Mountain Bike World Cup Season so Far | BEYOND THE LINE Episode 1

Rob Warner, Emily Batty and Eliot Jackson are back in the studio. Joined by top riders, they delve deep into all the major action from the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

0:00 intro
2:33 Downhill Racing In Bielsko Biala, Poland
12:18 Eliot’s Athlete Pick Downhill – Dakotah Norton
16:12 Downhill Team changes for 2024: Vali Höll, Greg Minnaar & Danny Hart
21:25 Vali Höll’s progression on her bike
24:05 What’s going on with Speed suits?
28:06 Winner predictions Downhill
28:43 Cross-Country racing in Brazil
33:56 Edi Telser, Head Coach of Switzerland interview
34:39 Who can go to the big games?
39:38 Haley Batten
47:35 Emily Batty Athlete pick Cross-Country – Christopher Blevins
49:48 Martin Vidaurre segment
53:52 Team Chemistry
55:36 Lets talk about Simon Andreassen
57:20 Winner predictions Cross-Country
58:31 Outro

All episodes available on Red Bull TV: https://www.redbull.com/int-en/shows/beyond-the-line
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the Mountain Bike World Cup is in full swing and so are we here at beyond the line this is what we have in store for you in the first episode we take a look at the excitement from round two of the downhill World Cup season in Bosco baa Poland it’s been all changed for some of the bigname riders in the off season we sat down with them to get the lowdown on who got a new bike this winter and what effect changing teams has had on a rider when you think of downhill clothing skin tight Lyra doesn’t exactly come to mind tiny Seagrave though might disagree will this be the next new trend in the start gate fresh from his first downhill World Cup win Ronan Dunn and xco World Cup leader Haley baton join us in the studio for a chat with the Olympics just around the corner and the competition for places hotting up it’s a race within a race to compete in France specialized have had a great start to the cross country season we find out y with Rising Star Martin vdar all in the company of two-time world championship bronze medalist Emily batty downhill Analyst at Red Bull TV Elliot Jackson and our host with the most Rob Warner my I’ll be on my hello and welcome to season two of beyond the line we’ve got a brand new studio but the same awesome crew is back and they’re as excited as I am to get into this 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season we have four races in already and it was the cross country races Emily in South America in Brazil that got things underway and I’m going to say there was more emphasis on these two races than perhaps ever before right yeah you’re absolutely right two brand new tracks but one of the most dramatic starts to a cross country season both men and women that we’ve ever had seen and experience for obvious reasons right we have the Olympic qualifications kind of starting to wrap up we can see who is unofficially probably going to be going for the couple of Americans they’ve been doing all right you’re right you’re right so we have the s men and women that have always been super competitive as well as the French but now the women and the men Americans what a dominating performance the women in general yeah it was insane and we will come back and talk a lot more about the cross country World Cup later in the show and Elliot Fort William kicking things off for the World Cup Riders from one of the oldest venues to a brand new one actually in B bco beia in Poland a new track a spectacular track changing conditions throughout that race I mean Sunday’s World Cup there was brilliant wasn’t it start to finish for sure I mean I think you highlighted it perfect because there was a lot of talk coming into the race about it you know not being a difficult track to Bike Park it’s too easy bike park yeah but I think the from this very beginning you saw the Riders walked the track they said this is really soft if it’s dry it’s going to be really sketchy if it gets wet it’s going to be extremely sketchy and it did both yeah exactly and I think the way that I looked at it when I analyze a race like that you can see in the split times so a lot of the time we’ll see a the beginning of a track a Riders up they can’t really make up the time but in Poland it was Chang in the entire time so was up you know they could make up time the second sector so that’s kind of the mark of a really good World Cup track to me yeah the way that you could fight back and those splits were going red and green all the way down a hard one to master I I would say definely Marine cabaro though showing us exactly that she’s back to where she needs to be back to her best I mean I think Marine it’s just so incredible I think that it’s almost an emotional story with her because she had these incredible injuries broken back you know all of these things and it took her 2 and 1 half years after that broken back to come back and win in Le last year to win Another World Cup well now I mean with this win she’s now tied up with with tny Crave You know with emilene Rego this legendary figure and then she’s only one behind miam Nicole I think it was kind of this run when you see her like you said she’s come back onto form the Steep stuff she was able to ride so nicely just being kind of perfect on the bike she rides with this really strong style and it’s taken her it’s taken her a little bit to kind of get that strength back but the confidence back as well because you know we talk about you know Valentina and how Dynamic she is but don’t forget cabaro not dynamic in that moment but kabaro you know she’s equally as good she was one of the first women that could really jump I remember so yeah good to see her back there yeah I know and and Emily and I were talking about Valley we saw Valley’s crash and you kind of were picking her for the win right yeah yeah I did have Valley picks for the win but definitely still showstopping event watching her you know come out of the gate what what I would have said was going to be a winning run we all expected Valle a win right how dominant she’s been she the woman she was going to do it and then going down in that BM but how quickly she got back on the bike but then made up that much time on the second half of the TRU was so it was so intriguing you know I think she might have had quite a rage on I I can’t imagine she was smiling and laughing on this she’ have been but prioritizing the overall you see that something she wasn’t going to give in on and in charging for yeah I mean she is such a veteran now she knows that it could come down to you know a dozen points at the end usually does yeah that’s right so the women’s were spectacular as was the men’s right men’s rights had everything oh well I mean it had Ronin done winning that is everything that’s all we need we saw him uh commentating or sorry we commentated on him in in uh Tasmania red hardine which was his first major win you know and he took down big names there but he didn’t take down the highest echelons of there was a lot of kind of is he going to be able to do it at a World Cup and so I think for him to come out and prove that he really really wanted to do that at at this race to kind of show what it what it meant and he was like he was on form right and and it wasn’t like you said he’s had this competition it was him doing stuff like this but it was also Riders like Loris V coming back onto for and then we also had his his teammate who was you know first in semifinals but he tried to do this line that you’ll see in just a second try