[trib]

I tried the search function and couldnt find a thread dedicated to this, so here goes.

It seems that there will only be 6 rounds for the 2010 season, surely this is an odd move on behalf of the UCI?

I think the racers may enjoy a shorter season with less traveling but any mistakes will be much harder to make up for with less points on offer overall.

The only real plus point I can think of is that smaller teams will be able to get their riders to more events and have more of an opportunity to get experience at a higher level...

Anyone who depends on racing to make money is going to be pretty pissed off though I can imagine

What are your opinions? a good or bad move by the UCI?

 

[Transcend]

It's a move due to lack of money by the UCI to hold 8 events, plain and simple.

Nissan's title sponsorship is over as of this season, and they are not renewing. While many of the racers are bummed, the team managers I have spoken too are all pretty pumped as they will save a gigantic amount of money (no africa, no australia, no new zealand etc) and will be able to hit up more events like crankworx, US Open, wheels of speed etc where their sponsors can get massive publicity and racers can win real $$ for prizes.

Everyone is pretty bummed to see the World Cup fading, however. There has been lots of talk recently of a rival series to compete with the world cup.

No successful racers are depending on World Cup prize money to pay their bills, as the payout is pretty damn low. Wheels of Speed, US Open etc are way better pay days for those guys.

 

[Eastern States Cup]

So is the World Cup going to go the way of the NORBA Nationals??

Remember the demise when Chevy pulled out.

 

[Damo]

Chocolate will be next year's sponsor.
You heard it here first.

 

[trib]

I thought that sponsorship of the series was probably the reason.

I meant photographers, mechanics etc are going to see a loss of earning with a shorter season, not teh racers themselves. should have been clearer.

As long as there is quality racing to follow it doesnt really matter to me where the events are. You cant deny though that a shorter Cup with lots of one off races wont be as exciting to follow as a longer Cup series where all the races count towards something.

 

[ska todd]

Since 03 the number of rounds per season is:

03 = 6 DH/4X rounds
04 = 6 "
05 = 8 "
06 = 6 "
07 = 5 "
08 = 7 "
09 = 8 "

So, by my quick guestimate the average is about 6.5 per season. This won't cause the universe to collapse. If anything it makes for better racing. I'd prefer to see 6 venues with great courses than 8 venues with a couple half-assed ones. As one team manager told me "they are all man courses". Expect to see extra-motivated riders and fans in 010!

-ska todd

 

[stiksandstones]

What Todd said.

And this season and last have put a few teams out of business...expenses-wise.

Did you not get the memo that we are in a global recession?

 

[Uncle Cliffy]

Wasn't it 2006 or 07 that there was only 5 stops because the U.S. round and others had to pull out?

Edit: Todd beat me to it. I'm just stoked to hear of a U.S. stop...

 

[ojaiDH]

less racing exposure will mean less racing which will mean less exposure.... If the sport is to grow and become strong again (as in $$$ and tv coverage for the masses) there needs to be more racing. more exposure will draw in more sponsors which will draw in major corperations. MTB racing has the fewest events of any sport. and has the smallest pay checks. kind of funny if you think about it. High cost, high danger and no pay out. racing costs a ton of money and the manufactures put so little back into the sport that I'm supprised that the sport progresses at all. I'm not saying that I ride for money or anything (I suck) but I'd like to see a future for all the young guns out there who ride their hearts out, spend a ton of $ to buy their gear, become great riders, get sponsored, and then learn they still have to have a job to pay to go race.

 

[ska todd]

Ojai - Comparative to the amount of product sold, DH get's way more of it's proverbial "slice of the pie" when it comes to budgeting comparative to sales. There are several other disciplines of cycling all vying for an ever shrinking budget number. Just b/c we have more rounds doesn't mean we need or can use more rounds. There is a saturation point for the media. They physically cannot cover say a dozen WC DH events, have the pages to put it in, etc. We cannot just "will" TV coverage to happen. We've been waiting for that golden goose to come around for a decade now - guess what? It ain't happenin' (at least for 010). A privateer team or a "young gun" can probably string together the budget to do all 6 rounds next season. There is no travel to RSA, Australia, NZ, or Brazil. One of those events alone will ding 1/4 of your budget alone in travel expenses! (though I was looking forward to seeing a round in Argentina or Chile as was rumored early on).

-ska todd

 

[Transcend]

Chocolate will be next year's sponsor.
You heard it here first.

Nope, heard it in Willingen first actually...except it isn't enough.

 

[epic]

6 rounds sucks. This has been such a great season, I'm so glad that it's not one race away from completion.

