WYNTV ANDORRA WORLD CUP 2025 XC

I catch up with all the riders I could find following a very gnarly Andorra XC race!

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[Music] All right. So, we’re out here on course for the cross country. Hold on to it. Hold on to it. Oh, no. And Puck’s gone down. Keep it going, Park. Keep it going. We’re out here on course for the cross country. And this is Win TV cross country day. Let’s go. Woo. All right, Tom. What’s the hardest thing about jumping off the road and straight into this? My back. Your I’ve just noticed now that I’ve finished in absolute pieces. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, just the the hardest thing I mean um this year I changed all equipment. That was the hardest thing getting used to it, you know, different tires. Yeah, different uh yeah everything. Yeah, it’s completely different feeling. So obviously it took me longer to get used to the bike this year than uh than last year. So um yeah, that was definitely a thing. And then yeah, just a different different position. I haven’t I really haven’t ridden it much this year from the last couple weeks. So yeah, yeah, it was a bit of a shock that Yeah, it’s probably pretty hard to fit in enough riding on the mountain bike when you’re so busy on the road. Yeah, I think you know um well, exactly like you say, but um no, like like um yeah, as well, you know, changing teams and and everything. It’s all just kind of um yeah, getting getting used to it again was a bit bit more of a bit quite a bit more work than than usual. Yeah. And uh yeah, you must be pretty happy to jump straight in and take the win. Yeah, of course. I mean, it was um it wasn’t easy, but I can be happy with that for my first race for sure. I mean, uh especially, you know, I’ve I’ve after the Jiro had a bit of time off and been training hard, but of course, you know, first first competitive race really since since then and so it was uh yeah, certainly can be happy. And you live here in Andor, so does it does that feel like a home race? Yeah, it does. Yeah, I’m going to ride home now. So, that’s probably quite nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. If it if it if I can pee in in here before uh before it starts raining. Yeah. Do you do you normally take long for the doping control? You just get it out of the way. Now to be honest, I’m normally drink enough. So then it takes takes a while. So you’re a bit dehydrated after a race cuz it’s quite a long race, too. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So it shows I need to drink more. Yeah, maybe. What’s uh the next for you then in the season? I’m going to do Euros in two weeks. Wait, on the mountain bike and then rope back to the road after that? Yeah, back to the road. Did I do Arctic Race and then uh VA? So, I I won’t be at the mountain bike welter. Yeah. Well, good to get a couple mountain bike races in. Yeah, exactly. A couple couple uh couple races. It’s exactly uh you know, while while I can. It’s nice to still keep uh refreshing that cuz, you know, I don’t want to give it up anytime soon. I enjoy it. Yeah. Yeah. And that that was one of the keys with moving to the new team that you could still do that. Uh yeah, still still do that uh with with less uh obstacles, shall we say? So the other team didn’t like it as much. No, I I think um to be honest with with with Inos we kind of agreed that it would be focus until Paris and after that we didn’t really talk about it but um no for sure here it’s um definitely with Pinerell it’s definitely um something that they they actively want me to keep doing. All right, awesome. And uh did you watch the downhill race yesterday? I did but only the highlights. All right. But uh yeah, when I when I when I got home but um yeah, it was um it was pretty pretty good. E like like uh when Jackson’s I come I come back to Mountain Mike and everyone’s riding like bloody Jackson Goldstone. Everyone’s hopping and popping and pumping everything. So um yeah, they’re all copying him because they want to beat him and he won four in a row. So yeah. Yeah, exactly. But no, I think it’s it’s good to bit of a like fan so it’s good to see see him win and um yeah, he’s obviously lived here as well. Yeah. All right. Well, well done. Great work and uh good luck for the rest of the season, mate. Come on, man. Thank you. Cheers. Have a good one. Great to see you. All right. I’m ready. Yeah. All right. So, uh you could pretty much write a book about that race, Sammy. I So, when I rode past Pook on the fourth lap, I literally just imagined the commentators going like apeshit in the commentary booth. Like, I can’t wait to watch that because I think everyone was in the lead at some stage of that race. It was insane. And then it was four at the end. Four at the end. Four. Four. Four people at the end. What? Yeah. It’s a battle of four. Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now I understand. Together. Which normal Not normally like that. Yeah. No, it was pretty crazy, I guess. Um I just told myself keep like if it stays together, I felt like I was strongest, but I just kept losing my composure. Like my lines were good. I just needed to have some space to execute them. Yeah. So then to like save it a bit later to the attack was kind of my plan and just kind of like give a bit of space. That’s totally why I crashed. Yeah. You sent it into that downhill a few times. The one time you sent it in had a big crash. Missed the rut. Yeah. And then one time with no feet on. Yeah. No, it was wet. So at the start it was wet. So my line wasn’t very good. And I remember thinking like a [ __ ] maybe I should have tried to like look at the other line just in case. But then it dried out and it was super mean and I was like, “Oh, I just need to like break a little bit more and slow down and then I’ll be all right.” And then uh you then you missed the rut, came in too hot and then the next lap you come in faster and it worked. Yeah, that was the plan. