Toughest Races ON the PLANET | BEYOND THE LINE Episode 2

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.
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0:00 Hardline Wales Recap
7:00 Welcome Jackson Goldstone
10:00 Val di Sole Talk
13:45 Finn Iles Analysis
15:30 Vali Höll Analysis
17:30 Eliot’s Athlete Pick
18:40 Predictions Review
20:30 Starting own DH Team
26:40 Art of Peaking in Cross Country
30:00 Emily on Performance Planning
33:35 Pauline Ferrand-Prevot Analysis
37:45 Nino Schurter Analyisis
40:15 Can anyone stop Tom Pidcock?
42:40 XCO Predictions Review

[Applause] beyond the line is back with episode number two as the World Cup reaches its Midway Point come join us as we’ll serve you a rich plate of mountain bike action Rob and Elliott went to the pits to learn about the structure of a downhill team will they come up with one of their own I call on to that with the Olympics drawing closer how do CrossCountry athletes Peak at the right times peing is quite mental we did some research in the pits we will also dissect all the highlights from intensely competitive races in valis Leo gang noav and at reple [Applause] Hardline a big crash for gone due to injury two-time World Cup race winner Jackson Goldstone can compete we welcome him to our studio as he chats about his rehab and the World Cup he will join our host Rob Warner re’s downhill analyst OT Jackson and two-time cross country World Championship bronze medalist Emily Betty I’ll [Music] [Applause] be hello hello and welcome to another beyond the line we’re right in the middle of the bike season now the World Cup races are coming thick and fast we had two downhills and two cross country since sou first show so there’s plenty for the two e Emily and Elliot to get stuck into Emily a spectacular start for the World Cup for the cross country World Cup down in Brazil the Hulk circus has now moved up to Europe for these last two races and very different looking races right yeah I mean I quite like seeing the World Cup circuit go to different places around the world uh but certainly coming back to Europe and watching some of the top Superstars perform and win these races very impressive to see yeah making their return with some success we’re going to talk a lot more about cross country a little bit later in the show let’s start things off though with downhill and let’s start things off with the 10th anniversary of Red Bull Hardline Wales back in snowdonian National Park and Elliot I’m going to say that this one was by far the best Hardline we have ever had it was absolutely insane from the start to the finish it was insane we you and I got to talk to G Aon on the podcast and he was just he was just so Keen to make it narly again you know he succeeded terrifying 90 foot jumps really taking the the track back to that kind of raw Origins and uh I think he nailed it he did he absolutely did they wanted that’s right to make the bits in between the features as difficult as the features we know there’s some massive stuff that was tested this year that’s going to come in next year but yeah what an event and one of the big things I think think that I enjoyed it on a personal level so much was because I managed to get one for this 20y old lad from the medine in Colombia you know it’s difficult for these Riders to get up to the Northern Hemisphere costs feas he turned up he came he saw he conquered it was absolutely amazing people coming up to me after you know his second run of practice and going who’s this kid and why is he no handing the road Gap no one’s ever done I mean it’s partly your fault he’s there Elliott because for sure I me how good yeah that’s right we see him when we we commentate the Sarah bajo him Sebastian Olan cilo Sanchez I mean they are so precise and I think you know they’re Superstars down there as well so for them to kind of come up show that they can compete on the on the world stage at a race like Red Bull Hardline and not only that I mean you third place right like that’s not just competing he is he deserves to be there he does yeah look at that there it is an amazing ride actually beating the World Champ ion Charlie haton in the fourth to day he won’t forget Bernard Kerr was really chasing that fourth Red Bull hardl Wales win put everything into it but it was the Brilliance I’m going to say of Ron and dun that stopped him what a year he’s had double Red Bull Hardline winner now one in Tasmania small matter of winning a World Cup in between I don’t think I’ve ever seen him ride better than we did there you know got a Red Bull hat on Thursday what a week yeah this year has been like you said it’s been a dream year for Ronin so far we he was kind of known as this diamond the rough last year and for him to come out you know show us kind of what it means at Red Bull Tasmania the Hardline Tasmania now here at Red Bull Hardline Wales you know he drinks enough Red Bulls for him not that Red Bull helmet it is uh it’s awesome I don’t think we’ve ever seen Ronan ride better took the win by about 1.2 seconds from the three time red Bor Hardline winner burn who put it all out there and you you Sherlock homeboy are going to show us exactly where Bernard lost that time right yeah well I mean when you guys were talking about you and Tony on the um on the broadcast talking about Bernard overriding the track I want to to show exactly what that means so you have burn on the left running on the right and this is right out the gate this is right out of the gate right out of the gate and so this is what it means when mistakes Cascade you see Bernard’s Tire hit him in the butt and what happens after that he starts to break so you see Bernard’s tire locked up compared to Ronin is uh is rolling right there and as soon as you start to break on a downhill bike it makes the suspension uncompressed and burner’s just fighting to keep the bike back online isn’t able