2024 Val di Sole World Cup Downhill

tubular glue was quite common when 29er downhill tires were being developed from 2017-2019

Seeing some of those names being cut from Quali&semi makes me a bit bummed not being able to see them ride on screen. 

Any new on dak?  Flat up top?  Crash and sore?  Hoping no injury.  He was like a minute or more back.

(me looking at Amaury) "heres your gun and badge ur BACK ON THE CASE PIERRON!"

man saw i said he was slow in the other thread and said 'hold my champagne'

you gotta love Val Di Sole (and wet and scary VDS) playing hell on the expectations. Skill aside, it's pure risk management. Push too hard and you can lose seconds again and again on the track. There are a lof of tracks where you can make a mistake and kinda stay in the track and get right back on line. Here I feel like you basically careen down the opposite hillside when you come off line. It's not like you fall to 'another' line. You just fall off the track. Maybe get the bike caught up in netting. So risky

And how sick would a Blewitt win be? It's crazy how she's done well here consistently and not so much on the easier tracks. Just one of those riders that needs it as challenging as possible I guess. Hardline at heart.

Just reading the names for tomorrow, knowing what the track looks like…holy shit this is going to be so sick. On a track that seems to turn anyone into a checkers-or-wrecker, to see all these gnarly names in that order?—unreal. I’m already feeling over-caffeinated for tomorrow morning! Finley Iles and Amaury as last dudes on the mountain? Come ON it cannot get heavier. 

Italian privateer in 11th? Hyped beyond hype!

Tomorrow is gonna be wild. There are so many rad storylines developing...

Jess and Myriam are both on form this weekend. It would be insane for either to win, and I can't wait to see if Vali can rise to the occasion and challenge for the win, too. Valentina Roa Sanchez and Lisa Bouladou are both in for their first elite finals as well!

Amaury is just causally hauling ass and being one of the dudes again on the gnarliest track this year. It would be an all-time if he got another win this year after being out all last year. Loic, Finn, Troy, Dak, Loris, Oisin, Remi - so many contenders for the win/podium tomorrow. 

Toby Meek in 13th and Stefano Introzzi in 11th - both rocking high numbers and on privateer programs. Inspiring. 

Ryan Pinkerton, Dylan Maples, Dante Silva - all the US boys having a good weekend and into finals. 

Richie Rude 28th - the downhill roots run deep.

'Ol Greg - by the skin on his teeth, but he's finally back in finals this season! That shoulder injury from Fort Bill must be coming along nicely to be able to put it together on such a rough track.

I'm hyped. Time to spend 2-3 hours building my fantasy team. 

 Oh yeah, Juniors! 

Max Alran and Ellie Hulsebosch put it to everyone today. I'd say it's their race to win at this point as long as they keep it upright.

I'm really curious if Asa can put it together and take another win this season. He also seems to have more speed up his sleeve when it counts. 

Heather Wilson was 27 seconds back in 6th. She's currently leading the overall, but Erice is -20, and Ellie is -30 points back. There could definitely be a shake-up in the overall standings if the results sheet looks like it does today come tomorrow. 

I'm guessing Asa realized it's all gonna be a gong show tomorrow compared to today & there is a lot of juice in this lemon to squeeze between now and race time.

Jason I'm gonna drive down to San Diego if you keep givin away my HOT fantasy picks. And you know an LA to SD drive is no small feat. Hell I might do it in rush hour traffic just to make a POINT.

Hear from the riders after semi-finals today:

Hey. Just so we don’t forget WBrosDiscovery is ruining the Universe: the protection is way too strong. I see being guaranteed for finals, but the starting spots for the protected riders seem unfair. Italian privateer deserves to drop after those four protected muthafuckaz. This dude beat Bruni today—give it to him!!!

so hyped

It bafles me that there's supposed to be a few media guys at the event and yet every race we have to be guessing what happened. I mean, can't anyone offer an injury/crash report?

And while they are at it, It'd be nice to do some real reporting work and ask the Discovery people about that most baffling decisión to not stream semis

So is Bruni running his front brake cover to keep the consistent feel in the wet or was that just for his Ft. Bill areo package?

i dont buy the aero thing i thought that was a joke to obfuscate answering kinda like the music controls answer to the buttons.

i think the obvious answers are keeping the rotor clean but another convincing one I heard is indeed consistency in basically 'power'. if your lines and speed depend on absolutely nailing your braking points and not braking more than you need. having brakes that work the same time every pull helps. and whereas we usually think of brakes getting too hot and fading... i think for them on a single 'short' run there is this idea the brakes dont work as well while they are 'warming' up. and they don't want them cooling too much between pulls. i forget who said that and where. but i almost like it more than the 'clean rotor' theory. more fun theory.

Junior final results: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/results-val-di-sole-uci-mtb-dh-junio….

Last year everyone complained watching semis was just to much racing and it took away from the actual race, i guess they listened.

Does anyone know what happened to Jess Blewitt? 

What an absolute heater out of Dak! Would love to see dude at the top of the podium for the first time ever.

Injured her wrist in the final practice run before race run. 

Aaannd I've absolutely binned it. Overthinking with complex picks. Another average okayish fantasy result incoming boiz lets gooo

RiP to everyone who was intoxicated with the Jess pick value like me.

Thanks, hopefully she’s all good. Such an exciting rider to watch and those conditions were prime for kiwis. 

I’ve not clicked the links above for post race but supposedly his brake “shlt the bed” right before his start 

Looking at Amaury's GoPro of his winning run (embedded below), the first thing that stands out is the pure mix of aggression and flow. The amount of speed he manages to generate in some of those sloppy, greasy turns is quite simply incredible. The second thing is the precision. Insane! Look at this frame grab, he was hauling the mail in this section and fully committed to this tiny little gap between two painted rocks. Crazy!

GoPro run: