Final Results from the Nove Mesto XC World Cup 2022

 Agreed. 100.

 Remember when pinkbike claimed they were going to do a better job moderating and make this place more friendly? Lulz.

 Incel group chat. I feel sorry for any women who know those men.

 @nimsay90: When 4chan bleeds into Pinkbike.

 I could not agree more. Bunch of what I presume to be men critiquing how female athletes are operating their careers is grotesque. Imo either be supportive or shut your trap.

I’m stoked Kate rode to 11th today. Boss ride. I’m sure even better results to come.

 @Clink1983: An "edit" button that lasts more than a few second on comments would also be helpful, if only to be able to fix spelling and other typos. We'll give them a few more years under the new ownership, I guess. Live to dream!

 THE COURSE WAS FAHST AND BURMPY AND DURSTY!

@aaronjb you can Edit for a few minutes on the desktop browser...

 I read those comments, and was struggling with how to respond. But you said it very well.

 @aks2017: I just checked them too.

Wow. Absolutely psychotic. O_o

 I’m just surprised these raccoon stewing coal rolling moonshiners had enough time in their day to comment on an internet article. Between feeling threatened by the sight of “colored folks” and equating gas chambers to temporarily not attending concerts and sporting events, how did these Neanderthals find the time to troll people online?

 How about the post race when Risved. Talk about trying to stir up her mental demons. Hump

 @SterlingArcher: one word, hard crowd.

Hump

 I agree. 100%. I made a comment there saying something similar. Comment sections are where losers go to feel big. Monday morning quarterbacking at its finest.

 @SterlingArcher: this country? What country are you referring to? Pinkbike is from Canada, where both French and English are official languages. Many of the users here are from around the globe. So even if english is the main language on pinkbike, please stop spreading stupid phrases like "in this country we speak english"...sorry USA is just a former colony and this had not the chance to have a language of their own‍♂️

 @HumpDiesel: That interviewer was lame. I understood what you were saying.

 It’s utterly bizarre how much some people love slagging that one rider in particular. The complete, utter and blind HATE a few people spew on her is mind blowing.

What should be nothing more than “I think her social media routine is distasteful and she isn’t as good as 2019 suggests” - which is a completely legitimate and fair opinion to express about a bike racer of either gender - becomes a disjointed 20 comment rant filled with the wildest falsehoods, extrapolations, logical fallacies and moral judgements you could ever come up with. And anyone who jumps in to point out actual facts or mention that they made multiple unsubstantiated leaps in logic receives some of the most vicious personal attacks I’ve seen on this site. All while repeating something like “I just tell it like it is.” Funny how they never post rants about other riders with the temerity to finish tenth in a World Cup.

It would be weird enough if just one person felt this way, but there are at least three separate commenters on pinkbike who follow this template. All about the same rider. I could speculate on why but at the end of the day nothing can even begin to explain the depth of hate a few feel.

 Thanks for writing this so well, couldn’t agree more with all of it.

Some of the absolute clowns in this comment soup need to grow up or find another sport.

 @Clink1983: Or people could be accountable for their actions and not be douchebags.

 It's pointless to rant against willikers. All of his posts get downvoted into oblivion so no one sees them anyway. I tried confirming his claims and was unable to do so. He's just making things up and trolling.

 @mtb1101: You forgot to switch accounts, pal.

 @Clink1983: why?
In my eyes the current system works rather well. You spot the morons by allowing to them to speak their minds while the user community has the option to downvote them into hell should it be the case.

It's transparent and democratic

 @mtb1101: Yeah but less than 2 off podium and 4 seconds off top ten. It's a damn good result. What do you care anyway? You and I would be battling for our lives to be within 30 minutes of the winner so maybe we aren't entitled to detailed criticism of female athletes? Im going to echo my comment above. Be supportive or keep it to yourself ya keyboard warrior.

 @mtb1101: You know Frischnecht isn’t her coach, right? Never was.

 @mtb1101: Bro. You gotta relax. You think way too much about someone else's career. It's very strange and it's none of your business.

