Slip & Slide in Les Gets | Story of the Race with Ben Cathro

Riders had to deal with a drastically changed track for their finals run, creating the most dramatic race we've seen in recent times.
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Breaking Down the Hidden Challenges in Les Gets | Inside the Tape with Ben Cathro:
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[@matthewloftis3530]

1:30 I think the thing Amaury Pierron had on his bike that gave him an advantage was Amaury Pierron.

[@winstonstruye8289]

These "story of the race" videos are absolute gems. Ever sport should copy this format for their "highlights" (looking at you, @F1 ) , and Cathro should be rewarded generously for these fantastic productions.

[@davidkeane2399]

Hi Ben and the Pinkbike crew. I just got back home from Les Gets (where I spied some of you). Conditions were abysmal yesterday, and still peanut-butter slick this afteroon (yes, I slid out... happy now ?!?!). 0ne thing I think should be taken into account - it's been THE worst spring/beginning of summer I can remember from 25 years living in the alps. The ground is so waterlogged it's insane. Trees are falling every week just above my house and there are mini-landslides everywhere. It wasn't just one-off rain yesterday, it was generational climate conditions. And then Amaury did Amaury things. We were hiding under a tent in the Commencal village. It was nuts. This guy...

[@Stevo_YouTube]

I walked down from the top during the semi finals. It was dry on Friday. Nowhere was waterlogged from previous weather.

[@NZWozza]

‘Not fit enough my ass Ben!’ 🤣

[@fiedlertimify]

Greg showed the power of experience. I loved this race!

[@maxbreak147]

Well Dakota said on WynTV that water and dirt blocked his view from inside the goggles because they forgot to block the helmet vents

[@davidkeane2399]

My son and I were at the finish line and on the big screen it looked like he kept pulling at his goggles. It was way too often to be tear-offs. It did seem weird at the time.

[@rarelycomments]

Yeah said he could not see a thing for the whole run. Yikes

[@falk.r.h8963]

If we had rob warner and no semis then this would be on par with the 2011 champery

[@MrRant-ug2fm]

Regarding the fact that Amauri went 6.5 seconds faster the commentary guys were super chilled.

[@andybucher452]

Again Ben, best race report and analysis. Really appreciate the effort you put in. Keep up the good work. Cheers, greetings from England, AndyB

[@cell673]

Race looked wild. Thanks Ben for the good coverage as always!

[@davidkeane2399]

It wasn't wild. It was f'ing insane. We were stood at the finish line in pouring rain and these girls and guys just kept throwing themselves down a track that should've probably been closed. My goretex gave up after about 30 minutes stood at the finish line.

[@PawnSacrifice]

Shame for the juniors but good to see the organisers are thinking about what's coming to ensure there is a race. What I don't understand, though, is why teams didn't prepare the juniors better for the qualifying, after Loudenvielle last year this cancelling juniors was a distinct possibility, the forecast for Saturday was looking bad all weekend. Good job Asa ignored Neko's request to take it easy and not push too hard given Asa was protected! Great video again, Ben!

[@randommtbing5631]

Dakotah said he had water seeping through the went holes back of his visor between lens and the film. He could have also told the roll-offs failed him. Laminated tear-offs FTW!

[@RiderP411]

First time seeing Minnar riding in an upright posture, finally enough stack.

[@NZWozza]

Maybe he needs a set of Dak’s bars. 😂

[@user-xq5oz8jj6m]

Good point about the mudguards - first thing I modified as I got into amateur XC racing, with muddy conditions, a couple of years ago.

[@erinb4919]

That was bonkers that anyone could ride that. Kudos to those who came down and insane run from amaurry!!

[@PaulDudley]

Excellent point, after riding through UK winters, and summers, the biggest RRP makes a huuuuuge difference in how much mud gets to your face

[@leezy7201]

Thanks, Ben!

[@htnrumpkicker7868]

Been waiting for this these past few days

[@replicawheels1731]

nobody was touching that run of Jean Gerrard

[@jokermtb]

Dak said he didn't tape over his helmet vents, and all the mud water seeped in and got inbetween his tearoffs, funhousing his vision for the whole run

[@JamesRobertMTB]

Absolute carnage!

[@mikegallagher2732]

THANK YOU BEN !!!!! These Finals ( AND THE FANS) Were just INSANE...FUCKING BONKERS.. Best race In MANY, MANY Years.. SLIP AND SLIDE INDEED !!!!!