to get this jump that Ronin is right here yeah and because Bernard goes into this dip you see him come down his suspension right is going to bounce him back up yeah and because of that you know offline again he’s pointed off the track and in your mind you’re feeling super anxious right you know you’re at the top of the track Ronin right here perfect again knees are pointed straight ahead lands off that Gap back really nicely and then another mistake for Bernard right really offline there knees are pointed out because he’s trying to save a mistake fighting fighting the bike you know comes around and um and it’s just trying to get back up to speed but isn’t quite there you can kind of see the speed difference again burn it a little bit off and then Rob there’s your 1.2 1.2 wow and how easy is it though to overdo it at the top of a run like that the tiniest mistakes I guess in XO cross country at least you get little bit longer to recover I mean basically that was it it’s kind of done there and then when Ran’s riding like that you’re not going to pull that time yeah in XT we have little featured sections like that so when you’re offline it does take you quite a few seconds to kind of get retracted and and back into the flow of things so I get it yeah absolutely well you’re going to love this Emily because in 2022 it was another man who turned up set a new course record and was the youngest ever winner of Red Bull hardlock Jackson gostone becomes the youngest winner of Red Bull hard Live Gold Stone so creative and you know it’s like7 365 I get M7 to the [Applause] 365 and joining us now in the studio is the man himself Jackson Goldstone second second overall in last year’s Elite downhill World Cup the only man to win two races and I would say how are you but I know after that crash at Red Bull Hardline Tasmania this year that you’ve got undergone a full knee reconstruction right how you getting on yeah so I had full ACL rebuild um three months ago now so I’m about halfway through the process it’s getting a lot better but uh yeah still got a long long road ahead of me you have but great to see you in Europe riding a bike a little bit even though I think you’re probably not supposed to be is that right I’m not yeah on the bike a little bit just mostly SP spinning around but and I hate to take you back to it we’re going to watch this I haven’t seen it so I’m look how fast he’s going wow that was like a Moto GP flick at the end there man you were moving wow wow I was lucky to not hit that tree directly I bounced off it but it was a big one yeah man well yeah because what what happened just like just back in steep down a little bit and yeah so I came into that section uh no breaks probably should have breaked yeah yeah and uh yeah just missed my line by you know a few inches rear stepped out into a hole and then just that bucked me forward off the bike and to the left when the track went to the right so that’s that’s what made me uh go off track and into the tree and then the tree flipped me over more so it just never ended yeah so what are you up to now how’s the season looking yeah so I mean I’m in Europe just for I think it’s almost six weeks now yeah um yeah I’m about halfway through my trip and just yeah watching the World Cups hanging out seeing you guys seeing people okay watching watching the World Cups it’s so different than watching on TV what’s it like for you to be on the sidelines actually spending a whole day watching your competitors come down through practice and then the final runs what’s that like for you yeah it’s weird um you know I’m I’m so used to being on the inside of the tape and actually racing um it’s still really fun I I really enjoy watching but you know it definitely definitely is upsetting and I’d love to be in there I mean it’s been you’re such a you got so much phenomenal speed as you’ve shown the few times we’ve seen your Rec your first year you had the appendix issues last year still like we say one two and then this year the knee I mean it’s been it’s it couldn’t I don’t know how you managing to take it so well really you’ve stepped up into a elite all eyes are on you and it couldn’t really have been much hard of your start yeah I mean maybe the injury took a little bit of the pressure off but I think uh yeah I’m hoping to get these injuries out the way and have a clean season well you’ll be looking at come back when you come back next year I imagine now so it must have been yeah and it must have been incredible for you did you make to see Amry Peron to come back you know a year a full year over a year from the top to come back and win in valder solle in I think I don’t know if you agree with this it’s one of the greatest run of all time yeah for sure yeah it’s a historic run already and it’s only been a few days look at that broken neck last year at the first opening race and then massive surgery to put a staple in there in between those two vertebrae and a Year’s recovery p on you know he is a man who’s suffered big injuries in the past lots of them and he always comes back but even I this time I doubted from that injury whether he would come back to this to this level of racing and he he did it in three world four World Cups yeah for sure I mean and the thing that was probably the most impressive to me Jackson was to see him do it on that track you were on the sidelines like why why was the track so difficult this year I never heard so many top athletes be like this is the hardest practice race I’ve ever done in my life yeah for sure I mean the track was absolutely destroyed um you know the days prior to practice it was raining so much and uh there was a bunch of like Natural Springs coming out from the ground so tons of water was coming onto the track even when it wasn’t raining and when it was sunny so yeah the holes were huge the ruts were massive and uh yeah I think it’s definitely