Sure they were coming for gold, but I’m not sure if an Olympic silver medal qualifies as a “disaster”
Is it common to include ramps for practice runs and training runs only to remove them for the main event? That sounds to me like a bad way to run an MTB event, particularly with how technical some of those features can be. Surely the riders would want a pass at all the features as they’ll be during the actual race. I just imagine pre-riding a crit course only to have them add another corner or a chicane for the real race. That sounds crazy to me.
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Not sure if either of those events has anything to do with the team prep. The women’s RR was a case of the riders not counting how many were in the break, and plain forgetting about one of them. They have some of the most experienced riders in the world, they should have known.
MvDP also sounds more like he made a bad decision, or didn’t pay attention to a briefing. There isn’t too much the team can do about that.
I just imagine pre-riding a crit course only to have them another corner or a chicane for the real race.
I’ve been spooked and messed up my line choices due to the difference in shadows in the morning on trails I’ve ridden 100x in the afternoon. Something like this wooden ramp would be a huge visual reference even if I cleared it every time, and removing it would get in my head the first few laps of the race.
I can definitely understand the small hesitation at the top of the rock, which unfortunately is all it takes to end up OTB on a drop of this size and speed.
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I tend to agree with you in general, however this is a bit of a different case. As long as you are 100% aware the ramp is only for practice, then its presence shouldn’t really affect anything; you practice and prep as if it isn’t there at all. I think the only reason it was there in practice was so guys could do a quick feeler lap without stopping and having to scope it when they started practice. Also, no other riders at issues with the drop so it kind puts the microscope on MVDP.
There’s alot of buzz on other forums that the feature was too much for an XCO race. I personally thought it was great, I like the idea of “squirrel catchers” like at bike parks: it means you need both fitness and technical skills to compete… The gravel racing scene seems to be pushing XCO races onto more trail/all mountain inspired riding. Anyone have any thoughts for or against the evolution of XCO courses?
How many started? 35 or so. Only one of them didn’t seem to know they would remove it. Quite simple to me. Big mistake, big consequences.
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Is this the ramp?!
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That’s the video I saw on her Instagram. Looks like it to me 
If so. Nfw. With the ramp he was still going otb. Just sent it too much
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Review of the crash:
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Youtube thumbnails are an art form in itself lol
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the commentator lost me when he said ‘I am not a mountain bike rider’
edit: I see it now, he pushed it down to catch that ramp
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Looks like the Dutch are cursed! Niek Kimmann broke his knee during training today, because a dumb official crossed the track, WTF. Update, other media report his knee cap is torn, but that he might still race.
It was Lewis Hamilton’s fault (F1 fans will get this after Silverstone)
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Wasn’t the ramp there just to allow the riders to move around the course more easily during practice - they would ride it as a drop a few times till they were comfortable with it, then they might want to basically be able to get to later features more easily on the next laps. You might not want to keep riding that drop at race pace in practice if you didn’t need to, it seems an unnecessary risk.
Too soon!
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Sucks MVDP crashed out and we didn’t get to see if he had it to stay with the leaders today. I also don’t buy that he didn’t know/wasn’t told that the ramp would be removed. His teammate went over it before him with no issue, and the Dutch coach said that MVDP was told about it.
My question watching the XCO race…what was with the officials they had stationed all over the course blowing whistles as each rider passed by?? I’ve never noticed anything like that watching any of the world cup races before…
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I’ve seen (or heard 
) this before, especially in DH. One whistle blow per rider at your station. Just so the next station / marshall / timing crew knows whats coming.
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Apparently they need that on the BMX course too!
The full replay is on:
BTW, I signed up for a free trial of Youtubetv (free through October 31st) and get all the NBC channels plus access to nbcolympics.com.
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