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It's time to
[Ric]Open
The
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Thread[/Ric]
For our lunchtime entertainment the juniors are about to start and the weather is still holding up. They won't be the case later during the elite qualies.
Van Leuven, Sanchez and Bouladou are joined by another fast kiwi in the ladies race.
For the lads, I can't see further than Pinkerton or Kiefer today.
Drone footage is great through the woods, much better than previous rounds.
Must be bloody annoying and off-putting to have that whirring away a few feet behind you though.
It's this weekend? Excellent PSA, thanks.
Must be bloody annoying and off-putting to have that whirring away a few feet behind you though.
they wont even hear it as they are concentrating
I'd bet that they barely register the chainsaws
Jordan Williams crushing it in qualifying.
https://prod.chronorace.be/angular/results.html#/uci/event/20230629_mtb/DHI/CG1/dh/2/res?ll=168813420533
hmmm, it's worth 50 points fo'shure, but also it just tells the other riders what the target is to beat, I'm not sure "smashing it" in qualifying is necessarily the smartest move under the new rules Isn't Jordan protected rider now as well?
Is the DH finals Sat or Sunday this week?
I think being almost 2 seconds clear at the head of the field in your 3rd Elite race is not exactly a bad message to send. It's not like the other riders aren't trying.
He's been vocal about how much he enjoys the track when everyone else is having a whinge. Good luck to him.
@MSP they're on Saturday
Reece Wilson didn't make the semis by 0.179 seconds.
Minaar and Oisin DNF, although Greg is protected for the semis. Antoine Vidal DNS, hopefully that's nothing serious.
It’s not like the other riders aren’t trying.
He hopes. If you think that the likes of Kolb (7th) Vergier (9th) Illes (24th) and Bruni (16th) not to mention Jackson and Greenland can't match or better that time, I've a bridge in London I'd like to sell you 😂
Blimey.
That'll polish out
Carbon fibre doing what it does best. Being incredibly strong and saving up damage ready for a timely release.
He hopes. If you think that the likes of Kolb (7th) Vergier (9th) Illes (24th) and Bruni (16th) not to mention Jackson and Greenland can’t match or better that time, I’ve a bridge in London I’d like to sell you 😂
Chill out mate, I don't want to fight about it. Is it my use of the word 'crushing' that hurt you?
I should have just said well done Jordan, who went slightly faster than everyone else who is definitely not riding at full speed yet.
Chill out mate, I don’t want to fight about it. Is it my use of the word ‘crushing’ that hurt you?
Yeah, I'm chill, just banter, sorry (see smiley at the end of the post?) words lost in translation
It's that frame the one from the privateer programme?
Does Wyn do crash replacements?
He hopes. If you think that the likes of Kolb (7th) Vergier (9th) Illes (24th) and Bruni (16th) not to mention Jackson and Greenland can’t match or better that time, I’ve a bridge in London I’d like to sell you 😂
Uhh do you not remember when Williams won his first ever elite WC? Of course he can be better than them, because he has shown he can be.
JW (I'm going to start calling him Jay-Dub) set the fastest time of the day last year when the track was in the worst condition we've ever seen. He's obviously loves the place.*
I'm not calling him for the win it's just amazing to see him so strong, so soon.
I've been following this since it was the Grundigs I know predictions are pointless.
*I've been there I'm terrified of it.
Wow thats quite a spectacular failure. Do we think he will get a crash replacement warranty claim for it
It's alright he just borrowed it. After he had all of his own bikes stolen. He's having quite the season.
Update. He also (Roger Vieira) qualified 34th. Not sure what bike he used!
What a few results qualies threw up. Hart back in top 10, Greenland second, and those young ones still smashing it. Williams set the fastest time as a junior last year, beating Vergiers winning time, so no reason to think he won't smash it this weekend.
Nice to see the womans competitive. Shame Tahnee is a little off the pace so far this season.
This looks so easy. He's not even breathing
Carbon fibre doing what it does best. Being incredibly strong and saving up damage ready for a timely release.
well at least it didn’t implode on him
https://www.youtube.com/live/GqS3BTAho1E?feature=share
well at least it didn’t implode on him
Brutal.
