Alright. Here it is your Max tires post
show for With Nico Malaria and Oli Morris.
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is the name that comes to mind when
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that they've won more than any other brand
in the history of World cup racing.
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On my Bike, I used the D 2
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up with the ace guy max grip up
front, and I usually use their slightly lighter
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enough for pretty much all the riding I
do but I did upgrade the double down
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Instagram whether they're at max bike.
Alright. Round 5 is done and the summer
break is upon us, But Le, it did
its best to challenge the riders with an
incredible track and some un seasonal conditions. Join
me, Nico and Ollie as we delve into
the details of what went on and analyze
some of the standout performances of the weekend.
As always,
Is delivered incredible racing, and there's heaps to
talk up. So without further ado, here's your
Max tires post show with Nico and Ollie.
Alright. Oli morris, Nik Alley, another hectic week
in,
possibly the most challenging version of.
We've ever seen. I would say.
But let's kind of roll back to the
beginning of the week when everything was lovely.
Ollie take us through, like, initially, your thoughts
on the track. They've done there. They usual
sort of move things a bit left it
right moves some poles around and, like, kinda
of create a relatively fresh challenge
on basically the same hill. But... Yeah. I
think actually, the most challenging just jumping on
the which is the challenge La. I think
the first time we came back,
like 3 years ago, was it? That got
her people had scratching.
Everyone was just like, oh, my god. I
can't think track out because it was all
fresh then. Right all fresh. And you in
trap, you just walked a different set every
section and you'll be like, alright. We've gotta
figure this bit out and now this bit.
And I think this year track was a
bit easier because it was fundamentally the same
sort of track. It was... Yeah, they freshen
up and the usual kind of pole moving,
couple of jumps put in.
Probably the main change was at the bottom
wasn't it whereas as it comes out into
the open with the carnage section for the
men's, which was and the women's for that
matter, but definitely through the men's.
With people just... I think the fans were
literally like cheering if somebody made it through,
which isn't a very kind of work cup
to chairman them if the speeds they go.
But
yeah, there was a change down there, couple
little quick tweaks in the middle, new jump
at the top.
But fundamentally the same track. And actually, during
track walk
there was a lot of, like, the original
ru were just still there. Yeah. You could
see them. Yeah. So I think we were
kind... We were like, correctly. Let's not mess
with the lines too much. You know, there's
there's a nice line informed here. Let's just
plug into that 1 and start building your
speed and your kind of flow and rhythm
on that. So
So it I definitely brought new challenges with
the weather, which will speak more about. Yeah
But, the track itself was
a bit easier to remember, I think, because
we've been a for a few years now.
Yeah. Yeah. And Nik, we've you've been out.
You're out in Mo along with pretty much
the entire of the rest of the World
cup circuit. The week before and the weather
here has been
relatively
bad. For this time of the year, they've
had a huge amount of rain. There were
some crazy storms.
Last week. And as a result, like, the...
There's a lot of moisture in the ground,
especially when you get onto the flat spots
on the hill where it's not running off
as much and it gets quite buggy. So
the the condition of the track was very
different to
certainly last year where it was bone dry.
How that impacted, like, how the tracks evolved
throughout the week
if we sort of take it towards the
end of practice not at the actual rate.
Yeah. I think it was it was different
because it's it's also a lot earlier in
this season right now.
Maybe bracing in
end of August, September is more likely to
be dry like it was last year.
As you said, it was rainy,
off and on in the past few weeks
here. It was hard to find a good
day to
to to really get some consistent writing and
without just drawing know your you're kidding bike.
But
yeah, I guess the first practice
was pretty muddy.
Yeah. First day, it started out soft and
slick spots.
And
the the whole track
I would say had a softer base, than
maybe,
I guess, Val soul was the last 1
or Leo gang, Like, the base was a
lot harder at those last 2.
So with it being soft on the first
day and drying,
kinda cut in a little bit more, got
some good ru forming.
And by the end of the first day,
it was it was... The dirt was perfect,
and the roots were slick. And then,
quality
semi,
it was pretty much perfect
by by the time we we did that.
So
stark contrast to.
Yeah. And ru... I mean, Rut is something
that I've personally always struggled to ride.
But for you guys, you almost like see
it as a positive because it's it's a
support through a corner or a change of
direction. Like, what's what's the technique ollie you're
that I'm gonna speak to you is the
the coach here? Like, What's the technique for
riding rut well? Because I don't think I've
worked it out. There's 2 the important things
are around vision and braking to be fair,
like Let's be honest, reps make you wanna
stare at them kind of things. So, like,
obviously, not staring. It was 1 for me,
like, like, stiff up on the bike kind
of thing just Yeah. I a little bit,
That's the thing If it's a deep rut
and you going straight in it, it's harder
than the rut in the corner, isn't it?
Yeah. And they're the harder ones aren't they?
Because you're sort of twitch too much. And
you pushed off balance. And that's why if
you break... If you've got rubbish braking, if
you're using too much of 1 break, the
bike gets out of balanced then you end
up losing
you know, your mask kind of falls off
the edge a little bit you lose your
balance. So, yeah, that and then the vision
thing, the standard looking down the trail could
start make hell of a difference. But
Yeah. A problem these guys weren't having this
weekend. Right? Well yeah there. Yeah. And I
guess it's commitment as well to an extent
Uk just like, being willing to be like
right. I'm going in that route. Look look
for it. Answer and just let it go
kind of thing. Yeah. Sometimes momentum actually is
your friend. Like, if you can carry more
speed. It's easier to balance on the bike.
And the rut
generally form on a world Cup track from
good riders. So they're in a lot of
times it's, like a catch and a spot
you want it. It's like a almost like
a slot car track weekend again. And and
yeah, it it kinda kicks you back out
the way you want.
Sometimes you get some aggressive riders that that
buckle them and and get some hooks and
it makes makes them a little bit less
desirable, but
yeah.
A lot of times they can be helpful.
Yeah. Ben Cath talked about him. 1 of
his videos this week, the... Because the the
weather Germany was pretty good or weak until
today. And there's a lot of very strong
kind of alpine sunlight coming through the trees.
The light was very da
in the woods. And obviously, you're like,
bit trying to be relatively accurate through
roots and inter interrupts and you're... You've got
this, like,
dark and light mixture, like, how how did
you find that person are there way ways
to deal with that?
It
it was really bad. Coming from the top
open section across the road gap and into
the first woods because it was so fast
and into a
breaking zone with lots of roots,
things that you really wanted to see. Yeah.
And it was just like going from
bright sunlight into a dark room.
You pretty much almost blunt That could be
almost joked that you'd close your eyes before
you got into the woods and then opened
them again. Might be better.
But
there's not much you can do. I guess,
like, just
visualizing the track and almost knowing where you
need to be without seeing it as well
as you want to. Yeah.
Sometimes I use
like, a a different go lens that has
a filter that helps with
light contrast. Okay. Like, some sunglasses have the
same. Yeah.
It's it's hard because then it is a
little darker in the woods as well when
you when you have that. So,
yeah. It's just something that
at least is the same for everyone out
there. Yeah. Consistent I guess, Yeah. I've gotta
almost feel your way through parts of the
track rather than... Yeah. It's for me, it's
not as much the spotlight light in the
woods, but when you go from the open
into the woods for the first time
for the first few seconds, it can be
hard to see. Yeah. Fair. So we've had
this, you know, the weather has been forecast
all week to be bad on Saturday. So
for once the the forecast has stayed consistent
because pretty much the whole of the rest
of the last couple of weeks. It's been
jumping around every day. From a from a
team coach a line guy perspective Ollie, were
you
you know, working with riders on what do
we do if it's wet, like, how much
you still don't know. Right? Even though the
forecast been consistent, you could just wake up
the next stay and that forecast changed. Like,
you've kinda got ride the track in front
of you, but you also maybe need some
level of prep. How how do you approach
it with the
intense. Yeah. I mean, it's all... It it
should be always something that's in the back
of your mind? Do you know like, what
happened to it rains because at the end
of the day, we're in Mountain region and
it can always happen.