 @mtb1101: Obsess much?

 @mtb1101: annndddd we’re in the personal attack phase of the Kate Courtney Hater Cycle. Of course nobody even came close to saying that but hey, you’re making up moronic shit to slag a random athlete you hate for some reason so I guess twisting some internet comment into a perverse word pretzel is almost a step up.

 @Arierep: except it doesn't. You can look through all the XC threads and see all the brainless drivel about female xc racers that doesn't get down voted.

 Good grief, women are not some fragile creatures that need you to protect them. Sure what some people were saying is shitty but that comes with the territory of being a pro athlete. Spend 5 minutes on a men's ball sport forum and see the vitriol spewed is 10 times worse than anything written here. This is not an anti-women issue it is an idiot sports fan issue. Women don't need you to protect their feelings, in fact that line of thinking is low key misogynistic.

 @OnTheRivet: except there are plenty of "low performing" men xc racers that people don't get the hatred. It's plain ass sexism, don't try to defend it.

 @OnTheRivet: Please, go find the comments about a male who’s contending for top 10 in world cups with similar criticism to Courtney. Search the whole f*cking internet and find me something that competes with just the past week of pinkbike.

It’s asinine what people say about her, and there’s absolutely no way they would care so f*cking much about a man in the same situation. No one is saying female athletes are off limits for criticism, but at some point it’s just inescapable that someone is being attacked because they dared to have a vagina.

 Seriously? Have fun.
forum.cyclingnews.com/threads/chris-froome-discussion-thread.18293/page-709

 @OnTheRivet: I specified World Cup to get a reasonably similar range of athletes and fans. Obviously if you expand the field enough you can find controversial male athletes. The question is why are there multiple commenters who write absolute vitriol about this one particular female MTB racer while ignoring all the men with similar results in a similar field. No one is getting spitting angry that Avancini is in the teens at a WC.

Even so, a brief perusal of the thread shows a VERY different tone of criticism. About Froome’s poor performance people are primarily diagnosing, predicting and wondering. Those words are all quite kind for the things said about Courtney. There’s a huge difference between saying no one has ever come back from a particular type of injury and diagnosing - without the slightest doubt - that someone you don’t know sucks because they listen to bad advice, don’t actually like riding a bike, and are just going through the motions.

@mtb1101 if you want to criticize her behavior feel free. But the fact that you and your compatriots cannot do so without constantly downplaying her real world performances, speculating wildly yet with absolute confidence about her mental state and motivations, and resorting to personal attacks anytime someone challenges your myopic depiction tells me all I need to know. There is a way to criticize a rider rationally and without devolving to slobbering hatred.

Yet somehow Courtney’s critics consistently wind up in that pool of drool. So much of what you’ve said here is completely irrelevant to her behavior. Even in this very comment you circle back to your armchair psychologists schtick to assure us she is suffering from burnout - which has nothing whatsoever to do with her behavior and attitude. You don’t give a shit about her behavior except that it gives you cover to dance on her grave.

 @mtb1101: ahh yes. Losing an argument, go to the straw man!

Nobody mentioned patriarchy but you bub. All Im talking about is an insecure a*shole with a lot of very strange anger.

 @Blackhat: LOL!

 @mtb1101: I looked at your posts. KC is from CA, therefore evil. Later. kook.

 Abusive or controlling coaches, lol. FIGHT THE PATRIARCHY! Cut the crap. These are grown ass women who make their own decisions. Fight the patriarchy my a--.

 @Blackhat: Annie last and Kate have similar streaky performances...where's the hate for Last?

 @Clink1983: That's like comparing Mr. Rogers to Idi Amin.

How about comparing Mother Teresa to Mike Tyson next since they're both famous.

 @HumpDiesel: I thought the same thing. Why put her down for finishing 3rd? She had an awesome ride, even if she didn't have the legs to go with Loana. That was a function of Loana being strong AF and having a great race, not Rissveds "having less confidence"

 You're saying Kate Courtney has an eating disorder and/or abuses PED's because of her controlling coaches?

