UCI MTB World Cup (All forms!)

[jmdirt]

It was good to see Gwin, hopefully this will get him rolling again! And Minnaar!!! nearly won the thing (38 years young)!

 

[glassmoon]

UCI MTB WC is back
Vallnord, Andorra
XCC, XCO, DH
5-7. July, 2019
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/events/AP-1XJS6F73W2111

 

[jmdirt]

I don't love the short tracks that the UCI is laying out...there I said it.

No real surprises for the men or women.

On to the XC!

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

I don't love the short tracks that the UCI is laying out...there I said it.

No real surprises for the men or women.

On to the XC!

I'd respectfully disagree with the women part. Jenny back in top 5, Yana back in top 3. Both had their share of issues during the previous years and looks like they're both back.
Especially emotional for Jenny.
Chapeau to them!

 

[jmdirt]

Great XCO action for the men and women too! Nino with his first win of the year and Terpstra with her (and her country's) first WC win!
Kate C. got bit by the travel and altitude bug!
Cink?

Glass the 'no surprises' was about the short track not the XCO. Its great to see those two ladies back at this (their old) level, but I kinda thought that they would both be good again.

Also of note: Mex riders racing really well.

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

Great XCO action for the men and women too! Nino with his first win of the year and Terpstra with her (and her country's) first WC win!
Kate C. got bit by the travel and altitude bug!
Cink?

Glass the 'no surprises' was about the short track not the XCO. Its great to see those two ladies back at this (their old) level, but I kinda thought that they would both be good again.

Also of note: Mex riders racing really well.

Ahh I see, should've read it twice before replying

Regarding Cink, he mentioned for the local mtb mag that he felt strong and not even on the limit as he had 35s lead but then as soon as he poured cold water on his neck his hart rate immediately got wonky (arrhythmia) so he had to stop for a while. Real shame, cause he was pretty confident that he can win (spent weeks in Livigno for altitude training and also 2-3 weeks already in Andorra).

Kate well... could be a jet lag or simply she had a bad day. It's rather specific race in Vallnord with the altitude and brutal climbs...

 

[glassmoon]

Today is a rather boring stage at TdF... but luckily there is MTB WC to save the day
And it's in France. And MVDP is back in action!
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/events/AP-1XJS6F1KN2111

After 17 years, the Mountain Bike World Cup returns to Les Gets in France. Although some riders are familiar with the downhill course, the cross-country track will be a new challenge for everyone.

 

[Black Betsy]

Amazing runs by the usual French dudes!

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

Amazing runs by the usual French dudes!

yep. they seem almost unbeatable this season...
so bummed for Rachel though - ruptured Achilles tendon (final jump during the training) just ended her season

 

[jmdirt]

Great XCO action! N1no!

Great weekend for KC!

French downhillers!

 

[jmdirt]

OK, someone has to do it so I will.

If you scroll through this and various other threads you will see that I am a huge fan of MVDP, but today we saw what can happen when you try to do too much. He has had the season of a lifetime already, and I'm sure that he will keep adding to it as the season rolls along.

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

OK, someone has to do it so I will.

If you scroll through this and various other threads you will see that I am a huge fan of MVDP, but today we saw what can happen when you try to do too much. He has had the season of a lifetime already, and I'm sure that he will keep adding to it as the season rolls along.

yeah i also was wondering when he'll "hit the wall" eventually... but it could be a just a bad day due to the altitude training session/camp he had in Livigno (?) recently... we'll see.
but yeah, i too think he is just doing way too much throughout the last two seasons :idea:

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I'd put it down to his training camp; and not having 'race legs'. His last two laps were pretty fast. It's not the first time this has happened after a training camp.

 

[jmdirt]

Glass and Axel, that's what I'm saying, he's trying to do too much. If he wants to win the dirt WC overall (which he said going into the weekend), he can't come off of a rest bloc/training camp. That's exactly right, he didn't have race legs.

I must restate though, that he has had an amazing season so far, and the rest/camp will likely pay off soon.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

I'd put it down to his training camp; and not having 'race legs'. His last two laps were pretty fast. It's not the first time this has happened after a training camp.

Yeah, he came off training camp pretty late and they knew beforehand the risk was there.

That being said, he was like 36th going in the last 2 laps and then finally found his rythm and moved up to 16th. I think he will be fine in the EC.

I do not believe it is to doing too much. As anyone who follows MvdP longer than this year knows he has 2 or 3 "offdays" during the year. Even if he wins the race before and the race after...

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

I'd put it down to his training camp; and not having 'race legs'. His last two laps were pretty fast. It's not the first time this has happened after a training camp.

Yeah, he came off training camp pretty late and they knew beforehand the risk was there.

That being said, he was like 36th going in the last 2 laps and then finally found his rythm and moved up to 16th. I think he will be fine in the EC.