Especially when the weather report says that the
chances rain are increasing as the week goes
on, such as in L this week.
For us, yeah, there's there is some. But
to be fair, there wasn't massive amounts here.
If you think of the only real change.
That you saw, like, on the on the
livestream stream was as you come into the
open there because it was so... That was
rock out the ground there. Yeah.
Like clay, you know? And we all knew
that that was gonna just turn into an
absolute like, shit fest come race. Like,
So there's that thing where, you know, and
it took even through the race. If you
think about it, it took a quite a
long time to get the memo up to
the top that was, like, Don't bother try
and the highlight. Yeah. You know Nathan po
yeah. Yeah. Or did deduct made it through.
I think a couple made it. Yeah. Nathan,
I think it was the most impressive set.
So much wider than anyone else and just
committed like is insane again. And in fact,
Louise, on
my intense team. She she stayed high. She
was in slightly better conditions than the men's,
but she stayed high in the wet conditions
as well. It was possible, but I think
it was like, yeah, people just got the
memo to go low. So
no. Not massive stuff. I don't think I
think often the riders. Yeah. It's always in
your mind, but I think often the riders
a bit like, well, if if what am
I gonna be scared to ride these routes
if they get wet kind of thing, You
know, it's it's a bit like that kind
of in into mind. So for us, it's
it's not huge, Unless there's a very obvious
technical wire that's not gonna happen in the
way. Okay. There isn't there isn't there isn't
massive bit differences isn't there? Yeah. What about
Uni k? Similar vibe?
Yeah. I I would say,
we
had a strategy for wit, and then obviously,
the junior race Scott canceled. So
it kinda was out the window after that.
But,
yeah, Most of the track, you you really
wouldn't change much. And
without knowing without seeing some of the writers
struggle in that obvious off cab section at
the bottom.
You also wouldn't really know not to go
for it because it kinda was the main
line. Yeah. I almost nobody looked at the
that low catch below either.
I had for my run that I was
planning on doing tomorrow when everyone's gone, but
you're gonna hit it. You're gonna try it
for what's Cody, but I'm not now. I
think should do the Tu line.
No chat.
If you'd be more fun to watch you
should do it. Well, leaving it to the
sleeper C guys. They've been doing that. Have
you seen, they've been doing a little like,
everyone looks like that know, making this look
easy We've been filming all weekends so we'll
go and have a go on our e
bikes. So people haven't watched that. They should
tune into the sleepy sleeper Instagram and That
is worth watching. So they're gonna have a
bit of a slip slide tomorrow I think,
but I'm gonna stay away.
Doug blame you. I think the hardest part
of the strategies is that there was no
jet to practice and wet conditions. He started
raining right after the last riders came through
practice. So it was to Yeah. If if
it was like that in a practice run
everybody would
realize that that wasn't the line. Yeah. Of
a rep would develop below...
It would been much more consistent, but to
do it for the first time in the
race.
Yeah. It's hard to predict. Yeah. Even done
to tires is, like, I was at the
top, we just sent Louise off, and then
the men were there and Saw Greg man
out at the top, and he was like,
what tires is it? What tires is it
and you're kinda looking down going well, it's
still hard packed. You know, like it's... It
wasn't at the time. Yeah. There's... Wasn't coming
into wet at that point seemed like it
probably changed deeper into the men's, but it
was, you know, nobody had even got their
strategy of what tires they were gonna run
if it got wet because as Nik said,
we didn't really have the experience on this
track.
As a as a as a developing
wet from dry to wet aid. You know?
So the tracks change right? We've had it
hit wet here in the past, but the
tracks the in the vast majority
kinda more hard packed than it's ever been
right because it's had so much more traffic
over the last year's it 3 years. We've
been back here 4 years. We've been back
here race. So, much more. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely
especially... I mean the top couple of turns.
The first
female rider out, F. She came out of
the right
straight into left, like washed out, ended up,
like, reversing down the neck step straight. And
then like Louise and El were in the
in the start gate and they kind of
put... Looks each other and look back at
me and it's just like
west.
Yeah. It's Well, let's let's talk a little
bit about the decisions to cancel the junior
because, obviously, that's a big part of the
news and the storyline from this weekend.
I I was in... To how those decisions
get made. So I went and had a
chat with some of the warner brothers staff,
earlier on in the day. And apparently, they
have a like, a big committee of people
that are meeting throughout the weekend, which include,
like Warner brothers, the local
organization, the Jean Da, so the local police,
the department of Hosts of Wow. I guess
like the local government kind of people effectively
or representatives.
The Gon operators, they have someone from Met,
France is they're like, weather experts, so they're
tapping into, like,
the best weather forecast available at better than
we can kinda get through the websites and
stuff.
Still not an easy decision to make right
now and wants to mess with the schedule.
So they did make the call today because
obviously, you can't when the Gon is in
a storm and they obviously wanted to, I
guess, prioritize the elite racing and make that
happen.
I think they sent a no out to
teams,
sort of 07:00 ish last night as a
warning, like, be prepared that this might happen,
but obviously, no communication like head of the
junior
qualifications. As team managers both of you like,
and both with junior, riders out there on
the hill,
What are your thoughts on it, Nik? You
had you like, brief data, like, what, the
weather looks bad tomorrow. The storms forecast is
a risk here.
Or is that? Because this is kinda uncharted
territory where you just like. Okay. Just go
to do your normal qualifying.
Do what you need to do?
We... It wasn't communicated to us that this
was an option. Mh. And I don't know
if that's because we're not an elite team
or how the communication would go. Mh. But
it it definitely wasn't something that
we were had any strategy towards. Okay. Like,
the plan was just
Honestly, for him, I wanted him to ease
into this qualifying run.
He was protected. There was no points on
the line.
Like, just focus on
having a really clean run, and that'll end
up being fast.
The past few races, I feel like he's
rushed. A bit and made some mistakes. So
we're kinda trying to work through that. But
Had nothing to do with the race potentially
being on the line. Yeah. Yeah. What about
Ollie You've obviously got some genius in the
mix there? Total curve for us to be
fair. We we got up this morning. We
know knew there was the change. We got
up this morning. We
made sure Louise was ready because of the
potential change there with being earlier and those
sorts of things,
And then when it came through it, like,
half 7 this morning, Oscar was literally on
his e bike pedal up to the up
to the trap. I really found to help.
Yeah. Yeah. Well we,
I mean, quite literally leaving to get the
house. Yeah. And
So we'd... We... I did not expect it
at all. Okay.
On, from a team perspective, I just turned
into, like, action. It was, like, right. Let's
now make sure... Louise mechanic is totally ready
with the bike. Yeah. Let's more... Make sure
she's ready and all of the... The stuff
that needed to happen.
But now I'm sitting here relaxed. It was
like, yeah. We... It was just like right
Sorry, Oscar. He was upset,
but I was like, you're on the sidelines.
And fair play to him. He came up
on the hill with me and came in
help with help... And That's cool. And got
stuck in and he's always wants to learn.
So
right, I hadn't qualified anyway. So, like,
he was never planning to ride today anyway.
So,
Yeah. I think it hurts the junior a
lot. They put a lot of effort in.
They obviously shooting for the stars and all
the rest of this sort of stuff.
So, yeah, It was more the curve. I
did not have any thought that that was
go happen. I knew there was gonna be
a changes to the schedule. Yeah. But I
didn't think they were thinking would just kick
the, Junior aside again. Like it's the second
time now Hey. Yeah. Happened in Lu for
last year. Yeah.
Yeah. Very tricky.
1 for everyone to process.
