2014 Season, a fan boys overview.

Odissius

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A very strange season indeed. After Steve Smith's dominating end to last season with truly resounding wins in both Mt St Anne and Leogang, he was definitely on another level to the competition and would have to have been favourite to take it this season. But, as had been the case for Hill in '10, injury would see it that the man of the moment wouldn't be a fixture in this years proceedings and leave it open for others to vie for top spot. For the most part, all the races in '14 appeared to be won in the fashion of 'best on the day'. For mind, it wasn't until Bryceland's win in Windham that anyone really stood out as being truly 'on it'. His win there was probably the only win of any racer this season that had perhaps the dominating, on another level quality similar to Smith's wins at the back end of '13. Of course the greatest thing to come out of this season was to see Sam Hill win again. It just didn't seem right that guys like Gee or Greg could still win races and he couldn't given that, 4-5 years ago, it was as clear as daylight that when Hill was on it, these same guys couldn't touch him. Hill's wins in '14 seemed somewhat different to his wins in the past. Not really the characteristic dominating style wins he's famous for, of more of a calculated, doing enough to get the job done kind of vibe. In a sense this was all the more exciting as you got the feeling that we weren't too far off seeing one of those truly other worldly wins he's famous for. His run at Norway appeared to be another
 

Odissius

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Following from above - step closer to one of these dominating Hill style wins but sadly we were left with the all too familiar Sam Hill fans curse of 'what could've been'. With Hill crashing out all eyes were on Bryceland and given his form, it appeared he just needed to produce one of his ridiculously laid back though crazy fast runs and he'd have the stripes. He did this up until the last 50m at which point it appears he took the laid back approach to racing that bit too far and paid an awfully high price. Really sad to see his season end like that given he was only 50m away from ending it both the WC overall and the stripes. Chances like that don't come around too often and it'll take a strong constitution to not feel the regret of that mistake for years to come. So in the end it was Gee, who after being somewhat off the radar mid season, gets to ware the stripes next year and finishes the return to form he started in Meribel up until the last split, in a big way. He'll be in everyone's top 5 for next year for sure. And with that, we look toward next year and begin the speculation. For me, I see next year as being Hill's. I think his form at the last couple of races has shown that he's back on track and a true Sam Hill style victory is only a matter of time. His main competition should be Bryceland and Smith as they're the only other riders who've produced don't argue style wins since Gwindom came to end in '12. Speaking of which, at the risk of derailing this thread, I think he needs to get off Specialized and go back (somehow) to Trek. I'm not saying the demo is a bad bike it's just that it seems impossible that someone can go from season's like '11 and '12 and then only win one race in the following two. Love him or hate him, it is without question that Gwinn has the ability to produce truly dominating wins in much the same way as Sam Hill and if he can find a way to ride like he was a few years ago, he will win races no question. Provided Bryceland's injury heals quickly and Smith can finally get that ankle sorted, next year should see an even better level of competition with the potential for the top riders of the past few seasons to battle it out in a truly spectacular fashion.
 
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MarioM

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. Speaking of which, at the risk of derailing this thread, I think he needs to get off Specialized and go back (somehow) to Trek. I'm not saying the demo is a bad bike it's just that it seems impossible that someone can go from season's like '11 and '12 and then only win one race in the following two. Love him or hate him, it is without question that Gwinn has the ability to produce truly dominating wins in much the same way as Sam Hill and if he can find a way to ride like he was a few years ago, he will win races no question. Provided Bryceland's injury heals quickly and Smith can finally get that ankle sorted, next year should see an even better level of competition with the potential for the top riders of the past few seasons to battle it out in a truly spectacular fashion.
I know people say its not the bike its the rider . Gwin is highly talented but he does not look comfortable ( to me ) on the specialised . The trek seemed to be moulded ideally for his style and if he had stayed i think he would still be Gwinning . Sam Hill legend is on and 2015 will be awesome for him and the team especially if Mike Jones continues to improve . Rat will be back and probably stronger . Seems to take a bit for these guys to catch up with the pace once they are out injured for a prolonged time - is it complacency or is everyone just rising to the challenge of going harder and faster and it takes a bit to catch up . Whatever it is 2015 will be an eye opener . Maybe we will see the new wheel size in DH !
 
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