Best and Worst World Cup DH Tracks?

w4s
Posts
192
Joined
9/2/2009
Location
Verdi, NV US
Edited Date/Time 4/7/2020 11:34am
Since we may not get any World Cup racing this year I've been going back and watching helmet cam footage of world cup tracks, Danny Hart has some really great vids and today he posted footage of Losinj 2018 and it just seemed like the worst track on video. I'm sure it was great but on cam it seems pretty boring. Conversely, watching his Andorra 2019 run was insane, I've probably watched it 20 times. To me, it's the epitome of a WC track.

So, what's your vote for Best and Worst WC tracks of the modern era, and why. post up links to runs that support your vote.

Best


worst

|
Masjo
Posts
200
Joined
11/25/2014
Location
Ancaster CA
4/5/2020 10:32am
I think the best/worst tracks have some relation to how races went. My personal favourite moment last year was watching Amaury absolutely rip those grass turns at Les Gets... I don't remember anything else about the race, but that has my vote for one of the best recent races. It did have a mix of some non-old school as well which was cool to watch. It is relatively new, so a similar experience can be found at MSA for multi-year viewing.
Maybe unpopular, but the saddest race was the Fort Bill rain run with the muddy tree section (2018?). It was kind of interesting to watch the large majority of the field struggle hard with that section, but it ended up being such a disaster with most of the field crashing/dismounting. They certainly cleaned it up and I doubt it will be as much of a problem in the future after that happening though. I don't know if I think any track is particularly bad. Even Leogang, which gets a lot of hate, is interesting to me because it's all about precision, speed, and tenths of a second.
thejake
Posts
64
Joined
6/16/2018
Location
Carnation, WA US
4/5/2020 2:34pm
I don’t think any of the tracks are “bad” but I’m completely bored with MSA and Fort William. I know, bring the hate. I wish the UCI had a rule where a track could not be run more than 2 years in a row, then one year off, then back.
1
1
TPL Racing
Posts
19
Joined
8/13/2018
Location
Mesa, AZ US
4/5/2020 2:55pm
Ive read that MSA is a very popular destination with the racers and teams so I think its staying on the schedule. Whistler is building a WC downhill course over on creekside? so Id like to see them race there.
3
4/6/2020 7:22am
Least favorite is leogang. Nothing on that track stands out and while the racing is tight it’s usually pretty boring compared to most the other regular tracks. There is one or two memorable runs and everything else is meh. The classics all work well and i hope an annual race gets established in america. Which will make more semi annual North America races possible too. most tracks are good and tend to have unique features, terrain, and atmosphere. Favorite track is Maribor. Not only does it make for a great race but I’d love to ride that track just for fun.
1
1
4/6/2020 10:26am
Fort William is the best dh track soo rough and gnarly big jumps this track separates the boys from the men what a true dh track should be like I think les gets was shit was more like a f1 race than downhill World Cup good watching amaury fly down there though
1
krisrayner
Posts
31
Joined
4/29/2014
Location
San Luis Obispo, CA US
4/6/2020 12:11pm
The worst track is the one with inconsistent conditions that makes less about the racer and more about sheer chance (Lourdes 2017).
And how is it that RedBull so regularly misses covering the crux sections of the courses? Rider X gains 3 secs on the lead but we have no footage to see where or how.
2
chup29
Posts
27
Joined
8/25/2009
Location
Palo Alto, CA US
4/6/2020 4:52pm
Best tracks: Schladming, Andorra, Meribel, Les Gets, Snowshoe

Worst Tracks: Leogang, Pietermaritzburg

Tracks that I acknowledge are great but am sort of sick of seeing the same angles every year: Fort William, Mont Saint Anne. I think we should rotate the classic tracks so they become special again. Right now they are the ones I look forward to the least. "Oh look its the same rocks as last year, oh look they made added a bus stop chicane, oh look they took out the mud bog that was actually interesting and challenging... SIGH"

Tracks that I don't care much for but am happy to see because they're at least in new places: Losinj, Lourdes v1, Balneario Camboriu, Pietermaritzburg

Tracks I wish would come back: Schladming, that's the whole list. Have zero interest in who can speed tuck their xxxxxxl 29er the best.

Track I was most excited for in 2020: Portugal looked freaking rad all the way down!
4
Big Bird
Posts
2136
Joined
2/1/2011
Location
Oceano, CA US
4/6/2020 6:15pm Edited Date/Time 4/6/2020 6:17pm
TPL Racing wrote:
Ive read that MSA is a very popular destination with the racers and teams so I think its staying on the schedule. Whistler is building a...
Ive read that MSA is a very popular destination with the racers and teams so I think its staying on the schedule. Whistler is building a WC downhill course over on creekside? so Id like to see them race there.
A Whistler World Cup would be amazing. They've got the money, clearly, after being the Mecca of mountain biking for more than a decade. Everything is in place for perfection.