to come up kind of drop down but it was just that one piece of track that didn’t quite dry out no and we saw that you know like losing the front a little bit like Valley there Dak Norton yeah that was down probably to it being dry and loose as we say then getting wet and hard packing and then I mean there was definitely a sweet spot in that final would it be fair to say yeah I mean track condition we we saw ocean o Calahan and kind of uh do that run really early on and there was a lot of talk you know is he going to get a Podium but to me there was kind of no way because we knew the track was going to dry out during the junior race the junior men and the junior women it was pouring rain and when the sun comes up like that you know it dries it out so who knows what could have been with his run but I think I thought his run well you know I was you were laughing at me because I said no I it’s going to beat that it was it was though it was amazing after that win out in Snowshoe yeah wouldn’t have been that surprising I I definitely have to give a shout out to luy Stevens MCN though because he is on that Union team kind of a privateer team and he was third until the third or sorry he was first until the third third split which is just crazy well it was a man from the emerald Al that came out on top and let me promise you there was no Irish luck involved in this man’s Luck win we caught up with Ron and dun right after the [Music] Finish okay well we should now have the winner of the Poland downhill World Cup race on the line here he is are we going to get him where is he where is he I’m holding in bread there he is Ronan D World Cup winner how are you yeah pretty good Dead uh kind of over the moon just yeah just trying to take it in right now I imagine you are mate I mean you were you came so close at the end of last year but it hasn’t taken you long to deliver that first World Cup win it was a spectacular run I don’t know what it would have felt like on the bike yeah I don’t really don’t remember much to be fair I just see bruny time at the top I had a little look and I was like okay I I need to need to put a few horses down and yeah held on to her it was pretty it was good fun H didn’t didn’t hit the deck so yeah pretty pretty stoked with that wild amazing Ronan it’s your first year and amand draker’s first year being a factory team uh do you think that’s going to have a lot to do with your success going forward being on a factory team this is a f yeah it was a fa it’s so insane like we have a massive factory behind us an insane bike insane group Engineers mechanics manager it’s been yeah it’s been a whole group project and yeah I’m so stoked to get BR this team it’s first win and hopefully more to come and yeah L mon trer as a kid and yeah get them here is pretty sick so yeah just on to the next one ready Ronan I was laughing I heard you talk about on the uh on the podium how you wanted to either go home a World Cup winner or in a helicopter this track seemed like it was uh it seemed like was super hard to have that intensity what do you think why do you think it was so hard to have like put a full run together it’s just there’s so much going on like and the track was constantly changing it was uh it was so easy to hit the deck really like every run something else is different and the weather was playing around this morning and yeah she she was lovely for a r Dr to be fair but uh yeah it was a bit of a bit of a wild one to be fair but uh it was a proper track it was yeah I think everyone enjoyed it so is that going to be your uh a little bit of a secret weapon World Cup winner helicopter the rest of the season I don’t know I mean I yeah I was just trying to get myself into that mentality I think racing now is so intense and you kind of have to be either we’re going to crash or we’re going to win no no kind of prisoners and it was uh yeah it’s pretty pretty intense run but I don’t I don’t remember anything of it but I think I think was pretty good so it’s incredible it’s been amazing to watch you rise to the top so quickly you’re only just 21 years old mate and the winds in 2024 have been coming thick and fast did you change anything over the winter I guess you had the pace at the end of last year though um yeah I just put more work in the in the winter I went to Queenstown New Zealand I was down there for a good bit and then we had Red Bull or Red Bull Hardline in Tasmania which was a sick opener race and then yeah it was just yeah was loads of more bike riding in dry conditions this time so we’re definitely used to the speed but the World Cup speed is and then the factory team as well I think it all just kind of played the part so and then me not really acting acting the balls and put the head down was sick you’ve Absolut yeah you’ve absolutely got it rolling mate and it does seem to me roll and like you’re a man who likes a brand new track you mentioned Red Bull Hardline in Tasmania the first time we went there you won that you smashed everyone there new track in Poland you smashed everyone here today we’re got a Red Bull hard Wilds next and it is going to be another new track I bet that you’re feeling pretty good going into that one aren’t you only you a couple of weeks now yeah two weeks time I’m buzzing for that race I’ve seen the seen the track I’ve seen some bits of it just from uh some Snapchat stories and it’s looking pretty insane it should be so I’m going to be I’m going to be taking the same World Cup approach to Hardline like Hardline sick race as well I love it so much so yeah be going wi with a similar approach and yeah just trying to go for the win really and uh I have a I’ll be riding different from bike for Hardline this time back on the the World Cup bike so I’m looking forward to bringing that to the Hardline we should be sick you might be even fast well I think we got to wish you congratulations mate it was spectacular today right we love to watch and see you win M it was absolutely amazing you’ve impressed me today we’re now going to go to someone who’s impressed Elliot at the first two races of the year the only thing that’s higher than Dakota Norton’s bars is his skill on the bike hailing from Tennessee in the USA he is a perfect example of what hard work can do from sleeping in a van and struggling to qualify in 2015 to being one of the most creative Riders on the circuit and a consistent threat to the podium week in and week out a fourth place in Fort William puts him in rarified air in the downhill world and if I were to guess let’s say this won’t be the only Podium he celebrates this [Music] year yeah big result in William fastest qualifier in Poland no wonder he was your pick what are you going to tell us about him yeah he had a bit of bad luck in the final but really I just want to highlight the different body positions so on the left hand side you have Dakota Norton right hand side you have Ronin Dunn look at where Dakota’s head is and I’ll go over that same Ronin roller for Ronin and you can see just how Crouch Ronin is on the right hand side Dakota talking about how his arms are a little bit shorter back’s not super strong something he’s working on and I just want to kind of highlight what those High bars do almost looks like he’s sitting on a dining room chair coming down the coming down the race compared to Ronin much much more hunched over and I’ll kind of just go through and and highlight the differences here Ronin coming around that same tree his head is so much closer to the handlebars than Dakota’s is when you look at it like this those higher bars completely change Dakota’s Style on a bike I mean for sure look at this the back back is behind the rear axle head almost even with the bottom bracket I’ll pause it at that same part where Ronin is ronin almost even with the bottom sorry the uh the axle and then his head is in front of the bottom bracket yeah look at that and so Dakota’s going to have to run a much softer front end he’s going to have to run you know like it’s almost a completely different riding style kind of what he can do on the bike and I I’m down with it I mean whatever you need to do to uh you can’t argue it works because he did qualify fast as he had a great result in Fort William but my argument might be that those higher bars losing the front like that he hasn’t got as much weight on that front wheel does it correlate you you you can you can account for it right he went from 35 millimet now his handlebars are all the way up at 80 and so you’re going to be taking um a ton of air out of that uh out of that fork and you’re going to have to run defin a stiffer rear end because you have so much weight on there so Elliot we see this kind of a position you know in Supercross and Moto in general do you think this is going to be a trend we’re going to see now in in downhill I mean he he does come from the Motocross world and it and it is when you think about sitting on a motorcycle your arms are almost straight out in front of you and then on a bike like they’re so much lower so it’ll be something that he started something here we’re going to see 200 100 Mil rise of bars at the next race I I got Chopper bars all the way someone well then that’s it the trend starts people follow it’s amazing well let’s have a look at the overall World Cup standings then after those first two World Cup Downhill races and it is lck bruny the Frenchman standing triumphantly at the top after that win in for will another good result in Poland look at Ronan dun though I know Ronan dun I mean he’s right there I love to see Troy you know in in the top five he’s really like kind of come back into form got that aggression back Dakota coming back up on this uh is unfortunate you know not getting points in the final there speed’s there though isn’t it yeah and we see Finn and is drop back a few spots too that’s right yeah hopefully he can uh redeem himself from last season sure sure well we’ve been talking about Dakota Norton he had a big team change this winter he wasn’t the other one here some of the other [Music] notables end [Music] quite an easy decision for me back to the roots back to the family I’ve joined the Continental GT team for this season and bike’s good The Vibes good yeah I’m really happy with how it’s going at the end of the season when I was there it was quite an emotional time and I didn’t expect it at all you can be quite emotional and upset about it but it doesn’t really change what’s happened and managed to be in this lovely place I mean look at it I think it’s always different if you come as an addition to a new team like now I’m the new one I don’t know the inside jokes you kind of have to like see in ad depth and listen what they’re talking about I think for myself I’m quite good at adapting so I’m really quite versatile so for me it doesn’t take me so long we’ got some great riters through coming up that can experience what I feel a team should operate like to me it’s a dream I really like the idea with how the team thinks about certain things we are all living on cage the Riders are allowed to ride whatever Parts they want I had a few options to look through but it just seemed the option where I had most opportunity to build something like really special I’ve got a few roles my weekly role is um directing the team and then when we come to a race I’m going become a rider seen them working with Gracie and Lucas and Kirk and he just wants to share his knowledge now with these guys this rock and that way and go go this way and avoid this and approach it this way it’s really cool Kathy has so much knowledge of World Cup racing and how a team operates it makes a team just run a whole lot smooth that I wanted to take Greg to the end of his career and be with him and give him all the support then have an opportunity to come back is a dream come true the goal for me is always to go out and and try and put it on the top step of the podium and with this team and the backing that I’ve got I think I can do that I’d like to try and get some wins love to try and be on the podium that’s year goal goal as a team is to have the other Riders step on the podium to make it into the top five my season will be more made if I see one of my teammates stepping up on on the box rather than myself I just want to Grove in I mean I have a brand new bike brand new team so just need to groove in and find my mojo I [Music] guess obstacle itim in the s [Music] well those team changes definitely working better for some Riders than others and when I say that I can’t help but feel so much for Greg manai you know an acrimonious split from Santa Cruz heavy at the end of last year set kind of his own team up for it’s racing right but Fort William separated shoulder struggled clearly in Poland I mean it’s going to be really really difficult for him is it this year yeah I mean I can relate to I have two stories with changing teams but one is relating with Greg’s new situation and and uh when I started or coming off a factory team and starting my own World Cup team and co-directing because you did that yeah I mean it’s a lot of it’s a lot of stress that you don’t really anticipate you know you’re managing uh or directing you know seven plus people in logistics and you know finances it’s a lot to take on on top of trying to be a professional athlete and the other story is very very different back in 2010 when I went on to truck Factory racing and uh story excuse me Truck World Racing right and I was teammates with the Fluker brothers from cross country but also down yeah what Justin Leo Andrew n you weren’t exposed to downhillers yeah so so here I am Sor at such a young age and just experiencing the the cross country now being mixed with the downhillers this is one distinct story I was on giant it was a mixed team very interesting I remember vividly one of the first dinners in ble and Andrew needlings whipping a a loaf of bread it was a bun or something across the table and just smashed me in the face wait why did bre at you down I remember going up to my room and and being in tears like what have I done this is crazy what what are these down HS all about food food fights were a big part of down is it’s downhill culture they were yeah any but Valentina Hall has moved teams with back to our old team YT she said it was like going home for her they sign when she was just 13 years old I mean to me it’s a big move because she’s really been enjoying success the last few years but yeah this clearly working for her show us show us where she’s at yeah I mean Valley like you said she’s been she has been on that suram team for for so long and it is you know I think one of the big things for her was going back to where she had teammates right and I wanted to kind of take a look at what the different riding Styles so I set up uh I set up this side side on the left hand side we have Fort William 2022 right hand side was this year in 24 and I just wanted to show you kind of her progression as a rider but also the bike so on the right hand side you know she’s just perfect just saving energy legs are locked and as we kind of go forward again on the right hand side she’s got this attack position elbows are up absorbing everything on the left hand side you know she’s trying to um she’s trying to kind of rest but it’s almost at the the least opportune time legs are locked and so what that does back in hits this rock and kind of gets her out of out of sorts yeah for sure and on the right on the sorry on your right hand side again this attack position much smoother but even still on the left hand side she’s kind of back on the bike arms are locked you know and what that does no weight on the front end as we talked about with Dakota kind of sliding out reaching for that turn and it seemed like she was almost opposite everywhere right hand side kind of perfect body position elbows up and again in this left hand side you know she’s heads way over the front kind of legs are locked and we all remember kind of what happened right after this again right hand side elbows up much smoother you know like this perfect body position and then on the left again back of the bike you know arms are extended there’s no weight on this front end at all which leads to her sliding the front end and then going down and so it’s really interesting to me to to see the progression of you know not only the the riding style but I think that comfortability on the bike and I don’t know if that’s something that they tested a lot in the offseason or or what but it’s she could been working harder on herself on her Fitness because like you said you know to ride a bike as you want to ride it you really got to be strong you got to be fit you know I could do it for the first 30 seconds and then I you that’s how it is though isn’t it anyway let’s have a look at the overall World Cup standings then for the women after those first two downhill World Cups of the here and it is at the top Valentina Hull but not by much look at that t crave right there Camille Balan in there as well it’s super tight at the top of the women I mean I love to see ton Crave in second and I also shout out to Anna newerk you know on that Beyond racing team fully Privateer you know as as all everything gets kind of more you know expensive and and more Elite to have that in you know Herby number seven is is amazing to me it really amazing all right well we’re going to change the subject now we’re going to talk skin suits oh excuse me speed suits in one massive shocking pink Mo move Tiny Seagrave broke the internet at round one we went to Fox December last year and we were introduced to the speed suit for the first time and they’re looking for marginal gains all the time and the guys realize this would be great for down the only problem was obviously if for downhill it’s got to be a two-piece so then they really started working and came up with what you what you see now I think speed suits are a fast topic not just a Hot Topic yeah Fox produced the the speed suit RS brought it to the first World Cup ready to race tailor fitted to the athletes who had it the response was kind of like well it looks good it goes good and everyone’s kind of resigned to the fact that this is the direction the sport needs to go when you see t in it it’s it’s kind of fit for purpose it doesn’t look out of place like back in 2004 when they were wearing skin suits rather than what this is a speed suit it looked totally different and it wasn’t fit for purpose it was used for road racing and they were using it in downhill the Sport’s mature enough now professional enough now that it’s we’re not just going to do like we did in the ’90s and 2000s they’ve got some data which shows that it’s has the potential to be considerably faster in the right circumstances we have sections where you’re you know over 50 km an hour for 2 3 4 maybe 500 M when aerodynamics is is way more important if you in your own mind feel as though you’re kind of better in it then you’ll get a better result in it and so yeah I I’d feel Invincible in it look at it if I could get it on and there it is the shocking pink that broke the internet 132,000 likes on it but in all seriousness Emily as shocking as it is as bright as it is it does have massive function that you know about right from cross country seeing downhill racers in baggies is like watching Michael Phelps with a t-shirt on it like that seems so ridiculous I didn’t realize it was just a a style component all along if you guys are looking for milliseconds that’s the most obvious thing oh I mean uh you know all about it right you were uh who do you think War at Berto back in the day the peak was a little bit low but I mean otherwise look similar to T there right and I think breaking internet dressing and like you but I mean it started in the ’90s we all wore skin suits because the teams made us that’s all we knew there was nothing else actually because Mount cycl only had LCRA sha Palmer this snowboard dude turns up in the mid 90s head to toe in the baggiest fox Motocross kit you’ve ever seen he looked amazing we were all like why are we uh dressed like this and he’s wearing that and then actually you know we all wore baggy kit there was rules put in place that you weren’t allowed short Peaks that skin suits had to go for the goodness of the argument was we want down it’ll be cool we don’t want to be seen in l c that was the argument so all these rules were put in place and basically we spent 20 years coming back from them that’s why that’s not called a skin suit they banned as a join in the middle it’s not a one piece it’s a speed suit simple as that’s it but you know look at it and it’s to your point I think that there’s a lot of taboo around it right like the high handlebars with Dakota people making fun of you know like that has been one of the talks so does back in day I used to wear a I used to wear bag of gear to practice in for all the photos all week in practice and then they would make us put liyer on for the finals and it’ be so difficult you’d be going so much quicker you would actually miss turns like you would have to break earlier so I mean you are going faster in like there’s no question course you are absolutely I mean aerodynamics you’re spending millions of dollars with these Engineers yeah that’s right here you are throwing obvious timeout like but we looked good Emily we right I like MC Hammer out there I’ll never understand I’m I’m Pro tiny go tiny all right okay so we’ve got a new game this year just us here in the studio the prediction games here they are up on the screen oh man look feel bad for you guys that you’re going to lose that’s uh well the one thing that is interesting for the people at home listening is is that there’s going to be a challenge in the studio here for the loser we haven’t got it yet so go to Red Bull bike Instagram tell us what you want to see us do there if you’re watching this on YouTube leave it in the comments but uh one of us is going to be in for some tort oh yeah yeah I think I think we know who it might be yeah I’m I’m definitely worrying about it get your suggestions in okay well we’re going to leave downhill there and now turn our attention to cross country as we mentioned the season got going in South America in Brazil a few weeks ago and Emily I’m going to say that looking at those races it’s never been more difficult for a nation for a rider to get on the start line at the Olympics right yeah you’re absolutely right they’ve made changes again and now there’s only 36 men on the start line 36 women what we have 120 men in a cross country World Cup race