Buddy, you've got quite the imagination!

 Imagine the other riders looking afterwards at the time laps.

 @mi-bike: True. And I still bet we would've won if not for the puncture. He had the 34th in his legs today.

 @mi-bike: yes, everyone was trying to help Nino along...:/

 @mi-bike: if you saw the race,they mentioned it several times‍♂️.but still big effort of N1NO coming out 3rd

 @fudgedredd: blocking faster riders isn't against the rules in XC, but it's a dick move.

 @mi-bike: shows how he could have dominated that race if not for the flat. he was in a different zone today and Pidcock was struggling.

 @dane007: Did you hear them call out lap times? I must've missed that. It's relevant race information and in this case the slow 5th lap by the leaders was very notable.

 @mi-bike: They actually made several comments to that very effect. Both Bart and Rob commented.

 @mi-bike: If that's the case then why didn't any of the other 11 riders who were in between Nino and the lead group catch up?... Nino passed each of those 11 riders like they were standing still!

 @billreilly: Since I like numbers, I had a closer look at Lap 7* times and happenings
- The lead group was 35 seconds slower than in Lap 6 (11:11 vs 10:36) - most of the time loss seems to have occurred early in the lap;
- Anton Cooper gained 23 seconds - joined the lead group well before halfway split;
- Schwartzbauer, Frischknecht and a few others had ~10 sec slower lap times than in Lap 6, yet gained ~25 seconds on the lead group (but lost ~20 sec to Nino);
- Nino Schurter rode a 10:28 lap (fastest lap time of lead group - with Nino still in it - had been 10:23 up to that point) and gained 44 seconds on the lead group (he won 29 of those seconds in the 1st split; 15 in the 2nd split).

*previously called this Lap 5

Yes, Nino was clearly the best rider and should have / would have won was it not for the puncture! (I never disputed that.)

 @mi-bike: Hey man, I applaud you for putting all that down, and always think it's cool when someone gives credit where it's due. I'm not a Nino fan (at all) but damn it if the man ain't got what it takes.

 I believe the pace dropped because Nino wasn't there

 The question put to Risveds at the end around looking different this week and lacking confidence came across in very poor taste. No doubt not intended to insult it was clearly very awkward and uncomfortable.

 @raceright: I thought she handled it well tho, did laugh when she answered the first question "she rode away" as in was that not obvious enough that you still had to ask haha

 @raceright: Came here to say just that. I usually look forward to interviews with Jenny but that one was cringey. Especially with Rissved's history I wasn't sure if the question was out of concern or if it was 'digging' for a certain response. Poke. Poke. Poke... Insensitive.

Bec and Jenny seem to genuinely like each other. Those hugs are not perfunctory like some we see.

 Interviewer pretty much put her foot in her mouth. It happens.

 Because drawing out the drama is the norm these days. I'd rather have them asking questions about how the race developed from their perspective, race decisions, how equipment behaved, things like that.

 @raceright: Really disliked that question. She got 3rd in XCC and XCO, clearly a collapse! Absurd leading line of questioning. Why not ask: "How do you feel after back to back weeks of racing?"

 @snarlymarley: totally agree. Back to back podiums. Although it totally annoys me, the question was likely not intended to offend.

 Whether it's MTB, MotoGP, soccer, boxing or chess, sports reporters always ask the same moronic questions which add absolutely nothing to the viewers' experience of the event. I guess they all attended Professor Dumbass's lectures at Fox Sports Reporter University.
If sports people collectively answered "Brilliant" to this stupidity, maybe they'd up their interviewing game - but I doubt it.

 @JesperA: Because sports-reporters are hacks. They are, by-and-large, not original thinkers, and not bright.
They repeat what they hear other sports reporters say.

