Video: Absolute Insanity in France | Story of the Race with Ben Cathro

Sep 10, 2023
by Pinkbike Originals  

Les Gets always delivers, and Ben is here to talk us through the action.

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Racing and Events Inside The Tape DH Racing World Cup DH Pinkbike Racing Ben Cathro Les Gets World Cup Dh 2023


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89 Comments
  • 82 2
 Drone shots: cool on open jump sections, a little too disorienting zipping through the woods.
  • 19 4
 Once they figure out a way to keep the camera horizontal while the drone sweeps through corners, it will be much better. This tech already exists; maybe it need to be miniaturized to be able to go on the drone? Anway, I am sure it will get there eventually - and everybody can find something else to complain about.
  • 7 4
 In the open, a drone can convey a sense of the rider's speed in a way that a stationary zoom shot cannot. A good pilot can plan a flight path that provides multiple angles that would be difficult to get even with several stationary cams & a heli. The footage in the woods this year has been more like seasickness than cinematography. Eff "it will get there eventually:" WC producers need to do something *right now* to stabilize the camera in tight quarters (new drones w/ separate camera operators & pilots?) or simply declare the woods a no-fly zone and put in work over practice, qualis, etc. 'till pilots have flight path & angles 100% dialed.
  • 19 3
 @powturn: With a greater number of riders in finals they show less of each run, and people complain (as they have done for years) about missing key section X or make-or-break section Y. Now, they show much more (with room for improvement) and people want to see less! These drone cams will get better; perhaps for the races in N Am, maybe next year. I hope and expect it will be worth the wait (and reserve my complaining to other, more important causes in the grand scheme of things).
  • 15 4
 When the choice is between drone footage or no footage, obviously I choose the latter
  • 8 1
 @mi-bike: Quality over quantity.
  • 7 1
 @commental
@IllesT
It's not a decision between these options. Improvement doesn't come on its own, let them work on it.
  • 3 1
 @mi-bike: You must be new here. Pickers love to complain about new anything
  • 6 0
 @kerberos: Exactly. Even with current expanded coverage for finals, we're not seeing full race runs, so there is still room to move drones to other, more open parts of the track, if that is what is required to get stable images where rider & bike remain in the frame. Re: "complaining": Ben Cathro, who is arguably the most joyful, positive, *and* analytical ambassador for the sport, has invited fans to weigh w/ feedback on drones. There's a difference between constructive criticism, and knee-jerk, unqualified negativity. I, for one, am voting w/ my dollars to subscribe to GCN+ to give the new format & broadcasters of DH a chance. Optimistically, I hope there is someone on their production team who keeps an eye on Pinkbike to see how their coverage resonates with core viewers. Short term improvements to GCN+ commentary & drone visuals would definitely make me more inclined to keep my subscription active long-term.
  • 5 0
 @mi-bike: for sure!

The drones already deliver a perspective that can’t be replicated using other cameras. The usage so far this year has been superb - even is picture quality is lower.

The Val Di Sole drone zone was unreal. I’ve watched a lot of WC races on Red Bull TV at that team, and I was astounded by the new perspective.
  • 6 0
 @IllestT: wait you’re choosing no footage? In this sentence “drone footage” is the former and “no footage” is the latter, right?

If you spoke correctly why would you pick no footage? I must be in the minority but I like the short clips of drone footage. They need to sort out the stability in the trees but it really gives a good perspective of how they’re hauling ass down those trails.
  • 2 0
 I actually liked the disorienting part. It replicates a bit to me how absolutely out of control and scared shitless I would feel when going through the trees at that speed.
  • 48 0
 Awesome stuff but throw a shout out to Greg Minaar! Maybe nothing too crazy to show… but that’s the story… dude staying right up there with an insane crop of young guns half his age. Pure legend.
  • 19 0
 Yeah amazing performance. He sounded like he's considering retiring in the Wyn interview. Still wanna see him pull out a win
  • 4 0
 @Dogl0rd: I thought the same thing. I think it's probably the first time I've ever heard Greg sounding like was considering retirement
  • 3 0
 @northernwig: I'm pretty sure he was already talking about it last year, more than once, stating the 2023 season would be his last.
  • 1 0
 @northernwig: I mean it makes sense. He probably wants to retire while he can still compete at the front and he is now freshly married. A good point to retire
  • 31 1
 No seen any reporting on PB about the shit UCI organisation. Saw on Polefactoryracing’s IG that Onni Rainios mechanic was not allowed up on the lift to the start, but that spectators were.
Turned out Onni’s elbow pads were with the mech, so he wasn’t allowed his semi run by the UCI commisar.
Pole protested but UCI upheld their decision.
What utter shite!

