Good catch. I was a little confused with this so I digged around and found that Emmy Lan is also on the Dunbar team.
Those who noted Connor didn't officially say goodbye goodbye could be correct. Maybe forbidden is getting some help with their gravity team this year and no longer are a "factory" team and have Dunbar/ Corsa cycles joining the program for support... Interesting as at this time I don't think Dunbar or Corsa sells forbidden bikes.
Both Emmy Lan and Rhys Verner reside in Squamish where Corsa cycles is located...
Probably nothing but can't find Brook on those UCI DH rankings.
I know he's an icon of the sport, but he has only been in one WC final since 2023, and that was at the first race in 2023. He's barely made it into the top 50 in semis most races. He's an icon, but sports progress.
New Zealand is far from Indonesia. I could get to North America from here faster than you can get from Jakarta to Auckland but still Polygon...
New Zealand is far from Indonesia. I could get to North America from here faster than you can get from Jakarta to Auckland but still Polygon would be interesting. Their DH-bike seems pretty good and good value too.
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have...
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have a strong distribution in Australia already with bikes online so maybe that would work better for him
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have...
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have a strong distribution in Australia already with bikes online so maybe that would work better for him
I also completely forgot that isn't Brook riding for GasGas for Ebikes? Who makes DH bikes but not ebikes, the Ari DH bikes do look super...
I also completely forgot that isn't Brook riding for GasGas for Ebikes? Who makes DH bikes but not ebikes, the Ari DH bikes do look super nice
Pretty sure he just got his hands on one of those bikes and is riding it for fun. I don’t recall ever seeing a sponsorship post just the pictures of him riding one.
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have...
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have a strong distribution in Australia already with bikes online so maybe that would work better for him
Who will the wildcards be? I wonder if they skip Goodman SantaCruz and Rogue Racing (secondary teams for a brand, or not the premier team for a frame sponsor) to give them to Yeti and Gwin (top level teams for frame sponsors)? Here's where we're at with all the UCI website team total points from finals. I went through every team to final all the riders that have points, although it looks like a couple of the minor teams might be folding or moving to continental such as Propain, Evolve, Meekboyz etc.
Who will the wildcards be? I wonder if they skip Goodman SantaCruz and Rogue Racing (secondary teams for a brand, or not the premier team for...
Who will the wildcards be? I wonder if they skip Goodman SantaCruz and Rogue Racing (secondary teams for a brand, or not the premier team for a frame sponsor) to give them to Yeti and Gwin (top level teams for frame sponsors)? Here's where we're at with all the UCI website team total points from finals. I went through every team to final all the riders that have points, although it looks like a couple of the minor teams might be folding or moving to continental such as Propain, Evolve, Meekboyz etc.
Should Norco drop about 160 points? The difference between Minnaar and Kuhn? If Minnaar retires/has retired he should not really be allowed to use his points? Although maybe he has not retired anymore 😁
Who will the wildcards be? I wonder if they skip Goodman SantaCruz and Rogue Racing (secondary teams for a brand, or not the premier team for...
Who will the wildcards be? I wonder if they skip Goodman SantaCruz and Rogue Racing (secondary teams for a brand, or not the premier team for a frame sponsor) to give them to Yeti and Gwin (top level teams for frame sponsors)? Here's where we're at with all the UCI website team total points from finals. I went through every team to final all the riders that have points, although it looks like a couple of the minor teams might be folding or moving to continental such as Propain, Evolve, Meekboyz etc.
Should Norco drop about 160 points? The difference between Minnaar and Kuhn? If Minnaar retires/has retired he should not really be allowed to use his points...
Should Norco drop about 160 points? The difference between Minnaar and Kuhn? If Minnaar retires/has retired he should not really be allowed to use his points? Although maybe he has not retired anymore 😁
Long post that was intended to be a short post but then I got to picking it apart and teasing it out further. Sorry!
I'm not conviced "should" is a word in the UCI/WBD vocabulary.