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just start hitting the second rut. Yeah. Well, you you ride the downhills faster than anyone today. Yeah. I reckon I was sending it, bro. No fear. Did you hear us making some noise there? Yeah, I 100%. Every time I went down there, I heard you going, “Why?” It was It was my motivation to sending it. Yeah. Yeah. You definitely came in hot. It was exciting. And we were loving the downhill commitment because normally after a crash, the rider would come around the next time and be a bit hesitant. No, not me, mate. I was like, “Ah, I have my line. It’ll dry out. It should be good to send it this time. And then if not, the next lap it’ll be dry and I can send it.” But I saw a lot of action there. A few quite a few crashes. So, you weren’t the only one. And then you had a few crashes in the race. How many crashes total? Two. Only two. Only two. Um yeah, one of them was back there and then one of them was just like at the a AB split line that’s in the um short track course and I just went right and then like crashed on the little like lip coming up. So then I just told myself I just never take that line. And so I just kept taking the A- line. It was safer, a little bit slower, but actually probably better for today. So yeah. And and yeah, you had to get off and run at one point. Yeah. Oh, so yeah, including that uphill crash. That was three crashes. But yeah, that that was not ideal at all. But then I actually think it was kind of ideal cuz it meant the competition like Hey, thanks. We had a gap to the competition. Oh, hang on. Pause. I I run this interview. I’m pausing it. Awesome work. Fantastic. All right. You got to go. No worries. Thanks, team. Okay. Sorry. Where were we? Wait, do you want to hold this now? Yeah, you were the downhill sender today. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Um Oh, no. Yeah, that’s right. The crash on the uphill was pretty good because it meant that the like the people behind me got a gap to Jenny. And so then I was like, well, I have the legs to close it. I wonder if they have the legs to close it or not. So, it kind of was like a bit of a mid race tactic, but definitely not a tactic. And have you have you been at altitude to have those those legs that you’ve got? No. to have my legs. You can purchase them on eBay. Yeah. No, it’s Teeu, isn’t it? Yeah, Teeu. No, they don’t work very good. The Teeu one. No, I um I haven’t been at altitude. Um I cook myself quite frequently in training. And to be al at altitude, you have to be super like conservative, super easy to cook yourself. So, I’ve gone to altitude after this, but I’m doing it properly with the team. So, I didn’t want to go up to altitude before this just cuz it’s a lot of stress on your body. So now I’ve just been down in more zen. Um and it’s it’s a it’s balance, right? Because when I’m down low I can push harder. Yeah. So it’s like do you come up to altitude try like get those gains but maybe you don’t push as hard for a few weeks. So and then you maybe lose the top end. Yeah. Exactly. So um yeah, it was pretty interesting. Well, you definitely had the top end today. Thanks. You just kept coming back. Yeah. Yeah. For nearly 50 seconds at one point, was it? Yeah. Well, maybe I should watch the replay. Well, we we actually had it live on on our phone and we were watching it. So, we were quite invested. You’re telling me you had the race live on your phone. You were at the race, mate. I know you I know you were watching it live. Yeah, I had it. No, but I had it on the phone, too, so I could see what was happening. And then wait for you come around. But it’s so delayed that then you’d come and be like, “Oh, you have to get the phone on straight onto the video.” Yeah. And you see me for like 15 seconds. Oh, maybe 30th. Maybe 30th. I’ve crashed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But uh yeah, epic ride and uh you’re back on top, so that’s got to be a good feeling. Yeah, it was it was a good day. Thanks, boss. And the overall just keeps growing. Yeah, but you don’t think about that. No. No, we don’t. We Otherwise, I go insane. All right. I’m off to pee in a cup now. All right. Good luck with that. And don’t go insane. Thanks, mate. See you, too. Cheers. So, we’re doing an X-ray. No, it’s just a motor. This is just a test the motor check if electromagnetic fields. the motor of the rider or the the If there’s a motor with a battery. Yeah. Uh the test will tell me if there’s a signal current in the bike. Yeah. And then the suspicion may be that there’s a hidden motor. So, we’re just checking all the bikes. You check all the bikes. Have you ever found a motor? I’ve seen bikes with motors in that have been raced, but not in a not in a mountain bike race. All right. All right. In a road race, you found a motor. Cyclross race. Oh, cyclross race. Wow. No motors in this one though. No, no, no. The motors here. Yeah. Motor. Oh, that goes straight to Switzerland. Yeah. Interesting. So, so we scan. How many bikes do you do? All of the top 10. I’ve done 30 bikes. Yeah. In this race of 40 riders. 30 bikes in this race. Wow. But we have not found anything in it. Probably pretty rare that rare that you find. You’re not expecting the principle is that we are testing. They have been tested and so the uh chances are if one does turn up uh I’ve tested it on bikes on fiddle bikes and you can detect them. Uh they’re quite easy to spot. Uh but uh hopefully in mountain biking is not really the uh place where people want to try that those sort of trips. Anyway, interesting interesting to learn about. Yeah. Thanks very much for taking interest in it. No, it’s it’s good to learn. Thank you. So there there was no motor in your bike luckily or in my legs either. Yeah. Well, you you did pretty good today. Um yeah, the race went super solid. I definitely tried to start pretty steady um just because we are at a bit of elevation and I’ve struggled with that in the past, but it was a super exciting race. Super dynamic. The whole top five was just battling back and forth um for a podium, but it really came down to whoever made the least mistakes because it was so so slippy out there. So, I was just trying to stay on my bike and minimize the amount of crashes and take some of the safer lines and all those those little moments added up over time. So, super happy with it and another good consistent race. Yeah. Yeah. How’s your season been going? What number? You’ve got 19 on the front. So, so this is a good ride then. Yeah, it’s been pretty solid. I am a first year. So, the first few World Cups I’ve had to start pretty far back and pick my way through the field. um which is sometimes it’s hard especially in the short track but in XC when you have a nice long climb after the start and a lot more opportunity to pass it’s definitely sometimes a good thing because you start the race a little more consistent because of it there’s a little less nerves not starting on the front line but yeah I’m pretty happy with how it’s been going as a first year and just exciting and getting lots of experience and yeah and and have you been checked for a motor before? Um, not on my bike. No. And my legs many times. Maybe they think you’re going well. They’re checking for