So we'll go through the results for the
Junior. Junior Women's first, Heather Wilson back after
a concussion to at first place
in her qualifying and obviously.
Takes effectively the win and the points for
that. Ls Sv in second, her best
result to date. I think a work cup,
and then Eddie Hu bosch, Hu bosch in
third,
family fourth and Sac earnest in fifth. I
saw El post that she was kinda. Upset
she had a Huge
first practice I think, like, overs shot the
Be after that new double at the top
and ended up going for x rays and
stuff, and so was on a slow build
back to be ready for race. So I
guess disappointed for her.
Yeah. Tricky 1. And then junior men. Ace
of Met will talk a little bit more
about and get some insight from Uni unique
taking the win there, but only by point
075
over Max Hour run also having a great
season.
John Mi third danger fourth, Rafael, Pellet in
fifth. John Best result of the season. I
think on that way we are 1 which
is pretty cool.
Yeah. Talk us through Ace experience. I think
he had a Did Burp his tire at
some point in that run. He had a
bit of air missing by the end.
Yeah. It was funny. I I encourage him
to do a a really smooth run and
build as I as I mentioned.
And
somehow
about 30 seconds into it, that completely went
out the window, and
he was all over the place.
Said 3
3 almost huge crashes and
was just like a overly aggressive run, which
I I don't know how you can go
so far off planned, but the junior need
to...
They need to experience it for themselves to
really learn.
So I think he was honestly really lucky
to
to get the win by such a small
margin.
Arthur from common saul told me that he
calculated the speed at the finish and he
thought it was 80 centimeters that he was
ahead of max. Wow, which is so close.
But, yeah, I think the big
mistake for Mesa that was could have cost
him was that last burn before the the
jump out of the woods the re jump.
Yeah. Where he
he burp his tire there and just lost
all his drive. So
he didn't carry goods exit speed. Okay. He
give us up by, like, 1.2 or 1.5,
and then
obviously, lost it all to the finish, but
yeah. He was really bumped. The race was
canceled.
I can see from his side. He's like,
I just wanna race. Like, in fair conditions.
I left a lot of time out there
yesterday.
I don't care if it's wet or if
it's dry, like, if we all just race
at the same time,
it'll be
we'll sort it out on the track. Yeah.
So I I I've been there, I can
see his perspective, but
as a Team owner, I was honestly pretty
happy with the... I had all worked out.
The past few races Aces had some crashes
in practice and
some
some good saves as well. Yeah. So,
to get
to to get the win without having to
risk any chance of a crash today.
I was very relieved. You'll take those points.
Oh, we'll take that. Yeah. Let's move on
to the elite racing then.
So practice this morning, I guess All he
was pretty much as good as the conditions
have been all week, literally or morning. Absolutely
lovely. I went out with any sun on
in the rain and nearly pride myself. And
then,
you know, tech what, 10:15 minutes before the
women were you to drop in. It's in
along comes the rain.
How do you process that as a rider.
How do you deal with that? And I
guess some do a better job than others
as we've seen this afternoon, but
literally no wet running all week. That's so
true. I mean, the biggest thing that, Louise
me were speaking about was this kind of
like, like, the thing you can control is
how much
I guess, how much effort you put into
that run, like, how much you commit to
that run, the speed adjusts based on the
conditions of the track. You know, that, yes,
it's wet, but it doesn't mean that if
it's wet, you reduce your effort. You know,
you still go as hard as you can
based on all of the circumstances.
So
you know, I was adding with Louise. We
were going... She's been ill this week. So
she was getting better each day as the
week went on, but I was like, well,
you can just do as much as you
can with your physical ability as as it
as it currently is. Yeah.
So, yeah. For us, it was just a
matter of keeping that effort like, to the
maximum, you know? So... And then letting the
trap decide how fast go.
And that's the best thing. If you start
twitch about the group's gonna be slippery or
the bottom gonna be this, you know, then
then you'll just either go really slow and
within yourself or or just mis it completely
maybe too fast. So just putting in your
maximum effort and like,
it sounds kinda funny, but like, let your
body do the figuring out, like it... These
guys are so experience and girls are so
experience on track. That... Like, if it slides,
they'll know what to do. You know? Then
they their spotlight just. Yeah. Okay. So it
like, don't overthink it. I think is a
big thing. Just just go with full effort
and see what happens at the end is
is the biggest thing.
With some calculation. I, halfway feel through the
men's we soon realized, you had to do
that low line at the bottom. So... Yeah.
Sure. You know, just some of your lines
if required. But,
Yeah. Leave it leave it to the body
to just get down with with full effort
is is what I would say for sure.
For. Niko, Downhill was a sport where, like,
you know,
especially at the very top level now where
teams have got multiple people tracks side and
all this kind of stuff like, everything's analyzed
to the nth degree, like, Everyone knows exactly
where they wanna be, and it it's all
about kind of precision and executing this like,
perfect run in theory.
And when... What happened today happens, it sort
of throws that out the window and you've
got to come back to riding on instinct
and ability and
like, maybe getting into some sort of flow
state where your your
subconscious is using the ability you have to,
like, respond and and do things like that,
which Maybe it's almost a bit more of
an endure rider trait because they're they're they're
doing that more often they're relying on instincts
and a single down of track.
Do you do you think some riders in
the in the group are, like, more able
to switch into that and more able to
tap into that mindset like, how how do
you think about that when the conditions do
this to you?
I think there's maybe
people are in different circumstances
when it comes to it. I think a
lot of the top writers don't like it
because
they feel like
they can compete in
the most consistent of conditions. Mh. And when
you throw all these variables at it, there's
just way more
opportunity for things to go wrong, and they
believe, like, the best guys need to
have the most
chance to do well. Yeah. If that makes
sense.
So I think for the top guys, it's
really difficult.
Then there's guys that have nothing to lose.
And when you put
like, the weather's is the grade equal, when
it rains. And when everybody has
all of a sudden,
B and Am are not
invincible anymore. They could slip on a route
too. It's like they're back in the game.
They've got a shot that they might not
have in in dry conditions.
So you have guys like that that'll put
everything into it. And then you have other
riders that are racing for the overall and
maybe need to add more consistently and and
smarter in these conditions. So
everybody has their own perspective on it. But
I think
all I put it really well that you
can't
overthink it and try to plan ahead. I
think a lot of times in a consistent
race course. When the conditions are good. You
can visualize
every fine detail, and you can almost get
yourself wound up in these conditions when
It's never gonna go perfectly. Everybody's gonna be
sliding all over the place, and you just
need to ride loose and react to what's
coming in front of you.
And the routers that can
just know gonna have a hard time. Everyone's
gonna have a mistake. No 1 can see.
So you just keep pushing and
until you get to the finish, and
the results will be what they are. I
think the riders that are, like, gritty enough
to to to do that.
And also can use the experience, like,
some riders took pretty
aggressive lines that were never gonna work. And
paid the price for it. And then other
guys like, Craig looked so put that 42
years of experience to work.
And was just so smart with his race.
So
there's so many ways to approach
a wet race. I always liked it because
I felt like I was in the position
where in a consistent
condition, I couldn't probably beat the top guys.
Okay. Maybe once or twice I had something
for them and dry. But in wet, it
was like, okay.
Everyone's gonna struggle. Like, if they don't like
it, that's good for me. Yeah. It's all.
So there's probably some guys that have that
mindset.
But... Yeah, it just depends on
on on where you are, Where you're coming
from? Yeah. But let's talk about the Elite
women's day then. And first thing I spied
was no Ka Bo in finals, which is
very unusual site ollie. Do... Does anyone do
we know is Cameo okay? Do we know
what's been going on there?
I think it's still issues with her head.
Okay. So So concussion yeah later stuff. Yeah.