A quick reframing of the whole idea (that I don't necessarily agree with but I could see as being completely within the scope of how the UCI could be looking at it):
Is Gwin any less retired than Minnaar? Who raced more last year and who seems to be more publicly active in DH right now? How about Richie Rude? RR used to ride downhill, stopped for a long time, and rode a couple races last year but has skipped almost every race for the past however-many years. Minnaar has been riding WC DH essentially nonstop since '97 and said he's done but hasn't yet skipped any races (really only because he hasn't had the opportunity to do so). Who is more retired, Gwin or Dak? Dakota is potentially out for the early part of the season but Gwin could race the next Continental race and be earning points for his team. I'm going hyperbolic to illustrate the point. Dak isn't retired (I think his best days - including days on the top step of the podium - are ahead of him) and carries points. Gwin isn't retired and carries points. Richie isn't retired and carries points. Greg is "retired" but hasn't demonstrated that retirement any more or less than any of those other riders have and also carries points. Does UCI have an official rule on "retirement" and when those points are forfeited?
Do I think any of that "should" be the way things are looked at? No. But I understand how they could be. If I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly season, gotten clarification from UCI as to how those points are handled, and if they stay with the rider no matter their status as active or retired I'd look at it as an opportunity to take a chance on an unknown rider knowing that the points are already in the bag from the "legacy" rider.
This will probably be the only year any of that matters because after this year it looks like the points stay with the team rather than the riders...but we also don't know a lot about how the points will move (if they move at all) as riders move to different teams or how teams hold points as they go through waves of better/worse performance year-on-year. It would be a wild twist to let riders keep half the points they accumulate and teams keep the other half. Riders would be a little more valuable to teams trying to "trade up" and a team isn't completely detached from their efforts to keep their best riders (because they lose something if they lose the rider) but a smaller team losing a rider isn't punished as badly if a big-budget team swoops in and takes a rider at the end of their contract.
And we haven't even talked about wildcard teams yet: a team status opportunity a mafia boss with a specialty in corrupting officials could only dream about...but is also set up to give the UCI any reason at all to be a completely wholesome and benevolent by granting season-long spots to fan faves and feel-good stories.
The cynical part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill pockets while the hopeful part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill hearts. The practical part of me isn't hopeful on this matter.
Long post that was intended to be a short post but then I got to picking it apart and teasing it out further. Sorry!I'm not conviced...
Long post that was intended to be a short post but then I got to picking it apart and teasing it out further. Sorry!
I'm not conviced "should" is a word in the UCI/WBD vocabulary.
A quick reframing of the whole idea (that I don't necessarily agree with but I could see as being completely within the scope of how the UCI could be looking at it):
Is Gwin any less retired than Minnaar? Who raced more last year and who seems to be more publicly active in DH right now? How about Richie Rude? RR used to ride downhill, stopped for a long time, and rode a couple races last year but has skipped almost every race for the past however-many years. Minnaar has been riding WC DH essentially nonstop since '97 and said he's done but hasn't yet skipped any races (really only because he hasn't had the opportunity to do so). Who is more retired, Gwin or Dak? Dakota is potentially out for the early part of the season but Gwin could race the next Continental race and be earning points for his team. I'm going hyperbolic to illustrate the point. Dak isn't retired (I think his best days - including days on the top step of the podium - are ahead of him) and carries points. Gwin isn't retired and carries points. Richie isn't retired and carries points. Greg is "retired" but hasn't demonstrated that retirement any more or less than any of those other riders have and also carries points. Does UCI have an official rule on "retirement" and when those points are forfeited?
Do I think any of that "should" be the way things are looked at? No. But I understand how they could be. If I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly season, gotten clarification from UCI as to how those points are handled, and if they stay with the rider no matter their status as active or retired I'd look at it as an opportunity to take a chance on an unknown rider knowing that the points are already in the bag from the "legacy" rider.
This will probably be the only year any of that matters because after this year it looks like the points stay with the team rather than the riders...but we also don't know a lot about how the points will move (if they move at all) as riders move to different teams or how teams hold points as they go through waves of better/worse performance year-on-year. It would be a wild twist to let riders keep half the points they accumulate and teams keep the other half. Riders would be a little more valuable to teams trying to "trade up" and a team isn't completely detached from their efforts to keep their best riders (because they lose something if they lose the rider) but a smaller team losing a rider isn't punished as badly if a big-budget team swoops in and takes a rider at the end of their contract.
And we haven't even talked about wildcard teams yet: a team status opportunity a mafia boss with a specialty in corrupting officials could only dream about...but is also set up to give the UCI any reason at all to be a completely wholesome and benevolent by granting season-long spots to fan faves and feel-good stories.
