The eight round 2019 UCI Downhill World Cup will see a return to the pre-2018 format of the fastest qualifier racing last in finals.
Cast your minds back to Losinj in April, where everyone who hadn’t combed through the UCI rulebook or didn’t have an inside man at the World Cups do a double take when Brook MacDonald was not the last rider down.
A change to the rules would see the previous year’s top 10 and the remaining 10 protected riders coming down in the same order all year, assuming the latter didn’t change.
2019 will see a return to the 2017 format of last rider down, which will no doubt make the live feed better for those watching, if a little less appealing to team managers and sponsors.
We can see why the rule was implemented. Vast quantities of time and money get invested in riders and teams, and the best way to protect that investment is to have the fastest riders in the limelight.
I think it’s fair to say though, that from a fan perspective, the permanently protected top 10, with the changing 10-20 riders didn’t go down all that well and took some of the buzz away from seeing who would take the hotseat and the win.
Gee Atherton lost out big time in La Bresse, despite qualifying first, he’d have to head down in 21st last after the protected riders.
