The World Cup returned to Leogang, Austria last week, and as it seems to be becoming a trend here, it was wet. Over the course of the week, it was probably raining 70% of the time. I’m not sure we can be surprised anymore. The actual location of the race is in Bad Leogang, which translates from German to the Leogang Bath. Then nestled between Leogang and Bad Leogang is a little village called Rain, so the place is certainly living up to its name!
Tyre choice is often key here, especially after last year's race was potentially decided by poor tyre choice in the Elite men's field, with riders struggling for traction up the steep ski slope climbs. However, the race organisers here clearly watched the race in South Korea and with a new steeper climb up the ski slope has been covered with a gravel-filled dirt as opposed to the bare grass of previous years.
Adding to this, underneath the gravel, a plastic grid matting had been laid. This was holding together the mud, prevnting it from becoming a deep sludge. This gridding also aided drainage and drying much quicker than sections without it, creating quite a hard-packed main line after just a short time when the sun did poke through.
As is often the case, the course ran quite well whilst the rain was falling, with tyres able to clear the wet mud and leave the tread open to keep grip. It was the hour or so after the rain stopped where the drying mud turned to a peanut butter or Nutella consistency, clogging the tread pattern and stopping the tyres from biting into the ground.
This variability made what would have been the easy choice to go straight for full mud tyres not so straightforward. Added in the unpredictable weather that the teams faced on Sunday, and it made for quite the stressful weekend.
I cut a few laps around the pits during practice and chatted to mechanics and riders alike to get their thoughts on what tyres they had available to them, how they decided what to run, plus any other little tips and tricks they had for the mud.
Sunn Factory Racing
Michelin is the tyre sponsor of Sunn Factory Racing; they have one of the most aggressive cross-country mud tyres available to them in the Wild Mud. Mechanic Vincent Sarthe explained that they were running the 2.0" width, something that not only enables the tyre to cut into the mud better but also gives better clearance on the frame and fork when the mud starts collecting.
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