agreed - bit of a rocky start but great coverage and quality - more than worth the price of admission.
Pietermaritzburg - 2012 WC DH#1
- Thread starter toodles
- Start date
Thanks to Redbull. It played perfectly on pinkbike. The top 3 killed it.
Ha, and that Tracy interview was as awkward and uncomfortable as a sandpaper thong.
Ha, and that Tracy interview was as awkward and uncomfortable as a sandpaper thong.
Agreed, streaming was great for me. Good to see some racing again.
I think I spotted him in the Giant pits, don't quote me on it though.
correct - garland is with giant this year.
yeah, stoked on the streaming, getting to see top 10 ladies without having to wake up 2 hrs earlier, and picking up right around top 30-40 for guys works for me!
Also - gwin, minnaar, and gee are gonna go 1-2-3 again, not certain on the order, but pumped to see it unfold. Great job to the hannahs, way to kick off the season. I hope Mick makes top 5 in the overall, but I donno if I see it happening on the harder courses.
Stoked for neko, great to see a 14th ahead of brendog, mcdonald, bryceland, and blenkinsop, seems like his first few seasons were plagued by problems with injury and confidence, rad to see him start getting the results he should be. Looks like he worked pretty hard on his fitness over the off season, his pedal split time was phenomenal and he didn't look to shabby on the rest of it either.
And wtf happened to blenkinsop? It didn't look like he had a mechanical or a crash, he was doing well enough to throw whips, but he was only 15 seconds faster then the top women?
And troy definitely flatted near the bottom there, his rim was bouncing off the ground, I wonder how much time he lost for it. I'll admit, I was impressed, and if he can do that well on a super high speed long pedally trail that is tailored to the big riders, I'll eat my words when he gets a few podiums.
But I'm still confident that, barring major injury from the other top riders, he wont finish the season with a win or better then 4th overalll
Also - gwin, minnaar, and gee are gonna go 1-2-3 again, not certain on the order, but pumped to see it unfold. Great job to the hannahs, way to kick off the season. I hope Mick makes top 5 in the overall, but I donno if I see it happening on the harder courses.
Stoked for neko, great to see a 14th ahead of brendog, mcdonald, bryceland, and blenkinsop, seems like his first few seasons were plagued by problems with injury and confidence, rad to see him start getting the results he should be. Looks like he worked pretty hard on his fitness over the off season, his pedal split time was phenomenal and he didn't look to shabby on the rest of it either.
And wtf happened to blenkinsop? It didn't look like he had a mechanical or a crash, he was doing well enough to throw whips, but he was only 15 seconds faster then the top women?
And troy definitely flatted near the bottom there, his rim was bouncing off the ground, I wonder how much time he lost for it. I'll admit, I was impressed, and if he can do that well on a super high speed long pedally trail that is tailored to the big riders, I'll eat my words when he gets a few podiums.
But I'm still confident that, barring major injury from the other top riders, he wont finish the season with a win or better then 4th overalll
Man, Tracey Hannah is goin to be hard to beat this year. Especially with Moselely taking the DH races off.
Mick was fast. I thought he'd have it. I wanted Gwin to win, but i'm happy for Minaar. Although, he looks like a twig even more so than he ever did. He looks like he'll break like a bunch of pretzel sticks if he crashes now.
I was bummed. I got up early to watch the local boy (Ropelato) race and they didn't show him.
Mick was fast. I thought he'd have it. I wanted Gwin to win, but i'm happy for Minaar. Although, he looks like a twig even more so than he ever did. He looks like he'll break like a bunch of pretzel sticks if he crashes now.
I was bummed. I got up early to watch the local boy (Ropelato) race and they didn't show him.
Bummed I missed Strobel due to technical issues on my end. Psyched on Troy brosnan and Steve smith. Would have liked to see how Danny Hart would stack up today. A little bummed for Gwin, but happy for Minaar to win on home turf. Good race, redbull did pretty well and Warner didn't tone it down one bit!
anybody else feel like that was probably a big mental win for everybody who's not gwin? not only can gwin be beaten, his times aren't ridiculously faster then everybody else. I feel like if gwin had won the first race back on minnaars home turf, it'd be time for everybody else to just pack up and go home.
