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I'm kinda thinking I might add Gwin to my team for MSA for the same sort of reason. After Minnaar, I think Gwin is the 2nd oldest guy on the circuit. Once Minnaar retires, Gwin's gonna have to hold it down for the old guys.Quote:
Originally Posted by bennymac
Minaar winning at MSA would be all-time.
But yeah - Gwin winning, while not as momentous, would still be really amazing to see.
Guess I identify with the old guys for some reason :)
A classic Gwinning may coax Greg to postpone retirement. Win win
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I don't hate them, but yeah, you articulate why I prefer dry or not mud. The course changes, ruts blow out in both scenarios, but it seems accentuated in the mud/ or near full mud but on a hard base like this past weekend.Quote:
Originally Posted by bamboocoreONLY
I'm still rooting for Dak to pull one out this season.
Last world cup of the season! Weather looks good, most of the field is present and healthy, and the leaves are popping.
I always like the last race of the season - plenty of guys/girls whose contracts for next year aren't inked yet, trying to put it all on the line for a good result. And especially with the overall title already wrapped up for both men and women, it feels like we could see some unusual candidates on the podium. Will Dakota finally keep his shit together? Is Gwin back? Is Richie Rude gonna pull a Martin Maes? Is Stevens-Mcnab gonna cement his position in the top tier or blow up spectacularly? Is Brosnan faster from having 2 months off, or slower because he's a dad now? Is Minnaar gonna pull out something special for his last world cup race? Are the enduro ladies (Courdurier, Harnden) gonna contend?
Should be some great racing!
I'm not putting either of them on my team, but you gotta figure Loic and Vali are going to go scorched earth on this one. Overall in the bag. Potential is high for shaming the fields. Or explodered.
I dunno. Sometimes loic seems like he eases off a bit if there isn't something bigger (worlds, overall, etc.) on the line. Which is not to say that he'll go slow, just maybe riding at 98%, not 99.9%.
Vali always pushes though.
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I feel like Fin is going to put a lot of pressure on himself to win again, which I'm guessing to 75% chance of explodering.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the enduro guys / gals go all in, trying to get a feeling for where they would stack up if they switch. Season is done, so as long as they don't really hurt themselves, not a lot of risk. Hattie & Richie are my bets on the best enduro results.
I don’t think Finn won a WC until he stopped thinking it was his turn to win a WC. Mental game unstable.
Banging Tahnee ain’t gonna help him focus!!!
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Is enduro going to exist next year or in two years? It sucks, because I think it is where the majority of innovation in technology has been happening, but it is a tough event to sell on TV.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andeh
It’s on the calendar for next year, at least.
I figure enduro will kind of go the way of marathon. It still happens, there are plenty of pros that specialize in it, and it still means something to win it. But it doesn't get anywhere near the publicity of xc and dh, and contracts for the pros that race it are considerably less lucrative.
I'm fine with that. Enduro was never particularly tv friendly, and all the efforts to make it more tv friendly detracted from the races. They went from touring around the world at all kinds of super cool venues with rad trails to just having multi stage dh races in established bike parks, because they needed that infrastructure for the coverage. I'll take a return to great venues over better coverage.
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Agree
That said, I’ll always remember Marshall Olsen in here declaring that the future of wheel sizes would be 29er on XC bikes, 27.5” on All Mountain bikes, and 26” on DH bikes. Made a ton of sense at the time.
Whatever we predict, we’ll be wrong.
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Amaury out with broken fingers, lame.
How many times did Max Alran tuck the front wheel, in the rock garden , only to just ride out like it aint no thang? Kid was just floating down the track. Tyler probably lost 3 seconds but def not 8
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Looks like Tyler was down 4+ seconds after split one from Max, his split 4 was on par with Max give or take I think?
Solid race. Hard to say how much the weather was a factor. It was kinda surprising how far off the pace some guys were, but Troy, Lachie, etc. clearly showed that good times were still possible.
Wasn't quite the cap on the season I'd hoped for, but still an enjoyable watch.
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[emoji3595] that’s how I’d rate it too.
Unrelated question: is Sam Gaze mostly famous for being Sam Gaze? When I watch XC, it’s usually the XCO. Sometimes I’ll watch XCC early in the season when I’m desperate for some mountain bike racing, but it’s rare. Anyway, I notice the commentators commonly point out Sam Gaze when he’s on camera, and he’s always mid-pack.
Ten races next year.
I fucking loved that Race!
Totally stoked for Marine. The most consistently underrated top rider.
Absolutely stoked for Troy. I watched him almost win at Snowshoe a few years ago when Loic took it from him. Such a great rider, and such a class act. Go home, have a baby, get your priorities straight, come back, dominate.
Glad Laurie didn't win a just-because-of-weather race. Love the guy, but don't want him saddled with that.
Would love to have seen Lachie win one, but too happy for Troy! And with the year he's had, he's a hot ticket going into '25!
Think what you guys want, that was a solid race. And I forgot to save my Vital fantasy team!
If it makes you feel any better, I had Troy on my PB team, but I got nervous and dumped him for luca shaw.Quote:
Originally Posted by jm2e
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Didn’t you still score like 120 points? I scored 20 lolQuote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
Jess Blewitt is like Gee man. I cant bare to watch.I just want them to chill and just do some sweet vids
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MSA is the first race where I really thought the TV coverage was notably better. In the past it was mostly ski slope footage and really did make it look like a how-fast-can-you-go-in-a-straight-line track. Now I can see why so many riders say they love this track. Tons of actual trail!
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