And 2nd in the Canadian Open at Crankworx, he was delighted with that one.
Windham World Cup Finals - Live Thread
- Thread starter Ridemonkey.com
- Start date
Is it possible for the overall to get any tighter? I mean 3 points?! And then factor in that each rider knows that he cant put everything on the line because its worlds next week... Pressure, anyone? Go Greg!!!!! I've got my money on the big from down the road, not only because we're friends, but he's been here before, he's done what has to be done against Sam on Sams ideal track and he's most likely been taking it a little easy today not wanting to risk another off. But as long as it goes down to the wire and the better rider wins, I'm happy.
Well just because I'm bored, here's my take on some results from quali!
Starting at the start.
This seemed to me to be the first time Peaty looked real comfy right from the get go, I called it yesterday with the missus that Steve was gonna be right there. Good to see the head master on point for defending the rainbows, few men have done it!
Gwin, amazing approach. Coming to the sport as a mature athlete already has worked real well. Win tomorrow, hope so.
Minnaar and Gee, so close, Minnaar is the ultimate racer. Ultimate bike rider, always there no matter the circumstance, no excuses, no bull. Same can;t be said for others.
Bryceland Not being picked for worlds looks silly again, comfortably cleans out Cunningham. Good to see him back at the fore. Beaumont right there too!
Cedric Gracia. 10th solid after so many injuries. Amazing rider/person and ambassador for our sport. Contrary to what people on here say ahha! Yet another rider not picked my his national federation for Worlds! Highet placed French in quali.
Brook MacDonald highest placed of the first year juniors. Solid again, doing his chances of a 2011 ride good.
Neethling and Leov ok again, nothing super.
Lewis Buchanan doing amazing, far ahead of Brannigan and Brosnan again. Not sure of the Junior points, but Brannigan and Troy are super close. Could Buchanan upset?
Sam Hill would have expected more, shoulders are a messy, complex and long healing. He'll go better in finals and will really just be looking to build for some rainbows.
Ben Reid not bad with a broken wrist. He wants a solid worlds.
Logan Bingelli 2nd highest placed yank? Gwin is the only world class one!
Will Schusler actually qualify? Looks like it!!!!
Ryan Vanderham is Thomas I assume, qualified, solid!
Fairclough must have had a wild one.
Lehikoinen is a loose cannon, scary to watch in my books. Hope he didn't get hurt in quali.
Mick Hannah adds to his average season, hope he is ok. Ripper!
And that's only quali....jesus I love bike racing.
Starting at the start.
This seemed to me to be the first time Peaty looked real comfy right from the get go, I called it yesterday with the missus that Steve was gonna be right there. Good to see the head master on point for defending the rainbows, few men have done it!
Gwin, amazing approach. Coming to the sport as a mature athlete already has worked real well. Win tomorrow, hope so.
Minnaar and Gee, so close, Minnaar is the ultimate racer. Ultimate bike rider, always there no matter the circumstance, no excuses, no bull. Same can;t be said for others.
Bryceland Not being picked for worlds looks silly again, comfortably cleans out Cunningham. Good to see him back at the fore. Beaumont right there too!
Cedric Gracia. 10th solid after so many injuries. Amazing rider/person and ambassador for our sport. Contrary to what people on here say ahha! Yet another rider not picked my his national federation for Worlds! Highet placed French in quali.
Brook MacDonald highest placed of the first year juniors. Solid again, doing his chances of a 2011 ride good.
Neethling and Leov ok again, nothing super.
Lewis Buchanan doing amazing, far ahead of Brannigan and Brosnan again. Not sure of the Junior points, but Brannigan and Troy are super close. Could Buchanan upset?
Sam Hill would have expected more, shoulders are a messy, complex and long healing. He'll go better in finals and will really just be looking to build for some rainbows.
Ben Reid not bad with a broken wrist. He wants a solid worlds.
Logan Bingelli 2nd highest placed yank? Gwin is the only world class one!
Will Schusler actually qualify? Looks like it!!!!
Ryan Vanderham is Thomas I assume, qualified, solid!
Fairclough must have had a wild one.
Lehikoinen is a loose cannon, scary to watch in my books. Hope he didn't get hurt in quali.
Mick Hannah adds to his average season, hope he is ok. Ripper!
And that's only quali....jesus I love bike racing.
Didn't see Thomas' name too? Look higher
That's his brother. Both there and both pretty fast.
nope, thomas is thomas, ryan is his brother....the sender qualifies for the final!
Aye top 16 at Val di Sol also, will be cool to see what he does at worlds!