Roger Veira to GT warranty dept. “So I was just riding along when…”
https://www.youtube.com/live/cEUcRYGMSno?
Qualifierssemi finals are now live
Hell hath no fury like a GT fury, does the privateer programme come with medical and dental insurance 😂
Vali Holl is trying to get that woman sacked!
Blimey.
Took me a while to work out this wasn't some kind of para-DH handcycle.
Jay Dub 1 second back with a rear puncture. His run looked so clean and undramatic. The kid is a killing machine.
Wtf happened to Greenland? This coverage is mad.
Why would Cedric Gracia leave to commentary for the last 3 riders down ? It's the business end of the semi finals and your hype guy isn't there .
I think the novelty of the semi finals has worn off for me and I'll just be watching the finals now .
Hugey for Tahnee in finals.
She's nervous about injury already so that's not good for her. Looks OK but was nasty!
I think Tahnee came back too soon, she needs to get her head right, maybe see a sports psychologist, she's riding with the fear. Hope she's okay.
Wtf happened to Greenland? This coverage is mad
He crashed before the first split. It doesn't matter who's broadcasting, we wouldn't have seen anything in any case.
Just following the live timing as I’m not a subscriber, times are getting slower. I’m guessing it’s raining now?
It's looking very slippery out there, but they're going from dust to slick and back again all the way down the track. Jacob Jewett just had a fairly wild ride, credit is due for staying onboard.
The commentary is much less shouty this weekend. Much better, for me at least.
BRUNI!!!
Awww that's a shame, he was looking swift, chain jam?
Dunne made it clear that there's potential for the top ten to nudge Kerr off the podium...
Hart looking fast and ragged
Daprela
Wow. Just wow
Goldstone!
It's pretty unpredictable, none of the last 4 hot seat occupants have had consistent sectors, they've all gained/lost time in different places it seems...
Come on Jordan
He's in touch
Noooo!
Blimey, that Drone seemed like it was all over Vergier.
Gutted for Jordan, but also stoked for Jackson. The young'uns are on fire.
The first of many to come for Jackson I’m sure. 2 and a bit seconds, that’s some margin!
A Goldstone win was inevitable and there it is.
It was only a matter of when for Goldstone, but what a day to do it. Arguably the best race of the year so far
Arguably the best race of the year so far
In the top three for me for sure.
I was a little disappointed with the women's (final) race, it starts to feel like another era of one rider just coming out and crushing it each weekend is beginning. Which was always on the cards I suppose, but now Höll aparrently has her eye in I think she's going to be the forgone conclusion for a while yet. Which is a shame from a purely selfish perspective of wanting to see a competitive/unpredictable race.
That said, Hemstreet in P3 (IIRC) was just totally rad to watch, rough looking crash and straight back onto the bike and into the air! 😲
The men's final was exciting for sure. Kerr on the hotseat for ages... Brosnan was enough into the green that he looked to have won it. Daprela could have taken the win but for that front wheel slide (and, again, amazing to have such an incident and still be on the podium). Bruni storming down and then suddenly mysteriously not any more: drivetrain issues perhaps?
At the end though a great first elite win for Goldstone. Perhaps even more so given JW is a bit of a VDS specialist: there's probably some psychological edge to be gained simply by Goldstone winning there of all tracks.
Might have to rewatch some of it today 🤣
What the hell went wrong with Bruno's drivetrain, I couldn't see any issues at the finish line, chain was still on, he just couldn't turn the cranks for most of his run, reminded me of Warner with the lack of pedalling, did some of that top secret shrouding come loose and jam into the chainring. Jackson and Vali both pushing it to extreme limits like theirs lives depended on it, definitely more wins coming for both this year if they manage to stay upright, Hardline in a couple of weeks.
Yeah that was a blast.
