MTB World cup

#1

Man, I was pumped to see Absalon get over Schurter last night! First lap was deja vu from last week and I was just shaking my head about how Nino can rip a field apart like that, but man, it didnt take long for him to come back to the chasing group… I went to bed when he had floated all the way back to 5th or so, between the two BHSuntour dudes, so it was also cool to hear that he came back to second.

The two of them are just so great, I like em both, but for whatever reason I am always hoping for an Absalon win.
Dan again had a pretty conservative start and finished off well with 6th place… its great to have an Aussie to cheer for.

Looked a lot less technical than the previous two rounds, was nice to see Sven Nys in the results too. I wonder if he will have (or has had?) a crack at many other courses at this level.

Girls… well, its a one-woman show at the moment and I’m digging it. Ferand Prevot is monstering everyone!

Loving the red bull coverage.

#2

I’ll have to watch the replay, too much giro for me!
Good to see there a decent battle on between Absalon and Schurter still. Last week’s race was more technical and Schurter was on a dually which seemed to help.

#3

Next year!

The women’s race was so good last night, and by the sounds of it the mens was also awesome. Will watch tonight.

So cool to see Dahle and Neff duking it out up front, must be 20 years age gap between them, but separated by one second at the end of 90mins of flat stick riding.

Course looked so good, too… BMX section looked fun, and did a good job of separating the women on skill, and so many little flicks and offs due to the roots. Reinforced my desire to one year follow the XC world cups and ride the trails.

Ferrand-Prevot was pretty close to bridging to the leaders on the second last lap but seemed to blow up a bit after a half lap effort. Apparently she’s been sick, so hoping to see her give it heaps this weekend. Her style is awesome, though I think the best ragged-edge footage was Neff over the rock garden on the last lap trying to keep her gap… I couldn’t believe how loose she was over it.

PS, I think the commentators are some of the best I’ve heard… didn’t pick up even a hint of sexism or objectification, just a solid respect for how hard they were smashing eachother, and commenting on strengths and weaknesses as athletes, as it should be. A massive, massive contrast to tennis coverage.

MTB rules.

#4

Who did the coverage? Red Bull?

#5

yeah, i was watching on redbull.tv I guess they keep them up for a while to watch later?

#6

Albstadt… A lumpy rail trail. But still GRD and Pendrel seem to be mounting some kind of challenge here. Neff is a badass.

#7

Oh man Manon went down so hard. Props to her for getting back up and finishing.

#8

Yeah, I was cheering Manon, hoping she would gap that time to Rachel. Claudio said she was going to have a crack at the jump and she looked quick, but…
Still guttsy to get back up and cross the line.

#9

Just watched Leogang, so much drama in Women and Mens racing.
#nospoilers

#10

Have re-watched the winning run twice.
Other highlights are excellent.

#11

Too hot for the RedBull cameras, no coverage.
Maybe they can piece something together later.
Men’s result is awesome.

#12

Redbull coverage is now up.

#13

Downhill from Mont Sainte Anne was awesome, great result.
Watched my first xc in ages and the Shurter/Absolon battle is just fantastic to watch.
In sad news, a rider died in Crested Butte during the Enduro World Series. Race was cancelled out of respect.

#14

This is a lot of stuff…

Imagine how many bike rebuilds were down on DH bikes over the quali/finals days.

//youtu.be/JGuV3OA9zH8

#15

Neff on the first lap at mt snt anne, she is the most courageous rider of em all. Goes out hard, gets and stays so bloody loose the entire race, never looks back. Eats it a few times on the rocks, not even a problem! Was actually happy to see nino take a win, too. And ratboy. Rachel is bloody amazing, still making it look pretty easy.

#16

Mens race made a come back in the battle to win my heart at Wyndham. Another classic Schurlon battle, with Many Fumic up there giving em a shake up. The DH course looked a little tame compared to MSA last week, but the XC looked tops.

#17

That was an excellent mens xc race.
So good to see Missy having a crack in the DH, Rachel is unbeatable atm, 9sec win on a 3min course, just unbelievable.
I felt for Bruni, he was having a great run before the flat, though Gwinning would have kept on.

#18

Settling in for Val Di Sole… this track is so mad! So many good runs been put down in the past here. Brosnan or Gwin for me, Brosnans run as a juniour here a few years ago was so bloody tidy! But man, if Sam Hill just opens it up a la 2008, even Gwin will have no answer. Women, Rachel again, I guess.

#19

The young Frenchman, Bruni’s teammate is my pick.
Verbeier?

#20

ah yep, solid. Nicole’s time might hold!!