Yes though I think the next round is so far away the real mental test will be the next race.
I'm sure it was nice for them to see that Gwin can be beat. But some of them might also realize how obsessed Minaar probably was about beating Gwin at home and how much more fit he is this year compared to before. THose guys were riding their hardest and getting beaten by Minaar and Gwin could be pretty rough for some of those guys. At least now they've got time to change up their training a bit or crank up the intensity a bit.
To be honest the Gwin/Greg war was predictable. Mick as Warner said still has some knee injury. That probably means he could have done better. Troy flatted and Gee claims he always starts the season slow. Not trying to take away anything from them but the real test will be Val di Sole. Especially since Gwin claims it's one of his favorite tracks.
2nd that - quality was fine and they captured some fine parts of the track - but please do not let this guy do interviews again!
Homewin for Greg - perfect start!
gwin was beat twice last year by the guy who beat him today (as well as by others) and he only beat minnaar in PMB last year by what, .250 or something? gwin didn't win a single race last year by more than 2.3 seconds and two wins were under half a second, it's not like he crushed everyone everywhere. yes he dominated but it wasn't the total blowout everyone seems to remember it was. those races were still pretty close, the same dude just came out on top most of the time.
personally i think if anyone got a big mental boost today it was minnaar. gee got 3rd again by almost the same margin as last year and others placed comparably to last year.
like norbar said, the next round will really be the race where people will start setting their mental status for the season. it being at the super fast and rough val di sole track just adds to it being the race where everyone will really start sizing everyone else up. i can't wait to see the battle on this track with everyone back in the game after an off-season of re-evaluating things.
Really nice coverage. They need to precede the live runs a few helmet cam runs down the track so the viewer has more perspective though. I thought Warner and Page made a great commentating team, and that the riders seemed more 'professional' this year. Cant wait for Val de Sol!
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I don't think anybody is referring to Gwin smashing people at the races. I think people are just referring to how dominant Gwin was. I'm sure he was in everybody's heads coming in to this race. They were all wondering what all of us non-racers were wondering.........is Gwin going to start off like last year and dominate the series again? Not "is Gwin going to smash everybody at the races?"
It's definitely not like it was when Sam came out and smashed people by 2 to 6 seconds in some races. It's just that Gwin is way more consistent.
really? because from what I remember, he was consistently crashing AND winning - he had a gnarly off at ft bill and was still 5th, he went all the way off track and had to hike back onto the track at MSA and still won by 2 seconds, I think he crashed at leogang and still won and had plenty of "crazy off" moments while still winning. And remember, 2 WC wins in a season is normally a lot, and minnaar's season last year would look really solid in normal years, looked like a little kids next to gwins 5 wins (with crashes and offs) and a 3rd and 5th. I think the only course where gwin didn't win and road solidly was the one where he was playing for points and took it a bit easier (la bresse). Not to mention world champs where he was on course to be 10 seconds up on everybody with hart before he crashed.
But I'm definitely looking forward seeing some tight times!
But I'm definitely looking forward seeing some tight times!
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Any word on why Graves didn't race the carbon 303 today???
DirtMcGirk called and said he wanted that one, so they shipped it back to him..
The redbull coverage was a lot more reliable connection than freecaster for sure.
I was expecting some more cameras though to be honest. I was a little dissapointed by that.
Commentary was great. "Went down faster than a french breast implant" had to be the Warner quote of the day.
I was expecting some more cameras though to be honest. I was a little dissapointed by that.
Commentary was great. "Went down faster than a french breast implant" had to be the Warner quote of the day.
I liked it but the commentary was dryer than usual. I blame the lower part of the course for that. Overall...I was happiest with the quick posting of the replay. That was huge for me b/ I had to leave during the top 25 & was dying to finish watching before my ride.
Well done Minaar, not a fan but he stomped it hard(hometown advantage?)
