Bryceland has a classic Manchester accent, is nothing unusual.
That has changed a bit. Schladming had some jumps but are were rideable by mediocre riders. Leogang isn't that big outside of one jump with a wooden lip put before it. Maribor and Champery also had very few really huge jumps.
Gee is really fast this year. Mick also on form and so is Bruni.
Kovarik blew it
....as usual.
Kovarik blew it
....as usual.How about the crazy ass scar right next to it? Looks like she's done this before.
Full Qualifying results right here for you folks:
http://www.rootsandrain.com/race1507/2013-sep-15-uci-world-cup-5-hafjell-bike-park/
http://www.rootsandrain.com/race1507/2013-sep-15-uci-world-cup-5-hafjell-bike-park/
Pretty cool to see the Whip-off World Champ made the cut for finals.
Are they only taking top 70 qualifying again? If so, Richie Rude barely made the cut or does he get special consideration for still being a junior? Stoked for Neko as well but honestly, my money is on Gee. Really looks like the last couple races put a fire under him, that he does not like not winning is very obvious.
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Good to see Neko's performances starting to creep up.
wrecked shoulder from his crash at worlds.
Brosnan is 6th will be interesting to watch!
Stevie Smith consistent throughout all the sectors... consistent cruiser run?
Gee fast throughout two first sectors and let off the gas in the last sector?
Same for Minnaar but in reverse? Knows he's good in the tables and berms of the first sector so cruises, and turns on the gas in the bottom section to test out his lines?
This is gonna be a good race.
Is there still a race for the overall, or does Gee have it pretty much sewn up?
Gee fast throughout two first sectors and let off the gas in the last sector?
Same for Minnaar but in reverse? Knows he's good in the tables and berms of the first sector so cruises, and turns on the gas in the bottom section to test out his lines?
This is gonna be a good race.
Is there still a race for the overall, or does Gee have it pretty much sewn up?
What time am I watching this on Sunday (East Coast, USA)?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Man, Sik Mik is on form!
Just checked the weather and looks like they are predicting some heavy rains for finals. It's possible they won't even get to practice on a wet track and then will have to run their race run in the wet...how nuts would that be!
Just checked the weather and looks like they are predicting some heavy rains for finals. It's possible they won't even get to practice on a wet track and then will have to run their race run in the wet...how nuts would that be!
Smith is over a 100 points back, but I would think he's not out of touch if Gee crashes...
09:15am for the Red Bull live broadcast.
I think it will be ~9 - 11 AM EDT. Not 100% sure. RedBull.tv program times are always messed up on my ipad/computer.
or, he got a front flat in the final woods.Kovarik blew it
I donno if a top 10 in qualifying counts as "creeping up"...
thats pretty damn good!
Also, I know brosnan is the second coming of christ as far as juniors graduating to the big boy ranks and its heresy to suggest otherwise, but Loic Bruni is absolutely monstertruck dominating and I predict he is the future of DH for the young guns.
thats pretty damn good!
Also, I know brosnan is the second coming of christ as far as juniors graduating to the big boy ranks and its heresy to suggest otherwise, but Loic Bruni is absolutely monstertruck dominating and I predict he is the future of DH for the young guns.
dominating who?
The other younguns?
except brosnan of course.
brosnan has beat him in 13 of the 14 races they've raced against each other (according to R&R).
and this isn't a brosnan vs bruni thing, bruni is a badass as well and i look forward to hopefully watching these two battle it out for that top spot in a few years.
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Smith
Gee
Hill
Hannah
Minnaar
Blinki
Hart
Gee
Hill
Hannah
Minnaar
Blinki
Hart
Awesome stuff as always Seb.
Your right if you look at their current year,
Current year:
Brosnan 12th, 5th, 5th, 11th, 10th avg 8.6th place
Bruni: 26th, 4th, 8th, 15th, 11th averaging 12.8th place
But since were talking about the direction they're going, not where they are now, here's some additional relevant race results.
2012 season, troys first in the seniors, he got 8th at PMB, then crashed and was badly injured (seb if you're reading this, I didn't see this listed as a race Brosnan was in on his career sheet, and I only see his results on the world cup results list). So its hard to compare apples to apples in terms of "first year out of juniors," but if we compare their junior years:
Loic in final junior year:
26th at PMB
11th at VDS
16th at Fort William
didnt' attend MSA because, you know, highschool
5th at Windham
67 at VDI
21st at halfjelly
averaging 24.3
Tbro: 23rd PMB
30th Ft Bill
15th Leogang
6th at MSA
8th at Windham
30th at La Bresse
4th at VDS averaging 12.2
Now I agree that so far Brosnans results are better. But Brosnan is slowly getting better and more consistent, Bruni seems to be getting better in giant leaps and bounds, and being able to jump 12 places on average to almost a constant top 10 performance in his first year in seniors is a much bigger improvement then Brosnan having a major injury and being out for the rest of the year, and then coming back at about the same level he was at before. Right now, with Gwin out, and Minnaar seemingly thinking about retirement, its Steve Smith and Gee Athertons game and everybody else is playing catchup, and I bet Bruni catches up before Troy does.
Current year:
Brosnan 12th, 5th, 5th, 11th, 10th avg 8.6th place
Bruni: 26th, 4th, 8th, 15th, 11th averaging 12.8th place
But since were talking about the direction they're going, not where they are now, here's some additional relevant race results.