both. Yeah, I guess so. Can’t complain too much. Anyway, good job. And uh yeah, you need a new Wahoo. I know what’s going on. I know. Just a little Wahoo. Hook it up. Yes. Shout out to to Wahoo. Our We are sponsored by Wahoo. So, so you had a crash on that one. Super lucky. Not today, but the other day. But Oh, good job. Yes. Thank you so much. Nice work. All right, Matis, how was that one? Yeah, it was rough, but yeah, happy days. Fourth again, really consistency is the beginning of the season. Uh, so yeah, I didn’t expected more because without training altitude this year at 2,000 m, it’s really hard compared to the other riders who were all in altitude. But yeah, still fourth third on short track. So, I’m really happy with the result today. Solid weekend. Yeah. And you run pretty fast tire. Yeah. That slippery in places. Yeah. A bit uh the roots today were a bit uh like without the skin. So, doesn’t matter the tire you have. You just slip it off on it. But uh the rest of the track was really nice because it was not no test anymore. Uh so yeah, this tire really fast and nice. All right. Nice work, mate. Well done. And keep up the consistency. Yeah, exactly. You you have what’s next? French championship. No, it was uh last weekend, but now I have one month and a half of break before leger. Oh, perfect. Like Yeah, I will do some holidays now and then I prepare the last block of the season. All right. Enjoy your break, mate. Yeah. Thank you. Cheers. Thank you. Nice work. Oh, you’ve still got the wahoo. You had you had to put it back on in front of us. No, it couldn’t go back on, so I had to uh tow on it and put it in the pocket. Oh, yeah. Is that what was hanging down? Yeah. Yeah. I couldn’t get it on and it cost me some time and then I was like, “Yeah, what am I doing? I will just rip it.” So, there goes my 15 uh You don’t pay for on there. You see it? Surely you don’t pay for that. We get it. But, uh yeah, tough race that one. Yeah. Yeah, it was uh not nice. And some good crashes. You all good? I think everybody had something. I saw flat tires. I saw all people with crashes. So, I’m just happy I didn’t uh do anything weird. Yeah, I want to keep everything intact uh before uh the tour to France in two weeks. Well, good luck for the tour to France. Thanks. Just don’t look like you’re that keen for an interview, but you’re always keen. Always keen. Yeah, you’re bit dirty. Little bit of dirt. Yeah. I mean, you’re not racing if you don’t touch the ground every once in a while, I guess. Right. You probably have to send it. Yeah. You got to bounce off the red line, you know? You got to bounce off the limiter a little here and there. And you were probably bouncing off the red line today. Oh, yeah. Um, my bars got a little tweaked in an early Oh, you rode the whole race twisted off. We got to recalibrate the brain a little bit. Um, but yeah, I had a pretty [ __ ] start today. Probably one of the worst starts ever had. Um, not in the short track, so I had some crappy points. And then the first wood section when you all go eight wide into a a single track, everyone just gets off the bike and is just like [ __ ] fighting each other through it. Just like shouldering the bike, just like running through everybody. So yeah, it’s absolute carnage first lap back in the group. Like came through end of the first lap and it was like a minute and a half back already. Feel like you’re not even trying. Yeah. And then everyone just sprints for it next lap. So first two laps are just carnage. Everyone’s just trying to survive and shake the nerves out. And then lap three onward, I was just charging. Felt really good. I made up close to 30 spots in the end. 30 spots. So I felt really, really good. But uh high 50s to 30s doesn’t really mean that much. So, but it’s still good. Still good. I just got to get a bit bit farther forward in the start to get out of the [ __ ] And yeah, it’s a great day. I reckon that in cross country they need like a a hard charger award for the most passes. I know. That would be cool. And it’s funny you say that in uh in my early high school high school league racing days. So, we got a series called Nika in the States. And there actually was a jersey award every race for most most uh passes in a race. So that’d be pretty cool in a World Cup, especially as Especially as the it’s getting shorter and punchier and harder to move through the group and your start just matters more and more. So yeah, it’d be cool to have something like that. Maybe you can invent it. Well, I could invent it. Yeah. Like a beautiful gold bell. Yeah, like a wrist. Yeah. The hard charger for the hard charger award. Love it. Yeah. The hard charger. THC. Yeah. THC, baby. Let’s go. Good job. Anyway, mate, nice work. Appreciate it. Good to see you. You, too. Cheers. Cheers. All right, Martin. Martin, that was tough. Yeah, man. Tough. Especially racing on Sasan on a four row, it’s pretty hard. Yeah, I don’t know how Tom made it so quick to the front. But I tried to take it easy at the beginning, but they just went all out and the time they took in the first lap, we couldn’t take it back. So, I tried to hide as much as possible, but still [ __ ] hard. At the end, I spreaded out Nino. I almost crashed in the bridge with another French guy. Yeah. So, Yeah. But still a good race. It’s just hard. It was slippery. So this tires we have to run with like uh you know for flats. Yeah. So it was not so nice. So I couldn’t really control that good the bike. So anyways, tough race. Tough race but six. Look at the crowd. Okay. [Music] It’s great to see Chile behind you, mate. Oh yeah. Such a great uh they give me uh a lot to fight today. So h it’s pretty good. Happy for that. Well done. Well done, mate. Thank you, man. Thank you. [Music] You’re both from Norway, no? Yeah, we are. You’re 15 and 16? Yeah. You’re battling each other out? Yeah, we are pushing each other. Yeah. So that’s that. You you like that? Like Yes, we like that. Yeah. Yeah. And is 15 a good day for you? Yeah, it is. It’s uh Yeah, I’m happy with 15, especially here in altitude. What what’s been your best ride this year? Uh I got fourth in the XCC in Valisol. So I think that’s the Got a good short track on you. Yeah, the shorter distance fits me well. So yeah. And how was this race? It’s pretty tough, eh? Yeah, I think I paced pretty well, so I’m happy with how it turned out. Yeah, if you go too deep at the altitude, you can’t really come back. No, I felt that I just had one pace at the end. Like I tried to push more, but it was just completely empty. So yeah. So is it it’s that much harder riding at altitude? I don’t know