It seems that way. She's... I mean, she's,
it seems like she's kind of okay. She
she recovered? Wasn't she
seems was looking good, but it sounds like
there's sort of things, some smaller things like
off the back of that really. So that's
why she was being super clever, like, just
rolling out the quality run. Yeah. Because she
was protected to semi.
And then, obviously, semi me she had to,
go into deliver. But
yeah. So something to do with that. I
don't know what the and outs. But yeah.
I think There's a lot of obviously, research
out there of we should do and some
of the research says you need to start
returning at some point. Yeah. Yeah. To other
research. Yeah. There's quite a lot of stuff
around
actually restarting the brains. There can be a
benefit of returning to competition competition. Yeah. And
to competition is another is the debate to
riding. Yeah. Starting riding again. And
So, yeah. It's something along there along the
lines of concussion with her. So, yeah, I
hope she, you know, gets better soon. I
think it's really in... From what I'm hearing,
it's like, inconsistent with her. So it's not
like she's just... Obviously, if you're feeling bad
and you're not feeling right, you just don't
turn up. Right? But for her, she's feeling
good and can deliver. We've seen do some
good runs this year.
So it's it's the not now bit in
the middle of a tricky here. Yeah. It
same feels like the same many riders going
that or have been through that recently. Like,
it's... But at least we're understanding it more.
I think everyone's used to push on through
and
that's high risk isn't it So push through,
I think I'd heard Valley had a big
over the bars in last practice this morning.
So I think she was coming in pretty.
So, Miriam, I think here tree and practice
earlier and the week can cut her hand
down to the bone, so she was nursing
stitches and all sorts of things. So there
was some real,
like, strong
performances for people to battle on through all
this kind of stuff. But, yeah, that's Oli
will start with with Louise sixth place.
In some very flash flu Troy kit this
week. How's how's Loo feeling? Were she happy
with that? Is she's... I'm guessing she probably
wants more like she's feels that she's on
the climb.
Of course she wants more, but, you you
know her well, and she's she's so positive,
like, you know, the fact that she was,
I didn't look exactly, but almost nothing off
of a podium. Yeah. Yeah Less less than
0.2 a second. Yeah. And so And the
fact that happened, I think anybody else would
be in like, quite a lot of, like,
pain, but she was like, now I'm happy.
You know, she was like super positive here.
And actually, I'd go back to the point
earlier that she was happy. She just gave
it her all and she put her effort
in. Yeah. She went down and obviously,
she she greased the the difficult bit and
then went down in the slightly easier a
bit coming into the last turn, Yeah. Which
was obviously annoying, but she gave at her
all and that's all that she can do.
It's all that anybody around her can expect
her to do. So she was happy. I
laughed, I said, you know, if you did
it... If if if Vale had got up
a little bit slower than you from the
crashing on the same section, maybe you'd had
done it. But
she's she's stoked. She's learning so much by
the minute. She's just like a sponge of
learning. So
yeah, She will just keep progressing for sure.
Good stuff. And that Valley hole,
Nico
wasn't quite to be again, another slide out
at the bottom, but, like, was on a
pretty good run up until that point and
then, yeah, Big slide out and
I think she seemed pretty stoked early, so
it's kinda cool that she's still in the
battle, but it's not being any... It's not
coming easy for this year.
She looked pretty aggressive in the top of
her run. I thought she was riding really
well.
Maybe it's a little bit easier to be
excited for Ellie because she was further behind
in the points, than if 1 closer competitors.
1.
In school the women are excited for each
other, and there's like so much,
love for each other and within the competition.
But, yeah, I think it's made the racing
really exciting that Valley hasn't dominated every race
sure she would have wanted to. Yeah. For
us watching. It keeps it interesting. Definitely, it
keeps things a bit higher. Miriam in 4
for. It's it's impressive considering
She is still kind of on this recovery
trajectory to some extent and nursing a pretty
sore hand. Again, look great on Track book.
It only takes a a small mistake when
the conditions are like this and things just
seem to compound compounding it. Yeah. Fully. I
just worth noting as well. As looking at
the times then. Considering
to mirroring crash as well didn't she. Yeah.
Yeah. So considering the crashes,
third 4 fifth and sixth was separated by
4
It's crazy there. And they all crash in
different places in different ways. Yes. I was
just like, well,
even the times are tight when everyone's crashing.
So I think it's actually similar in the
men's. But, yeah,
Miriam looks great on the hill. Like, she
is riding so well. And I think, like,
you know, we've seen her obviously
back at some of her best as year
already, and she looked brilliant again all weekend
long. She's
when she's out there, yeah, okay, Vale is
the 1 to be. Probably still at the
moment, but when she's out there, she,
yeah. I think over the next but the
back end of this season and definitely into
next season as long as she has a
good winter,
it could be back to some potential domination
going on there? Or should we say at
least a very, very competitive sort of valley
Miriam
plus
you know and others in that in that
kind of group. So
yeah. She's looking brilliant And again, today, a
tough day, tough day.
The office. Yeah. But that's the point isn't
it. And it comes back to, like championship
winning runs. Isn't it? Like, if you wanna
stay in the fight, she's stayed in the
fight. Yeah. So yeah, Brilliant resolve her again.
Yeah. Solid performance and Nico Tan lit up
top of the track. As she's been doing
quite a lot this year, like, and look
really good. I mean, I guess it's sort
of a home race for. She grew up
here. She knows what this place is like
in the wet, but she wrote aggressively. She
seems to be getting on well with that.
New Canyon bike looking good in the new
Ts 57
kit as well.
Just, again, wasn't quite to be in, and
unfortunately, the crash was 1 that
lost quite a lot of time. I think
people... Other people had some crashes where maybe
they could get back on quite easily, but
that was a a tricky 1 to kinda
get back to you.
Yeah. She definitely rode the best out of
anyone in the women's race today.
The bike set up too looked really good.
Like, everything... Just looked like it was working.
It took her forever to get up. I
I was like, Yelling at the Tv, like,
get going
everybody else crashed too, you need to get
on the front of this was she, I
guess she was on the front of the
girls who didn't crash.
But,
yeah. She's she's kinda back to her her
normal form. I think the win gave her
a lot of confidence to the last 1,
and then just all season. She's...
I I must feel good for her after
everything she went through with her injury to
get back to this level of competition. And
it's always like Bitter sweet in that situation
where
you know you had it, and you know
you're the fastest, which is really good, but
you also know you let it slip away,
which is frustrating. So hopefully, she can use
it as
fire for the next race. Yeah. For sure.
Merely John said then, Ollie.
I mean, we've we've seen
what Mel is capable of in the past,
but it's just it often doesn't quite come
together on a race for her, but she's
been all weekend. She's looked good here. Said
good results in the in the kind of
run up to finals. And then to put
down a second and, you know, to be
the by far the closest person to Ellie,
like, she's gotta be pretty happy with that
after a, yeah. A rough time trying to
get that finals run where she knows she
can be. Yeah. That's that thing isn't it
that consistency thing been
I guess, her challenge hasn't. Like, we know
that she can deliver high speed, but can
she deliver it for a whole run and
a whole season. And and I was just,
I was reflecting on my comment 3 of
the women a minute again, and then we've
just spoken about Tanya, and then we're speaking
about Millie, like, the list keeps growing, doesn't
it like it sure it does. Yeah.
And and if Millie carries on the way
she's going, she will definitely be, like... And
already is there, but in terms of that
consistency Yeah if that keeps growing,
she'll, it's another person in that in that
fighting group.
She's brilliant all weak. She's super positive You
know, if you see her tracks side, she'll
be smiling and
chatting and, you know, so she's got good
attitude, fully committed to just opening it up
and
and fully deserved with the result. Shed had
an awesome drift into that term before the
river gap as well. Like she was lit.
She's she is actually great you I think.
