[biker3]

Ive noticed the two years in a row there is no world cup stops in the us? What gives? Are the courses here just not good enough or are they worried about spectator putout? Im not trying to be all american pride or anything im just curious to know the reasoing? Doesn't Canada have 3 this year or is it just 2? Anyway what are the WC caliber courses in the US if there are even any?

thanks

 

[SuspectDevice]

US promoters can't muster up the funds... Telluride and Angelfire have both been on preleminary schedules in the last few years, but had to pull out when they couldn't raise the cash...
The main reason that many American venues stopped hosting WC rounds originally (before all the money dried up) is a UCI reg that prohibits having amateur races in conjuction with a WC round.

 

[Tenacious Doug]

a UCI reg that prohibits having amateur races in conjuction with a WC round.

The Fort William round of the World Cup has hosted a highly successful XC race on the Sunday morning for the last 2 years, it is totally open to amatuers and pro's alike. Surely that is an "amatuer race in conjunction with a WC round"??

 

[SuspectDevice]

The past few years (not this year though) Mt St Anne has also had amateur racing on the same weekend, they got around it by being Gestev, and by routing the XC course so that it only covers some of the pro course... Promoters with leverage can make amatuer races happen, but it is very unusual.

 

[stiksandstones]

Has absolutely NOTHING to do with the UCI "shunning" america. Has more to do with the fact that UCI has MANY requirements to host a World Cup, one of them being having a prize list for the pros (cash)...and since recently american promoters are lacking in the marketing dept and unable to get cash, that has been a huge reason for no USA World Cup stops.

Secret in house UCI spies reported back in early june that the UCI didnt want to even have a MTB World Cup anymore, they see the ROAD more lucrative for them, and the MTB stuff was a money loser and a waste of time. IMTTO got wind of this and let the UCI know that we as trade teams that we find the World Cup valuable, and with a little tuning the World Cup can yet again regain its prime status as the premier events in the world.

I am personally over the UCI, there cockiness and endless rules have gotten out of hand...especially the American UCI commisaire that has been in vermont, Mt St Anne and Calgary, he has to be the biggest dickwad I have ever seen in all my years on the circuit...like wanting to fine KamiKaze for wearing a G string, DQing Lopes from DH last weekend for riding on course one minute after timed practice started, fining EC for not wearing USA jersey in 4x and the list goes on....

If only the National series guys can get there act back together, we could just tell the world cup to go F itself.

 

[Tenacious Doug]

they got around it by being Gestev, and by routing the XC course so that it only covers some of the pro course... Promoters with leverage can make amatuer races happen, but it is very unusual.

Back to my previous post, the Fort William World Cup amatuer races use the pro XC course in its entirety.

Dunno if it really has total relevance to the topic but it does seem that Commissaires are cracking down pretty uneccessarily at the moment, Chris Ball was DQd at Calgary for riding in his boxers, now I am pretty sure there is no UCI rule against that, he had his number on his back and wore his helmet, he even had bar plugs. Whats up with that? Perhaps a little stupid but it was funny and certainly not against any rule I have seen! Thats bad luck about Lopes, I was looking for him on the results sheet yesterday after I heard he was racing DH

 

[xy9ine]

especially the American UCI commisaire that has been in vermont, Mt St Anne and Calgary, he has to be the biggest dickwad I have ever seen in all my years on the circuit...like wanting to fine KamiKaze for wearing a G string, DQing Lopes from DH last weekend for riding on course one minute after timed practice started, fining EC for not wearing USA jersey in 4x and the list goes on....

mike jones (canadian national dh champ) was apparently fined ~$1200 for not wearing his national champ jersey (he will be appealing)

 

[thespackler]

Has absolutely NOTHING to do with the UCI "shunning" america. Has more to do with the fact that UCI has MANY requirements to host a World Cup, one of them being having a prize list for the pros (cash)...and since recently american promoters are lacking in the marketing dept and unable to get cash, that has been a huge reason for no USA World Cup stops.

Secret in house UCI spies reported back in early june that the UCI didnt want to even have a MTB World Cup anymore, they see the ROAD more lucrative for them, and the MTB stuff was a money loser and a waste of time. IMTTO got wind of this and let the UCI know that we as trade teams that we find the World Cup valuable, and with a little tuning the World Cup can yet again regain its prime status as the premier events in the world.

I am personally over the UCI, there cockiness and endless rules have gotten out of hand...especially the American UCI commisaire that has been in vermont, Mt St Anne and Calgary, he has to be the biggest dickwad I have ever seen in all my years on the circuit...like wanting to fine KamiKaze for wearing a G string, DQing Lopes from DH last weekend for riding on course one minute after timed practice started, fining EC for not wearing USA jersey in 4x and the list goes on....

If only the National series guys can get there act back together, we could just tell the world cup to go F itself.

The U.S. Open had some serious cash this season. Would that place be a suitable location for an american DH worldcup? The promoters seem to know how to get cash, its close to a major metropolitan area, the US Open had the most spectators ive ever seen at a USA DH race and the course was sick. Seems like those guys have their act together...

 

[dump]

If only the National series guys can get there act back together, we could just tell the world cup to go F itself.

that'll be the day

 

[Leethal]

The world cup really just means the EURO CUP

 

[Pip3r]

The world cup really just means the EURO CUP

no kidding. Itd be so cool to see some races in south america, africa, australia. Maybe some day

 

[Jeremy R]

that'll be the day

I don't know.
Look at Minaar.
He was clearly stomping everybody and he picked the Norba Series over the World Cup.
Those fines are silly. How ya gonna fine somebody that barely gets paid anyway.
And I second the idea of having a World Cup at the US Open.
That place was killer.

 

[biker3]

where was the US open and how come it didnt get the publicity it deserved?
wasnt the cash payout like 5k?