The cynical part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill pockets while the hopeful part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill hearts. The practical part of me isn't hopeful on this matter.
(i)f I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly season
Since this snippet of your rambling post literally makes zero-sense, your point drifts off into the ether. Kudos on choice of the word 'Mafia'. Kudos.
(i)f I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly...
(i)f I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly season
Since this snippet of your rambling post literally makes zero-sense, your point drifts off into the ether. Kudos on choice of the word 'Mafia'. Kudos.
Sorry, missed the word "running." Lots of copy/paste rearranging to make my stuff make a little more sense. I must have missed it in a copy/paste frenzy.
I'm not saying "this is what's happening" I'm saying "this is the lengths this could be stretched to."
Yep, I used "mafia" in one phrase to illustrate an opportunity for corruption and then I used "wholesome and benevolent" in the next to illustrate an opportunity for really embracing DH fans. I'm talking about possibilities not throwing accusations. I'm not sure I understand your criticism. Perhaps I'm too stupid to understand and you could explain it to me.
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have...
Indonesia is closer to NZ the North America by about 4 hours, but isn't really that relevant when you are talking 10 plus hours, Polygon have a strong distribution in Australia already with bikes online so maybe that would work better for him
I also completely forgot that isn't Brook riding for GasGas for Ebikes? Who makes DH bikes but not ebikes, the Ari DH bikes do look super...
I also completely forgot that isn't Brook riding for GasGas for Ebikes? Who makes DH bikes but not ebikes, the Ari DH bikes do look super nice
AFAIK it was never confirmed he was signed to GasGas. He has a few photos and the rumor mill picked it up. He is/was probably in talks with them though.
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to an already bad climate within the bike industry. If they don't want privateers fair enough, but just say that.
Has the number actually reduced with national jerseys available! Time will tell. The UCI and Warner bros could have just stated that only one team per bike frame manufacturer (ie Factory teams only) can enter World Cups. Yeah they would loss a Commercal team and Santa Cruz team but that would have opened the doors to Cube, Forbidden, KS, Crestline, Transition. It would have been clear as day, teams and rider would have been in a better place to get sponsors knowing they had a place at the world cups at the time of contract signing and the door would be open for other factory teams to enter in the future Ari for example.
Long post that was intended to be a short post but then I got to picking it apart and teasing it out further. Sorry!I'm not conviced...
Long post that was intended to be a short post but then I got to picking it apart and teasing it out further. Sorry!
I'm not conviced "should" is a word in the UCI/WBD vocabulary.
A quick reframing of the whole idea (that I don't necessarily agree with but I could see as being completely within the scope of how the UCI could be looking at it):
Is Gwin any less retired than Minnaar? Who raced more last year and who seems to be more publicly active in DH right now? How about Richie Rude? RR used to ride downhill, stopped for a long time, and rode a couple races last year but has skipped almost every race for the past however-many years. Minnaar has been riding WC DH essentially nonstop since '97 and said he's done but hasn't yet skipped any races (really only because he hasn't had the opportunity to do so). Who is more retired, Gwin or Dak? Dakota is potentially out for the early part of the season but Gwin could race the next Continental race and be earning points for his team. I'm going hyperbolic to illustrate the point. Dak isn't retired (I think his best days - including days on the top step of the podium - are ahead of him) and carries points. Gwin isn't retired and carries points. Richie isn't retired and carries points. Greg is "retired" but hasn't demonstrated that retirement any more or less than any of those other riders have and also carries points. Does UCI have an official rule on "retirement" and when those points are forfeited?
Do I think any of that "should" be the way things are looked at? No. But I understand how they could be. If I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly season, gotten clarification from UCI as to how those points are handled, and if they stay with the rider no matter their status as active or retired I'd look at it as an opportunity to take a chance on an unknown rider knowing that the points are already in the bag from the "legacy" rider.
This will probably be the only year any of that matters because after this year it looks like the points stay with the team rather than the riders...but we also don't know a lot about how the points will move (if they move at all) as riders move to different teams or how teams hold points as they go through waves of better/worse performance year-on-year. It would be a wild twist to let riders keep half the points they accumulate and teams keep the other half. Riders would be a little more valuable to teams trying to "trade up" and a team isn't completely detached from their efforts to keep their best riders (because they lose something if they lose the rider) but a smaller team losing a rider isn't punished as badly if a big-budget team swoops in and takes a rider at the end of their contract.