 The best of these is pro boxing, and the best of the askings always came from Larry Merchant's senile old ass. He'd get to these dudes immediately after a 12 round brutal fight where they've just been punched in the head 150 times and are exhausted and bloody, and he'd be like, "so Manny... the vernal equinox has been affecting the migratory patterns of the northern swallow, related to a whirlwind of changing wind patterns as well as the socio-economic impact of inner city age gaps with respects to sidewalk crossing times... how does this make you feel about minute 2 in round 5 where it seemed like a flurry of body shots were being delivered in an onslaught of which you had triumphantly peaked the Everest of feats to overcome?"

"Umm... I felt good, just want to thank my trainer for all the hard work and dedication we put in at camp, and my family for believing in me."

Like wtf even is that? And what are they supposed to even say at that point?

 @raceright: Totally agreed. As if 3rd wasn’t good enough because it’s Jenny who is usually up front. Especially to ask discouraging questions of someone with history of mental health struggles is very insensitive & maybe stigmatizes her further. If it were anybody else such as Evie or KC they would’ve put a positive spin on their questions.

 @liketoride1: Jenny doesn't ride with a bull in her head, that's why.

If it was someone with wings it would be a interview about positive aspects, how they look awesome during the race, etc. etc.

 This is a huge shame. XC is not a niche sport (I'm a DH fan first and foremost). Becs story is such a great underdog story which is what Aussies love. Why it not in the headline after each race

 Unreal isn't it? Winning on the world stage like no Aussie ever has, and not a peep.

Does she have to win the overall for them to notice?

 @Raisadaruppe: @Brasher: Think this is something we have to get for her.

I have noticed the Canberra Times have started writing about her.

I just started emailing some of the bigger publications to highlight her results.

 Got this response from The Australian:

"thanks very much for your note. There's a lot going on in Australian sport and a heap of great Australian athletes doing extremely well here and overseas. We could never hope to fit it all in and we have to make tough decisions every day on what we cover and what we leave out.
That said, your email has prompted to me to have a look at what Rebecca is doing. Maybe we'll find room for something."

 @Ktron: I have been doing the same great that you got a personalised response. Hope we get some traction.

 Sorry for being a noob with this championship.
Where is the 3 in a row I only count 2?

 @KCsyd: Petropolis, Albstadt, Nove Mesto

 She used to race and beat most of the boys as a 14 year old, when she had no girls to race. I’d say this level of performance has been coming for a long time…@davidsimons:

 Quite frustrating, not a single mention after any of the wins from any outlets outside of the Canberra Times.

I've emailed Seven, Nine, ABC and The Australian.

I expect to be disappointed but I did get this response from the sports department at The Australian so there is hope yet.

"Luke, thanks for your note.
Funnily enough, we were just discussing Rebecca.
I'll see what we can do."

 @davidsimons: Well, massive...not so sure. She's racing smart, and hiding it, something the reporters haven't dug into. And she's been extremely close before.

Her lap times were seriously consistent, she was saving power on the steep parts. Loana and Jenny would catch up, but at every summit, Bec would get on the gas and pull those 2-5 seconds back in a short sprint while L & J recovered a bit. And she was insanely fast and smooth on the downs, while just about there on the climbs.

She's really copying Loana's strategy from last year. Get away early, build a gap, control pace and less risky in the tech stuff. Unless the leader implodes, this makes it extremely hard for anyone to catch up.

We shouldn't underestimate the mental effect of breaking through, showing yourself that you can do it. Any sports will have this phenomenon - when the first win comes, lots follow. We'll just have to see who gets the confidence boost next, and decides she's better than Bec

 @Balakae: at this level, that's the same for all the other girls...

 @Ktron: She has to ride on the road or track.......

 I really hope things continue on this way for Bec. Seems a wonderfully humble human that’s been exciting to watch.

 @a-mechanics-son: Just so happy for her to be on top of the world right now.

She has been up there for so long, to see her achieve such success is so uplifting. All those years of hard work and gritty results have kept her humble, just hope she can stay that way.

As she said in her interview such a start is great but 9 races this year (vs 6 last year). So she can't just wrap it up in 4 like Loana did.