been the hardest fol we’ve seen yeah I mean we’ve seen you know you won last year we’ve seen Gwyn was it nearly eight seconds back in the past your win your wi you had an insane run last year too like was that was good one last where does pons because it was a massive winning margin compared to gwis I mean it was different conditions but like it was from where we were sat it looked about perfect he didn’t you know someone who usually pushes too hard that was absolutely the the absolute perfect effort yeah I don’t think he could have gotten much more time out of that track and especially to do it you know after some rain because it was raining at the top halfway through the men so right um you know some of the other Riders like Dakota and maybe Ronin as well it was raining a little bit but track was uh definitely not a emry wrote it like it was dry he did it was really unbelievable see as it was with ttin Seagrave right I mean coming back as well so many riders in down who do get hurt tan suffered a massive concussion we saw her racing last year but she didn’t really get back to the dizzy and Heights of World Cup wins and this this was the first one in a long time for her yeah I mean we talk about you know kind of the physical recovery of of injuries and I think with um with a head injury a lot of it’s mental and I think a lot of it is like building your your confidence back up I think so many people saw T heard T and were kind of wondering is she ever going to be the same Rider so yeah that’s right I mean what’s it like Emily in Cross Country cuz at downhill you’re sort of it’s hard to find the level I guess you might have more idea in XC when you come back of where at from your numbers I don’t know I mean our injuries are a lot less severe it’s usually collar bones or wrists or something like that but uh I think when you see your other competitors recovering from such serious injuries I don’t know it kind of gives you that vental edge of that you can do it uh totally different injuries though but the resilience is what you’re seeing amongst all the downhillers which belows my mind yeah that mental strength but although you when you get back on a bike we know you you won’t even be on your mind will it right you just you literally right now I guess all you can think about is going as fast as you can yeah I missed that feeling and I mean hopefully your the time between your wins won’t be as long as this I mean for tonnie over a th000 days and for for emry over 600 days so that’s absolutely two of the Great the sport you T yeah look at nearly three years yeah for Tan to come back and win again that’s pretty mad must be a good feeling seeing that you’re a going to be out for about 365 days you should be all right gives me a little bit of hope it yeah light at the end of the T you’re one fast young Canadian fin is absolutely another and he really has been riding brilliantly especially in Leah gang right what a ride that was for sure I mean we we know uh vatt was great for him third place but to me the Leo gang performance uh was just incredible because he he missed he missed qualifying he missed uh semi-finals because he crashed in practice couldn’t even close his hand he decided to take some time off uh try to let his hand recover but you don’t normally do that right Jackson you kind of need those those first couple of race runs to get up to speed yeah yeah I mean all the way from time practice quality semi you’re just building your speed up the whole track and you know pushing limits in sections and and finding that that edge so to to not do any of that and then come out and pull a second place is is phenomenal it’s crazy yeah I couldn’t actually really get me out around it what do you think do you think it’s frustrating for Finn to see bruny still beating him like he does because bruny is like a pretty immovable object in that specialized too it’s true yeah yeah well I’ve always thought about this because everyone always Compares Finn to lock and stuff like that but I’m and I’m sure you get that comparison a lot too I mean even last year with with Jordan at the beginning of the season at least do you think about one Rider or is it more just trying to beat everyone yeah I mean in the end of the day you’re trying to beat the clock you know the rider doesn’t have an effect on you obviously you want to you want to beat them and you want but it comes down to you in the end of the day so I think um you know it’s everyone’s always battling there always be talks but it’s uh yeah it’s the clock that tells the story it is yeah and I mean yeah just look at the overall standings are p on up to fifth overall with that win straight in there the overall is still not over is it for the men I mean br’s got a good lead but as you know anything can happen in downhill and Leah gang is the home race of world champion Valley Hall she lives just literally over the other side of the mountain it hasn’t always gotten a plan there for her but this year we’ve never seen her ride better I would say yeah if there was some sort of plan this is how you execute it I mean 7.1 seconds it’s one of the best runs that we’ve ever seen yeah Val have but to me it’s it’s fascinating this year it almost feels like she’s regressing back to her early days where you know you win in Fort William you crash in Poland you win commandingly here and crash again in about solely I mean is it a mental issue or well I I have a question as to whether she even needs to push her limit if she’s winning almost every time she gets a clean run I mean Jackson do you have do you think she has to push that quite so hard if she’s going to guarantee a win if she keeps a clean run yeah I mean maybe she doesn’t have to push that hard but you never know exactly how fast the other girls are going to go or you know if it’s going to be a tighter time than 7.1 seconds you never know like you said