You wouldn’t stop a tyre change mech from entering the pitlane in F1, just so spectators could bimble around there!

Sort yourselves out UCI!
  • 6 0
 Yeah it was a shame especially since a) it was his best qualifying result so far and b) apparently he's not going to the final two North American races, so it would've been his last shot to get into the semis this season.
  • 3 33
flag chrismac70 FL (Sep 11, 2023 at 5:34) (Below Threshold)
 @donimo: Then follow the rules. If he isn’t regularly making the semis or doing the whole tour then he clearly isn’t professional. Imagine what it would be like if pinkers had thier way and there was racing on 4 different continents. I bet they would then complain about it being too expensive to race
  • 7 0
 @chrismac70: What the hell has this got to do with following the rules? Both the rider and mechanic left the pits well in time, got through one lift together, but the mechanic wasn't allowed on the next despite wearing a team vest with all the credentials. Instead he was made to wait so that some spectators could take the lifts instead. The rider got there on time, so quite likely the mechanic who traveled with him would've also made it had ne not been stopped by officials for no reason.
  • 6 0
 @chrismac70: I can't tell if you're stupid or just going out of your way to belittle any comment supporting privateers because you think you have figured out how DH works despite clearly having no idea. The message above shows he would have followed the rules if his mechanic was with him at the top (which is the norm).

It is very common for riders who aren't in the position to race every round to cherry pick ones that they can afford or fit in around other commitments.

There is no other professional pathway in the sport, so riders with the ambition (and points and potential) to race World Cups need to take their shot when the opportunity arises.
  • 30 1
 Ben this is a hard community to talk to about safety, but thank you for highlighting the crush risk. We can die riding our bikes, that's fine, but crowd crush is a dumb way to die. I like the drone shots, even in the trees. I wish Gwin was in the booth every race. Need expert commentary on the women's side too.
  • 16 1
 Agreed on Gwin in the booth. Last weeks commentary was the first and only one this season I actually enjoyed. This week it was just too much Cedric once again. Seriously the only thing he brings to the table is that he’s able to pronounce French rider names correctly
  • 1 1
 @stefkrger: Josh Carlson worked well with Cedric I thought, they were a better match when Josh stood in on Friday for juniors. But yes Gwin was really good.
  • 3 0
 There was. It was Pompom and Charlie Hatton this weekend for their respective races
  • 3 1
 @chrismac70: Hatton just didn’t really say anything. Gwin was much more interesting and Hatton only talked when it was Kolb’s turn
  • 16 3
 I like the drone shots. Wide angle/high altitude shots are a no brainier. The criticisms are valid. It will get better as tech and experience improves (broadcasting realtime 4k from a gimbaled full frame sensor camera on an fpv drone agile enough to get the footage isn't happening this year people. If you want it to look like the stationary cams doing this, first consider how huge those setups are). But it's a different perspective to the coverage that hasn't otherwise changed in a long time. As long as they don't do it in spots where a stationary would get a great angle, I think it should stay and continue to be refined. Stationary shots in lame sections are friggin terrible.
  • 3 0
 Maybe they can use a software horizontal stabilizer like on the action cams, or a kind of 360° (or lower) action cam and do a software side "auto follow object" in real time. Like the insta 360 software can do (not realtime).

But say what you want, the drone pilot was nice!
  • 2 0
 Generally, what's the fuzz about "realtime" broadcast? It's not realtime anyway when I last checked live timing while watching. I'd rather have 30min or whatever delay to the actual event, but see a refined, well orchestrated broadcast without drones missing the shots or seeing 30s of landscape mid-run.
  • 4 0
 @Highclimber: "realtime" in the sense that the hardware has to broadcast it to the booth instead of someone landing the drone and pulling out the SD card and take it to the booth so they can pull it up and open the file to watch it.
  • 14 2
 Both Luke Williamson and Dak Norton had a small knick of the riser pad and had catastrophic crashes. With a normal track pole they would have been fine or at least just had a low side slide
  • 5 4
 Agreed. The arrows are dangerous - semis are a waste of energy - who cares about drones, those marshmallows have got to go!
  • 5 14
flag chrismac70 FL (Sep 11, 2023 at 5:35) (Below Threshold)
 How about they just don’t hit them. Imagine the mess with tape getting tangled up instead of just clipping a pole. The skiing world have learnt how you can hit the poles safely. I’m sure professional riders can too
  • 3 0
 Dak was well gone before touching the pad, it was a front wheel issue
  • 12 1
 if drone shots stayed vertical i think be a lot better, gets a bit dizzying swaying from side to side, but i do like it, gives a bit of the racers point of view, gets you in the action of the trail
  • 14 3
 Potato drone is awful. So is the 1,000 ft view drone.
  • 10 0
 Tuck-pedal. This is now mandatory for all top riders.
  • 9 1
 Thank you for this Pinkbike and Ben for some reason I have not been watching the DH this year. Stoked for Ben finally winning one. I agree with Ben, the drone shots can go.
  • 6 0
 Drone tastes vary from ambivalent on open fast sections to dislike anywhere technical. If they want to provide that in-the-race shot, what about helmet cams broadcasting?

