Video: Winner Takes All - Pinkbike Academy Season 2 EP 10
PINKBIKE ACADEMY
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SEASON 2, EPISODE 10
PRESENTED BY
SEASON 2, EPISODE 10
It all comes down to this. 4 riders compete for the life-changing opportunity of a pro contract and $30,000 cash. Who will take it? Watch and find out.
PREVIOUSLY
Did you miss the previous episodes from Season 2 of Pinkbike Academy? Watch them here.
Did you miss the previous episodes from Season 2 of Pinkbike Academy? Watch them here.
Emmett putting everything on the line.
Bradley digging deep.
Laura pushing on her way down Big White.
Laser focus from Flo Espineira.
Every second counts.
Laura making the most of a chance of a lifetime.
The final judges deliberation of season two.
A life-changing opportunity awaits one of these four riders.
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Launch your riding career with Pinkbike Academy Season 3! We are once again looking for five men and five women from around the world to battle it out in a series of riding-related challenges in a 10-part series. Break into the ranks of professional mountain biking with the opportunity to compete for a pro contract with Orbea bikes and a career-changing cash prize. Turn your passion into your career!
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Huge thanks to the brands who made this show possible!
Monster Hydro, Orbea, Shimano, Fox Racing, Fox Factory, Maxxis, Garmin,
Funn, Ride Concepts, Hyperice, Big White, Trailforks, ODI, WPL, and Granite.
Monster Hydro, Orbea, Shimano, Fox Racing, Fox Factory, Maxxis, Garmin,
Funn, Ride Concepts, Hyperice, Big White, Trailforks, ODI, WPL, and Granite.
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And do it all with land management cooperation, ideally.
1. Don't eliminate anyone but rather the overall winner is chosen by best combined score. If you watch 'School Of Chocolate' on Netflix it does a really good jod of showing how this might go. For the bottom contenders each week they get personal training with the pros. Not only does it provide a cushion for any single poor performance but allows for riders to get stronger over the course of the competition.
2. Let/make? the competitors do their own wrenching. In the real world they don't need to be able to rebuild a shock or fork damper, but they do need to demonstrate a significant level of know how for the issues that can come up in an all-day race. I liked having a mechanic available but it would be nice to see them show some skills like this. Also, I suspect riders like Emmet might make the choice to put tougher casing tires on, or even add inserts as they see fit. I get that Orbea and others are sponsors but even pros get to modify their bikes a lot so they perform as they like.
3. Don't pick contestants that have never raced. If you have literally never even attempted a race but think you could be a pro racers you are pretty out of touch with reality and that should be part of the selection criteria.
4. MORE ACTUAL ENDURO RACING!!! Literally make episode one be a three stage legitimate enduro race. If that's what Orbea is looking for then test that first! Don't leave the only real race to the final episode.
5. Let's see an all women's field. And an all men's field. Because of the gender differences in run times its been hard to judge who really was faster; Emmet or Flo. And although the judges hopefully had a methodology to handle this I'll bet there are other brands out there that would step up to offer a contract just for the women, and for the men. Don't make them compete because we never compete like that in real competition.
This year was a lot better than last year, so much so I actually watched all this seasons episodes, as opposed to maybe four last season. But it certainly can be improved.
We'll done Flo!
The last episode made it clear that there were two top competitors, and it was a direct head to head to choose the winner. That might be tricky in a race format, rather than an artistic challenge, but it could be made to work.
Really, School of Chocolate makes me never want to watch another reality TV contest with eliminations.
I would think with Martin Maes on Orbea he would be an awesome mentor to help Orbea mold either Emmitt or Bradley like Dan Atherton did with him.
Not hating on flo, she's a sick rider and way quicker than me haha just hard not to thing they viewed this as this might be her last chance and the boys are so young and skilled they'll get picked up which isn't how it should be judged.
But just my opinion. Still loved the series and was watching the counter for each episode
If orbea are looking for a polished, top 20 contender then that should be stated at the start of the contest? I can't see how in this format outside achievements should be factored because what's the point in each event each week?
I said this a few weeks ago but I'd love to know who the secret pros are and compare their times to the EWS finishes?
She is capable of top order race results immediately and her marketing potential among women and South America is huge.
Brad and Emmit both show long term potential but it will take them a while to get there.
Flo was the right choice.
Flo has the maturity working to her advantage.. Bradley and Emmitt given a few more years will be making things happen..
I'm sure good things are coming to all of the riders in the near future. I'm excited to see where 2022 takes them after being under the spotlight!
Flo deserved the win, amazing skills and attitude. None of the other women were close to Flo’s skill level, but Kyra and Laura both showed pretty inspirational attitude.
Emmett showed his skill & speed from the start. Bradley beat him in the impossible climb and the final enduro race (due to Emmett’s puncture) but despite that I’d see Emmett as the slightly better rider. Emmett has a really solid attitude too. Hope to see Emmett and Brad competing on EWS.
She has been around 10% off the winning female times over the years and raced her first EWS in 2014.
Hopefully with more assistance she can get closer to the top women in EWS.
www.rootsandrain.com/rider138010/florencia-espineira/results
Emmet was around the same percentage away from Jesse in the last Canadian race.
Results show that comparing the times to the secret pros is fine, but not knowing who the secret pro is means the times are not really comparable to how the riders would do in a top level race.
Evan who has just been dropped by Orbea was much closer to Jesse than Emmet!
Hopefully PB follows Evans and Bradley and Emmet's careers to see where they end up. Good luck everyone.
What a great role model!
guess I'm not part of we all, Brad was far more fun to watch then Emmit imo
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas either way.
The fact that she’s 28 and from Chile also makes it a lot harder to break into the EWS world compared to 19 year old Brad and Emmet who have a long time to prove themselves. I understand this may have compromised the raw decision for the reality side of things but I fully agree with their decision being better for enduro, bringing more diversity and giving opportunities to less privileged individuals.
This doesn't negate her deserving to win. It's more an observation of how PB wasted the other competitors' time- they knew who was taking home that contract from the get go.
a) her talent and skill
b) she had no threat from anyone in her category.
c) no major pressure to stand out allows a lot of people to focus more and tap into their best.
Barring an injury, it was pretty clear from episode 1ish she was going to win. Some guy getting a f'd up wheel doesn't disprove anything I've written.
Again: Yes she deserved to win. Yes, the producers ensured they did their utmost to ensure she did just that.
I argued that she deserved to win, but if the competition had gone differently Emmet or Brad could have just as easily deserved to win. You argue it was predetermined, and I think that’s just incorrect.
How did I know? Je-zuz, how the hell didn't you know?
Here's how I knew: read points a, b, and c from my previous post.
I didn't write it was predetermined. That's simply an error in comprehension on your behalf or attempting to warp what I've written. I wrote the producers did their utmost to ensure she won. What might that be you ask? Get a ringer, give her zero competition, hope she holds up her end. She did. But c'mon buddy, if you couldn't tell who was going to win from episode one then there's no helping you.