Right, Oli, Let's talk about El Or Fe,
Someone you know well You spent some years
together at,
Ms Mon kinda on track and off track
helping ellie with lines and helping her on
the, you know, just gradually improving our race
craft. It's been a while for her though.
She's had some some tough times of late
to kinda get back, and then to come
and take her first ever world cup win
in
gnarly conditions is it's gotta be pretty special.
So cool. To see that. And I think
it's gotta be a reminded for every single
racer
and rider out there. That, like, you know,
although, yeah, you see these people like Valley
winning in... Winning week week out, and, you
know, like B winning week week out.
I think sometimes
that that you look at those people and
go well. It's never gonna be me. You
know and and Nellie could be quite easily
1 of those people who could just go
cut. It's never gonna happen kind of thing.
But I think it's just evidence and proof
that keep going. And your day will come
if you know what to mean.
And she's she's
a graph day, you know, she works super
hard.
Always open to wanting him to change how
she rides.
Very. She has a lot of,
like, good feel of the bike underneath her.
Like she'll
she notes this difference with, like, temperature tires
and stuff like that. To the point where
at times I was like, really? You know,
like anything was that really. I thought I
was quite aware of her bike but she,
so it's like... So she's very aware of,
like her surroundings ins and their equipment and
and her body, like, what she, how she
kind of, like rides moves. So
Yeah. So so impressive that the tears that
she was shed today were genuine. I think
there was quite a few others around her
as well. So Yeah. People seem steak for
it, like,
it was cool. 1 of those sort of
stories isn't it for her. So... Yeah. Yeah.
She's
I think the other thing is well looking
forward, it's like, that's done now, and then
the confidence that that can bring you know,
whether there was a she had a slightly
easier trap being first off, I don't know.
I think if anything they had a hard
trap because
they were like, shit we're first on this
thing. What does it look like? You know,
the others could use a bit of experience
from maybe watching, look a at the times.
In fact, I said about those was ellie
and Louise watching F leave at the top,
and they saw her crash in the second
left and.
And
I sort of looked at Lou to say,
you know, like, we'll just get around those
first 2 turns and then build into the
run. And At least but Ellie then dropped
after and just ripped the first 2 turns
and and gripped and I thought, okay. So
there is grip. You know? So
she went out with full intent back to
our conversation earlier,
full commitment, and
only want to stay on.
I think Merely stayed on, maybe made, like,
1 or 2 little mistakes, maybe a little
stall, but the cleanest run. Yeah. Yeah. The
cleanest.
Yeah. So, yeah, super impressive.
I think the Ms
intense guys are gonna be,
I think there's probably a bit of relief
there. Be brutally honest,
season for themselves, but... Yeah. Yeah. Congrats to
them. It's really cool to see. Yeah. Very
cool. Right. Let's move on to the elite
men's final. A little thought that came into
my head while Was watching this earlier on,
and you probably tell me. I'm absolute idiot
got and Throw this 1, but in the
wet, it seems like there's a lot of
or a lot more subtle body movement to
kinda like
catch your balance when things are sliding around
and moving or unexpected movements of the bike.
Does does being a taller rider and having,
like, longer levers in a more ability to
kind of move. Do you think that helps?
Do you think it favors
being slightly taller on the bike than a
smaller rider in these conditions?
It's really hard to
quantify that. But I would say
it would be better to be smaller because
your center gravity is lower. So it might
be
less like top heavy to fall over.
Less... Yeah, Less weight higher that would maybe
make you
off balance. Mh.
I also think the way that most tracks
are these days,
they're steep, and there's their 1 in breaking
and being shorter and lighter and lower to
the ground.
You can
slow down quicker.
So you can run it in faster and
okay. Still get down to the maximum speed
you can hear. Corner. Cool. That makes sense.
I'm small I'm happy with that. Job done.
Yep. Thanks, Mate. Haven't got an excuse, Chris.
I have now. I'm like I said my
age was my best ski until men midnight
showed, and yet again showed what's
the age is not an excuse. So you
should be fine tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. It should
be okay. Are you old and small then.
He's always was saying it's still old small
and slow.
I thought said old would fast anyway. He's
definitely not definitely not.
So, yeah, Honorable mention before we get into
some of the the top places. I think
Ethan Craig
have 1 of the hardest jobs on the
Hill day in a way. Like, he was
sat in that start gate.
After doing is warm up with an unknown
amount of time to go while they fix
the catch in, which is obviously the right
thing to do. But that must be quite
hard. Guess, Niko like, you're... You've done your
warm up. You've got into that focus point.
You're in the start, get ready to drop
and then suddenly, you're not going anywhere. Your
body's calling down, and you're coming away from
that. Whether it's an optimum state or not,
but I guess you believe it's an optimum
state to be dropping into a run. And
then you went in full commitment
at a proper
crack at it. And I think was 1
of only 2 riders
alongside Rem ti to take that high, like,
log drop into the final steep section, which
is not enough in the try.
Yeah. It must be hard to be in
the gate and deal with that.
Yeah. I've had it once or twice where
there's a red flag.
While I'm in the start gate. And normally,
what I would do is pull my bike
back and, like, give myself space, so they
can't, like, quickly say, okay. 30 seconds to
go. Mh.
And then you kinda like take yourself out
of the start gate, you can start to
relax or,
like, being in the gate is kind of
a very stressful place to be. Mh But
because it was raining so hard. There was
no place else room him to go. Like,
he couldn't go back to the warm up
area, like, this venue is pretty
bad logistically that way where
it's a
minute or 2 pedal back to the tent
to get cover from okay? Yeah. So he
had to stay under the small start shelter.
And there was really nothing else he could
do but sit there and try not to
get too cold or get put off by
what was going on.
But, yeah, it was
he he really centered in there. He wrote
amazing. Yeah. It was an impressive run. And
it was definitely cold up there. I saw
Tommy see 1 of the film like, trying
to warm up, like, 20 minutes after the
race and finish and he was still shaking
from being out on the hill. So it's
it's definitely not a July day in the
mountains for sure. Alright. Let's talk about some
of the riders. Ollie will start with Greg
Mina, the first man down this afternoon,
squeak into finals
by a hair's breath, and then
you know, if anyone's got experience out there,
it's Greg and he used all of it
and put together a really impressive run, it's
for a lot the day I think most
people thought that could have been a win.
And I think he knew that if the
rain carried on that it probably wasn't gonna
be, but
third place considering the season that he and
that Nor team have had has been very
challenging.
It's cooler. It's so cool. As it? How
many people and I'll put hand up. Have
had this conversation about Greg even this year
again going, you know, god. Can he can
he you can claw it back now? Can
he get lives?
Sure you know no. And even with Greg,
which you don't shouldn't lose belief in. And
and the areas is again, back on the
box, you know, it's unbelievable isn't it kind
of thing. So
Yeah. Age asia doesn't matter Chris. But to
that point. Yeah. They were talking in the
country about where the Greg would retire he'd
won the race today, but with with world
champion And nora coming up. Can't see any
anything. I would have thought he'd wanna be
on that star line. I think Craig would
would take that as wow. I'm back. I
can actually I can do it again. Well.
Yeah. But I might as well keep going.
You can do another 10 years sign another
3 year dresses on me.
Nice. Alright. We should talk about B.
Down seventh, not kind where we expect to
see B, but
a championship ride? Do you think today do
you think you've made that decision that
you know, it's gonna get messy. Let's get
this down the hill. Let's keep strong in
the overall because he's got, you know, a
decent lead. He could've have thrown everything away
with with a big issue or
Yeah. Maybe it's just a sensible measured ride
from him. Do you know what? I
thought exactly that 1 watches run. I was
like, championship it ride. But then when I
watched to hit the overall points that O
collected this
weekend versus what he collected and Norway already
nearly doubled this points. I think Bruno was
like 03:45
03:50.
I'm sorry. O was 03:45 03:50.