anything about this. So I’m a downhill rider so trying to learn about it. Yeah. No, it’s a bit harder. It is. Yeah. Some less ocean. So yeah, I prefer not to ride an altitude, but it is what it is. Do you have any altitude in Norway? No, not really. Like we have mountains, but you can’t really ride up there. So it’s uh Yeah. Don’t ride as much at altitude usually. Do you eat salmon before the race? Hm. You eat salmon before the race? Eat salmon. Salmon? Yeah. Norwegian salmon? Oh, yeah. No, not this time. No, but but sometimes sometimes they’re like good pre-race food. Yeah. Some salmon and some rice and Yeah. We’re not used to being a factory team. They’d always give us salmon. Oh, yeah. So, it must be good. Yeah. Really good. Especially But only the Norwegian one, though. Yeah. Only the Norwegian one. Yeah. Well, good job. Well done. Cheers. Right. I’m not allowed to swear in this one. You can say whatever you want. I got caught out in the in the live stream. It wasn’t that bad. I just said pissed off. But anyway, well, of course you’ve got to you got to express your emotions. Yeah. And the best way is normally uh swearing unfortunately. Sometimes. Yeah. There’s not there’s sometimes not a word to describe things other than four-lettered word. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Anyway, how was that one? Uh you got to be happy with the podium. Oh yeah, buzzing with that. It’s been a while to get um up to the top and to share the podium with your teammate is a nice feeling as well. So um yeah, no great day out like um just absolutely [ __ ] yourself all the way up the climbs and then trying to recover on the descents, but it was way way slippier than I thought it would be. Um so yeah, stayed upright, got to the finish. Happy days. See a few crashes out there or you mostly the guys at the front were good. Um I didn’t see any crashes. There’s lots in the short track. Um people kept going down in front of me and I was like oh trying to stay avoid them but yeah no no crashes today thankfully. Nice work. And yeah you any good jumps on this track for a bit of ste. Not really sadly. Last year was better. Um although yeah I was trying to hook down those I decided in the bones if you just don’t break you go quicker and then you recover quicker as well. So I was just like around the corners but um yeah no that’s the key. Yeah. Yeah. Rolls fast. Yeah. quite a technical track. Quite technical downs. It is techy climbs. It is techy and then when you’re going full gas in the climbs and then you’re blowing, you try and descend and you end up holding your breath. Then you get to the bottom and you’re you’re still as cooked as you was at the top. So it’s quite it’s really hard to kind of be smooth and focus and breathe. Yeah. Um so sometimes that helps you focus as well on the descent. Keep Are you Are you probably the heaviest rider here? Oh yeah, by by a long way I think. Yeah. How much you weigh? 88 kilos. 88. Oh yeah. About the same as me. Yeah. Yeah. But you do cross country, I do downhill. Yeah. I just think more weight, more watts. Um, it’s a power to weight thing. So, you must have a few watts. Yeah. Plenty. And you’ve got to use them to keep up with those as many as I can. Oh, yeah. [ __ ] in that when he comes past you on the climbs, he’s just like floating up there. Um, just strap some balloons to me like up. But, great job, mate. A podium. You got to be happy now. probably looking forward to a little bit of a break. Mm-m. Straight internationals, then Euros. Oh, it’s all good. And then a week at home, and then back here again for some training. Um, some big races to win. All right. Well, good luck for the next races and go win those, mate. Thank you very much. Cheers. Thank you. Thank you. All right, AA, that was a tough race. Yeah, it was super tough. Yeah. And, uh, what was the hardest thing about this race? Um, I think mentally preparing for a wet race, it’s been a while since I’ve ridden in the muddy conditions on my mountain bike. So, it was a challenge to like switch remember the cross skills and everything, but eventually got there. It’s pretty good having uh both skills and doing all the all the disciplines like uh the mo most of your family, I guess. Yeah, it in the race sometimes it takes a little bit to come back to me, but yeah, it was it’s good to have them in my back pocket. So, you’re still smiling. You had a good day then. Uh, no. I’m pretty disappointed with my race, but I’m just happy to be on the mountain bike and happy to stay upright. So, yeah. Well, that’s that’s the right attitude. Even a bad day is still a good day, isn’t it? Yeah, exactly. All right. Nice work. Thank you. Cheers. All right, Tammy. What? Tell us the story. It was a pretty gnarly race. Yeah, I don’t know. So, I had my first uh first ever first row start today, which was pretty exciting and also made me a little extra nervous today. Yeah. But I knew no matter what, today will be a great day. And it was still a super good race. My legs were so good, but maybe not the best performance in the downhill. I don’t know. I just lost my mind a little bit and crashed. And then in the second last lap, I hit it the tree pretty hard. On your ear? Yeah. It’s bit swollen. Yeah. And I was like, “Oh, I think I lost one of my earrings.” That’s sad. Oh, no. Yeah. There’s one missing. That’s sad. So, rough day for you. Um Yeah. But but you still made it to the finish. Yeah. And honestly, it’s another top 15 result. And that’s so consistent again. And I know my shape. Yeah, obviously I want more, but the shape is there and I can still smile and that’s where I’m proud of. Well, that’s what’s most important. Yeah, for sure. And I still had had fun and some of the downhills you were looking good. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, and did some little tricks and they were still fun. Like I love racing and honestly it’s hard if you crash but um it’s about never giving up and yeah this one looked like one where I don’t know if anyone didn’t crash. Uh yeah probably I don’t know. I was uh yeah busy with myself and also my handlebar was like yeah and I raced the whole race with a little twist in it. Oh so you’re turning more one way. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like the first time. So I was like, “Ooh.” And then I was like, “Oh, okay. Now I have it. I’m just riding like that now. I’m not stopping another time.” Well, good job. Anyway, another top 15. Nice work. Thank you so much. Good job. Yeah. And go look for that uh earring. It’s No, I don’t. I think it’s gone. My smiley is gone. We need another one. Another smiley after today. All right. Good job. Thank you. Nice work. Oh, man. I had a close one. I had a close one down in that forest section. And [ __ ] I almost did a cartwheel down there. I don’t know if I should swear on this, but Oh, it doesn’t matter too much. We can put we can put Lloyd’s funny noise in there. Perfect. Sounds good. Yeah. No, I nearly stacked it, but um we had like a massive pile up right at the beginning. Oh, so that just starting like that’s horrible. I ended up out the ass. I think I was in last and then trying to come back from that cuz like I didn’t crash but everyone in front of me did got stuck in that. But no, I pushed my way back and I’m pretty happy with that. And after the short track, like I I crashed in short track and so it was a bit of a mental game to kind of come back and have the confidence to ride and surf some of these downhill parts, especially cuz they’re so rocky and with those tires on as well, you’re not going to be hooking up. Yeah. No, but I did um I did like take some air out, but there were a couple times where I was like, I really hope my little glorified pool noodle in my rear is like keeps me keeps me safe from all the rocks and [ __ ] But no flats. All good. No flats, no nothing. Just And how how is racing cross country in Europe progressing for you? Actually really good. I’m I’m really pre pleased with my progression. Especially cuz Yeah. When I first Yeah. But when I first came over here, like I was expecting absolutely nothing and then got a top 40 in Nove. And yeah, from there, like I’ve just kind of tried to keep it the same because once you get the goal that you wanted, it’s really easy to kind of just keep pushing for more and forget why you’re doing it in the first place. And so my aim for today was to kind of go out, have fun, stay on my bike, which I did, which is good, and yeah, just have have a fun experience, no pressure, and then yeah, head into a big training block before Leger, which I’m really excited about. Yeah, hopefully. Well, we find out after this, so Oh, really? Yeah. Is this the selection race? Yeah. This is the the final selection race. There can’t be too many um under 23 women from New Zealand racing. No. No, I don’t think so. I’m the only one over here at the moment. Yeah. So, then you should be good. I I hope so. Like, if they don’t select you, if they don’t select you, they’re a bit rude. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. No, but I think Yeah, we’ve got a decent amount of places, I’m pretty sure, as well. Same for downhill. At the moment, we don’t have a huge elite field. Yeah. So, I’m just hoping that gets me a spot. Hell yeah. I reckon. Right. Let’s We’re going to get We’re going to get it. We’re going to get a spot. Yeah. Yeah. And we’re we’re going to we’re going to politely up. Yeah. At the World Champs. At the World Champs. And it’s going to go Let’s go. Yeah. Or you in a rush? No. Not in a rush. That rush was The rush was over. It’s already over. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, how was that was a hell of a race. The battle at the front was crazy. Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah, I mean I didn’t have the best start, so I was stuck in a few mistakes from others and I tried to do no mistakes myself. It worked out pretty well because the risk management was fine, but uh yeah, I had to catch up and be fast at the in the middle of the race. Yeah. And yeah, especially to watch the two last it got mentally a battle. I mean, yeah, four four girls, one win. Crazy. Only three spots now on the podium. So yeah, I wanted to like get it and then I Yeah, Yenni did the mistakes a mistake and I think also Martina and then yeah, apparently I got second. That’s really cool. Yeah, epic ride. It was like pretty much a battle of attrition trying not to make any mistakes. I think mistake and also physical cuz we were all on the limit like everyone was on the limit and on the limit more mistakes happened. So I think uh yeah it was the risk management as well as energy management and then yeah bring it to the finish line basically. Yeah. Well, you got to be happy with this second today. Yeah, I’m actually very happy. I mean we are here for the win and when it’s very close we always of course want to win but I’m very happy with my race with my battle and I died like seven times and yeah coming back eight times probably. So, no, no, no. I’m happy. And yeah, again, consistent. So, that’s that’s where we can build on. Yeah. All right. That’s a good feeling then. And uh now you’re now a bit of a break. What do you do for the break? So, I basically stay at home. I go to the mountains a little. I need to catch up some hours of training since the injury, but we are getting there. And then full focus on world champs, which is at home, a big thing for us. So, yeah. So, that’s the big goal for the year then. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, it was always a big goal to be in a good shape and fight for the medals in at world champs. Obviously, everyone is training and everyone is super strong. So, it’s a tough a tough job, but I do my very best and when I get there, I can say I did everything I could. So, yeah, that’s the goal. All right. Well done today. Nice work. Thank you. See you around. Yeah. See you around. Cheers. So, uh, how was that race for you? Well, really hard. I had a bad start and then Yeah, it was just a chaos the whole first lap. Yeah. But yeah. Do you enjoy racing in these conditions? Yeah. But today it was a bit too much for me. Really? Yeah. Surely it’s like this in Switzerland though. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Often similar. Yeah. It’s quite often raining and rocky. Yeah, that’s true. Yeah. Whereabouts in Switzerland you from? In Sol. Stor. Yeah. And that that’s uh quite a lot of cross country stuff there. Yeah, it has like a big mountain and there are a lot of trails. So really cool to train. Perfect. And you ride enduro bike as well or you just ride cross country? Just cross country. Oh, you got to get an enduro bike. Maybe. Yeah. BMC will have one, won’t they? I don’t know. Do they have an ebike? I don’t know. Would you ride an ebike? No. Yeah. Oh, you’ve got 32. Where’s the 32in wheels? be massive for you. Yeah, I think that would be They’re taller than you. Yeah. No, I think I stay with this bike. Yeah. You don’t want the 32? No. Yeah. It’ be quite hard to turn, wouldn’t it? Have you tried it? No. I think I’m too small for that. Yeah. You’re probably one of the smaller riders in the field. Is that like a disadvantage or an advantage? Sometimes I think in the uphills it’s advantage