 

[mccdh]

I think less races is less for the sport, but one way I have looked at it (strictly from a fans point of view) is that the courses they have chosen for 2010 are of the better DH courses. Don't get me wrong, I understand an overall title is important to have variety in the series but I think the courses they have chosen will focus more on the true technical abilities (without really knowing all of the courses inside-out). Maybe someone who has been to most of them (transcend etc) can chime in with more insight. Quality over Quantity so maybe less is more? I have very little industry info but I think downhill is growing every season, racers are becoming marketable to non-dh geeks, new fans are catching onto the excitement of racing. This is just the way I see it. LIke others have said it, less WCs means more chances to hit the other races and expand marketing and more $$$, so hopefully this is good for the sport.

Dare i kick this horse....Sharpie UCI Downhill MTB WC

 

[Transcend]

This year's schedule is easier and cheaper for everyone involved. The courses are also off the hook... Maribor, Ft Bill, Schladming, Val Di Sole, Champery, Windham and Ste Anne.

With the exception of Windham (never been there), all of those courses I can assure are gnarly as hell. It will be a KILLER season, no lame Africa trips/expenses/courses.

 

[Gunner]

(IMO) I think this will def help as far as media coverage goes. Less rounds to cover obviously means that fixed budgets can be spread further to get coverage at more races/events. So hopefully this means that those freelance videographers with lots of vaca' time to kill will actually get some WC work next year? *I can dream right?*

 

[Cant Climb]

Which season had the 5 rounds crammed in 5 weeks....?....that was the worst year for WC, as a fan....

6 spread out is perfect....

Anyone (stik) know the most they ever had.......wasnt there 12 one year....?

 

[jonKranked]

Actually, I think this could be good. There are plenty of other non-WC events (as was stated earlier). Also, fewer WC events will give the athletes a bit more time per event, so hopefully overall they will be in better form.

 

[trib]

well ive definitely come round to the idea of less rounds, so either im fickle or you guys are good at getting your points across....

it would seem from team managers and racers points of view it will be better, the only people annoyed are the greedy fans such as myself who want top notch racing every week. Even then with weak tracks like SA taken out we'll be getting better racing anyway.

Cant wait for the 2010 season now!!

 

[John P.]

Chocolate will be next year's sponsor.
You heard it here first.

Did Rennie have a hand in that deal?? ;-)

. . . Expect to see extra-motivated riders and fans in 010!

. . . (at least for 010) . . .

Bro, it's just '10! That is, unless you referred to the 80's as the "980's" and your birthdate as "975".

On topic though, I'd love to see one more wisely-located race thrown in there to help out the racer who has a fluke crash or mechanical and loses a ton of points because of it (Peaty's flat last week comes to mind). It seems like Bromont or La Bresse would be good cost-effective choices.

--JP

 

[scottishmark]

So is the World Cup going to go the way of the NORBA Nationals??

Remember the demise when Chevy pulled out.

The World Cup has been there in the past and pulled through. Remember what happened when Grundig pulled out? (I still think of the World Cups as the Grundigs! That must make me old?)

 

[Sandwich]

I'm just excited for a US round. I'd still prefer to see a mega-event from the top of big whiteface (10 minute world cup runs what), it's still east coast, US, and certainly driveable.

 

[John P.]

I'm just excited for a US round. I'd still prefer to see a mega-event from the top of big whiteface (10 minute world cup runs what), it's still east coast, US, and certainly driveable.

If I were DH Mike & Co., I'd be busting balls to put together some major race event at Whiteface for that weekend before Windham. As of right now, it looks like a pretty empty weekend on the calendar, but don't be surprised if Crankworx lands in that spot soon.

If Whiteface could raise a few thousand in prize money and put on a top-notch event on that weekend, it would be relatively easy to attract a big field of WC racers and really make an impression.

 

[RUFUS]

I'm hoping that more WC riders will come to the US Open next season. There was a decent turnout of top pros at this years but with this 6 race schedule maybe we will see more big names. Blenkinsop and Peaty would be great to see here.

 

[RUFUS]

What the hell do you know about putting on sick events???

Did Rennie have a hand in that deal?? ;-)




Bro, it's just '10! That is, unless you referred to the 80's as the "980's" and your birthdate as "975".

On topic though, I'd love to see one more wisely-located race thrown in there to help out the racer who has a fluke crash or mechanical and loses a ton of points because of it (Peaty's flat last week comes to mind). It seems like Bromont or La Bresse would be good cost-effective choices.