And and Low it was like 1 90
or something like that. So it was a
huge difference in points
So championship it ride, definitely it was, but
actually, now the gaps really, really close. Yeah.
Ollie in with the shout kind of thing.
So
obviously, if he'd had gone
hell leather and and crashed then we're in
a... He's in a white worse place, and
it probably it would have been, well, I
guess, near enough neck and neck going into
the next round. So
Championship ride, it definitely was like in well
delivered. He's a mature
talented athlete, like, probably the best racer out
there. You know, in terms of mindset and
knowing how to just deliver on the day,
and he did exactly that again today. It's
kind of annoying with him Isn't it Finds
has going too easy. He does yeah. Nicolas,
you can add something
historically he's struggled in the mud though. He's...
I can't remember a Bernie Win in in
mud conditions like this.
And I think he's been pretty open that
he'd much rather race
when it's consistent, like, Yep. As I've mentioned
earlier, he thinks he's the best. He's probably
right. And if it's all consistent, then he
can put down a run that can compete
for the wind. When it's like this, I
think you struggle with that. Yeah. But he
has this year. He has been delivering in
the. Isn't it. And it's been the first
year where he's actually done it, like
Poland.
When where did he work? I remember now
He was second second?
But I think he's
he's better in the mud, but he's still
not as as good crucial. He can be
in the drive. And and also, as we
said too, it's like, he's always the guy
with something to lose. He's often leading the
championship. He's Scott.
Yeah.
Ama
already behind. So he might as well go
and,
Scott, the Jersey on his back and it's
gotta try to keep that thing. So,
yeah,
I think there's a few things about it.
But I I think generally the roi probably
not the
the guy you think over you think of
mud conditions. Yeah. Very true. Finn was on
once a day though.
When he dropped in, I thought, oh my
god I finished... Well, after the first sector
like, win this thing. Yeah. Was he were
near 1 of the first people as well
the evident that it might be beat.
Wasn't it? Was kinda like, he came down.
You're like, okay? There's there's some traction in
there. I don't know if they're became point
where there was a little bit more traction
because if obviously, there was so much rain.
Sort of obviously started not as bad and
then got worse and I wonder whether they
actually improved.
Obviously, it's hard to know that for sure
because, like, kind of the rider
ability. Guess level improved did you went through
as well For sure. Yeah. But it did
seem like, you know, when Film was going
down before his crash, it was, you know,
he was on 1 and they would say,
okay. It's game time, and you kinda sense
that something was actually gonna happen. And you
stand unfortunately she said that probably, I, I
wasn't gonna win this thing.
Yeah. I heard Greg say, I I was
watching some of the race on the on
the Tv before I went to the finish.
And I heard Greg say that he really
wanted to get the race going again during
that hold because the conditions were gonna get
better. And I was like, of course, you
would say that Greg, like,
it's keep raining and somehow that's gonna get
better for you.
We don't want these riders getting an advantage
with all this rain coming down,
But it's true. Does, it can make it
a little bit grip in some places once
the rain does soak in, but the vision
is just so bad. Like, you could see
the first shot how foggy it was up
there. And then how much water like, standing
water there is in the line. You can
see how many Times dakota pulled his role
off there at the end. It was... What
that was insane. Hey, he he may have
had an issue. I didn't talk to him,
but
just the lack of visibility for for riders
when there is more water on the track
is it's just really difficult to deal with.
Wanna find out about dakota. He was pulling
them around the corners.
Yeah. You he did it on the jump.
Okay. That's cool and also useful, but like,
ran the turns in the tech. I didn't
know how he he's letting go. Was mad.
I guess he has no weight on his
handlebars anymore. Sure that merlin riding through his
feet. Yeah.
Well, expect that far to reach you.
Well Kenny looked like it was gonna be
his weekend. Right? Holly semi
kinda we've seen it before, and then, yet
again,
it just didn't quite pay off, like, it
was a pretty wild run. I would say,
some interesting lines and it just didn't quite
pay off, but fair play it a good
crack.
Yeah. I think he he's another 1 of
the guys like Brittany that would just obviously,
the way he's riding in this weekend, he
would have wanted it to be
fair conditions. Yeah.
I think he's not really had the best
results in the mud. Like, if you think
of guys that are mud rider, he's not...
The dakota is not 1 that comes to
mind.
I would think of guys, like, Well, that's
the shame they weren't as many racing today,
but like Reese or Danny Hart. Yeah.
Laura
often pretty good in it.
Ama after the past 2 races he's like,
he's definitely... He has some a bunch of
wins in mud, and I think his commitment
level.
Shows. Yeah. But Dakota is not 1 that
comes to mind.
For how bad is run looked not not
to say that and
that negative of a way. He... To get
a ninth place is really good. Yeah. There
was a lot of mistakes or, like, errors
in there. I think that slowed him down.
So I was... I I watched the run
and then,
I was trying to find ace of the
podium right after the race. So I didn't
actually, like, notice what placed he came into
and then they everybody rushed the finish at
the the race. But when we look at
the results here to see him in ninth
those was like, wow. It's a a lot
better than it looked on the screen,
and he probably took a ton of points
away from the weekend too with the with
the winds in quality and semi. Yeah. Yep.
No bad thing. Let's talk about the top
5 Thomas stack in fifth, Ollie.
Again, strong performance earlier in the weekend as
well. But we have to look back quite
a long way I think to find
air stack on the podium. I think fifth
in...
Sorry, in W in 20 14.
So 10 years ago, and he's here
delivering that. It's cool. It's so cool. Yeah.
He's such a lovely chap as well. He's
he was bit near and, like, you know,
he's always got a smile and, like, you
know, he's that, you know, wants to say
hello and have a quick chat in the
morning. Like,
like, I think that's so cool when, you
know, people are kind of, like, here enjoying
their time enjoying their racing and,
as well. And, yeah. So, I mean, you'd...
I guess you're sticking in l and you
make it rain. You'd you'd you'd you'd naturally
think he's gonna do better When you you
know like, so it was kinda like ticking
the boxes
him to do well. And so, yeah, to
see him actually deliver on that. In fifth
place. Absolutely stoked for him. Yeah. Yeah. Really
good. He's he's such a nice rider to
watch too. He's often doing the earlier gaps
on track and
riding good lines. He...
Normally the harder it is, like, I think
he had a podium of val solo 1
year, and, like, the harder it is. The
that's where he really shines. Fits into it.
Yeah. Yeah. Very talented rider. Talking about talented
riders and riders that we enjoy seeing when
the conditions are at this.
Material, and he's actually having a really good
season. I guess we've had quite a lot
of wet races which she's where he tends
to thrive. But, yeah, again, consistent through the
week. He was good in the dry as
well as the wear here to be fair.
But, I mean, another... I I keep talking
speaking about nice people, but Rem probably is
the nicest person in the bits doesn't need
to be fair. And and again, you know,
same list, You know, he's ticking his boxes,
the harder it gets the bet the further
up the field he goes, you know. So
I guess these are the old school listening
knows from, like, when tracks were slower, more
technical,
harder to keep your speed, all of those
things and this was, okay. Not slow, but,
like, harder to keep your speed, especially the
bottom but it was slow to be fair.
Yeah. And so it was... Yeah. It was
right up rem street. It... But he did
well or weekend. It didn't even in the
drive, you know, He's posting great sense. So,
like, yeah. Huge respect to him and
Yeah. Hopefully, we see them up there for
longer. I know the French team selection is
very difficult selection as well well. We all
know the French selection is difficult for the
jumps. So
Like I I don't know how their criteria
works, but I've gotta to give him a
good good shout. That is gonna be a
hard team to get on. Right? I wouldn't
wanna be selecting it. So much strength this
year. I know. I mean, a long time
has been strength there, but, yeah, maybe even
more so this year. Yeah. Incredible. Alright. Men,
I think we've talked about enough. Fair play
hats off. Good man.
