A few extra statistical tidbits from the World Cup so far…
17
If we’re talking about numbers from this weekend’s World Cup I have to include this one. Greg Minnaar’s 17th World Cup win, equalling Steve Peat’s all time record. In many ways it would be great for these two team mates and friends to stay tied at the top but somehow I think Greg might have some other ideas on that front…
204
The total number of race entrants that got whittled down to 81 men and 28 Women for the finals on Sunday afternoon
25%
The proportion of ‘home’ UK riders that were racing this weekend in the senior categories. This wasn’t just because the race being held in the UK either. In Lourdes there was only one more French entrant than the Brits (43 French and 42 British). It just goes to show quite how strong the UK downhill scene is from the grassroots all the way up to World Cup level.
30%
Not only do UK riders have a numerical advantage, they are actually relative over-achievers at the top end. Brits have taken 30% of the top 20 places in the first two rounds of the season for far. The French aren’t far behind however, with 24%. In total the French and Brits are dominating the 2015 season so far with over half the top 20 places going to them. How much of this is home turf advantage? Only the next few rounds will tell…
Top 20 places by country and category after two rounds
| Country | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 15 | 9 | 24 |
| France | 9 | 10 | 19 |
| Australia | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| New Zealand | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| USA | 4 | 4 | |
| Switzerland | 4 | 4 | |
| Germany | 3 | 3 | |
| Spain | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| El Salvador | 2 | 2 | |
| Czech Republic | 2 | 2 | |
| Canada | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1 | |
| South Africa | 1 | 1 | |
| Italy | 1 | 1 | |
| Columbia | 1 | 1 | |
| Andorra | 1 | 1 |
5:00.000
Congratulations to Brendan Fairclough for stopping the clock at 5 mins EXACTLY. It’s things like that that make a stats nerd like me very happy.
1
The total number of South Americans in the the Men’s field but also the first ever Colombian to take a World Cup podium. Congratulations Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas! (Although that long name does play havoc with the spacing on my charts Marcelo!)