And we haven't even talked about wildcard teams yet: a team status opportunity a mafia boss with a specialty in corrupting officials could only dream about...but is also set up to give the UCI any reason at all to be a completely wholesome and benevolent by granting season-long spots to fan faves and feel-good stories.
The cynical part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill pockets while the hopeful part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill hearts. The practical part of me isn't hopeful on this matter.
Minnaar officially announced his retirement in 2024. Had a farewell party in Andorra after his self declared last ever World Champs and did an on stage farewell thing on MSA after the last WC race that I saw in some YouTube piece. The latest Norco press release has him listed as team performance manager or something. He's retired.
Dakota is injured.
Gwin is an active rider, who has not announced retirement.
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to...
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to an already bad climate within the bike industry. If they don't want privateers fair enough, but just say that.
Has the number actually reduced with national jerseys available! Time will tell. The UCI and Warner bros could have just stated that only one team per bike frame manufacturer (ie Factory teams only) can enter World Cups. Yeah they would loss a Commercal team and Santa Cruz team but that would have opened the doors to Cube, Forbidden, KS, Crestline, Transition. It would have been clear as day, teams and rider would have been in a better place to get sponsors knowing they had a place at the world cups at the time of contract signing and the door would be open for other factory teams to enter in the future Ari for example.
The sport needs to move away from endemic only sponsors etc.. so one team per frame brand just makes no sense. Why stop a team or brand who want to run a development and a-team program?
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to...
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to an already bad climate within the bike industry. If they don't want privateers fair enough, but just say that.
Has the number actually reduced with national jerseys available! Time will tell. The UCI and Warner bros could have just stated that only one team per bike frame manufacturer (ie Factory teams only) can enter World Cups. Yeah they would loss a Commercal team and Santa Cruz team but that would have opened the doors to Cube, Forbidden, KS, Crestline, Transition. It would have been clear as day, teams and rider would have been in a better place to get sponsors knowing they had a place at the world cups at the time of contract signing and the door would be open for other factory teams to enter in the future Ari for example.
The sport needs to move away from endemic only sponsors etc.. so one team per frame brand just makes no sense. Why stop a team or...
The sport needs to move away from endemic only sponsors etc.. so one team per frame brand just makes no sense. Why stop a team or brand who want to run a development and a-team program?
While i see your point, I think he's not saying that it would be better for money in the sport, he's saying it would result in a healthier field and offseason, specifically for this current year.
I do agree that having more teams riding different bikes is generally a better thing for the sport. it provides interesting discussion about what bike is better, and that engagement leads to better viewership, and if the paddock had less teams on the same bike it does create space for other brands to get in on the action.
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to...
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to an already bad climate within the bike industry. If they don't want privateers fair enough, but just say that.
Has the number actually reduced with national jerseys available! Time will tell. The UCI and Warner bros could have just stated that only one team per bike frame manufacturer (ie Factory teams only) can enter World Cups. Yeah they would loss a Commercal team and Santa Cruz team but that would have opened the doors to Cube, Forbidden, KS, Crestline, Transition. It would have been clear as day, teams and rider would have been in a better place to get sponsors knowing they had a place at the world cups at the time of contract signing and the door would be open for other factory teams to enter in the future Ari for example.
The sport needs to move away from endemic only sponsors etc.. so one team per frame brand just makes no sense. Why stop a team or...
The sport needs to move away from endemic only sponsors etc.. so one team per frame brand just makes no sense. Why stop a team or brand who want to run a development and a-team program?
While i see your point, I think he's not saying that it would be better for money in the sport, he's saying it would result in...
While i see your point, I think he's not saying that it would be better for money in the sport, he's saying it would result in a healthier field and offseason, specifically for this current year.
I do agree that having more teams riding different bikes is generally a better thing for the sport. it provides interesting discussion about what bike is better, and that engagement leads to better viewership, and if the paddock had less teams on the same bike it does create space for other brands to get in on the action.