[@ShredddT]

Greg’s kit was also the best of the day.

[@FireLysm]

I don't think vision was the reason for Amaury's win, It's him having knowing how to ride on the edge. He said it before "Wet conditions will show who the good riders are!"

[@joehoeper4648]

Glad to know I'm not the only one with bikes in my bedroom

[@davea8346]

I had to trim down the back of my RRP proguard because it was hitting on chairlift racks and making it wonky. Still works great though.

[@jokermtb]

You just don’t see a lot of this type of mayhem on the planet…..consider how very rare such a spectacle. Cheers!🎉

[@mcspikesky]

Plenty of 30mph in the wet ebike experience.. the mudguard must only allow mud to be flung parallel with the ground or below, any slight upward fling with the wind will curl up into your face, especially if you are in an aero tuck.

[@TheRotundRider]

The link lives (as of right now)

[@chrissmith331]

@Ben - what kind of data fetching and analysis do you need.

[@MTBMOR]

Those courses are so gnarly even without the mud. Heck we raced a way easier course in the rain and it was terrifying. This riders are insane!

[@denzze23ob16]

going first time from a small to medium mudguard for me was a intense experience... the amount of ground visibility it blocks in tecnical sections is incredible. i lost any confidence in the front tire compared to the free vision.

[@kingflynxi9420]

How when it has pretty much the same silhouette as a tyre? I have a full coverage mudguard on my bike and it's fine?

[@francisdee9955]

Dakota had problems with his visor! Was talking on wyn tv about it…

[@RacingRalphEVO]

5:36 - second turn IIRC. Ronan crashed in the first turn tho :D

[@somewhereinhawaii3663]

I'm in Let Gets. It didn't end up raining Sunday. If they didn't move the event to Saturday there would have been better conditions. Blame the weather man.

[@johnmoffat848]

Fantastic incite Ben 👍

[@Tazznbk]

Yeah Dak was basically riding blind from fog on the inside of the goggles - which no amount of tear-off or roll-off's would've helped, so the fact that he pulled the run he was able to, just goes to show how much faster he could've been if he was actually able to see.

[@kenth7211]

when Loris crashed something came off his handlebars. it almost looked like he had wrapped something around his hands and bars. anyone else see this? also the lights on loic and finn's bikes?

[@davidkeane2399]

Lights on the bikes are suspension controls, or so it appears. I spent a part of this morning watching the Specialized gravity mechanic strip and rebuild Loïc's race bike. The dude is a magician by the way. Anyway, there's a whole circuit board under the black case in the bottom of the triangle; just in front of the rear shock.

[@JustJake77]

Looked like a blue shop towel. Probably to soak up water from the grips.

[@ghdub71]

@bencathro I'm pretty badass with spreadsheets. You're a gem. Would love to help out. Not exactly sure how to find you but will try here as a starter. Hit me back...

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

That was fun, at mute, the crowd was as annoying as eurofans can be 😂

[@Kraken-uu6bb]

Who hell looks at their front wheel when riding? I never heard this before. Been riding for over 13 years and never have I looked at my front wheel when riding. Maybe not consciously.

[@vc4546]

Why don't they always do Junior finals the day before Elite? Shorter day for everyone? Win Win?!

[@NZWozza]

I imagine it’s because there are more spectators on ‘race day’. Could be other reasons though? I’m just taking a guess.

[@Hihopeyouhaveawonderfulday]

Hey UCI, more races should take place in North America for the 2025 season. Half the tracks in Europe are not holding up!

[@offroadrepairman]

Have no idea how to tune into and watch. No dh race viewing here.

[@exothermal.sprocket]

They couldn't just wait until conditions improved. Because money. It's always because money.

[@Ganiscol]

No they couldnt have waited due to the forecast and the need to have some time to play with in order to get everybody off the mountain before the predicted thunderstorm would have rolled in. What they could have done was pull practice forward and squeeze juniors in earlier and elite at the time they eventually did race. It wasnt just about riders, there were thousands of people there and the forecast looked really bad and dangerous. This decision was nothing like the one for juniors in Loudenville last year, which really didnt make much sense as it was only about the slippery track condition if I recall correctly.

[@scottpratico1315]

Full coverage fenders fetch faster finishes.

[@freshseeker]

this is terrible. spent half the video talking about juniors then has a half baked idea on why DAK counld see. Watch wyntv, his googles are water coming in due to helmet visor