[Akula_7]

I know threads about Sundays and Suspension Rebound this and that are way more exciting, but there is a wee race this weekend in Vigo,Spain.

So whats the hot bets on top 5?

I will be there, keepin' er sideways hopefully. If I can get a net connection in my hotel I will do a few updates, news gossip whatever

 

[biker3]

Peat
Hill
Gracia
Kovarik
Rennie

That course is pretty flat, Its gunna be one of the bigger guys who takes it. Peat won by like 3 seconds last year so he's got my vote.

 

[thaflyinfatman]

Hill, Kovarik, Rennie, Peat or Minnaar could well take it. There's always a chance somebody else could slip in as well, like Hannah (if he's doing the WCs this year) or one of them fast French fellas (Barel etc).

 

[SylentK]

Don't forget about Grimey Graves. He will be a threat this year.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

Gracia #2...

 

[blt2ride]

Don't forget about Grimey Graves. He will be a threat this year.

Yep...don't leave Jared Graves off this list. I'm not sure of the order, but I think that these names will be in the to 5.

Sam Hill
Steve Peat
Jared Graves
Greg Minnaar
Cedric Gracia

It kind of makes me wonder how big the pro class will be in Fontana...

 

[Dirt rider]

Peaty
Rennie
Hill

 

[stiksandstones]

Can not say I have seen enough of these guys riding in person to make a good call vs just throwing out all the usual names, but I can say I do hope for a few things....
-I hope Peaty wins the DH
-I hope Cedric does a top 3 in both 4x and DH
-I hope Lopez wins the 4X
-I hope Kovarik at least makes it to the first race without some lame passport excuse
-I hope Sam Hill is happier than he was at the Otter
-I hope Martin W. shows up with great news on some new series or something

 

[profro]

-I hope Sam Hill is happier than he was at the Otter

I don't know the guy, but I have to say he looks like a very up tight guy. I saw him at the Open last year and he looked like he was having a horrible time.

 

[MadDHer]

I put all my chips on the new Commencial kid from California. He did quite well on a hardtail in Big Bear once, and now that he has a full suspension bike he should kill it.

 

[LaytonDH]

It would be cool if VanDine put it all together this year. He's been training / riding a ton and going faster than ever

 

[dw]

I don't know the guy, but I have to say he looks like a very up tight guy. I saw him at the Open last year and he looked like he was having a horrible time.

Sam is just a quiet guy. He has a blast riding and racing, but doesn't really open up to people until he gets to know them.

Dave

 

[Jeremy R]

Sam is just a quiet guy. He has a blast riding and racing, but doesn't really open up to people until he gets to know them.

Dave

I will buy him a lollipop and be his friend if he will teach me to corner 1/10th as fast as him.
Or at least explain to me how he travels around corners at the same speed he goes in a straightaway.

 

[ska todd]

I don't know the guy, but I have to say he looks like a very up tight guy. I saw him at the Open last year and he looked like he was having a horrible time.

Sam just wears the game face in the days before an event. It's strictly business and what he does to win. After the actual racing happens he "gets loose" in typical Aussie fashion. Livigno was a classic example of this. Sam and dw running thru the streets screaming at the top of their lungs the whole time was anything but uptight.

At Otter, Sam was battling a bit of the travellers flu.

-ska todd

 

[bizutch]

....
At Otter, Sam was battling a bit of the travellers flu.

-ska todd

also more commonly known as the dreaded "not looking forward to pedaling your ass off in knee deep mud, uphill on flat pedals and a full face helmet" flu....

 

[Sherpa]

Peat
Minnar
Hill
Gracia
Rennie

In that order

 

[profro]

Sam just wears the game face in the days before an event. It's strictly business and what he does to win. After the actual racing happens he "gets loose" in typical Aussie fashion. Livigno was a classic example of this. Sam and dw running thru the streets screaming at the top of their lungs the whole time was anything but uptight.

At Otter, Sam was battling a bit of the travellers flu.

-ska todd

I don't doubt it. I saw him riding his trainer more than the trails at the Open. However I shared the lift with a few other Aussies and they seemed way more open and loose. It takes all types to make the world go around.

 

[sayndesyn]

From interviews I've read/watched he sounds like the person most motivated to win on the circuit these days...

 

[bikenweed]

The whole Spanish crew is in really good shape right now.

Oscar Saiz, David Vasquez, Ivan Oulego, Bernat Guardia, Pascual Canals, Himar Sanchez, and a couple more lesser known types are all very close in times at the nationals. Pascual is going faster than ever, and his style is seriously amazing. He makes Kovarik look like a little girl IMO. Ivan Oulego has figured out how to stay attatched to his bike, and has some very unique line choices working really well at all the races. Oscar is on flat pedals this season, and is super stoked on the change. Vasquez is flying, only 2 seconds off Barel's time at Gouveia. But keep in mind this is the third race weekend in a row for the Spanish crew, hopefully they won't be spent.

Mark Beaumont KILLED it at the Gouveia Maxxis Cup. I've never seen anyone ride that smoothly, ever. This could be his year. Barel's obviously feeling it, after winning a bunch of races lately.

I just booked my tickets to get up there on Thursday night, it's my first world cup race, and I'm absolutely terrified. I'm a tad over 10 seconds behind the podium at the Spanish nat's, but I've been training a lot these last few weeks in the gym rather than on the bike, hopefully that will help out. If anyone has any advice, let me know. Any other Americans going to be there racing?

-Jeff, www.xanga.com/bicycleweed

 

[sayndesyn]

Looks like a sweet track, have fun! Get in the witness protection program before Kovarik finds out you called him a girl

The whole Spanish crew is in really good shape right now.

Oscar Saiz, David Vasquez, Ivan Oulego, Bernat Guardia, Pascual Canals, Himar Sanchez, and a couple more lesser known types are all very close in times at the nationals. Pascual is going faster than ever, and his style is seriously amazing. He makes Kovarik look like a little girl IMO. Ivan Oulego has figured out how to stay attatched to his bike, and has some very unique line choices working really well at all the races. Oscar is on flat pedals this season, and is super stoked on the change. Vasquez is flying, only 2 seconds off Barel's time at Gouveia. But keep in mind this is the third race weekend in a row for the Spanish crew, hopefully they won't be spent.

Mark Beaumont KILLED it at the Gouveia Maxxis Cup. I've never seen anyone ride that smoothly, ever. This could be his year. Barel's obviously feeling it, after winning a bunch of races lately.

I just booked my tickets to get up there on Thursday night, it's my first world cup race, and I'm absolutely terrified. I'm a tad over 10 seconds behind the podium at the Spanish nat's, but I've been training a lot these last few weeks in the gym rather than on the bike, hopefully that will help out. If anyone has any advice, let me know. Any other Americans going to be there racing?

-Jeff, www.xanga.com/bicycleweed

 

[DylanDeanDesign]

Should be interesting nonetheless....

1. Peat
2. Minnaar
3. Hill
4. Rennie
5. Kovarik
6. Gracia

man....there could be a stack of guys any given race on the podium..

Graves, Hannah, Pascal, Vazquez, etc...

 

[Bobodaclown]

-I hope Martin W. shows up with great news on some new series or something

There always seems to be some kind of rumour about this.

I reckon the top five will be Peat, M Beaumont, Hill, Rennie, Minnaar. I hope Peat wins.

Except Vasquez could chuck a cheeky little spanner in the works also.

 

[bballe336]

Peaty, Gracia, and Barel are my top 3 prediction. For the 4x It will be lopes as always.

 

[caballero]

you all forgot the athertons !

for DH my money is on :

kovarik
gee
graves

in 4X it would be cool to see gracia back on top or roger rinderknecht ...and i hope my buddy will kick ass in 4x !!

 

[luiz carlos]

Any good spanish sites to see news from the race???????????

 

[bikenweed]

Any good spanish sites to see news from the race???????????

www.foromtb.com, go to the downhill forum. There's already about 15 different threads discussing Vigo. Some actually contain good info.

 

[Gary]

Mark Beaumont KILLED it at the Gouveia Maxxis Cup. I've never seen anyone ride that smoothly, ever. This could be his year. Barel's obviously feeling it, after winning a bunch of races lately.