--JP

 

[Sandwich]

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but what's the deal with the Open? Is it a Diablo-only event, or put on by a real competitive organization, or what? Seems really odd to me that it's so early in the season and riders from all over the world compete in it.

 

[John P.]

What the hell do you know about putting on sick events???

Just that if you give out tons of free hugeflatbilled hats you'll get a great turnout.

Plenty of Kenda XC tubes on the prize table seems to help, too.

 

[RUFUS]

Just that if you give out tons of free hugeflatbilled hats you'll get a great turnout.

Plenty of Kenda XC tubes on the prize table seems to help, too.

hahaha.

Forgot my smilie in the other post, don't want people to think that I am an e-douchebag.

 

[jonKranked]

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but what's the deal with the Open? Is it a Diablo-only event, or put on by a real competitive organization, or what? Seems really odd to me that it's so early in the season and riders from all over the world compete in it.

Diablo only event. Wanna know what pulls in the pros? two words "cash" and "purse".


Although some people would show up if it was just "purse"

 

[Sandwich]

so they just decided to call it the US Open?

 

[John P.]

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but what's the deal with the Open? Is it a Diablo-only event, or put on by a real competitive organization, or what? Seems really odd to me that it's so early in the season and riders from all over the world compete in it.

As I understand it, Diablo just started holding a race there and calling it the US Open (I'm pretty sure they did a similar thing with a snowboard comp).

Pros show up because there's a huge cash payout (relative to other races anyway). Also, Iron Horse used to be a title sponsor of it in the past, so they would bring Hill & Co. there. I think that may have helped get some momentum behind the whole thing.

 

[Sandwich]

way cool, thank you for the info.

 

[RUFUS]

Very respectable cash purse as well. The pros seem to enjoy the course for the most part as well.

 

[trib]

steve jones from dirt mag loved diablo when dirt did an east coast trip a year or so back, he seems to know what riders like in a course

 

[jonKranked]

so they just decided to call it the US Open?

Yup. The same way they decided to call themselves "America's Premier Bike Park".

 

[Eastern States Cup]

If I were DH Mike & Co., I'd be busting balls to put together some major race event at Whiteface for that weekend before Windham. As of right now, it looks like a pretty empty weekend on the calendar, but don't be surprised if Crankworx lands in that spot soon.

If Whiteface could raise a few thousand in prize money and put on a top-notch event on that weekend, it would be relatively easy to attract a big field of WC racers and really make an impression.

I'm positive another mountain in the area has submitted a request for a UCI point race the weekend before, hopefully things can be worked out. Something about a $5000 pro purse was mentioned as well.

 

[ska todd]

Bro, it's just '10! That is, unless you referred to the 80's as the "980's" and your birthdate as "975".

If that was the case, shouldn't it just be "8" or "9" for 2008 & 2009? 010 logically comes after 08 & 09

-ska todd

 

[RUFUS]

If that was the case, shouldn't it just be "8" or "9" for 2008 & 2009? 010 logically comes after 08 & 09

-ska todd

Plus it is more fun to say.

VOODOO, hopefully that works out, that would be sick.

 

[AlCapone]

Dare i kick this horse....Sharpie UCI Downhill MTB WC

Well, some teams already depend on Sharpie if you catch my drift...

 

[davetrump]

I'm positive another mountain in the area has submitted a request for a UCI point race the weekend before, hopefully things can be worked out. Something about a $5000 pro purse was mentioned as well.

even if they missed the deadline to register a uci event (deadline was 2 days ago) an event with a cash purse would be a better draw (and cheaper than paying all the uci fees)

no need to give out uci points since all the riders traveling to windham would have them already, and anyone in need of points would most likely get shutout by the top guys anyway.... an even if you did score the points needed for a WC at this event you would still be past the deadline to register for windham (ask the guys who got 20 pts at us natinals last year and were told they were still not allowed into the candian WC's 2 weeks later.... LAME)

the only reason to go through al the hoops for the UCI would be if you wanted to put in a bid for a WC. and while said mountain is near and dear to us in the east they do not have the facilities to host such an event even though they could construct an awesome track.


honestly though i do not see too many of the top guys going balls out the weekend before world cup finals and world championships if they are title condenders.... however, anyone outside the top 5 would surely pin in to win it if there was a sizable incentive.

 

[Gunner]

and while said mountain is near and dear to us in the east they do not have the facilities to host such an event even though they could construct an awesome track.

What, you don't think Jacy or Sean could get the Monster truck into the back parking lot at the Valkyrian?