it’s become a very exclusive race we only have two two athletes from Nations ranked 1 through eight and one Rider from Nations 9 through 19 so and it and it was three previously right the first two used to be three athletes from men and women so surely that means that it’s almost harder to do well at a World Cup than it is to win the Olympics yeah the depth isn’t there it’s it’s become a more exclusive event and you know if you asked any athlete I’m sure they’re still going to say they’re going to prioritize wishing they hope U an Olympic medal is coming their way OPP post to the the the World Championships but yeah it’s very exclusive going forward well yeah I don’t think it matters how you look at it it’s still the race on planet Earth to win and here’s some Riders telling us how they hope to get to Paris I’ve dreamed of the Olympics that’s been my goal since I was a young Rider I’m one of the guy that has the chance to go to the Olympics you know you really want to earn that spot I just want to go we have some criteria top eight in a world cup and there are some qualification races which were of the World Cup races last year world championships last year and the first three round of uh of the World Cup this year for sure it got harder because we have one spot last for all the strong Nations like like Switzerland France it’s pretty tough to just have two spots we are like three riders in the top eight in world ranking so that makes one of us needs already to stay uh stay home in the end is a competition but uh I don’t watch too closely I just want to concentrate on myself to deliver the best uh possible on the day I skipped almost all last season uh due to an injury so it was was key for me to to get some results to show also to the to the Federation set that I’m um I’m capable to to ride in front top 20 that’s not enough to qualify so um if I would actually miss the Olympics because I wasn’t in this shape to to beat the other guys yeah that would be bad actually so um yeah there is a bit pressure yeah but the pressure can be also good my goal is still to prove that I can battle for medals and I want to go to to my fifth Olympic Games for Olympic selection it’s a bit different every time they come up with a criteria that they think is fair one is um a top five at two of the first three World Cups it’s really focused on performance on the day which I think they want to prove you know who can on Olympic day either be ready to win a medal or be future medal Potentials in the last few years it’s been really cool and challenging to see the level of us females rise and for sure it’s always challenging but it’s bringing all of us up I think this is what we’ve always wanted I think we’ve always wanted the US and Team USA to be a nation just like Switzerland just like France where we can stand on really lay podiums we can win medals win World Championships and be one of the best nations in the sport and we’ve been working on that for years for me personally of course it means that I have to be at my absolute best to be able to make that team um and we’ll see I think you know anything can happen but I also think um given how people are performing right now civilian Haley with podiums uh if they perform that way and they consistently stay up there like they obviously deserve to go and and that’ll be um exciting to watch well looking at that you know there’s definitely going to be some heartbreaking decisions to come Haley baton then is she now guaranteed a spot on the start line in Paris has she qualified yes so both men and women for the US had to get two top five results in order to make the qualifications so both Haley and civilia Blanc have achieved that with haly’s uh first and sorry third and then first and then cilia’s uh second and her third place but in the men actually so we actually have the U23 Rider from truck Factory racing Riley OS who is uh he has automatically qualified he’s kind of going under the radar but he has two first in he’s qualified correct whereas Christopher blevens with his first place and his 22th place hasn’t yet actually automatically qualified CU he needed those two top fives yeah and the 22nd didn’t didn’t quite get him there yet it is all going on I mean that’s just that’s just the US team here’s the Swiss team’s head coach a man who’s going to be scratching head all the way to July there is no advance for No Rider uh we will decide in on on the last race we will take in consideration all these races and then uh you’ll take the decision it’s a difficult difficult situation and a hard decision but in the other side is uh you it’s also good a good sign because you know you you you can select riders with which one you you can take also win a medal in the end no one has a bonus now if we had like you the star play fixed from the Olympic champion then it yeah would be different but that’s not happened so you everyone is in the same uh same start line in the end difficult difficult decision he said that I mean I would say a near impossible decision for him the Swiss men there’s so many of them what what do we know Emily where where are they at well we have four riders that could be going for a medal you know we have Matias Fluker who played silver in our last Olympic Games we have Nino shter who we know is more than capable of getting a medal we also have Lars Forester uh but then we also have filipo Columbo who had a a third and a fourth in Brazil so there is so much competition amongst and don’t forget that look and Columbo both won World Cup races in the last 12 months right so it’s actually a reality that they may not go yeah and that’s unbelievable truth yeah it’s so difficult two of them are going to be sitting out ever have like a discretionary pick like even like with Fluker like surely he would be more likely to be that a discretionary pick or something like that well watching the national team coach it sounds like they’re going to draw out the criteria as long as they can to get the best performance for the day um so we’re going to have to find out and check who’s gone I was going to say that’s the men in Switzerland the women the women is a way narli situation because they this year they can only take two last year their team of three each took home an Olympic medal so there is definitely an Olympic medalist unable to go this time yeah exactly and not a safe situation we’re likely not going to see Cena fry go and we’re likely not going to see Linda go as well they were second and and and third in the last Olympics but uh again super competitive in that Swiss team yeah so how do you manage that because right now it seems like is the most important time for selection but if you were to Peak right now then you ruin your chances to do good at the Olympics yeah right there’s uh there’s a lot of peeking going on in the early spring which does compromise your potential of peeking Midsummer um but uh which leads me nicely to lead on to some of the riders that didn’t make the trip to Brazil right and one of those especially as Pauline Fran Pro foro that we’ll come to PUK petay though she wasn’t there she decided to concentrate on the road right and not make the trip all the way to South America yeah PUK as we know she races a lot of cycle cross a lot of Road and she’s done so many different tours on the road um and that’s that’s been her early spring focus and she just actually got sixth in tour to Flanders for the wom so big congrats to her and we’ll see her likely in check for the first time on the mountain bike and