2014 Mountain bike world cup season

Dozer

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
The new season is only a couple of weeks away.

1. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (10-13 April)
2. Cairns, Australia (26-27 April)
3. Fort William, Scotland (7-8 June)
4. Leogang, Austria (14-15 June)
5. Mont Sainte Anne, Canada (2-3 August)
6. Windham, USA (9-10 August)
7. Méribel, France (23-24 August)

What's your thoughts on the season ahead? Some points worth considering:
-Steve Smith may miss the first few rounds because of an ankle injury.
-Tons of teams will run 650b wheels instead of 26".
-Steve Peat is still far more awesome than most humans on the planet.
-Australia has a round and will be loaded with Aussies trying to dominate.

Personally, I reckon a fit Brook MacDonald can end up winning this thing. He's on a good ride, good support and has been riding strong over the last few months. The same applies to many guys but I reckon if he can stay away from injury, he'll be the man to beat. You can never discount Minaar and Atherton either plus you have the added appeal of Sam Hill getting his ride dialed and wanting to win. What's your predictions?
 
M

my02

Likes Dirt
Given his performance last year and the fact that Smith is going to miss out on some big points, you'd have to have Gee listed as a very strong potential winner. But agree that Bulldog is also a favourite when he's not destroying himself along with the tracks.

Personally I'd like to see Gwin get back on the podium. I don't want to see him dominate like previous years as that becomes boring but adding another consistent rider back in to the top 10 keeps all riders on their toes and pushes the limits more.

I'd put my money on the following to take top spot:

Atherton
Minnaar
Hannah (he had some average results last season but I think that becoming more dialled on the bike will help).
 
heavyp

heavyp

You heard it here first
My fingers and toes are crossed for Hill, I just wanna see him on the podium again and injury free.

If he doesn't podium I will not blame is 26" wheels!
 
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.dan.

Likes Dirt
You'd have to be a fool to bet that Bruni won't be a threat to the more experienced riders in taking wins and the overall.
 
cjm102

cjm102

Likes Dirt
I think Gee would be hungry after winning the entire season and only loosing out on the last round. He has proved his consistency over the last few years and I think the new 650b wheel size complements the stretched out bikes he likes to ride.

I personally feel like we've seen the best from that Gwin guy and wouldn't put it simply down to choice of bike. I would be impressed if made the top 5 at a couple of races this year.

Minnar is always a threat and knows what he needs to do to win. Maybe he was looking at the big picture last year and hungry for the world champs win on home soil. But that jersey has been known to bring bad luck before.

Atherton to win, not that I like the guy though.


Looking forward to it starting though .
 
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SideFX

SideFX

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Its anyones game with 650 b in the mix . Just hope its not rained out races . I would also love to see some talent triumph instead of the DH robots .
 
morticus

morticus

Likes Dirt
How does it work with the local advantage? Like obviously Mick has access to the track (probably any other Aussies that want to as well). Or are these guys that good they can get a track completely dialed in 2 - 3 days? Always left me stunned that a rider from out of town can come to your local track and dominate you. Unless your name is BKelly and your local track is Ourimbah :rockon:
 
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.dan.

Likes Dirt
morticus said:
How does it work with the local advantage? Like obviously Mick has access to the track (probably any other Aussies that want to as well). Or are these guys that good they can get a track completely dialed in 2 - 3 days? Always left me stunned that a rider from out of town can come to your local track and dominate you. Unless your name is BKelly and your local track is Ourimbah :rockon:
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Of course Mick's going have an advantage, just like Minnaar always has an advantage at PMB. They already know the fastest lines and have them dialled well before anyone else even arrives at the track. However the top riders are very good at adapting to tracks they've never ridden before and they adapt very quickly too.
 
ajay

ajay

^Once punched Jeff Kennett. Don't pick an e-fight
The field is so stacked these days. Too hard to pick, but with smith out for the first few rounds (potentially), gee and Minnaar are getting old, I think the newer generation (brook, loic, etc) will dominate this year.
I think everyone wants to see Hill stand on the top spot just one more time before he fades away, let's hope he can string one together!

The Worldcup just gets better and better each year!
 
heavyp

heavyp

You heard it here first
Locals don't really have the fastest lines look at Hill went to Europe and destroyed everyone on pretty much the steepest track ever in the rain with crashes ? Doesn't really go hand in hand with the dusty flattish conditions of Perth, same with Danny Harts world win in the worst conditions of the day.

Minnaar is good in South Africa as he's fast and can pedal, Mik would win there but he always messes up race runs, maybe he should move back to cannondale or maybe of never took 2 years out where he could of won more races and been on say Santa Cruz with heaps of development.

I can tell ya know if anyone of those races came to a local teach here they'd beat me :)
 
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.dan.

Likes Dirt
Yes valid points, but we're talking about Cairns. Not many pro's besides Mick have ridden the new track there. He is undoubtably going to have an advantage over the other top riders. And your reference to Danny Hart doesn't hold up, Danny is British, they ride in that sort of shit weather all the time.
And to say that locals don't have the fastest lines is absurd, as long as the locals we're talking about are of a high calibre of rider.
 
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heavyp

heavyp

You heard it here first
.dan. said:
Yes valid points, but we're talking about Cairns. Not many pro's besides Mick have ridden the new track there. He is undoubtably going to have an advantage over the other top riders. And your reference to Danny Hart doesn't hold up, Danny is British, they ride in that sort of shit weather all the time.
And to say that locals don't have the fastest lines is absurd, as long as the locals we're talking about are of a high calibre of rider.
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Cairns in the summer/wet season has probably more rain in one day than england has in a year! ok jokes aside my Hart reference does hold up I'm not sure why you think those riders from Europe do not ride in the same conditions and as mentioned Danny had pretty much the worst conditions and beat everyone by 9 seconds not just a 2 or 3 but 9 thats absolutely huge its was determination and risk taking riding other tried but still must of been holding back.

And back on to the locals having the fastest lines is far from absurd, once again ill reference Hill and the fact he can rock up to any track on the WC circuit (back in the day on him winning and post injury) and ride lines that no one would ever think of trying, hence the reason that now every other pro will pull over and see what line he's conjuring up or jump online and check DirtTV out and other clips to see what he's up to in practice.

I actually looked the weather details up:
Cairns 1992mm of rain mostly falling between Jan-Mar
The UK 854mm of rain falling over an entire year.
 
ajay

ajay

^Once punched Jeff Kennett. Don't pick an e-fight
.dan. said:
And to say that locals don't have the fastest lines is absurd, as long as the locals we're talking about are of a high calibre of rider.
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If that's the case, why do the same names win the world cups and every race?
 
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