it’s the clock that’s the clock so yeah I think um I think every time B’s going out there she’s probably trying to put her best run down and and push that limit just so she can secure that win uh safely let’s say but um yeah I think uh I mean maybe she could tone it off a little bit but you know if it doesn’t work and she doesn’t end up winning a race then yeah she’s going to go right back to that yeah she was I mean look at the times she was absolutely in a in a league of her own great to see an in yuk coming in second place Miriam Nicole another woman on the comeback Trail as well look at the overall standings it is Valentina though with that commanding lead despite those two sort of throwaway results for her yeah I mean the the story of of these first couple of races for me is Mir mcole yeah for her to have all of the kind of struggles mentally coming back from that head injury last year not knowing if she could do it herself he saw the emotion just pouring out of her in Leo gang she got that amazing Podi incredible as is an American woman there in fifth place huh ellot not stop talking about her here he’s going to tell us all a little bit more my athlete pick is Anna newerk after battling Valley Hall throughout her Junior career it wasn’t until this year’s Leo gang that she finally secured her first Elite women’s Podium finishing second and qualifying semi-finals and finals earned her the title of fastest privateer in the world she started Beyond racing with her best friend ABI and she’s been able to compete with the top level with only a fraction of the resources it’s performances like these that demonstrate just how much determination grit and Talent Anna possesses and if she keeps riding like this it won’t be the last time you see her making waves on the World Cup field well for me Elliot it’s great to see I me I remember my era when you know the women’s side of the sport was dominated by Americans so perhaps this is the start of it coming back yeah I mean it’s great to see have seen an progress from Juniors and I just think it’s special that in R Sport and downhill that you can have a small team that can compete with teams you know 50 times their size that’s right that’s that’s the essence of it that’s why we love it yeah well you remember in first beyond the line this year we gave our predictions for these first two these last two excuse me World Cup races there they are on screen okay and look at the green six under the under my name we were talking about this Jackson I feel like my pick I got a little bit unlucky right I had good pick there only one winner there’s no such thing as bad luck everyone know any racer knows that you you won One race look at that bruny Valentina HO big green ticks which means I don’t have to do the challenge but you to you both fail your didn’t I’m sorry about this em but you’re going to have to do you’re going to have to get physical for me it’s going to be it’s going to be press UPS or it’s going to be squats who’s doing what many 25 30 25 25 25 all right and while they’re doing that let’s have a look at our predictions that we gave for Le the race coming up in a couple of weeks time now let’s see who we predicted I’ve gone for bruny Valentina Hall Emily has gone for bruny SE grave you’re wrong again it’s not me doing the Emily perfect love your form love your form Elliot could you just flatten your back a little bit please what would you do J who would you go for Elliot keep that bum down who would you go for I think all these are pretty safe picks um definitely someone’s going to get at least this right oh my goodness how was that work you only did you didn’t do 20 a quick for 20 were you counting yeah I was I’m I’m actually machine I don’t know what you re anyway I sweating that’s enough that’s enough Jackson I’m GNA say thank you very much for coming in I guess you enjoyed that as much as I did that was a lot of fun thank going to let you go mate good luck with the recovery good luck with the rest of the year than you perfect Jackson so good to have you and clearly Elliot doesn’t have the fitness for World Cup racing and nor do I to be quite honest when we were in Leah gang we decided that we needed to take a completely different [Music] approach so nice to be back at the World Cup R feel we got to SP more TI we have yeah we have I I was thinking about it the way we could do it is we could she just start our own downhill team oh would like an incredible team manager Rob Fe I should probably run the team no I’ve got a lot of exp I’m going to do it going to run the te I’m going to run right idea dad you got a minute I need some advice good what’s going to get me the most points what’s going to make me make me a have a successful team i’ say a bit of everything good good yeah very good what are the three key elements to a team around specialized gravity’s caliber key elements first is uh working with the right people good physio we have cooked the main thing that I look for is personality and then you put uh on top of that good management and the good path and then you find the the recipe man woman man and woman that’s it for Riders well no because what if one gets injured have you got backup riders that can come in at a last minute so you should you this is the question have you m have I I need my first Rider you don’t have the the pocket de enough I mean you can try it no you’re confident I’m just going to get straight down to business I’m I’m starting a team how much we’re going to have to talk about some team structure here I mean what you well it’s a little bit high maintenance Val what do you think about riding for me all I think I think I have a phone call I don’t have email yet no I get one things just got serious eight Riders all of a sudden exactly you need a mom I need is that one of the big things need needs a mom a mum roll I think this is a deal yeah I had pleasure