don’t forget Novia Mesto is the last official qualification race right for the Olympics is that yeah I actually mistaken myself um uh PUK did just win a Euro champ that’s right she did yeah she’s on form we know she’s on form okay okay she’s always on form mon m wner not on form at the moment we did see her down at Cape epic and she got an illness that she I guess was lingering and uh it did compromise her early spring races in the mountain bike scene but she again was silver at the Euro Championship so she she might just take a little longer to come into form but that might be a blessing in in the long run absolutely and the woman that I definitely we’ve got to talk about Pauline faran proo right now we believe that she has been given the unofficial nod to be in Paris of course she has of course she has it’s Pauling frano she’s world champion that would might be the one she hasn’t had to have an early season peak right she’s just going to smaller races dominating them getting enough points to get a good start position in Paris but this this early Peak she can put everything just into July correct we’re watching Pauline do what she is an expert at she has five world champion titles to her name in the elite category alone so this could very well be another one of her her formula and recipe she’s just executing so well she is racing Lots she’s you know done six races already for her I mean why hasn’t she she been able to do the same thing at the Olympics in the past well there’s a lot of pressure on that Olympic Games you know but uh she’s going to be hungry this is the one thing that she doesn’t have in her toolbox she she can’t quite say she’s an Olympic medalist yet so we’re going to see Paulie putting all her eggs in this Basket in Paris can you imagine I no no I can’t she was there nearly there in Tokyo yeah this is going to be unbelievable to watch this one it really is if it’s anything like the downhill Le which I know it’ll be orders of magnitude larger man it’s going to be crazy that’s for sure yeah it’ll be a good showing I think in Czech we’ll get a sense of where she’s at compared to the others which will be a good showing for for midseason performances all eyes on that next week yeah let’s have a look then at the overall World Cup standings for the women then as they are at the moment after those first two Brazilian rounds and look at that Jenny rized there in second place sevilia Blanc having an incredible season third eeve Richards suffering actually a concussion at the last race there in AR Rashia but it is the American Haley baton [Music] leading and here is haly Baton joining us from her summer home of Jona in Spain how are you Haley thanks for coming on I’m good how are you guys doing thanks for having me yeah we’re all doing good really good really good and you had a brilliant start to your World Cup Series in Mara this year but things got a lot better A week later in a rasher not only did you win your first cross country World Cup race but you did it in amazing style a perfect weekend taking a short track before it I mean that must have felt amazing right yeah gosh it’s so hard to explain um just racing in Brazil the environment the fans the amazing courses um was just incredible and I think when the World Cup season starts you never quite know where everybody’s at and how your form is um I knew I was fit and I was focusing obviously it’s Olympic year so um there’s a lot on the table and I think to actually put the boxes get like you know check the boxes and do it right and uh yeah get my first cross country win and back toback wins was insane haly it was inevitable the race within the race how much pressure and how much were you really thinking about that if at all yeah I I think the big thing for me the race um the weekend before in marora I felt so strong with the other Riders and I think I just I think at some point you know you want to go as hard as you can and you train so hard and you just want to give it your all in every race and I think for me you know the difference between training to win and actually executing a win I think is really almost tactics and playing your cards as best as you can with the other Riders and I think I just learned that in the first weekend and tried to make the adjustments that I needed to um for arasha and yeah I made some mistakes in the first weekend and I think to be ble to turn around in one week and and have a race that I was proud of and I felt like I executed well was um yeah just as big of a win as the win itself okay so at what point then in the race did you realize it wasn’t just about the other Americans you’re competing for the win against in my opinion one of the hardest other writers to read Jenny Riskin is a poker faed expert so what were you thinking when you were when you were racing with her yeah it’s true actually in marora I told totally thought she was cracked I was like okay me and Cilia away like she looks tired and um I got this like even if I attack early like I feel super good and I was so wrong like she was on fire and just was so smart about how she played the Rays how she played her poker Bas and it was unpredictable and I think I just knew that going I’ve never had that tight of battles with with Jenny before so I think learning her learning her riding style and also sevilia as as well and I think it was interesting like the three of us were really battling both weekends and obviously alisandra as well um so I was really just reading my competitors and learning a lot weekend from weekend but Jenny’s Fierce and she um she’s really strong Rider and both technically and and climbing like she had so much power and like her attacks were huge and hard to hard to keep up with so yeah it was crazy it was super exciting racing and I think some of the most exciting I’ve ever been part of certainly the most exciting for me to watch on the sidelines I I felt like I mean most of us know Jenny has one serious match in a race and she’s so calculated with when she uses it did you feel like it was coming on that last lap were you trying to get a jump start on that lead or were you waiting for her to then be in defense yeah in a Rashia I got a little bit worried because I I attacked pretty early through the start and finish um just kind of keep everybody off guard and everybody was kind of sitting up and chilling but then you know obviously I was still leading going into one of the big you know halfway through up through the the main climb so then I was like oh no I’ve done it again you know like I thought I was smart and I played my cards well but she’s like still in the perfect position and um so she actually put in a huge attack like right after this steep pitch and that like I I think I lost maybe three bike lengths on her and the fact that I even closed it like blow like was insane I I I almost settled for a second in honesty like I thought she was so much stronger um but I just didn’t get up I think I just wanted it so bad and I was surprisingly able to close the gap and then pass her before the first descent um but yeah that attack was huge like she had saved that I think throughout the race and was just so steady and on Wheels throughout like you know all the earlier laps so yeah when she went she went and it was hard to close again Haley you’re going into your second games ninth and the first one and there’s probably a little bit more pressure now this time you being in the spotlight are you doing anything different now that you’re the favorite oh gosh yeah I think no