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2019 World Cup XC

144K views 2K replies 170 participants last post by  TDLover 
#1 · (Edited)
I thought I'd start a new thread to kick off the new season. Given that most of the racers have just begun training for the 2019 season, one could say it's officially underway.

I have many questions. There are so many interesting narratives.

So, is 2019 the year we see Nino regularly beaten, is Gerhard Kerschbaumer the man to do it?
Does Emily finally take a win, or is her new teammate going to steal the show again?
What about Yana Belomoyna, can she overcome her injuries and compete for the overall again?
Will the UCI do anything to improve the short track?
Will Red Bull finally get their act together and gives us live on bike footage during the race? It's about to be 2019, the camera tech is definitely available and no longer expensive. Imagine how much a front and back facing camera would enhance the show...

Discuss.

World Cup schedule

27. - 28. April: Maribor (Slovenia) DHI
17. - 19. Mai: Albstadt (Germany) XCO/XCC
24. - 26. Mai: Nove Mesto (Czech Republic) XCO/XCC
01. - 02. June: Fort William (Scotland) DHI
08. - 09. June: Leogang (Austria) DHI
05. - 07. Juli: Vallnord (Andorra) XCO/XCC/DHI
12. - 14. Juli: Les Gets (France) XCO/DHI
02. - 04. Aug: Val di Sole (Italia) XCO/XCC/DHI
09. - 11. Aug: Lenzerheide (Switzerland) XCO/XCC/DHI
06. - 08. Sept: Snowshoe (USA) XCO/XCC/DHI
 
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#5 ·
Agreed. I feared Short track would basically be short cross race & some basically were. Add actual singletrack and and some more tech please so it's actually MTBing. I wouldn't mind if they were also even a bit shorter, like 15 minutes so it was a little more full out the entire time.

Would also love to see onboard cameras. Live stats like current speed etc would be cool too. Overall I am pretty happy with how Redbull is broadcasting the XCO events. Bart is getting better. Would be nice to have a retired female racer as a regular commentator as well.

I do think Nino is gonna win even less. But, no other male is more consistent and it seems dedicated to just XCO. He'll still win a couple.

Wonder if Neff is going to be allowed to run other brands of tires like Batty does on the Trek team? She won a couple races due to running proper mud tires if I remember correctly. Women's racing is amazing, should be another great year with so many potential top racers.
 
#7 ·
Not a bad idea, though the "intention" of XCC is to be spectator friendly. I think the idea is for XCC to be a bit of a frenzy. The execution of that is debatable. Personally, I think it's interesting to watch, if not just for watching Langvad and MvdP murder the competition on the attack lap.

I think 1 lap solo TT would be awesome for riders with fewer UCI points (From the USA, both Swenson and Grotts would benefit tremendously). I'm just not convinced how spectator friendly it would be.

So basically:
XCC - Awesome for some viewers, and awesome for some racers
1 Lap TT - Awesome for probably fewer viewers, and awesome for probably more racers
 
#8 ·
Some great points on the XCC. Seems the solution is fairly simple. It's just 3 changes.

1. Less points, as it really shouldn't heavily influence the overall.
2. Absolutely, never run an XCC if the venue doesn't have a suitable loop including considerable technical sections, otherwise it's just a bad crit race on MTBs.
3. Shorten the race a little to reduce the fatigue.

With those 3 changes I'm sure we'd all enjoy them more, as would the competitors.

Someone tell UCI, we the audience have spoken...
 
#9 ·
2. Absolutely, never run an XCC if the venue doesn't have a suitable loop including considerable technical sections, otherwise it's just a bad crit race on MTBs.
Just thinking hypothetically and playing devils advocate for the sake of discussion...

What if the XCC model was refined to more reflect what Epic Rides is doing for their series with the Crit on Friday's? Seems the pros love it, the crowd loves it, and in RedBulls case easy to film.
 
#10 ·
The main issue for the sport in the US is getting exposure. RedBull TV is a tiny niche at present - its app is not available on many set top boxes. We need to get on a big cable channel (or RedBull needs to become a big channel) so that people can see how awesome this sport has become, which will attract advertisers and transform the sport.

No knock on RedBull, they have improved significantly with the commentary and introductions to the races. But I can’t get RedBull on my TV and I hate watching sports on the computer (like many people).

I think the short track is a good addition to World Cups, regardless of technical sections. The races are short already - only about 25-30 minutes. Yes, it is like a dirt crit and is exciting for the same reasons. It takes a very strong rider with an explosive sprint or great breakaway ability to win.


