Aussies XC Riders Abroad

markyh990

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Was just looking at the results from the xc in South Africa, are Aussies that shit or are we just not suited to world cup racing?

After looking at our racing season, I was thinking we could do better than 48th for our best placed rider, Jongewaard finished 55th, Lach Norris 93rd i think.

Without trying to be so critical, why arn't we doing anything on the world stage xc?
 
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Grover

Likes Bikes and Dirt
There's always a story behind a result. I'd say Ben and Dan had great rides last night, Chris probably would have hoped for more. In world cup racing it is VERY tough to move up the field. There's probably 5 riders in the world that could make it to the front after starting lower than 30th on the grid, and they're all starting in the top 10.

Chris was getting top 20 results a couple of years ago when he had a ranking that started him up there. After having a year off he started 81st on the grid last night and was 42nd after the first lap. He did fade but it shows he's still got the speed there. He still cracked the top 60 though so will have a World Cup ranking for the next round and be started ~25 positions better on the grid which will make a difference in Dalby Forrest. If he can string 3 or 4 good rounds together look for him going top 30 again.

Dan had a bad season last year and also had a poor start position in 84th. Consistently moving through the field the whole race to finish high 40s is a very positive thing. He'll also have a grid position much better for Dalby Forrest now and would expect to finish in the 30s there if everything goes to plan. He'd hope to get a couple of results in the 20s this season.

Ben had no chance starting 120th on the grid but had a great race moving into the 70s on the first lap. He should be very happy. He stayed consistent in the 60s but couldn't quite bridge the gap to the guys inside the top 60. That's disappointing as now he'll have a start position pretty similar in Dalby Forrest and will have to battle through again.

Norri was consistently moving up but broke a wheel on lap 3 and got pulled at the 80% point before he could make it to the tech zone for a new wheel. He was into the 70s coming from the 90s. norri.jpg

I'd say it was actually a very strong showing from the Aussie guys. If Chris and Dan ride like that at round 2 they'll be putting themselves into the 20s or 30s, a very strong position for the season. Hopefully Ben and Norri can crack a top 60 so they start getting a decent start position and can get a result they're worthy of.
 
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markyh990

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It's interesting to have it explained from someone who seems to know

It seems locally that we really have a strong group of xc riders, and i guess when you put it the way you have, alot of them would have had strong rides.

So how does the ranking work is it purely on world cup rounds, or do they have second tier events in Europe that earn you ranking points that the euro riders have access to and the Aussies don't?
 

alchemist

Manly Warringah MTB Club
So how does the ranking work is it purely on world cup rounds, or do they have second tier events in Europe that earn you ranking points that the euro riders have access to and the Aussies don't?
For men the top 60 spots are based only on world cup rankings, after that it goes on the UCI world rankings (so other events are included) after that any unranked riders draw straws. This is the first year it's been like this, it used to just be based on the World Rankings.
 

Win

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Willow Koerber

Tested positive...for pregnant. Found out the day before the race so DNS
 

Grover

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So how does the ranking work is it purely on world cup rounds, or do they have second tier events in Europe that earn you ranking points that the euro riders have access to and the Aussies don't?
The first 60 (or 40 for women) are in order of their World Cup ranking. For the first round this is based on the previous season. In years past the next 10 have been the 10 best under23 riders on the UCI point ranking that aren't in the top 60 World Cup ranked riders. After that it goes on UCI point ranking. You need to have at least 20 UCI points to qualify to enter a World Cup race.

As of this year there is a seperate under23 race so the top 10 u23 UCI ranked riders are now omitted from this process and it simply goes top 60 (40 for women, 25 for u23) world cup ranked riders and the remaining entrants are given a number based on their UCI ranking. Under23 riders can elect to race Elite instead of under23 if they want to race with the best riders. Many of the Swiss under23 riders have elected to do this as under23 races don't count towards their olympic selection criteria. Australia's criteria does include under23 races hence Bec and Paul aren't disadvantaged by racing U23.

The Euro's do have more races in which they can claim points available to them, but they also have much more competition to get them. In Australia we have Oceania Champs, National Champs and 2 or 3 rounds of the National Series. Not many points available but some of the riders getting points at these races wouldn't have a chance of getting any at most of the Euro races, ie. myself who qualified to race world cups based on my Oceania Champs result alone but wouldn't last half distance before getting lapped out.
 

Warwick

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Chris was getting top 20 results a couple of years ago when he had a ranking that started him up there. After having a year off he started 81st on the grid last night and was 42nd after the first lap.

Wow, Chris must have had some sore elbows after disposing of 39 others!

Great video though. Is that from Cable?
 

alchemist

Manly Warringah MTB Club
A bit easier to do when the field is half the size, the Aussie blokes moved up similar number of places.
 

iscarrr

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Burry's stack!
[video=youtube;0IzVNzpXbjo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IzVNzpXbjo&feature=player_embedded[/video]
 

quiggs

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How ugly is the helmet of Julian Absolon?? Seems to promote the look of having a massive foreheads are cool!

Seriously you wouldn't want to crash wearing it, it wouldn't give you a lot of protection.
 
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