It should be simple..WBD is TRYING to make DH would cup like F1. BUT they won't say that. If your team is on top of points, Your welcome. If your team is close to that then have a go at it and let's see how we feel. IF your team is one of interest to WBD to bring views your in too as a wildcard. I don't agree with it but what they are missing is how many of us are willing to pay for the kid in jeans showing up and going top 30. It SUCKS but it is what it is. NOBODY makes money off of DH racing..Except top 15 pros. WBD included.
Are there less than 28 teams registered? So everyone gets a wildcard?
Good catch. I was a little confused with this so I digged around and found that Emmy Lan is also on the Dunbar team.
Those who noted Connor didn't officially say goodbye goodbye could be correct. Maybe forbidden is getting some help with their gravity team this year and no longer are a "factory" team and have Dunbar/ Corsa cycles joining the program for support... Interesting as at this time I don't think Dunbar or Corsa sells forbidden bikes.
Both Emmy Lan and Rhys Verner reside in Squamish where Corsa cycles is located...
😲
Its almost a month into the new year. Gotta be quicker then that!
AON racing non industry sponsor is a random camper van make.
Just wanted to ask that, does everyone from the team get a camper? 😀
There should also be an enduro part of that team on different frames but for some reason it has not been announced yet
I know he's an icon of the sport, but he has only been in one WC final since 2023, and that was at the first race in 2023. He's barely made it into the top 50 in semis most races. He's an icon, but sports progress.
This is cool to see, Ford already sponsor a big time XC team, so hopefully they do the same in DH.
https://www.instagram.com/fordperformance/reel/DFYHxH5xAhS/
I also completely forgot that isn't Brook riding for GasGas for Ebikes? Who makes DH bikes but not ebikes, the Ari DH bikes do look super nice
Pretty sure he just got his hands on one of those bikes and is riding it for fun. I don’t recall ever seeing a sponsorship post just the pictures of him riding one.
Dom Platt off Continental Atherton and George Madley on
The blue color of the Superior Peak would match the bit of color you could see on his Instagram tease...
Greg still on the rankings, norco probably using him for points
Who else thinks Greg won't make it all season without hoping on a bike for a race, even if just for giggles?
New proto Gamux too..
Remy MS confirmed on PFR
Who will the wildcards be? I wonder if they skip Goodman SantaCruz and Rogue Racing (secondary teams for a brand, or not the premier team for a frame sponsor) to give them to Yeti and Gwin (top level teams for frame sponsors)? Here's where we're at with all the UCI website team total points from finals. I went through every team to final all the riders that have points, although it looks like a couple of the minor teams might be folding or moving to continental such as Propain, Evolve, Meekboyz etc.
Should Norco drop about 160 points? The difference between Minnaar and Kuhn? If Minnaar retires/has retired he should not really be allowed to use his points? Although maybe he has not retired anymore 😁
Long post that was intended to be a short post but then I got to picking it apart and teasing it out further. Sorry!
I'm not conviced "should" is a word in the UCI/WBD vocabulary.
A quick reframing of the whole idea (that I don't necessarily agree with but I could see as being completely within the scope of how the UCI could be looking at it):
Is Gwin any less retired than Minnaar? Who raced more last year and who seems to be more publicly active in DH right now? How about Richie Rude? RR used to ride downhill, stopped for a long time, and rode a couple races last year but has skipped almost every race for the past however-many years. Minnaar has been riding WC DH essentially nonstop since '97 and said he's done but hasn't yet skipped any races (really only because he hasn't had the opportunity to do so). Who is more retired, Gwin or Dak? Dakota is potentially out for the early part of the season but Gwin could race the next Continental race and be earning points for his team. I'm going hyperbolic to illustrate the point. Dak isn't retired (I think his best days - including days on the top step of the podium - are ahead of him) and carries points. Gwin isn't retired and carries points. Richie isn't retired and carries points. Greg is "retired" but hasn't demonstrated that retirement any more or less than any of those other riders have and also carries points. Does UCI have an official rule on "retirement" and when those points are forfeited?
Do I think any of that "should" be the way things are looked at? No. But I understand how they could be. If I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly season, gotten clarification from UCI as to how those points are handled, and if they stay with the rider no matter their status as active or retired I'd look at it as an opportunity to take a chance on an unknown rider knowing that the points are already in the bag from the "legacy" rider.