but like in the start when everybody’s taller than you it’s Yeah. And it’d be hard to like get your elbow out when there’s some bigger riders giving them the elbow. Do you give a bit of elbow in the race? No. Come on. I can do it. I ride too kind. I’m just You got to be a bit more aggressive, especially at the start. Yeah, that would be good. Maybe have to do some forcross to get practice in. Yeah, maybe. So, we get an ebike. What else? It’s a 32-in wheel and a bit of forcross and you’ll be ready for the next one. Yeah, I will do that. All right. Good job. Thank nice work. Thank you. All right. That was a tough one. Like always here. Yeah, it’s uh Oh, this [ __ ] air here is so sick. It’s not much. Not too much. No, but how how was it overall? A solid race or you happy with that or? Yeah, actually I’m I’m happy. Solid race. Yeah. And uh yeah, my season wasn’t the best so far. Uh expect uh for the one in in Leoang which I came second but uh through all the races I was a bit struggling especially in the end and today uh yeah I keep or kept fighting and uh yeah I’m stoked for that. Yeah. So just to be consistent. Yeah. A consistent solid more. Yeah. Solid in the end of the race. That was my goal actually. Uh of course uh I expected here more uh two years ago I won this race and last year with surgery one week before I was even there was better but it doesn’t matter you know every season starts from you and every race starts from you new and uh yeah for that so far I’m I’m pretty happy. What what do you think the difference is from year to year when you’re like performing and then also like up and down? What makes the difference? Yeah, you know, uh what I see this year, uh the tracks goes or yeah, goes more fast and uh more straight, less corners in my opinion. In my opinion, also less technical and just the the parts which are technical are more short. So it’s it’s hard to make it different and it’s in my opinion also less natural, more wide corns and everything like this. Everything is with more speed and probably that’s the new kind of racing. Uh doesn’t doesn’t suit you as much. Yeah, probably I have to learn it. Yeah, but the downhill sometimes does that as well. They go that sort of direction. Faster, straighter, less corners. I prefer the more technical, more corners. Yeah, me too, actually. Uh but probably they want to make it more exciting, but I’m not sure if it is if this is more exciting. Yeah. Uh compare, for example, if you see in a downhill a big different from rider to rider. It looks cooler in my opinion. Yeah, that’s my point of view. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. I like to see be able to see the difference, not like watching a ski race where we can’t actually see the difference. Yeah, exactly. The Yeah. Otherwise, you see just uh the places in the end uh which one was the best, but you can’t tell. Yeah, exactly. In my opinion, it should be it’s hard to say if it’s the wrong direction, but I hope we we keep also a little bit old school race. That’s Yeah, that we still remember where we come from actually. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. So, yeah. Anyway, great job. What What do you Oh, you got the grip tape on there. Yeah. The grip. Yeah. So you use use grip shift or or what’s not too loud but no uh you know I had a crash two years ago so you have with me some with my thumb so it’s hard to to handle it with the with the sum you still have issues with the fun yeah bit so that’s the reason actually but yeah I like this this bike and uh feel pretty comfortable also today yeah all right great work mate thanks man cheers you made it to the front there for a Yeah, I had a nice chance to start from the first row. Yeah, so I used this chance and I liked it. Yeah, you were you were leading for a while. Yeah, must have been nice in in the front. Yeah, it’s so nice. Like uh I couldn’t ride the short track uh the last few races because I don’t have that many UCI points. So I always had to start from the last row. Yeah. So this weekend I had the chance to do spontaneously the short track and I use this chance and it’s so much easier in the front to start from there than to catch up and through the whole field. Yeah. Well, and and to be in the lead for a minute. That must have been nice. Sorry. Must have been nice to be in the lead for a minute. Yeah, that that was really nice. I like to lead the race. Yeah. I hope I can easier probably easier on riding those technical downhills in the front. Yeah, that’s really nice because uh this course really suits me and here it’s worth it to go uh in the first position in downhill to have uh freedom. It look pretty dangerous if you’re not in the first position. Yeah. But great great ride. And what’s your previous best result before this? Uh I think 13th. Yeah. In Ara and in the short track I was for two years two days ago. Yeah. Yeah. So epic weekend for you. Yeah. That was really a nice weekend. Best think I think. Are you going to celebrate it then? How do you celebrate? Oh, I go now for climbing vacation for one week here in Andura and I’m looking forward to it. What? Rock climbing? Yeah. Oh, so that’s your what you do in your time off? Yeah, I was thinking about that the whole race. like looking forward to the vacation. Yeah. All right. Well, enjoy your vacation. Well done. Thank you so much. Nice work. All right, Maddie. We’re giving you some good heckles out there as well. Yeah. Yeah. I I heard a lot of cheers out there and they were all super positive. So, it was awesome. Yeah. And you crashed in front of us one one time. Did you see I hope it got on video cuz it was kind of crazy. Yeah. You know, altitude sometimes when you go over the limit a little bit, then you start making mistakes and I think that was a perfect example, but happens. Yeah. Well, it wasn’t too bad. It’s just you couldn’t get your foot in. Then you and and quite a few people had the same issue there. You couldn’t really ride it out at at the end, but hey, it’s okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it didn’t hurt too much. So, no, I’m okay. I’m all good. So, yeah. And you rode it really well every other lap, so that was good. Thank you. I tried. I tried. It was fast for sure that line. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You made up quite a bit of time on other people. Definitely. You could definitely make some passes there, so it was good. Yeah. So, it’s very nice to pass people on the downhill rather than have to go deep on the uphill. It feels so much better. You just carry momentum and you can get free speed for sure. Yeah. So, yeah. Well, great job. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Cheers. How did your race go today? What place you end up? Uh 10th 10th. 10th. So, but you’ve been having an amazing season and you do it in a little team like this, like more of a privateier team. Yeah. Uh the the whole season is incredible. Uh can’t believe how it is going. Uh today I was a bit afraid from the track because in is in altitude but it went pretty good. 10th place is still solid. Then looking forward for the for the races on sea level again. Yeah. Yeah. Is it hard coming up to the altitude and racing here? Yeah, for sure. I wasn’t that high before uh this year, so it was a bit special feeling, but it was okay. And And what do you think the differences are between like a a smaller team like yours and the big teams that you’re racing against? I think in the race it doesn’t matter. Uh it’s before the race the the whole traveling thing it’s a bit more complicated because we are a little team. Uh but in the race the legs has to do the job and then yeah it’s the same thing. But you’ve been yeah you’ve been doing a great job this year so you must be pretty happy. Yeah for sure. For sure. I I’ve made my job. Uh I think for next year I have good opportunities and yeah it’ll be a good good year. At the moment, do you make any money racing? No. No. So, you’re doing this for free and you get World Cup podiums? Yeah, I get nothing from team. Uh I have some sponsors uh but nothing from team. I think next year it will change a bit, but of course, but but you you deserve that and uh it’s amazing that you’re competing against the best and and beating them. Yeah, it feels amazing to to race against the best and see the also the best struggling at days like today. Probably is enjoyable. Yeah. Uh yeah, I’m happy to stay here. All right, great work and uh great work to your little team as well to get you here, you know. Thanks a lot. Nice work, mate. Cheers. No, good job. All right, Emily, you’re looking good on that downhill. Paul, I I heard you guys there, so I figured I should get a little rowdy for for the squad. You kept it pretty under control, mostly. Yeah, I’m I actually felt good there. I And I think that was one of the places I made up the most time in the race. So yeah, because you were cutting the inside and then some were going round and you might pass some people. Yeah, you would you would I don’t close like 5 10 seconds a lap just there and then on the other steep one just like no breaks and go ah and then it was great. Yeah. So you enjoy the downhills in that in that race. Yeah. I this whole like course is just so naturally technical and I love natural tech. So it’s great. Yeah. Well, great great job and uh yeah, keep improving. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for the cheers. Yeah, we got to keep everyone excited, you know. Keep the hype. Yeah. Good job. All right. You were ripping the downhill every lap and you look pretty in control there. Yeah, I think today I just got steady. I could really Yeah. manage my effort well in the altitude. I was never really really really in the red zone. Just always going steady my my own rhythm and yeah, it worked out pretty well, I think. Yeah. And you like those technical downhills? Yeah, I really love them. I like the steep downhills, the natural sections are really cool. Yeah. one of the more technical tracks I think. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. And also in this year, the lap got fast driving, more punchy. Normally, I like to have longer climbs. I’m even more proud how I could ride today. All right. Epic ride. And yeah, it was great to see you in control in the downhill every lap. We were we were cheering pretty loud on one rocky downhill. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good job. All right, Jen, you ripping that downhill and looking pretty in control every lap. It certainly didn’t feel like it, but yeah, I think it was a bit spicy for everybody. It rained more than I think we thought last night. So, you know, you come in and the track was already a bit blown out from all the training laps and then add a little slippery roots cuz the sun doesn’t really get in on that section there. No. So, yeah. But it was pretty exciting to watch. We were cheering pretty loud. I know. I could hear you on the side one time and I’m like, “Oh [ __ ] I’m going to be on the internet if I crash.” Well, there’ll be a few few that ended up on the internet, but you didn’t crash so you’ll be pretty happy. No, no, I was really happy. I think when I left with the finish area and I’m looking around like, man, a lot of people hit the deck today. But I was just not rushing in the descents. I feel like you’re so pinned on the climbs that you can’t be pinned up and down. Like you have to recover somewhere. So I was just trying to like relax and just be like a little bit more precise where I put my bike and just like, you know, you crash and you lose momentum. I’d rather just be a bit more calm and yeah, not startle myself on the on the descents right now. Yeah. Well, you rode the descents maybe better than you did at the last race when we uh interviewed you. Yeah, I feel a little bit more pleased about it today. I think it’s it’s just like picking your battles. Like if you’re like you can descend 90% and still be in touch with like the overall descending speed rather than be 100% and then not be able to give everything on the climb. So yeah, I was happy. So I think I was just outside the top 10 like 12th or 13th. So just chipping away at it for the season. Yep. Solid solid day at the office. Yeah, super solid. Sammy, too. I saw them. I saw a group of four with one lap to go. They’re coming like one way over the bridge and they’re like, you know, a minute and a half ahead of me. I’m going the other way. I’m like, “Oh, it’s a bit weird on this course. They’re just riding together like one lap one lap to go and there’s four of them. I’m just wondering what’s going how that’s going to play out.” And then on the last lap, I saw she was already in the pump track and you know, I’m suffering, but I’m kind of like what’s happening? I’m like a big fan, too. I’m like, “Oh, I think she dropped them because I don’t see anybody else yet.” So, at school, I guess the first win since the first race of the year. Yeah. And she came from like 50 odd seconds back back to the lead and then dropped back and then came back and a few times. Yeah. It’s like such a strange race like everyone’s pacing strategy either they don’t have one or you kind of like have to pick your battles like I started had a good start. Yeah. But then