Second place, Andy Ko,
working his way back up to that form
that we saw from him last year. So
I'm earlier in the week. Was very proudly
show me his new Austrian sleeves. Taken the
the national title. Yeah. Again, there. Yeah, Big
1 in his face all weekend. Having a
good time on the hill and, and that
looked like
it could be the run. Her, like, it
it it was full commitment. It was looked
like it was kinda on the edge, but
he delivered something pretty impressive
Yeah. It was super impressive. It was
there there was a few guys as you
mentioned, like, Ethan and
yeah, guys that were maybe up on the
time of of Greg, but couldn't make it
through that off camera at the bottom. Yeah.
I was like,
alright. Can can they... They... They've gotten here.
Can I get through this section? And,
Andy was the the 1 to do it?
And, yeah, his run looked really good. He
looked solid on the bike.
He'd, probably had some confidence. I think he's
done well in this track a few times.
Yeah. It's a good 1 for him.
But it was amazing The difference... He was
up quite a bit before that last off
cam.
The way Greg wrote it was amazing, and
maybe
a little bit fresher than yeah. Once a
lot of tires had gotten onto it because
it looked like,
you know, Andy made it through probably
1 of the most clean in the race
considering and lost 3 seconds in that split
to Greg saying isn't it... Yeah.
And and just nudge him out. So
now really good ride for him. He's not
had... I mean,
he said a lot of top tens and
a lot of good results, but compared to
the last 2 seasons where he's had these
podium streak and
just been right up there and and winning
races.
It hasn't been like that this year. So
hopefully this 1 is the momentum that he
needs to get that going again. Yeah. Definitely
always good to see him in the hunt
His runs are generally pretty exciting to watch.
But it when we talk about exciting to
watch
Lam Repair in the last 2 races, it
seems to of have just changed the game.
Like, it feels like a bit like, what
I thought Jackson would do this year if
he was healthy, like, we saw the that
at the end of last season in Months
anne. And that Am
kinda taken that on and Ollie. We talked
a little bit about it
before we hit record it. It's like,
we've almost got an Ama pier on version
2. It's like
a different Am, but even better somehow. It's
kinda scary isn't it like, when somebody's doing
that because, you know, back in the day,
like, hill used to do that or
Gui used to do that. But, like, in
recent years, it doesn't happen does, you know,
don't... It's not like everybody else and then
just 1 guy, like 5, 6 seconds ahead
kind of thing. It just doesn't happen anymore.
Or apparently now it does 2 weeks in
a row. Yeah. It... It's absolutely insane he's
got like, he's now showing the... As the
consistency of Troy,
but the speed of O. You know, it's
kinda like he's, like, bought a bit of
troy consistency, but it hasn't taken away his
his pace. And for that, it's mind blowing,
I think. And especially, we just spoke about
Andy run.
Like Andy run was amazing. You know who
it was committed. It was like
like, it it wasn't perfect granted. I suppose
it wasn't perfect, but it was the commitment
and to the speed was there, and he
got away with that. I was thinking, okay.
No one's gonna beat this. And then suddenly,
Omar up 2 seconds. He's up 3 seconds.
He's at 4... He's at 5 seconds... And
then it was 6 by the end. Wasn't
it It was half pretty much. Share 6
point 498. It's an unbelievable amount and
1 where it's gotta get everybody else head
scratching, you know? Because let's be honest, you
Yeah, you look at Andy, and then you
go a bit further down. There was a
point where nobody could get down the track
without crashing. Yeah.
You know, you have to think and Buy
nobody Like, these are, like, the top riders
in the world are not being able to
get down the track without crashing.
And and actually Joe on my team. He
was kinda sent, it's got a bit boring
now because so everyone's crashing. Like fans loved
it on that 1 section, but it was
kinda like, as boring, it's it's done. But
the thing that made this race not boring
is then him just turning up And, Andy,
but him turning up an absolutely
just clearing in the field. So feet up
through that tricky sandwich I don't think. I
saw anyone else to like, all afternoon. And
I feel like I used to watch Jam
pier runs
before his injury for his neck injury, and
it was a bit of a heart in
the mouth like. It felt a bit dangerous.
It's like watching Ronan when
before Ronan got a bit more consistent and,
like,
slightly less scary to watch. I don't feel
that way now watching Emery. It just feels
like a tactic. And it's like, it's almost
like watching a low it run. You know,
that precision like everything's on point, you don't
expect him to crash. Yeah. He's putting in
massive margins.
What is going on? I I think the
the aggression levels is still just as high.
Okay. And maybe it's, you know, his training
and technique. And they work so much with
the bike setup up. That team works nonstop
on that.
And a combination of all that. He's he's
going for it as hard as he was
before, and it just looks like it's coming
easier to him. And I think these past
2 weeks,
the conditions have
lent themselves to that where a lot of
the other riders are
trying to be smarter being more cautious,
and Emery just he's just going full commitment.
I said in val saw. He was turning
on wet roots,
and
it worked. He didn't he didn't really put
the bike wrong
anywhere.
And and sometimes when you go in with
that that confidence and that,
the commitment. It it oftentimes, like, commitment plus
good technique works itself out. Mh.
Of course, on a on a whole run
like this, there's a lot of things to
catch you out, but
it seems like that recipe in these sort
of conditions. Of the the past 2 races
is
when it goes right, it goes right in
a big margin. Yeah. He... It does have
this way. Doesn't it where his body
is
firstly his mine, but then his body is
so far
through the turn and out of the turn.
The bike has to follow. But there's there's
no if it slides, it doesn't matter he's
just dragging it head with him. You know?
There's none of this like, like, if I
was hitting some of that stuff. I'd be
pushing the bike first and open I made
it with. You know, like, But he's just
so committed. He comes out the corner, and
the bike might be sliding, but it doesn't
have time to actually disappear because, like, his
weight is already just moving to the next
section. That's really in So he's, like, pulling
the bike. I'm sounding hill away. Yeah. But
obviously not literally.
In that, like, it doesn't have time to
go away. Is that like of, you know,
he has got quite a low style, I
guess? Is that leading to that or just
a confidence to not be sitting back of
it. The stuck confidence an attitude thing isn't
it. I think that's what... That's what he's
very talented, but I think it's like the
fact that his attitude is like,
this is what we're doing. You know, there's
no doubt. Yeah. It's gonna do that whereas,
you know, everyone has different percentages of level
of doubt. Don't they And like, some people
more than ever. It sounds like he is
like, well, it... I'm not letting it, you
know? And it's not happening. It's not happening.
You know, as it's not crashing. So it's,
It's the most impressive riding. The last 2
runs have gotta be up there as Val
oli here that's the best some of the
best runs ever, and that's 2 weeks in
a row.
Like, if he does it again,
which is a chance in
And el for him. Like, you know, he
could just keep going on this
on this kind of,
like I a, snowball effect that he's causing.
Yeah. And I guess the challenge is that
we've got, we have got a big break
now. No. So not only is it sort
of harder for him to carry momentum because
we've got what is it 7 weeks or
something to your world. And maybe quite a
long, quite a long break anyway. But I'm
guessing that also gives the whole of the
rest of the like, top leap field time
to go away and panic, do whatever they
feel they need to do to catch your
hammer up. Right? It's gonna be interesting to
see what everyone goes away and and does
with a time over the next few weeks
to try... I mean, where do you find
a 6.5
second gap closer in 7, 8 weeks. A
I think they can at least
think that the conditions had to do with
it. In in dry. We haven't seen that
from him this year. And definitely not in
that margin. Mh. Really since the injury. So
I I think they can only hope that
yeah. A lot of riders didn't put the
commitment as he did in on these conditions
and for him it paid off. Yeah. So,
if I was look, that's what I'd be
hoping.
Interesting. Yeah. Point it's gonna make for an
exciting world. It's definitely cool.
