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There have been interesting articles touching the same subject, but I'm asking directly.
Is the EWS DEAD? I mean there's the Whistler round coming up like TOMORROW , but there are no articles on it entirely? No pit Fotos, no gossip, no preview.
Yes - it has always been a participation sport rather than a spectator event, and yes DH rightfully is the pinnacle of the sport.
But is this a sign of things to some? Full focus by ESO on DH WC to present the sport similar to F1 and keep the EWS as a entrance series into gravity RACING, for the masses, and masses of sold bikes, vs elite level tinkering with one of bikes, to push the boundaries?
What do you think?
Is the EWS DEAD? I mean there's the Whistler round coming up like TOMORROW , but there are no articles on it entirely? No pit Fotos, no gossip, no preview.
Yes - it has always been a participation sport rather than a spectator event, and yes DH rightfully is the pinnacle of the sport.
But is this a sign of things to some? Full focus by ESO on DH WC to present the sport similar to F1 and keep the EWS as a entrance series into gravity RACING, for the masses, and masses of sold bikes, vs elite level tinkering with one of bikes, to push the boundaries?
What do you think?
aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgh
(moi moi tv in squamish pt.2 rules, never been a better mtb vid) I want EWS to survive to keep that crew in business--absolutely roasting trails blind they're the best!
it's dead though yes.
WCDH is such a good viewer product now (thank you Red Bull).
On the other hand the coverage has been declining. In die early years its been overwhelmingley much, with even TV live coverage at some events like Crankworx New Zealand and Whistler. It seemed it was all the rage, and the next big thing back then and like everybody (all the brands) was pouring all their resources in, leaving little to nothing to other disciplines.
That obviously has changed so I wonder what's ahead.
@spoomer: the other sight just recently posted EWS content, but also nothing before.
IMO. EWS need to limit entries, this will instantly help coverage, in theory the Race weekends are shorter, i understand this will also limit what brands can run an EWS team.
EWS reminds me alot of RC Racing, So many brands taking a piece of the pie, then race organisers letting "no hopers"(i mean no offence by that) drivers be in the same race meeting as the best of the best. - while theres not an issue with low numbers but big events it causes Coverage/event to drag. We'd have coverage and better coverage of Rc racing if it was only on over 1 or 2 days.(something RCGP is doing well at, but RC racers are arrogant and refuse to change) Currently you go to a big event and you need basically a week off work, pay massive $$$ for only maybe max of 2 hours of track time depending on what classes etc.(this last part cant be compared to bike Racing due to one being an athlete )
Sport? like NFL, MLB, NRL, union etc You cant go play with the big dogs that play for $$, there is local clubs for that.
For more reference to bikes... look at DH... they only televise so many riders, next year even less.... just how it works...
If it were up to me to improve enduro/EWS:
-1 day of racing (1 day of practice and you get 1 practice run on each stage). Get rid of all the multiday stuff- rarely does the lead change after the first day anyways. Dragging the race out to 2-3 days usually just more of the same... This is especially true of local/regional races. I don't want to do a 4 day event (2 days of practice and 2 days of racing) at my local series.
-Big days- especially for the EWS- try to kill the racers with 8k climbing days. I want to see people suffer haha.
-Run a track close to the base area twice (maybe 1st stage of the day and last stage) so spectators and film coverage can go watch and there will likely be racers on that track. This also saves energy on practice day as you'd only practice the stage once. I think this was the idea with EWS pro stage, but it's weird it's not on the same day as the rest of the racing.
-More POV cams on the contenders- they are doing this with the current coverage and it's good to watch with the voice-over from the announcers.
-Zero outside assistance allowed during racing. This a thing anymore? I want to see a mechanic yelling instructions at their racer frantically trying to repair their bike with a multitool.
-I don't think they need to cut racers from the field- they already separate the top 20 or 30 into a smaller group and follow them around with cameras- the rest of the pack fill just goes earlier in the day. They could cut it to top 10 men and top 5 women if the numbers are too high for up-close coverage.
All that said- the recap coverage from Whistler is pretty good and was out nice and quick this time. Glad to see that.
Maybe there's no money in it anymore?
With brands already selling everything they can make, with massive lead times on all parts. What's the point of "advertising" through sponsorship, other than a need to stay current.
edit: i did see #FFC0CB-bike just added some new coverage, today, 2 days later
€200 to do the ews100 or ews50 i.e. amateur race (more or less just a timed organised ride...) is very steep.
Way too much faffing about with stages being open at specific times for training, (just let us head off at a certain time in the morning)
Pro riders getting shuttled everywhere at an E-Bike specific race
The courses, the riders and riding is sick. But I much prefer the more laid back local races.