doing business with you yeah love it look at Elliot signing up the Riders there incredible stuff but it was you know we were thrown in at the deep end it was as we went on I don’t know about you but I found that I had no idea what I was doing basically and and just the structure was insane the amount of stuff I mean you actually ran your own team Emily you’ve done it for real what does it take not just to make a team but to make a successful one yeah I mean I did the factory team for almost 10 years and I really wanted to tap into the more business side of running a team and that’s really what it is you’re running a business uh but first and foremost the first thing I learned is the personalities are the most important because you were spending a lot of time together sure I took care of that I just went for out and out winners yeah and do need to jail you absolutely do because in XC at least it’s you’re not working in silos it is a cohesive uh engaged team and if you’ve got one negative energy it’s going to bring the whole room down so it’s really important those characteristics yeah yeah I mean it’s it is interesting because you’re always out there by yourself but you’re interacting with everyone you’re you’re sharing things you’re you’re working to build everyone up at the same time that’s right it’s always way more workload than you think you need way more staff and way more boots on the ground than you think you do well actually I did find out let’s have a look at my team structure I think I probably should have gone a little bit bigger these are the staff that I kind of went with why you laughing why are you laughing why what’s so funny about that Emily’s like you don’t want a silo in the next minute mechanic Physio and coach for each R each Rider how can that be bad that each Rider has got a dedicated coach a dedicated Physio and mechanic someone you guys are every need huh where is your marketing team like how are your sponsors going to be happy with when you’re as good as my team’s going to be the results will do the talk and I don’t need I don’t need media when you win World Cups week in week out everybody knows who you are the photos to document all the stories there’s photographers everywhere at w yeah they all work for teams let me show you how it’s done Ro let me show you it’s done throw throw my team up there so we can see we can see winning team I like I like the look of mine well because when I was thinking about building my team you know I thought about I I want some you know I want these Elite Riders look at the big line down in the middle well yeah look bypassing the Riders done it everyone’s connected everyone’s connected and then they have this perfect infrastructure layer down media so people know that we’re winning championships no stress we’ve got cook we’ve got truck driver we’ve got a team manager who can actually do things for the Riders think maybe what happen went up to you on this one I think you need to think this through again is this because I raced on a professional team in the ’90s when there wasn’t things like social media and you a little bit more in tune with the modern era I mean I don’t know but yeah you might be right I should have done some social media costings though okay I mean up that looks that looks like it’s going to cost a lot of money we have a look at what my team let’s have a look at the cost is okay you have what 22 people on yours well I don’t know how you’re I don’t know how I don’t know how you’re I was holding my breath there okay do you what are you going to do with your you going to have a truck yeah a massive one are are you purchasing it or are you releasing it all right stick another million on for the truck 2 I got a 2.54 million did you factor in travel cost I thought it was just team structure don’t think I had to put all that for the C hang on a second here you have €3 million well this is this where did you come up with that budget this is first year I think that we uh with with those kind of people we’re going to go for some outside yeah you know I think uh we got some good decks floating around you know what are our budgets anywhere near there Emily you I don’t know downhill I know XC and I would love a budget like this so 3 million is completely out of reach yes absolutely right let’s we’re going to leave down Elliot that’s enough on down today and we’re going to turn our attention now thank you to cross country and to the art of being at your very best on the big day one thing’s for sure we’re all peeking for this peing I think is having all your energy all your confidence and all your power on a certain day in the year and kind of exploding into action we always try to plan but a plan is just a guideline sometimes to have a overview for the season which kind of races you you want to Peak I’d set goals of where I wanted to be at every World Cup and where I was in Brazil was exactly where I wanted to be I think for each athlete it’s different but you have the offseason where you create the base for the season I call it balance so for me peaking is quite mental you’re building up to a goal all the time and key points for peaking I me are a lot of people over train you still need adequate rest um you need the right interval work the specific demands of the for and you need uh Good Vibes if you don’t do that many races you need to perform well in the ones you do if not you drop back and this is always yeah a bit of a gamble but yeah in the past it worked out quite well for me performing over the season it’s it’s the hardest I think a lot of races where you can perform and show your shape as well try to stay fresh because it’s a long season and you know but the this it’s so strange it’s like for everyone it feels like they’re like oh well today didn’t work but the Olympics are coming and I’m like oh man you putting so much pressure on this one race when something like this gets thrown in you have to just like almost like whip up the plan and like like we make a new plan sort of things it’s like you can’t just start uh preparing for Olympic Games a year before it’s like it starts 10 years before because it’s not that you’re building your shape in just 200 days you know it’s a it’s a long process to get there um it’s such a special race and in the sense of I think it’s really hard to predict you know it could be I think it’s a really open race we have seen it in the past that the ones who were the strongest physically were not the strongest mentally and they just collapsed at the Olympics some Riders are really really fast and uh and put all the energy in but forget sometimes the mental strange and then at the Olympics they they dropping down but I think you just have to be smart you can’t win every race in an olympic year or in any year yeah the mental game is in the end is is a big part to me mental preparation is everything um you can have good legs but you need to be super sharp in the head and the legs and again to me that means that you need to have in terms of peing you need to have spent the right time away from the sport in the sport with family on your own and you need the right reason in your head to kind of put yourself in the hurt box on on Race well now I’m starting to see why Rider’s forms are all over the place there is it’s everything everything around that Rider needs to be right for someone to P is that is that how it is yeah I really liked that the Riders are focusing on what they need to be focusing on and that’s controlling their mental aspect of it um but I do think the physical side of things is quite interesting and I would love to show you a quick graphic of a high level so that everyone at home can kind of understand what we’re looking at here so this graph is a simulation of a full year full 365 days we’ve got our winter months here our spring races ideally our Peak Performance here at world championships for a normal year and then our D loading season that we recover and then we start fresh um so we in in the winter months we’re lots of volume we’re building that big foundation That Base hours and hours on the bike yeah we’re talking over the course of the Year 800 to 1,000 hours so this is big volume cuz once we get into some traveling we need to scale back that stress loads because now we have all these new stimulations of traveling and and the races themselves so we increase our int our intensity here um to simulate race to sharpen the sword sort of thing so now we’re just changing the energy systems we’re still loading the body with stress but we’re reversing it to be a more race specific stress load so a normal year we would our form would start here and we would Peak you know July August at World Championship normal year we’d normally but this year is not a normal year because there’s an even bigger race at the end of July exactly but not for all athletes a lot of athletes like we know Pauline gets the reassurance of knowing she’s going to the game so she doesn’t have to have that added stress so what is that look like this year are you trying to Peak twice or yeah the stress you’re talking about is there’s another Peak they need first just to qualify to even make sure they’re going to be in Paris right exactly so we have you know Swiss the French the Americans which is why we saw such weird results in the early two World Cups yep because they’ve had to cram all of this so that they’re peeking here but then they need to detrain the stress reintroduce more volume so that they can then have another Peak here and then finish the season at the end of the year a much harder ask then right yeah very hard to get it right the second time you’re kind of just managing what energy you have left so ping has a massive Advantage it looks like to me is that fair to say let’s have a look at this what’s this one yes so this is a more uh zoomed in version this is a month’s worth of training we want to simulate this as many times as we can uh so we’re loading the the body with stress you know maybe this is an 18 hour a 24hour a 30 hour then you do it again you take some rest you do it again it’s 25 303 rest and for sure uh rob you were talking about you were telling me that Paulie had this mask well that picture of Paulie now is from the okk bike Revolution a smaller race she did what a month ago so two and a half months or so out from the Olympics and afterwards that was her post race interview after she’d won I was with anaka langvad and we were like Pauline is serious she doesn’t want to get a cold like now and I was like yeah that’s crazy we’re like 3 months nearly away from the Olympics she can afford a week off with a cold but this disproves that right this is why she can’t exactly these these are the most important times because you’re trying to manage your stress and getting sick will compromise the whole structure so you might have a month could go a whole month can be compromised so if you met Pauline here and she was trying to avoid being sick it’s so that she can’t or sorry uh so that she can still proceed with the next 60 hours of training that she’s about to building up she would much rather be sick on week week three once she’s got all of her Fitness then week one before she gains all I mean ideally you’re not getting stick cuz it’s controllable thing but it does happen so we’re trying to manage that as best as we can it’s a controllable thing the science in these you know the writers that it’s actually unbelievable and someone like Pauline that just does it time and time again it’s it’s the discipline everything about it is Bonkers isn’t it but if you can master that art then maybe you can enjoy that sort of success yeah absolutely I mean her alone just not doing those Brazil traveling races she was doing big volume where the other