Just gotta stay consistent at the front. Would be unreal if she could secure the overall!

 I'm sure Dan McConnell's got feelings about a lot of things right now...

 @boozed: ice cold

 @aaronjb: divorced?

 “Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing.” -Kimi

Can’t wait to hear that in an XCO post race interview.

 @Fluorinated: "I was taking a sh1t." - Kimi
Genius. He's here to drive, not talk!

 Do I have the drink?
Tech feed: no kimi you will not have the drink

 I think Jenny is getting pretty close! Really enjoy her responses to the naff questions.

 Nothing new for Jenny. She's always been a Stalking Tiger kind of racer.

 Yeh... fairly far down the result sheet too. I'm hoping Anne Tauber gets back into contention after she came so close to winning Nove Mesto a few years back (small mistake last lap costing her)...

 Yea and he keeps talking about team tactics... It's mountain biking, there's no team tactics, don't try turn this in to a road race

 @rrsport: The commentators will often say something like "XYZ doing all the work" when they're at the head of a bunch on a climb. No aero at those speeds guys.

 His real job is winning races on all type of bikes......XCO Olympic Champion, CX World Champion and more to come.

 Her bike is awesome! One of the best looking and performing bikes around.

 en.brujulabike.com/bec-mcconnell-mondraker-f-podium-rr-2021-nove-mesto

Note the saddle slammed back on the rails, lulz.

 I think she has a video on YouTube about her bike…

Hump

 I´d like to see that too. Looks to me like she's one of a few running a proper sized bike (that also includes the mens field), she can really move around in that cockpit and make it look effortless over the gnar - yet always fast in slow stuff and off the line.

 @knutspeed: McConnell is running an especially large fit (in proportion to her body) and Rissveds is at the other end of the spectrum, and they're both having a particularly good season. It would be interesting to test whether some of their success is because of their ergonomics and handling, in spite of it, or independent of it. Until then, we'll just have to give our keyboard physiologist opinions! (I don't mean that as an insult to you, I'm saying that's what forums are for.)

 @R-M-R: exactly my point I'd like to see a deep-dive with the how & why from the riders perspectives. I guess my fascination was that Bec seems to challenge the traditional undersized frame & long negative stem-philosophy of the XC racers.
She does have her own style of riding, and seems to like standing up a lot which would (I think) require a longer frame/chainstays to be effective rather than spinning out.

 @knutspeed: Or does she ride that way because of the non-traditional fit?

XC race geometry has been the most resistant to change, among mountain bike geometry, but it's finally coming around. Like every other category, head-tube angles will get slacker, seat-tube angles will get steeper, reaches will get longer, and stems will get shorter. The evolution is well under way for some brands, while some are using numbers that have changed little in decades.

 @R-M-R: maybe it's because lengthening the frame adds weight, which isn't great fit marketing... I think for some riders it would be great to have that extra space.

My knees still almost hit the bars on Cannondale's XL XC bikes which just doesn't seem right (and is why I'm not going to buy one!)

 610mm bars and long XC bikes might be the next craze! She looked rock solid on the descents. Bet the field are taking note of that.

 @knutspeed: the xc racers aren't running undersized frames. Most of them have 70-90mm stems, which is about right.

 @Clink1983: things might have changed since last time I checked, but if you look at sizing charts from the manufacturers vs riders heights?

 @knutspeed: The days of Jaroslav Kulhavý passed a long time ago. Most of the female riders ride with their saddle pushed forwards, except for the riders who are sponsored by brands that put idiodic steep STAs on XC bikes like mondraker, which they usually have the seat pushed all the way back. You don't need to look at a sizing chart, you can look at the riders positions on the bike.
You don't need to ride with a flat back in XC racing, so downsizing to a small frame to get a lower stack doesn't really help.

 @R-M-R: I’m not sure the longer, lower, slacker is the way to go with the XC bikes.
For a descent, it may make sense.

