After Pierron's injury and outburst by Pippo Marani on safety in the World Cup, we went to deepen the topic with Pier Paolo Marani in order to better understand what his opinion is regarding modern DH. Fasten your seat belts because Pippo is a sincere man, without filters.
In this interview, his boundless passion for MTB is perceived. There are some harsh sentences but Pippo is not the person who does it just to throw mud but they are constructive criticisms in order to improve because, according to his opinion, he is taking the wrong course in some situations.
Davide 365mountainbike – Pippo, you didn't go lightly with the comments on the internet.
Pippo Marani – I've been living MTB since 1980 and I've seen generations and generations of riders pass before my eyes and I don't like what I see now. I wanted to externalize everything that I've been holding inside for too long for the sake of the environment.
What are you referring to?
There would be so many things to say but I'll focus on what Pierron wrote and what You also posted on your article. The Frenchman didn't pay attention to whether the doctor was there or not (or the protections that the athletes use), but he did raise the issue of track safety! And I've been advocating this for years. At the moment the races are not always safe. I, and I bring the example of Val di Sole which I have looked after for years, tried to do everything possible to avoid any accidents as much as possible. I am aware that there can be no total security in DH: it is still about Downhill! But limiting the dangers yes.
You saw where Pierron fell: but didn't the one who pulled that sling, up a tree, at that point in particular, see this danger? Just under the tape, a log or a boulder of that size can't fit!
Could he have escaped?
Well, not in the World Cup, anyway ok, it can happen but be careful, I'm not saying that I was a genius and that there can't be injuries. I say that I don't see professionalism in certain attitudes: everything is aimed at the show and issues that were the practice until recently are left out.
Pierron reports that there was no doctor
It seems to me impossible that there was no doctor, on the contrary, it is mandatory so there was certainly the support of the ambulance with a doctor. What Pierron wants to say is that, in spite of more money (and he refers, verbatim, "I don't know who gets more money" showing bitterness) there is no respect for riders since a world famous rider (Pierron won the World Cup in 2022, ed) was about to leave with a broken vertebra without a mobile clinic or anything else to worry about him.
The safety problem has always existed: I'll tell you an anecdote. To the 2008 World Championship in Val di Sole (its 15th anniversary this year) the course was seen as one of the most technical ever. Along the way, I placed 80 mattresses, 20 bed bases and checked every single metre. I have tried in every possible way to make things safe: I am aware that, in the woods, if you make a wrong plant, you take 10, but in the most critical points there was the greatest possible safety without external elements to further increase the risk (I am thinking of stumps or other). And the UCI, at the time, went around putting up advertising banners and ropes pulled from tree to tree which, if a rider went off the course, cut his throat! And I regularly went to take them off. Safety first and then comes the rest. There has never been a good relationship between me and the UCI 🙂
What do you think of the current routes?
No good! All to exalt these motorways where you enter the woods at 60km/h with parts of the route where you have to pay attention to the wind otherwise it will flap during the flight phases. But stay out! This I am contesting on today's tracks
However, I repeat, the problem of the safety of the slopes is being raised, not of the "missing doctor". There was a race last year where some athletes didn't start qualifying because they thought the track was too dangerous. But if nobody does anything, nobody says anything, these athletes fall, "kill themselves", and Discovery jumps through hoops: there is still an audience anyway.
Did you see how beautiful it was Val di Fassa route this year? Everyone considered it one of the most physical and technical routes in the history of enduro. There were thousands of athletes at stake in youth, amateur and PRO categories. Yet have you seen the injuries? I can't give you some statistics but I didn't see any injuries worthy of note despite the rain which brought many problems in practice. Why this? Because the route was like a real MTB! Not distorted with bulldozers and marble run style sections. The Val di Fassa route was deadly but made by people who used their heads, but if you do those shit like the last 'modern tracks' I've seen, you'll see that sooner or later (but I hope not ) there is a risk of something serious happening (I carry over this reasoning verbatim also in the cross country).
And who should intervene?
I'd say the UCI/Discovery but I don't see humanity on their part: I spoke to the athletes, I exchanged views, now I'm not saying they enjoy seeing the crashes, but I doubt it. So then they are reposted on the internet in the evening in the Highlights. “Look what a flight that one did. Look at that blow!” These are the reasonings.
Today the great show of Val di Sole begins: will you be there?
I'll be there, I've always had a strong bond with Val di Sole and it's an opportunity to find many friends and MTB enthusiasts. But honestly I'm suffering: the current track has nothing to do with the real Black Snake I worked on. Now the track appears distorted, smoothed out and, indirectly, more dangerous. But maybe I'm biased. We see (Pippo Marani worked on the track until the end of 2020, editor's note).
Thanks to Sam (Hill, ed) who was the first to give me directions to improve the track. Because he liked Black Snake so much. And thanks to him who caused the Black Snake to explode with this crash 15 years ago at the World Championship! Thanks Sam Pippo Marani
Do you like the new DH format?
However, you put me in a crisis: it seems that nothing suits me! Honestly, I'm having a hard time following the Cup this year: the idea of uniting all the disciplines in one weekend is nice, but between Friday, Saturday, Sunday, practice, semi-finals, finals, short track, it's hard! Or rather, you lose a bit of waiting, of pathos… everything passes too quickly! Or maybe I'm old, but the question of qualifying, the semi-final and the final (in DH, ed) puts everyone under a bit of stress. Naturally it was done to create audiences but doing 2 heats so close to each other, I'm thinking of the semifinal and final, even giving points in the semifinal, greatly increases the risks.
There are athletes who take a lot of risks to get into the 30s. And if they make it, then they're off to the final right away with very little recovery time. And gaps are measured in cents! But have you ever seen a penny race in a wood? It happens in skiing, but there are other dynamics. You mean that a DH race that takes place in a super technical forest is played on cents? This means that the tracks are monoline and fast, like in F1, MotoGP: you have the "obligatory" line, if you don't do that line you'll crash somewhere. There is no longer the athlete who makes a particular pass, the one you see who at that point has passed in an area where the others didn't have the courage to pass. No, now they are all highways where riders travel (with exceptions) in monoline.
These are New School tracks that have nothing to do with the past
Yes, I know, but the new generation, the guys with the forelock, were born in bike parks so surely the UCI/Discovery, who look at the pure monetary aspect of the thing, let themselves be influenced by this situation. Young people don't like the old school coach: if they enter the "original" Val di Sole of the early days, I know that few leave. But don't worry Davide, write it down somewhere, we'll go back: we'll go back to the natural slopes!
But what do the riders think?
I'm sure that, if we talk to the riders, almost all of them agree with what we are saying in this interview. But the UCI is not looking at what the athletes are asking for but they want the show, they want the business.
If someone feels offended, give them my phone number 🙂 But I want to remind everyone that I'm a DH enthusiast and I don't want to have the truth in my pocket: I just want the best from this fantastic world that is Gravity! Hello to all 365mountainbike readers Pippo Marani