From an online spectator point of view: the lack of vital slideshows with the daily interviews and stories robs the race of any narative. I still think this was the best format to follow the event.
It feels like EWS/UCI coverage has dwindled since pre-covid when they did do a good job of really setting up the narrative around the venue and racers. Cecile vs Isabeau vs darkstar like Morgan or Bex or Melanie in Tasmania, here's the story of these trails, etc. Who'll be the first to get gelato by the sea in Finale Ligure, Richie vs Sam vs Martin vs Flo with a darkstar like Jesse, etc. Those little interviews, location highlights, and bike checks leading up to the race really helped build excitement and interest. Since those don't seem to be happening building up to the event much anymore, personally, I've found that I really just don't follow often because I forget until I see that results are up.
These days I'll watch some of Moi Moi TV or some other racer's youtube while making coffee or on the toilet, or WynTV with interviews after the race and having glanced at the results. Enduro is much more fun to participate in, and around here I wish there were more local, casual "fun" races (like seeing the Dangerous Dave YT where they race the Squamish Wednesday night series).
EWS had a good formula for the audience but seem to have lost it somehow, and I wonder how other outlets like Vital and PB have been affected since even those coverages seem to have dwindled some. Aside, WCDH is as exciting as ever!
At WCDH you get that with the time line itself: track walk, training day/timed runs, Qualifying and the race. Man, what a race MSA has been, and I sucked it all in. The arrival, the surprising new parts, the favorites injuried, the anticipation after qualifying, the dramatic race, the aftermath, brooks redemption, the privateer award, all the little stories...
I was a sucker for the vital slideshows - how I miss them - especially Svens interviews. Thank God there's Wyntv, even if the childish humor and unprofessionalism is sometimes hard to bear for a boomer like me.
But those little stories are such an integral part of what happens before, during and after the race and they are the reason why I keep following the whole circuit.
Somehow the EWS lost that, and I wonder why that happened. But it must be a general decrease in interest. And we all know what that means in the end...
remember when stuff like this was pumped out before Whis Crankworx?? And after that you watch Curtis Keene and Jared Graves' OnTrack RedBull series? those were the good ol days I tell you what
I have lost interest, I will watch the recap sometimes and always look to see who wins, but Burke is only a couple hours from me and I had no interest in either racing or spectating.
Doing the final stage like you said would be easy to follow, easy to recap, and damn exciting! We could watch the final stage of the EWS just like we watch DH. Ride during the weekend, and go watch the replay on Monday when we should be working. Start off with a recap of the earlier stages to set the scene and build the drama, and then show the final stage the way they show DH. Doesn't need to be in real time.
The reason its been dead this year, again as stated through this thread, is the complete lack of coverage other than super basic bullshit. The Canadian Dunbar series got more coverage per captia than the EWS the last two years, which is already pathetic. In previous years we got two weeks worth of great content out of an EWS, who remembers the Anti-grip Chile round in 2018? That coverage was INSANE. I had friends bringing up the EWS race over beers and how wild it was and people referenced anti-grip for months. It barely registered as any events this year other than it happened and Jesse won, to the point where this topic was created because of the complete lack of coverage. Jesse and Jack are the only two things coming out of EWS racing this year that even semi registered because THEY put out their stuff on social media.
Few more thoughts...
1) Look at the results list at an EWS. These people are literally putting their life on the line, and I know a handful of the riders. This shows how poor the coverage is. Frankly, the best thing enduro had for awhile was the slideshows (IMO) with the audio behind them. That audio gave me a feel from an "expert's" POV what happened through the weekend. This at least kept me broadly aware of what was going on, who was fast, who had a good weekend and where the tricky bits of a track were.
2) To cover EWS in a way that is interesting, you'd at minimum have to do something like Red Bull does for the hard enduro moto events. For Romaniacs, for instance, a 30 minute show is chopped up. This probably makes the most sense, but the production value has to be high.
3) Anyone suggesting its too long is missing the point. A good team can turn anything into something watchable. See also: Hard Knocks. Alternatively, people have zero issues watching road racing (totally different I know), but again, its a value/story/how you put together something interesting thing.
Reality is, nothing is *likely* to change. Which would make me really look hard at supporting a rider with a salary if I owned a brand. This isn't to take something away from the rider, and it pains me to even write this, but again, a top 30 at an EWS is incredible, but I know next to none of the names on the list.
Without coverage, the value of supporting high level racing doesn't make sense. Which makes the whole equation go down the tubes...especially when I can just support a well known ex-WC DH racer for pennies on the dollar and send a filmer to go grab content with him/her a handful of times per year to showcase my new _____ bike.
2 cameras per stage with some drones would probably do it.
Turns out it's acutually dying.
Exactly. Many people have complained that adding the semi finals to the DH race day is to much to content in one day.
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