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#23 ·
We need to get on a big cable channel (or RedBull needs to become a big channel)
I don't know about your provider, buy on Comcast there is an Olympics channel that shows nothing but Olympic sports (plus old Olympics replays). I suspect it's more an issue that Red Bull owns the viewing rights in the US, so we are at the mercy, although I do like their coverage for the most part.
 
#17 ·
From the 2018 thread:

Apparently the world cup schedule is as follow (ride.ch)

Mountainbike Worldcup 2019

27. - 28. April: Maribor (Slovenia) DHI
17. - 19. Mai: Albstadt (Germany) XCO/XCC
24. - 26. Mai: Nove Mesto (Czech Republic) XCO/XCC
01. - 02. June: Fort William (Scotland) DHI
08. - 09. June: Leogang (Austria) DHI
05. - 07. Juli: Vallnord (Andorra) XCO/XCC/DHI
12. - 14. Juli: Les Gets (France) XCO/DHI
02. - 04. Aug: Val di Sole (Italia) XCO/XCC/DHI
09. - 11. Aug: Lenzerheide (Switzerland) XCO/XCC/DHI
06. - 08. Sept: Snowshoe (USA) XCO/XCC/DHI

Mountainbike Worldcup 2020

20. - 21. March: Lousa (Portugal) DHI
25. - 26. March: Lourdes (France)DHI
09. - 10. Mai: Losinj (Croatia) DHI
22. - 24. Mai: Nove Mesto (Czech Republic) XCO/XCC
06. - 07. June: Fort William (Scotland) DHI
19. - 21. June: Vallnord (Andorra) XCO/DHI
14. - 16. Aug: Lenzerheide (Switzerland) XCO/XCC
21. - 23. Aug: Mont Sainte Anne (Canada) XCO/DHI
12. - 13. Sept: Val di Sole (Italia) XCO/XCC/DHI
18. - 20. Sept: Les Gets (France) XCO/XCC/DHI

World championships / Olympic games

28. Aug - 01. Sept: World championships Mont Sainte Anne (Canada) XCO/DHI
25. - 28. June: World championships Albstadt (Germany) XCO
27. - 28. Juli: Olympic games Tokyo (Japan) XCO
05. - 06. Sept: World championships Leogang (Austria) DHI
 
#15 ·
Nino wins less, but still wins overall. Women's continues to be the most interesting, in large part because no single rider dominates every race.

Face it, Nino's accomplishments are astounding, but make for a bit of a boring show. I know there's lots of racing right behind him, but I want to see action at the front.

Agree it would be awesome to get coverage on a "major" cable channel.
 
#19 ·
^this, got to admit, i'm pretty happy with how it is...maybe 1 or 2 more rounds might be nice, but other than that its all pretty good.

Oh and they could redesign the redbull tv app to be actually usable...but tiny complaints for a good thing thats free...
 
#21 ·
#24 ·
The Olympics channel doesn’t show much of the Olympic cycling. They haven’t shown any reruns of the MTB races, to my knowledge. NBCSN shows some important road races (including TdF, some of the classics and, this year, the Vuelta but not the Giro).

NBCSN also shows an abbreviated (30-minute) version of UCI MTB World Cups and Worlds - but only after a two-week delay and 15 minutes each for boys and girls. Weak and nowhere near enough to make for good TV.

I just finished watching Rampage and, no matter how you feel about that event, the Red Bull coverage has really grown quite good. It was gripping for an MTB fan who knows how sick that riding is. Boil the four hour full broadcast down to 60-90 minutes and it would be dynamite mainstream sports TV. The MTB World Cups are already at that level at 120 minutes.


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#33 ·
I was thinking the same, but Spesh also cut Lea Davidson after she had 2 great years...so maybe they don't value their American females anymore. Not that I'd like to see it happen, but cut Howie and move money for the newly established champ Kate...

She has been riding in her Specialized stuff frequently though, but that might be the only kit she has since she's been under them for years now...
 
#34 ·
Lea was cut I believe to make space for Kate. It does seem like good move. Kate is young and did well in Elite for her first year. You can only expect her to improve. Lea (nothing personal) is on the back end of her career and would not have given Specialized the publicity that Kate has. Kate wining the rainbow strips in year 1 is just a bonus. Remember a factory team like Specialized wants to win for sure, but they want publicity and Kate is bring that now. American company with American in Rainbow stripes. Yeah they want that. Plus she is nice looking and that nothing but more bonus. I am sure they want to keep her. Scott may want her too for the same reasons, but if I were Kate I would stay Specialized. Lots of money with that team/factory overall and she could have a long career there. She might make more on another team in 2019, but long term specialized can be good. Trek has good thing with Emily Batty for the same reasons. I would have pegged Neff going to Scott, but I guess Trek made a better offer.