athletes are cutting the volume Doing Hard races now they’re in New time zones different climates it’s a lot of different stress that some of these athletes are doing that others don’t have to well no doubt then that Pauline can perform under demand she’s proved it so many times especially actually at the last two World Cups she just turned up and won no wonder then she’s Emily’s athlete pick of the week paen Fen proo is certainly known for her ability to consistently perform at the top winning over 12 Elite world championship titles but it’s her composure when she decides to take control of the race that sets her apart from the other athletes and impresses me the most winning a World Cup effortlessly while in the depth of training once again showcases her ability and skills and has us all eagerly waiting to see if she can check the one box she has yet to do in her career next month that performance was so elegant to watch she looks like a dancer a ballerina if you will on her bike doesn’t she it was Flawless to watch her perform when Pauline is on form like that she is an absolute Maestro isn’t she like there’s nothing going to stand in our way you know to come in and win backto back World Cups like that with relative ease and all those well talks we spoke about and all those different disciplines Cy across the road you know everything is she it’s a big statement but surely she is the greatest female cist has ever been right I mean it is a strong statement but I think she’s definitely earning that that title and just needs a go medal yeah she she certainly wanted to test her skills and where she’s at physically uh this time of year because she didn’t make the trip down to Brazil so she definitely flexed her her Fitness and you could see that it was almost coming easy watching Val when we were when we were looking at it I mean didn’t even feel like she was breathing hard and it did it just felt like another day in the office when she came off it wasn’t like she was over the moon or anything she’s like this is right on plan absolutely I mean she knows these tracks so she probably didn’t have to put too many days into it in advance she was able to train through this race but watching her in the early parts of the race and judging how it almost looked like she was trying to learn you know how PUK was uh racing amongst her but then did like realized she didn’t need to stick around there wasn’t much to learn and so she just kind of she was ready to go she just we can see the winning margin there on the wall 102 it was a little bit more back in 2022 I think Pauline she definitely backed it off at the end of that race that could have been a much bigger win in margin don’t you think if she was under pressure but there’s no body that can challenge her right now and I remember I mean I remember in 2022 in Lana was that was that year that she was just demolishing competition and and for Pauline to to kind of put that much time into people with relative ease like you were saying man July is going to be tough for everyone else Paul’s a writer that if she can get out front like Nino if they can get out front and race their own race they’re going to Prevail uh it’s just having that clean start and then staying focused mentally but uh yeah mechanical um preservation making sure they don’t have Mechanicals but their Fitness is there their mindset is there they prove it time after time so yeah see if the Paris track suits her is I I personally I really hope that she gets it in Paris it’s Pauline faran provos last year on a mountain bike she deserves it let’s have a look at the overall World Cup standings of course not fair in there as she might after missing those two races actually down in Brazil as did PUK petet as well but look at candy Lil there in six I know she impressed you last week yeah she’s having an outstanding season she we thought she’s placed six in cze Republic and then a strong third here so first Podium for for Candace which is great to see for the South Africans and of course it wasn’t the first Podium for the man that did the win in inval solle for Nino sherter taking his 36th well he just breaks his own he doesn’t even have anyone to compete against at this point that’s how it is he’s 38 years old Emily should he still be doing this heck yeah he’s winning World Cups why not yeah it was it was actually great to see him back there of course uh Victor kety was just recovering from an illness so he wasn’t at the front and Tom Hickock wasn’t there but I think youo needed this win he needed this for his confidence his ninth win in V Sol to put it into some perspective you know but he’s been there you know illness those first two races he you know we saw him in that documentary that’s come out about and he looked rough down there he said the legs were there he proved it in val the he is there he is a contender for Paris absolutely I think Alan hatherly here placing second definitely kept him honest he was you know 15 seconds kind of the whole race that that was what I was going to ask you is it looked like there was a like halfway through the race like you know one of the groups bridged up and then same with kind of hatherly and then Nino just opened it up again yeah we saw that actually an image where he looked over his shoulder while Allan was in the feed Zone and past the feed Zone you do see him like yeah so it was an ethical thing cuz he was P the feed but you saw him that was it he was laying the hammer down and making that Gap happen and he made it stick but Allan kept him like I said he kept him honest because he didn’t let that Gap grow he kept him at 15 seconds yeah but it was Nino that did make it stick here’s what he managed to say after the race yeah I knew I’m in in great shape I had a great feeling already in short track and coming into this weekend I could feel I’m I’m uh yeah in a good State and uh then I knew