I’m speaking from an East Coast rider that likes the quick handling of a more standard XC geo. (Pivot Mach4SL)

I also ride a Pivot Trail 429, new version. It’s fun, but not near as quick handling.

Hump

 @HumpDiesel: I have a pivot 429 sl, it's a pretty fun bike with a 120mm fork. I sure would like to upgrade to the frame you have, it would be a blast.

 @Clink1983: I think the new Trail429 could be built into a marathon lightweight XC bike.

The Mach4SL is just so capable and rips. I ride the 429, I rip the Mach4SL.

Did three back to back days this past weekend, 45 miles, 35, and another 45. On the Mach4SL. Felt great the whole time.

Hump

 I personally think Bec's bike looks a litte to big, but what do i know, it clearly works. Her tires also looks huge compared to Loana's and Jenny's, 2.2 vs 2.4 i think.

 @Clink1983: True, might have been influenced by checking Sam Gaze (was on a large Epic) and VDP (who also ran a L Canyon when I checked). Both guys are same height-ish as me, and L frames from those manufacturers are def too small for me. I think VDP runs a size 56 road bike. while a 58 is on the limit too small for me.

 Yeah - he's on a flyer. I hope he can at least still podium.

 Fantastic comeback from Nino, wow.

 @Jacquers: That was nuts. What a race. Pidcock is just another type of rider at the moment.

 Kate have been back for 2 years, so no suprise. Pauline tho is suprising, i wonder what is going on

 He sure did want to tell us about those bike issues, but the reminder of who butters his bread won out in his brain.

 @aaronjb: His interviews drive me crazy. Win or lose, he's talking about what went wrong with his bike, preparation, etc. Today he was making excuses for why he didn't win by a minute. Can't he just take it gracefully? Give props to other competitors? Thank his team and mechanics? If I were a mechanic at Ineos I'd work pretty hard to avoid working with Pidcock.

 @Willemhc: yeah, he comes a bit off on his interviews. Can't get myself to like the guy yet, but he sure has some power.

 @Deartist7: Before the race I was like "anyone but Pidcock" but actually after the interview I became a fan. Paying respects to the crowd even. He's just a scrappy racer.

 @Willemhc: a bit harsh perhaps, not everyone is comfortable being interviewed.
He is a bike racer.

 @Willemhc: I thought he was refreshingly honest. Felt like sh1t all race, hung on for the sprint at the end. Based on what was overheard his (front?) suspension was stuck locked out for at least some of the race, unlikely to be the mechanic's fault as afaik he uses a (probably prototype) Suntour electronic lock out. Either way, not comfortable on that course! You could see him rubbing the collar bone that he broke last year at the end.

 @Willemhc: Hes ultra competitive, you dont get to be the fastest by being nice and graceful you get there by wanting everything to be the best. Its not crazy a top level racer wants their bike working properly and he didn't elaborate on it because he realized he shouldn't when asked further. He just did a 80 minute ride pushing hard he probably wasn't thinking super straight, Id rather a rider be open than all fake and pr coached and not actually say anything. Plus he said he didnt want to push on when nino got a flat but others did so he followed them and said the crowd was sweet idk how you can hate on him.

 I liked this race from Pidcock. It clearly wasn't his day, but he suffered through and gritted his way to a sprint finish. Pidcock was beatable today, but the contenders didn't turn the screws enough to gap him, so they got beat instead. Vlad was super strong on the last lap. Probably needed to go sooner and longer.

 @Willemhc: Try to remember that he’s 22 and spends his entire life training for days like this, then has to talk to a camera after a frustrating race and absolute exhaustion.

So so weird how everyone and everything must be perfect these days or the comments start.

Just like people shredding the interviewer, she’s trying to do her job, so is Tom, people need to calm down and enjoy the sport for what it is.

 @Willemhc: Have you tried listening to the questions he's being asked? He's addressing those questions..........jeez this stuff isn't difficult to consider.

 Nino clearly could've and probably would've won. He was on another level than the rest.

 Actually, this comment about Kate is right where it should be!