Nice write up Akula.
65th for Schusler, will be cool to see him get a good result and give a nice big feck you to his doubters!
Any word on Mick or Matti?
Junior mens points after Val di Sole-
48 BRANNIGAN George ° NZL19920409 ANT 139
49 BROSNAN Troy ° AUS19930713 MER 137
69 BUCHANAN Lewis ° GBR19930927 MSE 95
48 BRANNIGAN George ° NZL19920409 ANT 139
49 BROSNAN Troy ° AUS19930713 MER 137
69 BUCHANAN Lewis ° GBR19930927 MSE 95
Fvck me, so it is!Didn't see Thomas' name too? Look higher
That's his brother. Both there and both pretty fast.
this was top 5 at CDN Nat Champs.....
Pro Men:
Andrew Mitchel
Jamie Biluk (Pinkbike.com)
Dean Tennant
Thomas Vanderham
Ryan Vanderham
Will Lewis get points for 16th in quali today? If he has a stormer of a result he could be within striking distance.
9 points for 16th.
It would be so rad to see Sam put one of those runs together that makes everyone go "what the ****, ok thats why." On Sunday.
I wouldn't be surprised if he did it for worlds... this race however, I don't think so.
Anybody besides me bummed there aren't a boatload of unpronounceable euro names competing for this one? Just to get a good base average of where the new breed US kids stack up.
As it stands, the US newbies will look good on paper, but without the wad of Euros crowding the top 40, it's a weighted result really.
As for Gracia, look at it this way. He is a winner and quite possibly THE greatest talent in MTB of anyone. When he's knocking double digit results consistently, he's not really deserving of the French jersey.
I'd say that statement holds especially true of him in the eyes of his own federation. Anyone who knows his history knows that he should still be top 5 overall week in and week out. Were Barel healthy and Gracia hungry, you could consider them and Sabrina to be the French version of the Athertons.
As it stands, the US newbies will look good on paper, but without the wad of Euros crowding the top 40, it's a weighted result really.
As for Gracia, look at it this way. He is a winner and quite possibly THE greatest talent in MTB of anyone. When he's knocking double digit results consistently, he's not really deserving of the French jersey.
I'd say that statement holds especially true of him in the eyes of his own federation. Anyone who knows his history knows that he should still be top 5 overall week in and week out. Were Barel healthy and Gracia hungry, you could consider them and Sabrina to be the French version of the Athertons.
any word what happened to Matti? DNF, but protected so all good.
and what happened to Hannah? DNS
and what happened to Hannah? DNS
Gracia hasn't been a winner or contender really since '05. As rad as he is, his hay-day was 99-04. Follow that with the huge injuries in '07 and '09 and to be honest at 32yrs (second oldest in top ten after Peat) old 10th place in todays quali is better then good considering the depth of the field. Also considering Gracia's name, past results and World Champs experience he should have been in the FFC's world's team. I'm not 100% sure but I think the FFC could have included him without excluding someone else from the team. They just decided not too. Andorran team next year??!
In that pic of Gwin, Needles, Reid and others, they must be pulling straws on who is huckin the rock... Or we can at least hope they are
A comment on Pinkbike says Hannah is out with a collarbone. I get the impression he's not all that into riding bikes, though that may be false. I remember when he was a teenager (17?) and ripped the field in slalom and DH at Big Bear (won both in a NORBA national weekend, I think?).
As for Gracia: I watched him race in France when he was much younger (late 1995, I think). He was a smooth criminal on the course back then, and that was on a 3" travel bike on some of the rockiest and steepest terrain I've ever seen. I think injuries have played a part in his current attitude toward racing these days.
As for Gracia: I watched him race in France when he was much younger (late 1995, I think). He was a smooth criminal on the course back then, and that was on a 3" travel bike on some of the rockiest and steepest terrain I've ever seen. I think injuries have played a part in his current attitude toward racing these days.
can someone confirm something for me.. i thought qualis were on saturday.. is it just practice tmrw 930-12pm? And is that practice for all the big guns? I wanna come up just dont wanna get up super early to miss all the real riders.
well, seeing as we're all talking about the qualiy RESULTS, they aren't on saturday...
stop by the Plattekill both and say hi.
Yeah Joey!!!! Well done.
Seriously? If I lived within 5-6hours of a World Cup I would be all over that.
Leave now and sleep in the car! 
The crash on mtb-cut's video makes it look even worse!
http://www.sicklines.com/tv/windham-world-cup-qualifying-with-mtbcut/
To who...the invisible people in the tent??? j/kstop by the Plattekill both and say hi.