Random idea.... Northstar in California has irrigation lines running down their trails and water them to keep down the dust. With the kind of infrastructure that is available at Whistler, they could build the perfect trail down Creekside, with plenty of video coverage and perfectly moistened trail and just go full bike park perfection. Riders against a uniform track. No excuses?
1
w4s
Posts
192
Joined
9/2/2009
Location
Verdi, NV US
4/6/2020 7:14pm
Fort William is the best dh track soo rough and gnarly big jumps this track separates the boys from the men what a true dh track...
Fort William is the best dh track soo rough and gnarly big jumps this track separates the boys from the men what a true dh track should be like I think les gets was shit was more like a f1 race than downhill World Cup good watching amaury fly down there though
How could you not love this track? I get that it's always on the schedule but damn, looks so crazy fun on helmet cam.

w4s
Posts
192
Joined
9/2/2009
Location
Verdi, NV US
4/6/2020 7:25pm Edited Date/Time 4/6/2020 7:26pm
Everyone is sleeping on Snowshoe.
Not sure anybody is sleeping on Snowshoe. It's a gnarly track for sure and makes for a pretty stunning helmet cam run, but it doesn't have the steepness or length of Andorra, imo. The crowd noise is intense!


Big Bird
Posts
2136
Joined
2/1/2011
Location
Oceano, CA US
4/6/2020 7:51pm Edited Date/Time 4/7/2020 8:11am
Thank Goodness that Danny got a gimble.
1
4/7/2020 1:17am
Worst: Labresse (2018). I really didn't like it.
Best: Val di Sole, it would be scary to ride and that's how a WC track should be.
4/7/2020 1:58am
Least favorite is leogang. Nothing on that track stands out and while the racing is tight it’s usually pretty boring compared to most the other regular...
Least favorite is leogang. Nothing on that track stands out and while the racing is tight it’s usually pretty boring compared to most the other regular tracks. There is one or two memorable runs and everything else is meh. The classics all work well and i hope an annual race gets established in america. Which will make more semi annual North America races possible too. most tracks are good and tend to have unique features, terrain, and atmosphere. Favorite track is Maribor. Not only does it make for a great race but I’d love to ride that track just for fun.
Leogang is such a hard track to ride and race on. Extremely difficult to ride but no fun at all in my opinion. I would say it's harder than Maribor
4/8/2020 1:32pm
Least favorite is leogang. Nothing on that track stands out and while the racing is tight it’s usually pretty boring compared to most the other regular...
Least favorite is leogang. Nothing on that track stands out and while the racing is tight it’s usually pretty boring compared to most the other regular tracks. There is one or two memorable runs and everything else is meh. The classics all work well and i hope an annual race gets established in america. Which will make more semi annual North America races possible too. most tracks are good and tend to have unique features, terrain, and atmosphere. Favorite track is Maribor. Not only does it make for a great race but I’d love to ride that track just for fun.
Nico_Ofner wrote:
Leogang is such a hard track to ride and race on. Extremely difficult to ride but no fun at all in my opinion. I would say...
Leogang is such a hard track to ride and race on. Extremely difficult to ride but no fun at all in my opinion. I would say it's harder than Maribor
Pretty much only race I don’t look forward to. I still watch it but it’s easily one of the most monotonous for me besides a couple runs every race. Most wcs I could rewatch the whole thing and enjoy it. It also
Lacks the uniqueness of ft. Bill, msa, Vds, vallnord. I don’t hate the track but i don’t like it enough to see it every year. Croatia is another one which is more unique than leogang imo, but also isn’t a track I’d want to see every year.

larry3QZ
Posts
3
Joined
4/8/2020
Location
Atlanta, GA US
4/9/2020 7:27am Edited Date/Time 4/11/2020 5:29am
w4s, awesome! Thanks for sharing. Few weeks ago, I've been looking for a good betting service, which can allow to put my money on this or that team. And I finally found an awesome website ( here: https://www.tipleader.com/en/bookmakers_rating ), which is all about predictions, bettings, and accurate analytics of each team in every championship.


Eoin
Posts
188
Joined
3/6/2015
Location
FR
4/9/2020 8:37am
I never understand the Leogang hate, almost every year it provides a memorable race (Gwin chainless, Gwin tyreless, Gee VS Chainsaw, almost first win for Fearon, Josh vs Bruni, last corner crashes from frenchies) AND produces some of the best vital RAW footage (e.g. Exploding Lehikonen wheel) AND is now one of the best online viewing experiences as you get to see the whole track and all the good tech sections.

PMB was crap, but I would argue the live feed of Fort Bill isn't great, by the time the rider is on screen, 2/3rds of his run have been done, and that last 3rd of the track isnt interesting to watch and is only won/lost based on the pedaling/tucking section.
w4s
Posts
192
Joined
9/2/2009
Location
Verdi, NV US
4/9/2020 10:41am
Live helmet cam feeds from the top 20 qualifiers! Tongue

Post a reply to: Best and Worst World Cup DH Tracks?

The Latest