Course Preview: Lapping Old School - Les Gets World Cup XC 2019
There is always a certain amount of excitement for the unveiling of a new World Cup venue, and after the beautiful course in La Bresse last year hopes were high that France would once again deliver the goods. New XC courses have raised the bar of what is expected; they have become more aggressive and technical and have made for some very exciting racing. With that said, we have been a bit harsh on courses that fall short of the new standard in recent years, but there was a fair amount of disappointment when we laid eyes on the course here in Les Gets.
The track uses bits of the dual slalom course from Crankworxs as well as part of the Dual Speed and Style course. There are a few small fresh cut woods sections that have yet to burn in, and the rest of the track is dirt road and open grass slope. Hardly what would seem to be the stuff that creates a sense of awe. But, and there is a but here, the grass is mostly off camber, and could be excitingly treacherous if it rains. The laps should be fast and there is plenty of room for passing. So, let us wait and see how this plays out.
Dirt road climbs and a nice view.
Double track climbs.
A bit of grass was scraped off here, then they gave up?
More open climbing - the climbs should be fast-paced.
Lots of grass.
The Crankworx DS course should provide some excitement.
A bit of burned in singletrack up top with passing options.
Wee jumps to make things interesting?
They did try to utilize the small patches of woods, snaking the single track around as tightly as they could.
Line choices and bumps. Again, this section is a mere few seconds long, unfortunately.
There are a few roots to be had.
Fresh cut open climbs, we wish there was a bit more like this.
Sorry, but we are fixating on the roots, when we find them.
Lines will need to be burned in.
There is also a fair bit of gravel.
There is an over / under bridge.
Little drops and wide lanes.
Dual Speed and Style berms could get wild with a bunch of riders on them at once.
The slopestyle start house and a rooty exit to one of the top woods sections.
More of this please.
Dual Speed and Style and the Les Gets sign.
We pity the riders who get caught on the inside. Like we said, there are aspects of this course that could prove very interesting come race day.
More swoopy Dual Speed and Style corners.
Perhaps the best part of the course is a few quick singletrack S turns that are simply beautiful.
The exit from the loamy S turns to Dual Speed and Style.
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29 Comments
- 6 0
mrbrighteyes
(Jul 11, 2019 at 13:54)
Looks decent. Super wide but that's the norm for these World Cup races. Better than Albstadt by far.
- 6 3
skill7
(Jul 11, 2019 at 23:34)
Of all the awesome trails in the Alps, why are they riding this rubbish. It's a cobbled together mess. These trails might have been acceptable in the 90's when there was nothing better but this is just crap.
- 4 0
PapaStone
(Jul 12, 2019 at 3:32)
Look like it'll be a fun course to watch racers in the red putting the hammer down. Long live fitness and power!
- 1 0
TheLittleFox
(Jul 12, 2019 at 0:06)
"The new XC track in La Bresse isn't overly technical, but the off-camber grass sections could prove interesting come race day." Title is wrong, La Bresse is not in the Alps 
- 1 0
Augustus-G
(Jul 15, 2019 at 14:30)
Just ask Mr. Avancini about those grassy off cambers.
- 2 0
scottmcpeek
(Jul 11, 2019 at 17:33)
Curious to see where the break happens on a course like this. 5-6 person groups staying together late into the race, maybe?
- 3 0
rrsport
(Jul 11, 2019 at 18:01)
Mvdp and Nino will ride off the front first lap. Mathias Flueckiger, Henrique Avancini and Stephane tempier will ride up to them 3rd lap. The usual suspects of Jordan Sarrou, Anton Cooper, Ondrej Cink and Titouan Carod etc will be in a group circa 30 seconds back
- 2 0
gdharries
(Jul 11, 2019 at 21:26)
Reminds me of typical Southern Ontario courses I used to race on in the late 90s, except more hills. True story.
- 2 0
mnorris122
(Jul 12, 2019 at 2:31)
Rigid singlespeed winning on Sunday?
- 1 0
gdharries
(Jul 12, 2019 at 12:03)
@mnorris122: That would certainly be a good set-up!
- 2 0
nick1957
(Jul 12, 2019 at 1:11)
The course is secondary . It's all about the great unpredictable racing . Love it .
- 1 0
rrsport
(Jul 11, 2019 at 13:01)
It might appear to be a “boring” track but it sounds like atleast a few top riders have crashed during training
- 1 5
kevbikemad
(Jul 11, 2019 at 13:09)
(Below Threshold)
Who crashed in XC training? Cyclocross course so MVDP would show up.
- 3 0
waxman
(Jul 11, 2019 at 14:16)
@kevbikemad: Anton Cooper crashed hard
- 1 0
guiribiker
(Jul 11, 2019 at 14:17)
@kevbikemad: is MVDP racing
- 2 0
rrsport
(Jul 11, 2019 at 14:30)
Seems like Kate crashed as well. Yes MVDP is racing
- 2 0
btjenki
(Jul 11, 2019 at 15:16)
@kevbikemad: Right, even though he's one of the best bike handlers in the field...
- 1 0
kevbikemad
(Jul 11, 2019 at 18:48)
@guiribiker: Yes
- 2 0
kevbikemad
(Jul 11, 2019 at 18:49)
@btjenki: He's good yes, not sure he is near the best. I haven't seen anything other than pure power and his crashing in tech most of last season says otherwise to me.
- 4 2
stuie321
(Jul 11, 2019 at 23:10)
Hardtail 26er from a decade ago should do very well here.
- 3 0
nick1957
(Jul 12, 2019 at 1:09)
Count me in then.
- 1 0
clarewilli
(Jul 11, 2019 at 13:58)
Doesn't look too bad to me
- 2 0
Capitanbikes
(Jul 11, 2019 at 13:45)
Rock and roll ☆
- 2 3
TomsiR
FL (Jul 11, 2019 at 14:15)
Cant help but think the mvdp would have smashed this course, it's pretty much cx.
- 7 0
rrsport
(Jul 11, 2019 at 14:31)
Lucky he’s racing then isn’t it
- 1 0
odbrider
(Jul 12, 2019 at 6:07)
SWEET!
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