I do not believe it is to doing too much. As anyone who follows MvdP longer than this year knows he has 2 or 3 "offdays" during the year. Even if he wins the race before and the race after...

He didn't just have an off day though, his road training didn't mesh with his dirt racing. IMO, that's doing too much if you can't be at your best for big events. If he would have planned his training perfectly for this day and had a bad day that is different. Again though, that being said, it impressive that he can crack the top 20 coming off of the rest/camp block.

Let me spin it this way: what if he would have been doing only 1 hour full gas training ( for CX or short track) for two weeks leading into MSR? (just picking a long race)...

I'm not sure if that was a slight, but I've been reading about his CX exploits for many years and yes, he can win on Sat and have a bad race (that means 2nd) on Sunday or v-v.

 

[Ripper]

Re: Re:

I'd put it down to his training camp; and not having 'race legs'. His last two laps were pretty fast. It's not the first time this has happened after a training camp.

Yeah, he came off training camp pretty late and they knew beforehand the risk was there.

That being said, he was like 36th going in the last 2 laps and then finally found his rythm and moved up to 16th. I think he will be fine in the EC.

I do not believe it is to doing too much. As anyone who follows MvdP longer than this year knows he has 2 or 3 "offdays" during the year. Even if he wins the race before and the race after...

He didn't just have an off day though, his road training didn't mesh with his dirt racing. IMO, that's doing too much if you can't be at your best for big events. If he would have planned his training perfectly for this day and had a bad day that is different. Again though, that being said, it impressive that he can crack the top 20 coming off of the rest/camp block.

Let me spin it this way: what if he would have been doing only 1 hour full gas training ( for CX or short track) for two weeks leading into MSR? (just picking a long race)...

I'm not sure if that was a slight, but I've been reading about his CX exploits for many years and yes, he can win on Sat and have a bad race (that means 2nd) on Sunday or v-v.

Yup

Another way to look at it - there are multiple women who have been multi-discipline superstars and the evidence has been that is is too much to go the whole year, every year. First small issues arise, then bigger things happen before the body's physiology just starts to fall apart somewhere.

 

[Ricco']

Regarding MVdP, it was to be expected that a bad result could possibly happen.

The XC riders have been building up to this period and after Nove Mesto have continued with their training. After Nove Mesto, Van der Poel took a break and went on vacations to Ibiza with his girlfriend. His form took a bigger dip compared to the others and he resumed training past them and now he builds up to his next major goal which is in the end of September, of course he is a step below the rest.

We could see on the short track that the raw power and the power required to short bursts of effort is still there. Which is missing now is his capacity to sustain a constant power during long climbing efforts and he felt it in the beginning of the race when Avancini and then Tempier went berserk and blown the race to bits. But he found his rhythm and improved on the last few laps.

 

[jmdirt]

MVDP won the Euro champs, but it looks like N1no wasn't there. I can't find any solid info yet...

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

MVDP won the Euro champs, but it looks like N1no wasn't there. I can't find any solid info yet...

That's correct. N1NO usually doesn't race ECH unless the race is in SUI. I was little bit disapointed with Cink's performance as he was showing good things in WC and this was his home ECH - I expected him to take a medal. Also Kerschbaumer was a bit off - he had a good chance in reduced field too.
MVP had a crash in Lap1 already but at the end of the day it was his solo race. Good to see Florian (37 yo) still has it and an impressive result for young dutch Vader.
Jolanda had also a race against herself basically and good result for Yana (and her confidence). I hoped that Jenny would race but apparently she didn't (likely never planned it anyways).
Also the lap design was great with lots of single trials and rock-gardens but still not over the top technically. It was a great championship and very well organized (as it usually is in Czech Rep).

 

[Marek]

MVDP won another Short Track (Val di Sole).

 

[glassmoon]

Val di Sole (ITA) WCH

MVP smashed them again in XCC Val di Sole with a single uphill attack. So far he won every XCC race he attended. It was muddy, it was slippery - just the way he (being the best CX rider) likes it. Henrique AVANCINI was 2nd, Jens SCHUERMANS 3rd. Great result for Cink (4th) with N1NO just behind him.
For women it was SUI 1-2 with Jolanda taking the win and Sina on 2nd place. PFP took the 3rd place. Kate Courtney strugled a bit finishing 10th and Emily Batty still kinda can't find a form ending 26th. Annika was back in action after the injury finishing 22nd. Jenny didn't race XCC but she should be in action on Sunday's XCO.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

That acceleration was absolutely brutal. Same way he dislodged Schurter in the XCO race he won (not the short track) earlier this season.

 

[glassmoon]

SPOILER (select/highlight below to reveal )

So cool to see Jenny back in top3. I'm super happy for her.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Seems to me everytime Mathieuj vd Poel is good this season he stays with the best all race long and then completely destroys them in the final lap.
That was Schurters trait before this year.