Unucky Brosnan- How much time did the tyre cost him? Top 3 or maybe better
Gee - Haha that must hurt
Sik Mik is back
Rock Jesus did well...He'll come good after Easter
The interview guy is from Rocky Roads!
Unucky Brosnan- How much time did the tyre cost him? Top 3 or maybe better
Gee - Haha that must hurt
Sik Mik is back
Rock Jesus did well...He'll come good after Easter
The interview guy is from Rocky Roads!
splits : http://dirt.mpora.com/news/pietermariztburg-split-time-tables.html
minnaar won it/gwin lost it at the end - it was pretty obvious gwin was struggling while minnaar looked strong.
mick had the fastest top section.
gee had the fastest pedaling section.
graves had the fastest speed trap.
minnaar won it/gwin lost it at the end - it was pretty obvious gwin was struggling while minnaar looked strong.
mick had the fastest top section.
gee had the fastest pedaling section.
graves had the fastest speed trap.
I wish they would have shown the whole course during the feed. I was really looking forward to seeing the straight away tables and big sprints
best quote of the race......"he went down faster than a pair of french breast implants"
Whoa - is this true? I saw their logo plastered everywhere this morning.
Warner and Pagey narrating, well done red bull! Was happy to hear them and their shenanigans, and not some boring super serious narration that red bull could have hired instead.
Yeah? Think he could have made up 4 seconds between here:
and the finish line he just went through?
Looks like it was going flat as he went through the finish line, because right after its gone almost all the way flat:
He had a pretty solid run. Be stoked for him, don't pretend he was robbed and take away from it. He was 4 seconds down on mick at the last split where he very very clearly did not have a flat. Gwin and Minnaar didn't even put that much time into mick on the last split.
Incredible wrap up to the weekend via Sven Martin and Gary Perkin - http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/2012-UCI-World-Cup-Pietermaritzburg-South-Africa-DOWNHILL-FINALS,3398/Slideshow,0/sspomer,2
The goods from the Parkin bros
[video]http://video.mpora.com/watch/ltsFVtqQD/[/video]
Gwin seems to be a real sportsman. Giving props to Minnaar and Hannah and smiling is how it should be. A
for that.
Minnaars friends cheering for him is just priceless.
[video]http://video.mpora.com/watch/ltsFVtqQD/[/video]
Gwin seems to be a real sportsman. Giving props to Minnaar and Hannah and smiling is how it should be. A
for that.Minnaars friends cheering for him is just priceless.
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The chic digging her wedgie out as Peaty roles by as an opening scene is excellent.The goods from the Parkin bros
[video]http://video.mpora.com/watch/ltsFVtqQD/[/video]
Gwin seems to be a real sportsman. Giving props to Minnaar and Hannah and smiling is how it should be. A
Minnaars friends cheering for him is just priceless.
I was about to type the same thing. I'm rooting for Minnaar this year caus' he's such a strong rider, but has been up against some pretty stiff competition in the past few years and has always come up the bridesmaid.... plus, Gwin's domination last year was so clear (winning margins notwithstanding), that I really wanted to cheer for Minnaar. But, I have to say, I found that one little clip of Gwin very revealing, and I have to say he appears to be a true sportsman and a genuinely good human being.The goods from the Parkin bros
[video]http://video.mpora.com/watch/ltsFVtqQD/[/video]
Gwin seems to be a real sportsman. Giving props to Minnaar and Hannah and smiling is how it should be. A
Minnaars friends cheering for him is just priceless.
All in all, this season looks like it's going rock. I'm really looking forward to watching the events on Redbull TV (the broadcast was seemless for me, but I logged on a little late - I caught the end of Neethlings run), and the level of sportsmanship seems to have taken off in the past couple of years.
to the season.
Same here. Wanted to see painful sprints with bobble head motions and eerie silence. Would be lame for the viewing audience, but I distinctly remember being able to see the anguish in motion.
Is there any reason Tracy Hannah hasn't been sponsored the past few years? I think some teams sponsoring other girls really dropped the ball on not sponsoring her full time. Not only is she fast, but eh.... she's actually quite nice to look at.