2012 season, troys first in the seniors, he got 8th at PMB, then crashed and was badly injured (seb if you're reading this, I didn't see this listed as a race Brosnan was in on his career sheet, and I only see his results on the world cup results list). So its hard to compare apples to apples in terms of "first year out of juniors," but if we compare their junior years:
Loic in final junior year:
26th at PMB
11th at VDS
16th at Fort William
didnt' attend MSA because, you know, highschool
5th at Windham
67 at VDI
21st at halfjelly
averaging 24.3
Tbro: 23rd PMB
30th Ft Bill
15th Leogang
6th at MSA
8th at Windham
30th at La Bresse
4th at VDS averaging 12.2
Now I agree that so far Brosnans results are better. But Brosnan is slowly getting better and more consistent, Bruni seems to be getting better in giant leaps and bounds, and being able to jump 12 places on average to almost a constant top 10 performance in his first year in seniors is a much bigger improvement then Brosnan having a major injury and being out for the rest of the year, and then coming back at about the same level he was at before. Right now, with Gwin out, and Minnaar seemingly thinking about retirement, its Steve Smith and Gee Athertons game and everybody else is playing catchup, and I bet Bruni catches up before Troy does.
If you're talking about the rider comparison page it only compares riders at races where they both finished with a rank. So if one of the riders is a DNF or a DNS, or a did-not-qualify, then that race won't show up. I'm not saying it's perfect, it's just how it is at the moment
No, just when I look at Brosnan's record I don't see that race on there http://www.rootsandrain.com/rider5740/troy-brosnan/results/If you're talking about the rider comparison page it only compares riders at races where they both finished with a rank. So if one of the riders is a DNF or a DNS, or a did-not-qualify, then that race won't show up. I'm not saying it's perfect, it's just how it is at the moment
so, he blew it!
Sorry, I'm confused. What race don't you see on there? 2012 PMB is definitely there. And the iXS at Leogang where he nailed himself is there. Val di Sole 2012 he didn't do, so it's not there. Which race is it that you think is missing?
Awesome point made by Vital. Rachel Atherton, Gee Atherton, Innes Graham, Tahnee Seagrave. All won their categories at the UK National Champs 2 months ago, and all went fastest in Qualifying at Hafjell yesterday.
Really, I don't know what it is that we're doing right over here in the UK!
Really, I don't know what it is that we're doing right over here in the UK!
it must be the lack of fluoride in the waterAwesome point made by Vital. Rachel Atherton, Gee Atherton, Innes Graham, Tahnee Seagrave. All won their categories at the UK National Champs 2 months ago, and all went fastest in Qualifying at Hafjell yesterday.
Really, I don't know what it is that we're doing right over here in the UK!
I hope to see mic get the win... Chairlifts must be the problem here
Having recently done a few weeks riding/racing in the US, I can pinpoint a few reasons why I think US racers struggle a bit compared to UK:
1) chairlifts. Your access to riding is too "easy". In the UK if you want to ride DH you either push up, or you go to a race where a shuttle uplift will be running. If you push up then you make damn sure you put some effort in on the way down, and if you're racing you also obviously "try". I feel if you're cruising chairlifts half of the weekends of the year, there's probably more emphasis on "playing" rather than trying to be fast. Just a gut feeling.
2) single-race runs. Most races in the US seem to be one-run affairs. In the UK, almost every race we do is a "best-of-two-runs" format. That means you can ride on the edge, possibly make a mistake, and reel it back in for a conservative second run, if need be. Single-run races breed riding within your limits and consistency. You can't go balls out because if you crash in your run it's a whole weekend wasted.
3) too many categories. In the UK a typical race is 300 people spread across 9 categories (Elite, Expert, then simple age cats: Juvenile, Youth, Junior, Senior, Master, Veteran, Women). With podiums being 3 or 5-man, that means only 27-45 people get to stand on a podium each weekend. About 10%. In the US a turnout of 100-150 is a lot more typical , with 15-20 categories. It's not uncommon for 50% of the field to end up on a podium at the end of the weekend. Chasing that elusive podium in the UK makes us try harder, I think.
4) distance. Your country is much less densely populated, in terms of races and in terms of people. You have approximately the same number of events as the UK does, but they're spread over a much larger area. The Pros can obviously afford to travel around, but this means your typical junior rider, just starting out, only does a handful of races a year, as they're the only ones near enough to travel to. In the UK you can race DH every weekend between April and October, and rarely have to drive more than 3-4 hours.
None of these is the reason alone why the US comparatively struggles, but I do think that the combination of them all has a genuine bearing on it... I'm sure I theorised a couple more reasons while I was out there (we had a LOT of hours on the road to contemplate such things), but I forget them now!
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+1
What I think separates UK from most other countries is the amount of races there is to race. I suspect no other country has so many races in a season and that is easy to attend (distance mostly). Above that they seem to usually have pretty stacked field with pros coming home to race. Racing and being fast under the clock is vastly different to railing a few sections on your favourite local track. After alpine racing I have definietly seen the difference more racing under the clock has made for me compared to other riders.
Besides that I wonder how many aspiring riders actually train against the clock? Most seem content with smashing in runs and just go with how it feels.
5. race length. A lot of our tracks are 2.5 minutes or less. The vast majority of them in fact. Times are tight, especially with 300 attendees, so you have to look for every possible advantage that you can to make up time, even if it's only a fraction of a second. On big 5minute tracks out in the US, fitness plays a much bigger part and the gaps between riders tends to be bigger (also partly because there's often only 100 of you).
I think US suckage is attributed to:
1) No gov't health insurance
2) not enough free time due to long work week/skimpy vacation time
3) lawsuit mentality
4) blazing J's and lift whoring with friends doing dawn to dusk runs beats track walks and 5 run weekends.
1) No gov't health insurance
2) not enough free time due to long work week/skimpy vacation time
3) lawsuit mentality
4) blazing J's and lift whoring with friends doing dawn to dusk runs beats track walks and 5 run weekends.