 

[vitox]

no kidding. Itd be so cool to see some races in south america, africa, australia. Maybe some day

working on it as i type....

 

[Tenacious Doug]

The world cup really just means the EURO CUP

The Canadian might speak French but they aint Euro....2 races in Canada for the last 2 seasons. South America was pencilled into this years calendar I think but never came off. It is not just a case of where the UCI want to take it, it can only go where there is the organisers prepared to take the series on.

 

[jon-boy]

I think that you also have to look at the money in DH now as far as budgets for the teams and the cost of having a big tour that covered the globe... now the costs involved with that are huge, getting the riders, mechanics, bikes etc there.

However, if they were to have more races and only count the best 5 out of 8 races then the riders could pick and choose where they raced based on budget etc. The flipside of that is the riders are then able to pick and choose courses that suit their style. I know there are some suggestions from the UCI for something like this next year, but I think the trade teams weren't keen on it. Though I think the UCI were going to an extreme of having a HUGE tour much like the road guys do. Whatever I think that it would be great to have a WC in the US again and I'd like to see courses that are more than 2 minutes long. The stupid thing is that the Grouse WC in Vancouver was on a short course (again around 2 mins) and when I've raced in BC cups those courses are about 3:30 to 4 mins for the pros.
These guys are athletes, they can cope with more than a 2 min run, lets have courses that really test their strength and endurance as well as their skills levels.
While I'm one my little soapbox.. when will Whistler step up and hold a WC there. That place has amazing facilites and the bike park now offers 3300 feet of descending. They are even holding a race all the way from the top trails at the end of the month, I'd love to see the top guys race that. Whistler claims to be the world leading bike park etc etc. Let's see them put their money where their mouth is.

Rant over.

 

[Ian F]

where was the US open and how come it didnt get the publicity it deserved?
wasnt the cash payout like 5k?

Vernon, NJ - not far from New York City.

While it didn't get much publicity this year, the event did get more coverage than last year on the web and in magazines. Give it time. It's getting there.

 

[Dingus McGee]

The main reason that many American venues stopped hosting WC rounds originally (before all the money dried up) is a UCI reg that prohibits having amateur races in conjuction with a WC round.

Maybe that's a new reg, but I raced the Am DH race at Squaw in 99 I think
and got my first medal (in beginner, but hey now it says UCI World Cup).
It was on a different course, however. I was a little dronk and got Steve Peat
to sign the GT hat they were giving away - so there. Only time I've done the fan thing like that. Couldn't find Novlenn (sp?) his teammate...or was it someone else? Wat Katja Repo on GT?...fuzzt memory...............

 

[Damn True]

Because the UCI is run by the French.

 

[Tenacious Doug]

Because the UCI is run by the French.

The UCI is Swiss

 

[thaflyinfatman]

no kidding. Itd be so cool to see some races in south america, africa, australia. Maybe some day

South America would kick major arse. There's only a handful of places in Australia where you could really run a WC-worthy track (Mt Beauty, Thredbo, Mt Buller, and Cairns). The pro prizes over here at Nationals races are like $300au to the winner (ie nearly enough to cover the cost of actually going to the race, woo hoo), I really doubt anyone could dredge up the money to pay worthwhile pro prizes.

 

[Hrelp]

Same reason F1 isn't fond of america.

 

[thaflyinfatman]

Same reason F1 isn't fond of america.

Because your racers suck? Or is it that your tracks suck?



just kidding ya man

 

[c2001]

calgary world cup charged like $2 grand per team for pit space, so a some teams didn't go. spectators had to pay $12 canadian for a "pass" if they wanted to get into the pits, get near the track or just be anywhere near the venue. this means companys had to shell out almost double the money of normal for pits so they could show off their team/product/racers to people who had to shell out money just to get in to see the stuff...GENIUS!

security was SO tight...even if you had the proper wristband or badge, sometimes you still got hassled about going into the pits or the track, as if you were poaching.

racers would roll up on their bikes w/ their gear in the pits and nothing but a number plate...they practically had to have a court case to decide whether or not they were worthy of getting into the pits to put their gear on or change tires.

calgary seemed like nothing but a money generator and race killer to me...get the money while you can guys. i'm sure that most people won't travel thousands of miles to pay boatloads of money for a 350 foot vertical track next year. at least they had a couple jumps...

 

[Leethal]

I think mid-ohio would be about the perfect f-1 course.

 

[Transcend]

calgary world cup charged like $2 grand per team for pit space, so a some teams didn't go. spectators had to pay $12 canadian for a "pass" if they wanted to get into the pits, get near the track or just be anywhere near the venue. this means companys had to shell out almost double the money of normal for pits so they could show off their team/product/racers to people who had to shell out money just to get in to see the stuff...GENIUS!

security was SO tight...even if you had the proper wristband or badge, sometimes you still got hassled about going into the pits or the track, as if you were poaching.

racers would roll up on their bikes w/ their gear in the pits and nothing but a number plate...they practically had to have a court case to decide whether or not they were worthy of getting into the pits to put their gear on or change tires.

calgary seemed like nothing but a money generator and race killer to me...get the money while you can guys. i'm sure that most people won't travel thousands of miles to pay boatloads of money for a 350 foot vertical track next year. at least they had a couple jumps...

That was mostly due to it being in calgary olympic park. It is a tourist trap, and the only reason they got the event with such a ****ty course is that the main organizer is good friends with the UCI bums who decide who gets a race.

LAME

 

[c2001]

yeah...either way it sure is a great way to kill mtn bike racing. i hope they succeed, so it can just start all over.

 

[Transcend]

Oh i hear ya spomer. It is a pretty crappy state of affairs right now. I'm skipping a few bigger races to go race a small local event here on a fun course with cheap registration.

Local races rock.