Brook MacDonald Races to the Podium in Windham

In an exciting and closely fought round 6 of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham, USA, Trek World Racing’s Brook MacDonald made his 2nd appearance on the 2014 World Cup podium with a 5th place ride on the fast, rocky and short track. His podium ride also marked the 40th World Cup podium for the Trek Session since the team started; the most successful downhill bike in recent history.

Fellow Kiwi George Brannigan also had a great ride improving on his qualifier to move into the top 10, landing a solid 8th place. The result good enough to launch him into 17th overall giving him protected rider status going into the next round in France.

Local hero Neko Mulally was on a flyer of a run, 3rd fastest at the 1st split and destined for the podium, when unfortunately his front wheel washed out in a blown out berm, and he went down. Amazingly he salvaged the run, finishing with enough points in 25th to move up in the overall standings to 9th.

Greg Williamson also moved up 5 places in the overall standings after his steady ride to 22nd place. After qualifying in the top 20 he was a little disappointed by his conservative run, but learned a lot from the experience.

Unfortunately for Laurie Greenland, the UCI doesn’t afford protected status for the top 10 juniors and so a puncture in qualifying left him out of the finals on Sunday.

Brook said: “Always stoked to get on the podium and now I have two of these under my belt for the season, my confidence has lifted greatly. I feel great on the bike and can’t wait to lift my level even further coming into the next two big events”.

Neko said: “You have to really lay it on the line with a track line this and I was so happy with how I was riding the final. The crash came out of nowhere and I was on the ground before I knew it, but thankfully with my 3rd place qualifier I’ve earned enough points to improve my overall. Keen to take my current form to France for the finals”.

George said: “I had a lot of fun on my run, this track is pretty wild and you have to push it to get a result. Really happy to get protected status and to know I’m riding at a great level at this end of the season”.

The team’s next race is World Cup Round 7 in Méribel, France, on August 22 and 23.