pressure no pressure um yeah I mean I think that’s always been my goal like I think since I was a a young Rider the Olympics has always been what my eyes have been on I think obviously World titles World Cup wins like that’s great but I’ve always wanted to be an Olympic Rider an Olympic medalist and so I think um our you know my preparation with my coach obviously it’s like step by step okay we have to qualify and then we want to perform and so I think we’ve tested a lot of you know what helps me you know get to Peak peak level and in this first Peak towards Brazil and I think replicating a lot of that as we get into the Olympic Games is and just I think just trying to be smart and and step outside the box a little bit and and you know when it comes to racing the best riders in the world you have Pauline you have Puck you have Yolanda you have Jenny obviously like these Riders know how to win races and they know how to live win sorry high pressure races as well so that’s a little bit new to me obviously this year and um I think I’m just trying to play my cards as best as I can and I’m really excited it feels good and I think this is something I’ve dreamed of for a long time to be able to execute like this and I um hope I can keep playing that my cards well and and just racing at my best but I’m having fun too and I think that’s really the best feeling oh wonderful we can see your confidence level has gone through the roof and you can compete with these women and I’m wondering going into check now that we’re probably going to be seeing Pauline PR for and uh and P Peters do you have a different strategy or are you just going to try to do the best you can yeah um I think I’m just going to carry with me what I learned in Brazil for sure I think it’s funny I mean you know as well Emily it’s when the races go back to Europe it just seems different and I think the level is getting really high when we go to races like Mount San and snowy obviously everybody’s there but I think there’s something about when these Europeans are close to home and um everything they know the courses so I think I just have to be ready for everybody to step up again and I think um just being as you know racing as smart as I can and just being ready for the level I think to go up even another notch and I mean there are races going on in Europe right now in in uh Czech there was a race in Z zav and then also in himing there’s a top race so kind of just like watching where everybody’s at obviously Mona’s coming back from the cape epic so I think there’s a lot of riders that’ll be super strong and and just being ready for like going hard like these races are Relentless and I think that’s what’s so cool about women’s racing right now is I think I could probably name 20 women that are just like right there and could get on a Podium so that’s pretty cool and um it’s fun to be part of that type of racing we want to wish you all the best of luck this next weekend of course nov Mesto is Right upon us now so you know we know you’re going to be right near the front there Haley thanks very much for taking some time out to chat to us now it’s been it’s brilliant to talk to you amazing and and just great to see having so so much success and enjoying it so much yeah thank you all so much it’s great to talk you all right okay we’ll leave it there and thank you Haley and from one specialized Rider to another here’s one that’s really impressed Emily batti my rider pick for the first two World Cups in Brazil goost the most outstanding showstopping performance from the USA’s own Christopher bevens the 26-year-old absolutely blew us away proving that with grit determination and a whole lot of self-belief anything is possible from a challenging start to the week with being bit by a poisonous caterpillar placing 37th in the short track the day prior to his Relentless effort on the cross country track mirroring his impressive Victory on home soil in Snowshoe West Virginia back in [Music] [Applause] 2021 in the second World Cup a week later in Arisha we watched bevens recover after a crash in the start Loop that put him in dead last and overtake a record break 80 Racers to finish in 22nd [Applause] position well Bev’s definitely the right choice the way he’s been riding early season why though Emily has it taken him so long from that first win in in Snowshoe a couple of years ago to take the second win yeah it’s hard to tell you know what he’s done in those few years but we know he’s more than capable he has an incredible history of you know being on the bike from as young as four years old on the BMX up to 12 years old he’s raced Road and he’s you know on the gravel racing so you know we know this guy is completely capable in having just witnessed to incredible performance maybe this is a new chapter for Christopher and he he’ll uh he’ll be at the top for for some time to come well I know he has the skills I mean there was this Instagram clip where he jumped BMX section L manual is insane and I guess kind of leads to the the other point about that second race in arasha hitting that pole going over the bars and then you were saying he passed 80 people in One race isn’t isn’t that crazy if you in a World Cup performance passed 30 athletes that is a personal success Mission got to be yeah we saw Tom pck back in Alat past 70 and that was what everyone was talking about but we watched Christopher past 80 that’s great actually and if you’re doing Tom Pitcock kind kind of numbers you’re a friend of mine that is for sure another man actually who’s had a brilliant season so far is Martin Vdara here’s a bit more on one hot chili [Music] if I look back back in time first year riding Europe I remember being also on the bag and cost me one or two years to get in the first position in each category like Junior then under 23 23 was just a learning Year Mar coming through in 28 position you need to take your time you need to step it but little by little I don’t like to to rush it or to win tomorrow everything I am not in a hurry I don’t want to win everything don’t worry it’s a good to inspire also people do you work properly and also have fun in a way I think it’s just part of the [Music] [Applause] process this race maripur I felt like I was part of the race at the end if you have the legs and the shape you really can attack and and be part of the race like it was a big relief to just say okay I can also do it I can be on the front it’s important to be relaxed in a way uh so nice when you have the shape and you can fight for a for a race it’s just every race is different P country has been always an individual sport now with short track it gets a little bit more tactical in a way so we need to try to figure out how to adapt and play the good tactics because the races are always different [Music] [Applause] [Music] a weekend like last weekend I mean everything needs to come together to have all three Riders right there at the front to actually be able to play a team tackle team is just amazing we just get along each other very well with the girls with the mechanics with the fs like it’s a big team we talk a little bit with Chris we know each other very well let’s see how it plays but for the first we are going to battle also each other out I kept passing people and I was like I haven’t seen Martin interor yet this is a good day for us and then I got to the lead group M was on the back we had to laugh together and then it was Game On from there come ony hang on there hang on there but the end of the day it’s up to