much more important event than Ebikes. So if Ebikes get to race and DH won't (especially that riders are already there) I will simply say the world is unfair.

Also there was a trail running event last weekend with 1400 people.
 

sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
4,947
2,170
not in Whistler anymore :/
Also I want to say if they cancel it's triple BS since they held E-Bike world cup thing in Monaco. As in France. France has a ban on large gatherings and it canceled MIPCOM TV trade show, a much more important event than Ebikes. So if Ebikes get to race and DH won't (especially that riders are already there) I will simply say the world is unfair.

Also there was a trail running event last weekend with 1400 people.
Paris Nice is still running...
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,362
1,598
Warsaw :/
Paris Nice is still running...
Just without spectators at the Start/Finish.

Also some morons can't read and mistake the Major's new regulation as a ban on world cup. The new regulation bans school shit but only recommends the world cup to be postponed because the major thinks the world cup can happen like a few months later and it won't be a problem for anyone. The thing is it would probably not be if this happened 2+ weeks ago but now? Teams won't pay twice.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,805
24,381
media blackout
Also I want to say if they cancel it's triple BS since they held E-Bike world cup thing in Monaco. As in France. France has a ban on large gatherings and it canceled MIPCOM TV trade show, a much more important event than Ebikes. So if Ebikes get to race and DH won't (especially that riders are already there) I will simply say the world is unfair.

Also there was a trail running event last weekend with 1400 people.
Maybe they were trying for the ebikers to go extinct.


Also calm down