dropped back a bit on the second lap cuz I could really feel it in my chest and I’m like seven laps is a long time to be like on the limit probably going to blow up. So I just kind of dialed it back maybe a bit too much but then rode back into the race. Yeah, it’s probably pretty hard at the altitude to manage that. Yeah, I mean, we’ve been here for two weeks, so I kind of know, you know what it feels like when you just start seeing stars or like you just can’t calm your breathing down. You lose control of the breathing. So, I’m like, just keep it under control and build back through the race. Seven laps. It was a full almost hour and a half race. You know, it wasn’t like it was going to be an hour 15 where you can just kind of get away with overpacing a bit. All right. Well, great job. And it was epic to see the riding on the downhill. Impressive stuff. So, well done. Thanks for putting the pressure on in the most difficult spot. We found the the best spot to watch. Yeah. Yeah, you always do. Thanks. Nice work. Cheers. Did you Did you have any crashes during that race? Uh no, just some uh foot out and uh some uh Yeah, little mistake mostly in the first two lap and then in the last one I was uh kaput and I just missed the line up there in the last part. Yeah. Oh yeah. So So that that would have cost you a little bit there. Yeah, I think I lost the the like the the front of the race in the second last lap. I was behind Samara Maxwell. She did a mistake. I was behind her. I was I had to run. Yeah. Then uh we had to come back. So I did I think my I have one ball and I used to come back in the second last glove and then in the last one Samara was still uh yeah she still has good legs and she went for for the win and I was a bit on the edge and I missed gain the line down there. So I think yeah I think the podium was already gone the top three but uh still you never know. Yeah. Yeah. But uh what it must have been nice to be battling in the front nearly all the race. Yeah. Yeah. I mean it was uh it was amazing. I needed that. Uh cuz at one point I was uh leading the race with Jenny and I was like uh okay so now what I do? It was I was not expecting like that because when we closed the gap with the puke uh it was really we were closing really fast so I didn’t expect to be yeah alone with Jenny in the front. Then I saw she was staying on the wheel. So I say, “Okay, normally she’s quite smart in the race, so I have to I don’t have to stay all the way in the front.” And then uh yeah, the last three laps were a bit of a group ride again. And uh yeah, just try to position well in the in the good spot. Uh yeah, maybe I missed some uh some tactical stuff, but uh in the end uh I think the Yeah, the girl in front they they Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you have to Yeah. accept that. Yeah. Well, Sammy was backwards and forwards quite a bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sammy I was always uh looking Yeah. kind of looking back. I saw Jenny Sammy was coming back and then at one point she was not there anymore. So I was like okay she’s doing something strange like then I discover when she came back I saw she was a bit Yeah. I said okay she had a puncture and then I think she she crashed a couple of time. I don’t know. I think at least twice. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, “Okay, yeah, she I think she was the strongest today. I was trying to use uh yeah, my technical stuff on as a strength.” So yeah, I tried and uh it was it was good. I’m really happy to be Yeah. top five. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, great job. And no crashes today is a pretty good feat cuz uh there’s a lot of people with dirt on their arms. Yeah. Yeah. That that’s the the secret. Yeah. I mean, here it’s always like to be clean and not crash. Not not puncture. It’s uh kind of that. Yeah. All right. Well, great work. Nice work. Thank you very much. Ciao. Cheers. Thank you. All right, Luca. Unfortunate flat tire in that one. Unfortunate flat tire. I don’t know if I’m flat tire. I don’t know. I don’t know. A tough race thing. Yeah. Yeah. I have a problem mechanic. Uh I don’t know if if it’s my fault. Oh yeah. And uh Yeah. No, it’s a game. Yeah. It happens in in mountain biking. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But but uh yeah, you’re great at the front of the race there the whole time. So happy with that. Yeah. Yeah. I try to ride on the front to because I I think here it’s very important to ride on the front for the downhill and I try to push hard on the downhill and Yeah. on the climb. But uh yeah. No, it’s a great race. I’m super happy to sh Good day for the team. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome day for the team. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great day. All right. Well, enjoy this one. And you’ve got a bit of a break now, I guess. First, uh I think I dr I drink some wine and after we’ll see. All right. Well, enjoy the wine tonight, mate, cuz you deserve it. Thanks. Cheers. All right, Dario. Uh 12th today. How’s that? Yeah, it’s uh I I put a lot of effort into into this World Cup. I know that uh I can perform really well in altitude and uh yeah, I did a a good preparation the last few weeks and uh yeah, try try to to take a chill at the start. just uh yeah find my own rhythm, don’t go too deep. And then I had a had a few good back wheels that I was able to follow and uh yeah, really happy. My best World Cup result in uh in the elites with the 12th result, 12th place and uh yeah, getting closer and closer to this to my first top 10. So uh that’s what we’re we’re aiming for for the for the last part of the season. Yeah, good to have a few more races keep building into and then and then world champs in Switzerland for sure. Yeah, we don’t know where you got to qualify. Yeah, exactly. How many riders are they put through? Uh we we will be seven riders from from Switzerland. I think at the moment we’re 10 or 11 riders that have the the qualification. So uh yeah, it’s not an easy job for the for for the national coach, but uh I did everything that I could today and uh the the rest is up to to other guys. Yeah, that’s all you can do. For sure. For sure. So yeah, great job, mate. And uh yeah, epic result. Your best ever elite result. So well done. For sure. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, so that wraps up everything from cross country day here in Andor. Over and out from Win TV. I don’t know when we’ll be back next. We’ll see if we make it hardline or not. But yeah, cheers. It’s been a good one. Over and out. [Music] [Applause] [Music]