Awesome seeing the WC in 'merica once again! Sucks to see Mick and Matti get owned. F*cking nuts it's going down to the wire with Greg and Gee, but go Gwin! Seems like Peaty's peaking just in time for MSA (and THIS Sunday, too). To say it's going to be a hell of a race is the understatement of the year.
I'm going riding on Sunday, so won't be able to watch it live...that almost bums me out.
Peaty just blows my mind. I've thought to myself so many times this year that he must have had enough and is tapering down to retirement etc and then smash! What's more Greg and Josh look ragged trying to hang with him in the vids.
He must know exactly what to do to get his sh1t together. So much confidence in his own ability. Blows my f**king mind !
He must know exactly what to do to get his sh1t together. So much confidence in his own ability. Blows my f**king mind !
Matti needs to retire. Seriously. Before he kills or cripples himself. Poor guy has to have the worst luck in racing EVER.
Mick's crash, gnarly. Ugh seeing his arm flop around after - having dislocated my shoulder multiple times I know what that pain is like. All came back after seeing his crash.
Yeah Peaty! Danny Hart always looks like he's going to lose it, but somehow keeps it together, I love it!
Mick's crash, gnarly. Ugh seeing his arm flop around after - having dislocated my shoulder multiple times I know what that pain is like. All came back after seeing his crash.
Yeah Peaty! Danny Hart always looks like he's going to lose it, but somehow keeps it together, I love it!
Matti is one of the worlds fastest and unluckiest racers at the same time. Must be demoralising having all those injuries, surely he can never be at 100% fitness.
As for the Gracia nay sayers, 10th fastest qualifier in 4x and dh, the only other rider vaguely close to doing this is Polc. I'm sure Graves would get good results in DH if he entered for both, but for now Gracia is definitely the fastest guy racing in both events.
Would like to see Beaumont take another win, doubt it will happen with peaty looking so good and Minnaar and Gee on such good form at the moment but still, it would be good to see him finish of a good series on a high.
As for the Gracia nay sayers, 10th fastest qualifier in 4x and dh, the only other rider vaguely close to doing this is Polc. I'm sure Graves would get good results in DH if he entered for both, but for now Gracia is definitely the fastest guy racing in both events.
Would like to see Beaumont take another win, doubt it will happen with peaty looking so good and Minnaar and Gee on such good form at the moment but still, it would be good to see him finish of a good series on a high.
The more I see the likes of Minnaar, Peaty, and now Gee the more I'm in awe of just how smooth and seamless they are. Seeing them go through that wide sweeping turn on the Windham course with such ease vs. Matti who looked all ragged before eating it was a real eye opener.
^^^ I had precisely the same thought watching that video. Can't comprehend how they do that.
They had more exaggerated yaw than Matti
I used to think Matti had the worst luck ever but I think it has now got to the stage where is is obvious he is just pushing it a bit too far. You cannot ride on the ragged edge and not expect to have a few nasty falls each year. He needs to slow down a bit and start building again from there rather than just destroying himself.
I'm not saying what he is doing is right but I know exactly how he feels! I was never in top level racing but I was improving rapidly and possibly on my way there and then I ended up landing on my head on a concrete bridge from about 7 or 8 meters up. Lets just say my tuck and roll did not save my head from major brain trauma and I managed to get roasties through armour from my tail bone to my shoulders.
I was out for 3 months and I couldn't wait to get back on and when I did, it was very tentatively for the first few weeks and then I started putting the hammer down again but my fitness and mental sharpness wasn't there and in trying to match the speed I was used to, i broke my colarbone, then a major concussion, then another concussion and many ragged, hacker runs in between. I couldn't go as fast as I was used to and therefore riding in itself became boring, i never got that high from a pinned run or the nervousness before a big jump or any of that and it ruined my downhill.
I haven't ridden in over a year now purely because I'm terrified of injury and I've come to the conclusion that a year or two off, away from the pressure would allow me a fresh start. Lets hold thumbs. Its more tough than someone who hasn't been there can imagine and the likes of Cedric, Barel, Matti and all the others who have slipped off the proverbial back of the podium are my real hero's, they haven't given up, and I respect them hugely for that.
I certainly don't dissagree with anything you say and the people you mention are remarkable for coming back to the top level in the way they have. All I am saying is that it get to the point where it isn't really bad luck anymore and you have to look a bit deeper to find out why someone is crashing so much.
I completely agree with you Floor Tom.