This will probably be the only year any of that matters because after this year it looks like the points stay with the team rather than the riders...but we also don't know a lot about how the points will move (if they move at all) as riders move to different teams or how teams hold points as they go through waves of better/worse performance year-on-year. It would be a wild twist to let riders keep half the points they accumulate and teams keep the other half. Riders would be a little more valuable to teams trying to "trade up" and a team isn't completely detached from their efforts to keep their best riders (because they lose something if they lose the rider) but a smaller team losing a rider isn't punished as badly if a big-budget team swoops in and takes a rider at the end of their contract.
And we haven't even talked about wildcard teams yet: a team status opportunity a mafia boss with a specialty in corrupting officials could only dream about...but is also set up to give the UCI any reason at all to be a completely wholesome and benevolent by granting season-long spots to fan faves and feel-good stories.
The cynical part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill pockets while the hopeful part of me sees wildcard status as an opportunity to fill hearts. The practical part of me isn't hopeful on this matter.
(i)f I were a team with a manager/director/non-riding member who was holding onto some points from last year, I'd have looked at that during the silly season
Since this snippet of your rambling post literally makes zero-sense, your point drifts off into the ether. Kudos on choice of the word 'Mafia'. Kudos.
Sorry, missed the word "running." Lots of copy/paste rearranging to make my stuff make a little more sense. I must have missed it in a copy/paste frenzy.
I'm not saying "this is what's happening" I'm saying "this is the lengths this could be stretched to."
Yep, I used "mafia" in one phrase to illustrate an opportunity for corruption and then I used "wholesome and benevolent" in the next to illustrate an opportunity for really embracing DH fans. I'm talking about possibilities not throwing accusations. I'm not sure I understand your criticism. Perhaps I'm too stupid to understand and you could explain it to me.
AFAIK it was never confirmed he was signed to GasGas. He has a few photos and the rumor mill picked it up. He is/was probably in talks with them though.
This team ranking is absolute BS. It's Resulting in so much uncertainty, riders losing contracts and brands pulling the plug. All it's done is added to an already bad climate within the bike industry. If they don't want privateers fair enough, but just say that.
Has the number actually reduced with national jerseys available! Time will tell. The UCI and Warner bros could have just stated that only one team per bike frame manufacturer (ie Factory teams only) can enter World Cups. Yeah they would loss a Commercal team and Santa Cruz team but that would have opened the doors to Cube, Forbidden, KS, Crestline, Transition. It would have been clear as day, teams and rider would have been in a better place to get sponsors knowing they had a place at the world cups at the time of contract signing and the door would be open for other factory teams to enter in the future Ari for example.
Minnaar officially announced his retirement in 2024. Had a farewell party in Andorra after his self declared last ever World Champs and did an on stage farewell thing on MSA after the last WC race that I saw in some YouTube piece. The latest Norco press release has him listed as team performance manager or something. He's retired.
Dakota is injured.
Gwin is an active rider, who has not announced retirement.
So I don't get your ramble
The issue is ethical not semantics
The sport needs to move away from endemic only sponsors etc.. so one team per frame brand just makes no sense. Why stop a team or brand who want to run a development and a-team program?
While i see your point, I think he's not saying that it would be better for money in the sport, he's saying it would result in a healthier field and offseason, specifically for this current year.
I do agree that having more teams riding different bikes is generally a better thing for the sport. it provides interesting discussion about what bike is better, and that engagement leads to better viewership, and if the paddock had less teams on the same bike it does create space for other brands to get in on the action.
It should be simple..WBD is TRYING to make DH would cup like F1. BUT they won't say that. If your team is on top of points, Your welcome. If your team is close to that then have a go at it and let's see how we feel. IF your team is one of interest to WBD to bring views your in too as a wildcard. I don't agree with it but what they are missing is how many of us are willing to pay for the kid in jeans showing up and going top 30. It SUCKS but it is what it is. NOBODY makes money off of DH racing..Except top 15 pros. WBD included.
Anyone want to drop the link to the UCI rider list with rankings and teams for 2025. Can’t find it for the life of me.
https://www.uci.org/discipline/mountain-bike/4LArSj7CKcytMrGEDtKwkb?tab…
Direct link to the DH riders...
https://dataride.uci.ch/iframe/RankingDetails/149?disciplineId=7&groupI…
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