Aye, Marc Beaumont is amazing to watch when he's on it. Could definitely see him winning a WC round this year.

 

[Bati]

Pizarro's gonna win in women

 

[Colombian DHer]

this would be the podium in any order
-Peat
-Minnaar
-Kovarik
-Barel
-Hannah

 

[AusRottenVirus]

Come on Grubby!!!

 

[BRIANBUELL]

I would like to see Graves do well for sure. Gee just getting better, Peaty just cuase he's peaty, Gracia is going to be a force, he actually hired a personal trainer for the season and when i saw him at otter he was huge! Rennie, Kovarick, Minnar, Van Din, Hannah, HILL, Marc, Many Spaniards. Its going to be a good close one! I can't decide!

 

[JohnnyBoyDH]

Nobody likes Michael Pascal anymore? That dude flys under the radar like crazy, but is ALWAYS on the podium somewhere...most likely won't win, but I think he will be up there. Other than that were looking at Minnar, Hill, Peaty

 

[caballero]

yeah looks like the 06 season is full of possible winners

what about brendan fairclough....still on orange ? i think he will be fast too..

 

[General Lee]

Rennie, Kovarick, Minnar, Van Dine, Hannah, Hill . . .

Any of those names look a little out of place? maybe a bit of wishful thinking?

 

[ÆX]

The whole Spanish crew is in really good shape right now.

Oscar Saiz, David Vasquez, Ivan Oulego, Bernat Guardia, Pascual Canals, Himar Sanchez, and a couple more lesser known types are all very close in times at the nationals. Pascual is going faster than ever, and his style is seriously amazing. He makes Kovarik look like a little girl IMO. Ivan Oulego has figured out how to stay attatched to his bike, and has some very unique line choices working really well at all the races. Oscar is on flat pedals this season, and is super stoked on the change. Vasquez is flying, only 2 seconds off Barel's time at Gouveia. But keep in mind this is the third race weekend in a row for the Spanish crew, hopefully they won't be spent.

Mark Beaumont KILLED it at the Gouveia Maxxis Cup. I've never seen anyone ride that smoothly, ever. This could be his year. Barel's obviously feeling it, after winning a bunch of races lately.

I just booked my tickets to get up there on Thursday night, it's my first world cup race, and I'm absolutely terrified. I'm a tad over 10 seconds behind the podium at the Spanish nat's, but I've been training a lot these last few weeks in the gym rather than on the bike, hopefully that will help out. If anyone has any advice, let me know. Any other Americans going to be there racing?

-Jeff, www.xanga.com/bicycleweed

you are living a lot of peoples dream, you know that?

is this you? i thought you would be older?

 

[ÆX]

Nobody likes Michael Pascal anymore? That dude flys under the radar like crazy, but is ALWAYS on the podium somewhere...most likely won't win, but I think he will be up there. Other than that were looking at Minnar, Hill, Peaty

i do, he is my fav dher!

if we do any cool line at a dh race we "pascal it!"

 

[tmoney727t]

is cody warren loooking lright this year?

 

[MadDHer]

You guys are AWESOME! Fantasy DH!
And who says MTB isn't mainstream....

 

[dante]

main question is will Peaty be faster or slower on his V-10? Wil lbe interesting to see...


(we should start a DH fantasy pool, assign each of the riders a salary, give everybody an annual budget, then give points for what position each rider ends up in. that'd be kooool. )

 

[bikenweed]

is this you? i thought you would be older?

Yep, that's me. I'm 21 years old. Senior at CalPoly, studying abroad for the year. Trying to race some World Cups now so that when I come back in two years to do some more competitive racin', I'll have some more experience. The Euro scene is a bit different, and it'll be a huge help to have an idea of how things work for future visits. Plus, it's fun to race on good tracks with fast peeps. And cheaper than NORBA's.


Yeah, it's everyone's "goal" to go to Europe and just ride and race, and it's not really all that hard. You just need to know what to compromise in other areas of your life to make things work out.

I just read on mtbr.com that Kote Driscoll missed Firestone because she's over here to do some racin'. Is that true? What other Americans are here?