Yeah. Let's talk about the overall overalls and
what what this weekend's done to it. So
in the junior, El, who's the boss still
leads. From Arr Van And Heather Wilson as
a 10 point gap first to second.
Ace has got a nice lead over Max,
and then danger it with a think 23
point gap between Ace and Max So it's
a pretty good position to be in this
point in the season, I guess. In the
women's Valley still holds on,
Tan in second still and closes the gap
a bit, and they think there's 200 points
there, followed by Marine Miriam
and then Lo, now only 216
points ahead of Am, then Troy finn and
Dakota.
Like, Am is really claw his way back
up that that
overall ranking. Her, could get pretty interesting.
Yeah. As Oli said he made almost that
many points up today. So
if he can do
another race like this, another 2 races,
it's gonna be really exciting to watch. And
As I said, I think he's in the
spot where
he doesn't wanna get second. So he's not
really
trying to protect that second place. He's he
wants to win. And he's got nothing to
lose. Lo the guy that's trying to hang
on to it. So I think it's Emery
style to just throw it all at it,
and that's what we all have to watch.
The rivalry is back on. We don't wanna
see it. Right? Don't. Yeah. What rivalry is
Yeah, With a good shows off the back
of that in the past, and I'm sure
we'll have good show later this season.
Let's do lit kit. And
I'll start.
I I've crowds sourced this 1 a little
bit. I had some friends that have come
out this weekend to watch the racing so
we went up yesterday in. I briefed them
that they were gonna have to, like, feed
feed in on l. So we've we've spread
back this 1 a little bit, but I
think Luca comes out on top. Like, I
don't think I've ever seen
the stars and striped sleeve look so good
on a kit as that, like c oakley
cola lab that they had this ship this
weekend.
Troy also look really really good, but I
think with the sleeve that Luke had it
just like,
properly topped it off. He looked very cool.
I mean, no 1 looked cool by the
bottom of my race runs today because everyone
was just brown, but like, in an inter
dry initiative just there. I think Luca was
the 1.
Nik thoughts. Oh, this is the 1 race.
I actually thought about it ahead of time
and took my answer. Sorry nate. As an
American, I
absolutely love that kit from Luca. It looked
so good on the fourth of July.
It was... It was fourth of July? Didn't
think about that. The kit looked absolutely amazing.
I think Troy was here himself too. Yes.
I heard that. Yeah.
Do. Lucas kit was so good. It was.
Yeah. I don't how they're gonna top it
at World Champs. Living been a good 1
for that. Very true. It been a perfect
world a Champs kit. I was literally thinking
the same yeah. I like they put it
on early like.
Oh, Think on and, I think I know
where you're going with this. I I hope
I'm allowed to do this. I think you've
picked your own kit before Haven't you,
Nico. But, yeah. I'm gonna go market it
lick kit. It literally is on 5 minute.
Yeah. Somebody did say that it was a
bit too close to the color of a
pole.
Truck child. Yeah. I was like, oh, fair
point. But
yeah, do you know what? Trolley and bright
kit is kind of, like historically what it's
all about was it kind of thing. So,
I think the fact that
well, my whole team would come out with
the, with the full bright kit. It gets
a lot of comments, both positive and negative.
I think a bit... I think it's a
bit Mar. Jennifer fair.
But I think anybody who knows Troy,
as, you there's a brand and the history
of the brand knows of that's. That's the
way to go. Yeah. Great. I can get
away with wearing it I'm too slow, but,
like, if you're a fast writer look woo
yes.
Yeah. I wasn't agree with you been too
slow there, by the way. Thanks me. Thanks.
Shout out to the commentary team, I think
they did a wicked up today I think
I was 1 of the best commentaries I've
heard. For a good well, especially when the
person that comes down first, sits in the
hot seat for most of the day. Not
not the easiest thing to kinda make exciting,
But, yeah, I think the combo of Rick
Josh and Aaron in the beef was like
super good. So fair play to those guys.
And also shout out satellite coffee mo. You've
provided the best coffee in town a week
and kept Caf so if you're in Mo
in this summer head down to Root bo
and get itself into satellite coffee and, enjoy
their food is also. Very very. Miss spent
summers booth was so cool. Yeah. The miss
summers pop up is pretty special here. Yeah.
That was such cool thing go over there
and look at all the pictures.
Like, the Sam Hill Jersey gave me chills.
It was like, it's like why train out.
Yeah. Full size is room. Yeah. It looks
like the jersey is literally on the wall
in there kind of thing. But, yeah. I'm
trying to convince them to bring it to
the Uk and tour that ex there's a
little exhibition around some bike related spots. So
if you like the idea of that,
keep messaging the miss spent boys and comment
on their post and has them and we'll
try and make it happen because, yeah that'd
be good fun. Really cool. Nice. Well, been
a fantastic couple of weeks and yet again,
an incredible race.
Shame that the junior didn't get to show
their stuff on race day.
But these things happen. And, yeah, big break.
Any plans you? What you up to you?
Oh,
national champs right in the middle of it.
Yep. And then we're gonna come to indoor
probably a week early.
I'm not gonna raise world. I'm gonna try
to help the boys. Gonna go to the
team anyway. Okay.
Don't wanna take the spot away or try
to petition. That from 1 of the other
guys. We had 7
riders in the Us make finals this year.
So those guys
deserve it. Richie is 1 of them, and
I don't know if Richie wants to do
it. U. Because he is endure world champs,
the next week. Yeah. I think he wants
to focus on. So there's a few of
us who have made and done pretty well
in semi finals, but
I've got... I think I'm more useful.
Doing other things and riding at more champs
this year. But. But, yeah, we'll be having
national champs at my bike park Rock Creek.
Sweet.
That'll be,
I guess in some ways nice and have
to travel anywhere, but it's kinda like, having
a party at your house. You guys lean
up up a nicer to go to a
party at someone else's house.
But, yeah, I'm gonna... Yeah. We got maybe
3 weeks off until then, so I'm gonna
go home and
change the track up, Try to throw some
challenging
sections at the riders. Sweet fun job. See
if Luke can keep that sleeve. Otherwise, that
kit left to go in the bin. Yeah.
Well, look, I mean, the whole
race should be exciting. I and we got
so many fast Us riders now. Yeah. For
sure. That,
there's should probably
6 or 7 guys that could compete and
and the track that we have at Rock
Creek is fairly short and
there's not huge time gaps to separate people,
so it'll make for a really exciting
race? Nice. Yeah. That'd be. Ali, what about
you?
Yeah. Same. We've got national champs coming up.
Obviously, British... British Nationals,
bought a rider albeit at National champs in
the Us.
Which be fine. I'm gonna raise Nash champs
as well. So we have to be back
out the opportunity takes. There's any so much
watching you can do until you need to
just like,
you get that aggression out or. So, yeah,
Going... Well, they're in the veterans now. So,
yeah, it's slightly different.
Again for the sleeve I may. I don't
need to push so out to do.
Yeah. So National and then maybe the European
champs. So it's a S this year, which
is gonna be used for the world champ.
Next year. Yeah. So a lot of people
are going for, like a preview for the
For world champs. Yeah. And, again, I kinda
wanna go on track as well because it'd
be quite useful for me to do my
homework. Yeah. The riders haven't confirmed what they
will or won't yet. So hopefully the dukes
it should be fun. Yeah.
But first, I think I don't have to
sleep for about 3 or 4 days
then
get back on the planning organizing and setting
at the back half the year. Nice. Well,
thanks guys. It's been fun as always. Always
much better doing these things in person for
sure. Yeah. Enjoy the break. Good luck at
Nationals and speak you'll see.
Thank you. Cheers Chris.
Alright. That's it for this Max tires post
ratio with Nico and Ollie. I really hope
you've enjoyed it. And Massive thank you to
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