themselves second they need to decide like we have no radios uh we have no upper hand on telling them what to do when it comes to the race itself what we can do from our side is making sure that we race for the team as individuals but always keep in mind that if we win the whole team is winning if we lose the team is [Music] losing obviously I want to win but I also need to get the experience done I am hungry we just want a [Music] race well Martin really looking like he’s enjoying himself I mean he’s a former under 23 World Cup winner world champion first year Elite last year wasn’t that spectacular this year though he’s of looking right where he needs to be would you agree yeah last year we we just saw him reach into the top 20 twice um but the the team is not putting a lot of pressure on him and he’s quite open about not rushing into expectations and really just learning the the curve of going from U23 into the elite categories when I had spoke with him he said you know with training they had to they had to in increase the intensity but also the volume so that he could recover between racing short track which would have been new back toback events um but we know he’s more than capable once he gets comfortable we we’ve seen him you know almost lead both Brazilian World Cups for for majority of the race before then he had settled and we know we know from his under 23 results just what a phenomenal Talent the potential of what he’s going to do right yeah exactly we we’ve seen him in you know his last year U23 take eight World Cup wins like you said he’s world champion and the thing too is like it feels like it’s a whole team and I was I was like devastated for kety right like leading that whole race and then chain popping off I don’t even know but I guess like you said they have such a good support system there and it seems like you know they understand how to get Riders mentally prepared yeah I mean top down you can see Beno how engaged he is with the team and setting the tone and and frequency is a real thing energy spills over and if it’s going well they’re all going to benefit and it’s early racing so there wasn’t a lot of internal pressure other than their own and I know the the specialized crew are very good at at helping manage that and keeping the the atmosphere light very professional but very light and fun for the guys I heard Beno there sort of saying well we don’t really tell the Riders what to do is that the truth though because when you’ve got Riders like vidara and kety and you’ve got tracks that are where the pack stays together perhaps I mean you could see tactics do we see any tactics do do Riders work together as teammates in a race or is it is it more of a road thing can it not really take place in Mountain bik racing yeah it’s a great question cuz the speeds are higher and the fields are there’s more depth so there is more of a you know a crit component from the outside looking in but these guys are hungry for those individual results and as much as I want to say there is team tactics it’s more about not working against each other so if you have a teammate up the road and you’re leading A Train That’s maybe falling back you’re going to let someone else do the work but as far as team tactics go unless you’re coming down one to one you know it’s still an individual sport they’ve been training on their own and uh they want to get get the best spot personally that they can get and specialized enjoying phenomenal success mainly I guess because of the selection process for those American Riders they’ve got another man though who was brilliant in a rasher and Brilliant to see Simon Andreas back on top em what did you make of that yeah it was so great to see I don’t think he was uh going to be picked from most people to be on the on the top spot with his 16th a week prior no um but no I mean he’s done it before and you can see he uh he just needs that bit of confidence that we see every once in a while within him but but talking about frequency and team environment we also saw Alan ha right yeah third place third place so you can you can really see that the energy amongst teams you know yeah F they I’m definitely going to be interested to see what he does next time because of the the confidence right like didn’t maybe quite earn that win the way he would have wanted to but I mean he did he did outsprint everyone so yeah it’ll be interesting to see what he does with that confidence and his bravery for passing on that BMX descent that’s pretty brave of him but he you know it’s a it was a window and he took it so that’s uh promising for his later half of the Season see a gap you got to go for it let’s have a look at the overall World Cup standings in as they are for the men after those first two cross country World Cup races in Brazil and it is Victor kety then with a good lead actually early on is anyone going to be able to catch him I mean he’s going to be in good form Emily I would say this time of year heading thinking about Paris coming up soon two second places I mean I don’t know if there’s going to be a more hungry man out there when it comes to Chuck he has a lot to prove to himself uh but uh but no it I mean he was he was Superior in all four races down in in in Brazil absolutely was and that may I mean again for the first time we’ve had to do our predictions in here here they are on the screen remember there is a forfeit for the loser which is almost certainly going to be me but I’ve gone for Pitcock in nov amesto now we do know oh we’ve all gone for pitcock in noo that’s because I think he needs a result there to actually defend his Olympic crown so we know he’s going to be good I’ve gone for PUK pay you’ve gone for Pauling that’s going to be good ass civilia blun for the American over there I was looking at the stats and there is a trend line I mean I tell you what I I’m I think this is going to be the one I mean it’s it’s pretty obvious why we all chose Tom for check he has has won that World Cup the last three years in a row it’s his first race back on the mountain bike scene he has been training a niece with his team so uh yeah it’ll be cool to see his form it will yeah and of course get your suggestions in be nice be nice anything you think you can challenge us with in the studio here let us have it on Red Bull biker in the YouTube comments well listen what a brilliant way to spend an afternoon talking about all these World cut races thank you your Insight has been spectacular it’s been absolutely amazing Elliot what a what a what a way to kick off this world cup season I we really enjoyed ourselves yeah I love it I can’t wait to do this again and again again right absolutely well thanks very much thank you for joining us at home and we will see you next time on beyond the line that was our first show of beyond the line this season but there is a lot more coming up on Red Bull TV next weekend we have crank works from cans Australia where the best mountain biking action meets a Tropical Paradise on June 2nd we have the two wheel Super Sunday the Red Bull Hardline Red Bull zburg rodeo Oh my god oh robs just looped in oh my God B I’m in trouble join us for two of the most spectacular events of the year and if that wasn’t enough it’s ukaa bike Revolution from Engelberg Switzerland showcasing the best of Swiss mountain biking and of course we are back with beyond the line after the World Cup weekend in vales solle to discuss all the Hot Topics as the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season continues e e e