All that said they way thing look from the outside are not like they are on the inside so it is all just a guess.
 
#35 ·
Speaking of Specialized, I’d love to have a look at Kulhavey’s contract. Seems like he must have signed a ten year deal... He’s had moments of brilliance over the years, and outright dominance early on, but he’s just so oddly inconsistent. I wonder if a change in team could reinvigorate him.
 
#38 ·
I'm happy to be called a social justice warrior.

In the end it's just about right and wrong. Don't let yourself be on the incorrect side.

Misogyny is so ingrained in our world that people do it without considering it as an overt action and sometimes without even really meaning (or processing the impact of) the words they are saying.

That doesn't mean their words and actions don't have a real effect on the people, individuals, and groups they are marginalizing (inadvertently or otherwise).

That's the end of my comments on this. Hopefully we can move this thread forward in a constructive manner and focus on the upcoming WC season.
 
#40 ·
People are always judged on their appearance. It is a fact of life like it or not. Athletes unlike models are not to be selected based on appearance. They should be selected based on performance, but being attractive helps. Men do it and women do it. It happens in Tour de France riders. Kittel, Cancelara, etc yeah looks are always a factor when it comes to endorsements and sponsor value. It has no impact on performance, but when trying to sell a product looks have an impact. Not recognizing it is just putting your head in the sand to reality.
 
#41 ·
Even though I was gonna post about how much I disagree of JoePAz analysis on Kate's athlete career I read nothing "wrong" in it.

I suggest the one who brought up misogyny to learn its proper definition, because I have received numerous negative rep calling me a misogynist as well, for things that aren't, and what JoePAz wrote has nothing of misogyny in it.

I would say looks do matter, this is life, it isn't fair for everybody. An athlete that has good looks will have an additional advantage over one that is ugly, be that a man or girl.

I, myself, am pretty ugly, but it's easy to reckon that I were more handsome life would be easier, better job, easier to mate, better social treatment and so on. Being a girl even gives you more privileges in life, whether you are open to admit it or not.

It's funny, but if we were discussing some male the same way Kate was being discussed and brought his looks, nobody would be defending him calling them misandrists to those talking about his looks.

I'm sorry to tell you, but you are the problem briscoelab, you clearly can't discuss truths of life without calling others something you don't even understand.
 
#54 ·
I have received numerous negative rep calling me a misogynist as well, for things that aren't, and what JoePAz wrote has nothing of misogyny in it.

Being a girl even gives you more privileges in life, whether you are open to admit it or not.

It's funny, but if we were discussing some male the same way Kate was being discussed and brought his looks, nobody would be defending him calling them misandrists to those talking about his looks.

I'm sorry to tell you, but you are the problem briscoelab, you clearly can't discuss truths of life without calling others something you don't even understand.
You claim to have wrongly accused of being labeled a misogynist and then promptly say:

"Being a girl even gives you more privileges in life, whether you are open to admit it or not."

Wow, just wow. Let me shed some tears for the plight of the "poor man" in our society... :yikes: Few would not interpret this as a blatantly sexist and patriarchal statement. I would go further to hedge that it is in fact based on misogynistic aspects of your personality, but others might not agree.

Splitting hairs on the definition of misogyny to only reflect the pure hatred of women is weak sauce. Misogyny is manifest in many ways, including social exclusion, sex discrimination, hostility, androcentrism, patriarchy, male privilege, belittling of women, violence against women, and objectification.

No one would every bring up a male Pro XC racer's looks when it factors into contract negotiations. That's the whole point.

Kate is an amazing athlete and just won the World Champs as a first year elite. That is and should be good enough for us all the be excited about her future team prospects and career. To bring up her "looks" only belittles her efforts and accomplishments, whether you interpret it to or not.

Do beautiful people have advantages in certain social and professional interactions and situations? Certainly this is the case in life. But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to change that when it comes do professional trajectory (for both men and women). Your "truths of life" exist only because we allow them to do so.

I'm an advocate, an ally, and intolerant of bull$hit. More importantly, I'm happy to be part of the "problem" as you see it.

Now... let's get back to the thread folks!
 
#42 ·
With more and more movement and re-signing of contracts these past couple days, I'm sure we'll get our answer where most the top mtb riders will be soon enough.

I did find it interesting Chris Blevins left Axeon to persue full MTB with Spesh. I feel as those that doesn't point to good signs for Howie, but we also questioned Spesh-Howie last year and he was still with them again....
 
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