I mean, if I was going to do something like that I'd come up with a cool name..

something like...

Joe Pro? Hey, Yooooo? Anyone?

Let's Go?!
  • 1 0
 But drones are the future, man, like Bitcoin, AI, and eebs
  • 2 0
 @Dogl0rd: I probably should have added that I find drones to be so operator-specific. Whoever was flying for the Urban DH earlier this year did about a fantastic job, whereas the examples from the past few rounds of DH have been nausea-inducing.

New approaches take time to shake out the issues and develop sound practices, and I suspect that this will be no different.
  • 3 0
 I was being a little ironic in that it seems like every new business needs to show that they are in the cutting edge of tech by touting AI or drones or something. I think drones could be good, but yeah it's the result that matters, not how you get the result. They are forcing the 'how' a little too much
  • 6 0
 I watched with my young boys, and they kept asking why are they focussing the camera every time on the whoop and Oakley signs? Why would anyone want to look at those they asked?????????? Yeah no one does...
  • 4 0
 Well, they pay for it.
  • 3 2
 @yoobee: no sh1t, doesnt need to be rammed down people throats though. The subtle visual of seeing the logos trackside is enough in my book and probably more effective than being annoyed by the blatantly obvious pandering to corporate sponsorship. It actually makes me feel negative towards those brands because it’s just straight up annoying. I haven’t actually noticed if this was a thing in previous races? Did they just start this?
  • 1 0
 Lol yeah I noticed that too, I understand the necessity for advertising but seriously, we saw more of the whoop and oakly sign than riders racing... And fwiw, i still havent googled whoop to see what its about...
  • 3 1
 @houli77: if you think that strongly about it you must have hated it when RedBull ran the show!
  • 2 0
 Oakley? its not the year 2000
  • 1 1
 @houli77: I'm annoyed by this as well and try to avoid buying stuff from these companies. It was more subtle at Red Bull times and started to become more obvious with Mercedes the latter years. Do you remember a logo here and a Mercedes X-Class there around the track? Wink
  • 3 1
 @Maxcommencemal: I don’t remember redbull zooming in on redbull logos or promo for uncomfortably long shots during every race run? Pretty sure they didn’t.. Anywsy enough of the rant, that was an epic race and so glad for Benoit he totally earned that win!
  • 4 2
 @yoobee: there was nothing subtle about RB advertising when it was the broadcaster. If you didn’t have one of their hats you never got interviewed
  • 1 0
 I think that was just poor production rather than deliberate advertising.
  • 12 5
 drone segments look like they are shot with a potato
  • 4 5
 That was last year
  • 3 1
 At least when watching GCN+ through Chromecast the image quality drops in general compared to what it looks like on the computer screen, indeed the drone segments turn to mush. Yes, Red Bull also had occasional technical issues, but GCN+ by default having poor quality with Chromecast (audio lagging besides the video quality) has been a real bummer.
  • 2 3
 @donimo: just use the app directly on the tv. Works perfectly
  • 3 1
 @chrismac70: You want to chip in the money to get me a new TV? Awesome!
  • 6 0
 Dakota or maybe Luca winning at Snowshoe would be cool to keep the home soil winner theme going.....
  • 3 0
 Where‘s the reason for Apexmarkers anyway? The riders know where the apex of turns are by learning the track plus they‘re ugly and causing risk.
As long as they are not used for advertising to bring more pricemoney they had to go.
  • 4 0
 what a race loved it, Drone is great, and carnage at end is what DH needs. i from UK and just done 2 french DH races and they are the best love the rawness to them crash and just get you of track to keep things going love it
  • 3 0
 Kill the drones pleeeeeease! They are super annoying. This time they were at least keeping a better focus on the rider, but the quality is just so inconsistent und you can‘t actually see how the rider is riding. And then there‘s the satellite shots where you see absolutely nothing other than an ant running down a hill. Nonsense!
  • 2 1
 Drone needs a better drone with separate camera operator and separate camera. or it needs to stay out of the trees and do far away shots that they will use far too often. If they kill the drone, they won't be able to say they have more cameras.
  • 2 1
 My two cents:

The video coverage has been more complete this year than at any point in the history of televised DH world cups. Drone footage, while not perfect yet, will improve with technology and as they figure out how to use it. It adds a very different perspective, breaks up the constancy of panning shots in the woods, and adds context to the speeds these guys carry in the gnar and in the fast open sections. The drone shots also seem to allow them to change what angles are shown for different riders, so it adds variety to full race runs throughout the race. It has already improved throughout the year and will continue to improve.

As for the commentators, it’s a bust compared to Rob and Claudio or Nigel, but bringing in guest commentators in the last two rounds has added a lot. If they are bringing in folks like Gwin and Wilson, it will make up a bit for the lackluster performance of Garcia. Realistically, he will probably be gone next year anyway. They are improving here too, so I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.

As for the format with qualis/semis/finals, I say let the riders and teams figure that one out with the UCI. I am only going to watch the finals and am happy to pay GCN for the ability to do so. (Then I’ll watch the free SleeperCo edits a bunch of times). As long as the coverage continues to improve, I will happily pay. I think that there will always be growing pains as the sport grows and corporatizes, but in the end my hope is that the riders will get paid more and the sport will get better global exposure. I think that the PBers who comment here are core fans and have a lot of insight into the history of the sport, but for more riders to make a career out of this the producers and governing bodies are right to try to appeal to a broader market.
  • 4 0
 Dang course pads are quite awkward...
  • 6 4
 Please add a female expert commentator to the women’s races.

We all heard how good Gwin was in the men’s last week. The Women’s race needs the same.
  • 16 0
 Will Miriam Nicole do?
  • 5 2
 How much more expert do you want? Pompom was on the mic for the finals and semis
  • 5 2
 Loved the drone footage. It shows how fast and wild it all is especially when the drone is struggling to keep up
  • 1 0
 The drone shots worked really well in the XC races. Very smooth for the most part following riders through techy climbs that would otherwise take multiple cameras to capture. DH was messy.
  • 10 8
 The coverage should not be an event, the riding should. GET RID OF THE DRONES.
  • 3 1
 yes! they just use the drone to try to get more footage and they dont care about the quality of the footage. it is so hard to watch
  • 7 6
 Bring back the consistent camera shots. Floundering around from camera to riders here and there. Ffs why? Red Bull did a way better job.
  • 6 3
 Stable camera shots please. Make footage great again. Vote no to drones.
  • 2 0
 Thanks Ben and PB, this is the most I see of the race. Yep, drones following close to the riders sucks.
  • 1 0
 Drone footage is cool, but it's better when it's not weaving around in the woods. I had to turn away so as not to get sick, especially at the footage from Andorra.
  • 3 2
 No to drone, especially live drone footage. I've never seen good drone footage to be honest, it's just people trying to be fancy.
  • 2 0
 I was grinning when the crowd rushed in. But man, that could quickly go bad.
What happened to Benoit's bike by the way?
  • 3 1
 The drone shots were consistently fuzzy during this race and detracted from the racing. Get rid of them!
  • 2 0
 I really enjoyed Gwyn in the booth. I can't help but wonder how Cedric would sound if he were speaking his first language.
  • 1 0
 Watch last years reply when he did the french commentary for RB
  • 2 1
 hope to see you at mont ste anne. you know it will be finn iles and jackson goldstone on the top of the podium
  • 3 0
 Or race is called due to snow...
  • 9 8
 The drone footage needs to go. It just isn't good and seems almost awkward at times.
  • 1 1
 calling and showing Mille's and Marine's stump drop is fine.. but you missed to mention that Valentina Roa did it on her final run... full commitment.
  • 4 2
 Dildo chainsaw, that's my main takeaway from this
  • 1 0
 I love those Manitou Dorados, I don't know what it is but they just look so nice (nicer than other upside down forks)
  • 4 2
 drone hate it to
  • 1 0
 Absolute hyperbole







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