Goldstone rode himself into the hot seat after taming the snake at Val Di Sole Trentino 😃😃😃😃😃
Aye I think I may have heard the phrase "Val di Sole Trentino" enough to be going on with for one lifetime 🤣
But that said, I thought the commentary came together a bit better this time round in terms of Rik and Cedric's interactions. Still a few non-sequiteur moments, but Rik seemed to be asking Cedric more leading questions to get more of a rider/team perspective on what was going on.
I still miss the line choice analysis stuff mind. Particular low point was Rik saying: "talk us through the lines here, Cedric", and Cedric having enough time to say "outside, inside, middle" before the rider was through the section and it was off screen again 🤣😭
The commentary was great apart from mentioning snake puns every 4 seconds.
Superb mens race. Fantastic. The whole top 20 is so close now, its a huge field.
Woman's was less a spectacle. I'm hoping Balanche and Hoffman (and Rachel) can push Holl so it's more entertaining, but can't knock what she did. Great run
Racing was great in both the DH and XC but, I don't think the commentary is getting much better.
Cedric just isn't natural or able to get the right words and phrases out. Maybe better in his own language, and I do hope they get it sorted but, it's a bit of a car crash at the mo.
Rob Warner and Matt Jones on the Redbull rooftop event was much better.
Really enjoyed the racing. the DH was good, with the rain clearly influencing the times on track I really did wonder if Kerr woud stay on the hotseat all the way, but as it dried up the speeds came right back, and some. Looked really sketchy when greasy.
The XC, again, was great to watch. the tactiic of the day was get out ahead and keep pushing, for both the womens and the mens.
What was clear was that the course was really really tough. very techical in places both up and down through roots, deep dusty section and pretty sharp inclines.
Nino was very impressive. he just keeps pushing on and on, even with a massive gap, just attacking everywhere he could. looked like he was really enjoying the ride, which is such a positive to watch.
XC for me, commentry was ok when Bart got a word in and if I hear "Mona Mittenwalder" one more time I'm going to throw a hissy fit. It's the new "carrying good speed" of the Warner era.
Think VdS would be a good visit next year. All the categories in one weekend seeing as Lenzerheide is off the schedule.
XC for me
yeah, I find the DH is OK. The racing is great, but the commentary is a bit off. Ric sortof gets excited, mildly, and cedric's script is made frm alphabetty spaghetti, it's not easy to follow.
XC however is much better, Bart s a good commentator, but sometimes the off tangient commentary gets a bit terry wogan, but without the humour.
was watching the british national champs, Oli Beckinsale (A name I've not heard since the 90's!) did a great job I thought.
Cedric just isn’t natural or able to get the right words and phrases out.
I think Ric is OK, he's already clearly pretty confident, give it time, he'll be fine in the role, Cedric...I can see why they chose him, all that experience, has done some commentary in the past, but perhaps just can't figure it out in a second language fast enough, God knows I couldn't do that in French. I can imagine Discovery starting to audition natural English speaking ex-racers to fill the place, it's not like there's a shortage of decent candidates: Gee Atherton maybe?
Gee Atherton maybe?
Says 'You Know' far too much to be a commentator. Like the new Pinkbike guy, like saying like all the like, time. Like.
Reece Wilson is a superb commentator so racers can do it. Like, you know.
I’d pay good money (well, the Discovery subscription fee) if they managed to poach Ben Cathro from Pinkbike.
Cathro would indeed be ace in the booth I think.
Having said that, it might be a bit of a case of "beware what you wish for". The PB content from Cathro and his team is a significant value-add over the course of the race weekend for me, not to mention some of the longer-form story-driven stuff they did last year which was genuinely very interesting and insightful.
In some kind of ideal dream world we could have it all, but I don't know whether that's a practical ask in reality.
I was impressed with Ric and Reece Wilson's commentary for the world champs last year. It was a refreshing change from the hypeman/expert combo. Accent wise it works from my English speaking northwest European pov, obviously not for other parts of the world taking a peek below the line elsewhere on the internet.
Controversial, but I think Cathro is awful. I'd like to see his behind the tape type videos but with a more polished format and a presenter that isn't trying to be 'wacky' all the time