I need to do a hard race from the beginning it’s a track where you like dra and you doesn’t help really a lot so you you can just go go for yourself and uh yeah my strategy was from the beginning uh go flat out and uh put the other on the pressures and uh yeah was went quite well uh and uh yeah super happy to win here again yeah well I don’t know about you but I just love I love watching Nino win I love watching him ride at the front doing his own thing like there is no one like him H well that’s not true actually is it because at the race before that the World Cup before that nov amesto there is a certain hurdle that everyone that stands between everyone and winning another mountain bike race again ever Tom Pitcock taking his fourth win in nov amesto namari the defending Olympic champion he only turned up there because he needed that to get to Paris I mean what’ you make of that can anyone stop Pitcock I mean he’s raced nine Mountain Bike World Cups now and he has won six of them really wild yeah that’s wild he’s a superstar he’s a superstar in every discipline he dabbles in and he’s certainly Nino’s biggest rival when it comes to winning championship titles now he really is and I mean you know like the mountain bikers are always on their mountain bikes getting ready for Paris he jumped on a mountain bike just a week before this performance in noo he does he barely gets on the mountain bike and we all know that it’s very difficult only a handful of riders can switch seamlessly seamlessly between the road and and you know and the off-road bike but he does it just just to remind you guys too he is racing the tour what is it 8 days before it finishes the tour to France that’s right three weeks of the most terrific riding you could ever think of right it’s about 200 miles a day isn’t it he’s then got to try and get he’s going to pick the Olympics and then have to try and relax for eight days and be good at the Olympic Games on a completely different bike it’s impossible right isn’t it well I mean what’s impossible he’s going to Define it if anyone is going to if there’s anyone that can do it it’s got to be him how can anyone of any anything left in their legs after 3 weeks of riding up and down the French Alps okay let’s have a look at the overall World Cup standings then for this year’s men’s cross country Elite category and it is a Frenchman at the top a man with his eye set firmly on that massive priz in Paris as well Victor kety Look at Sher though right there in the overall mad to see bevin’s dropping back a little bit but you know those are the Peaks we’re talking about those American Riders they’re now kind of trying to recover before they work again for that second Peck the the Paris pick as I’d call it is that right yeah absolutely it’s quite interesting to see how many Swiss are back in that top position and check you know we had uh four in the top eight uh or five in the top 12 it was so surreal yeah and I mean Fluker as well I mean he’s hopefully he can kind of come back into form because like Brazil was not did not go his way at all no yeah he was selected I think they’re really hoping that he’s able to then put all that energy into peeking right at the at that uh right moment but as of right now he is off his game but he’s to be expected come yeah be back a little bit at this point well now it’s time to find out which one of us was on our game and we gave our predictions at the last show for the last two World Cup cross country races and look at that two green Ticks by my name two there by Emily B congratulations Emily and oh dear Elliot just the one this is the same going to leave man no no no this same thing happened to me last time cuz Yolanda you know she’s had some breathing problems I actually didn’t know that Pauline was going to be in Nova Mesto you need to do your research I think stop talking you need to save your breath there because what what is it for him now we’re going to give him what you want five push-ups 25 push-ups 25 that’s 50 you’ve done today that’s good effort right and while we do it let’s have a look at our predictions for the next couple of World Cup cross country races look at that I’ve gone for Pitcock H Peter shade next weekend in CR Montana matest fluer I’m pretty happy I’m banking on matest fluer really being back on form in l you’ve gone for pitcock I mean everyone’s sort of gone for Pitcock except for oh this man here doing the P how many is that ellot how many’s that okay this is another one where I would have chosen Pitcock well I didn’t know that he was going to be there how am I supposed to know how do you guys get this information that’s why you’re the downhill expert no that’s why you’re the downhill there’s a secret group chat I know between XC athletes who’s going to be at what race and you guys are list and while Elliot’s peeking I am going to wrap things up Elliot’s going to leave here looking like Arnold Swatch Emily you’ve been a great afternoon though amazing for the Insight on on the the actually the peaks of training I mean really interesting stuff thank you lots of exciting stuff to come OT you’re feeling fitter than you’ve ever ever been uh one day I will be as fit as you at your age I guess you know what I mean oh what why to end well thank you so much thank you for joining us at home we’ll see you next time on beyond the [Music] line that’s it for episode number two of beyond the line but there is so much more to come right here on red ball TV on June 30th we will head to divorce Switzerland for the Uka bike Revolution how will the Swiss cross country Elite fair in one of the last tuneups for Paris also stay tuned for the premiere of anytime coming your way this fall right here on rall TV beyond the line will be back with episode number three on July 8th right after a cross country and downhill doubleheader event in otava Lei France I’m coming to my home