2014 Mont Sainte Anne Downhill World Cup Qualifying Results

2014 UCI Mont Sainte Anne Downhill WC Qualifying Results Men

2014 UCI Mont Sainte Anne Downhill WC Qualifying Results Women

2014 UCI Mont Sainte Anne Downhill WC Qualifying Results Junior Men

Teams Named For 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

Seven men were selected in the elite division with automatic bids coming for Aaron Gwin (Wildomar, Calif./Factory Specialized), Neko Mulally (Pisgah Forest, N.C./Trek World Cycling) and Kevin Aiello (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./KHS Bicycles), while Logan Binggeli (Saint George, Utah/KHS Bicycles), Eliot Jackson (Westlake Village, Calif.), Kiran MacKinnon (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Max Morgan (Duluth, Ga.) earned discretionary selections.

Gwin received the automatic nod after winning the 2014 Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships on June 22 in Angel Fire, N.M., taking top-five finishes at the first three World Cups of the season and for being ranked second in the UCI World Cup overall rankings as of Aug. 1. Mulally’s automatic selection came after placing third at World Cup #2 in Cairns, Australia, April 25, and for being ranked ninth overall in the UCI World Cup rankings as of Aug. 1. Aiello earned his automatic selection because he leads the men’s Pro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (GRT) rankings as of Aug. 1 with 153 points.
 
Receiving discretionary selections, Binggeli placed fourth at the 2014 Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships, while Jackson took 25^th at World Cup #2 in Cairns, 35^th at World Cup #3 in Fort William, Scotland, on June 7, and 45^th at World Cup #4 in Leogang, Austria, June 15. McKinnon took top-10 results at the 2014 Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships, the April 13 Sea Otter Classic and the Pro GRT Plattekill Gravity Open in Roxbury, N.Y., May 21-25.
 
Also receiving automatic bids are Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash./Team Norco Intl.) and Alison Zimmer (Lincoln, Vt. VT/Gravity Racing-Xprezo), who are the lone U.S. elite women’s selections for the 2014 Mountain Bike World Championships.
 
Kintner nabbed her automatic bid after taking the win at the 2014 Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships, placing third at World Cup #1 in Pietermaritzburg, Russia, April 12, taking fifth at World Cup #3 and being ranked sixth in the UCI World Cup Rankings as of Aug. 1. Zimmer’s automatic bid came from being ranked first in Pro GRT rankings as of Aug. 1.
 
Three juniors men took automatic bids to the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, as Luca Shaw (Hendersonville, N.C./SRAM-Troy Lee Designs), Shane Leslie (Birmingham, Mich.) and Chase Nelson (Littleton, Colo./Trek Southridge Racing) accomplished enough in 2014 to get the nod, while Charlie Harrison (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) and Matt Branney (Littleton, Colo.) were granted discretionary selections.

Shaw took the win at World Cup #1 and placed third at World Cup #4 to punch his ticket, while Leslie recorded the fastest junior time at the 2014 Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships to earn the automatic bid. Nelson recorded the fastest junior time among the Pro GRT rider pool at the event.
 
Earning discretionary selections, Harrison took second at the 2014 Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships as well as at the fifth Pro GRT competition, the July 20 Bikes, Brews and Views in Beach Mountain, N.C., while Branney recorded top-five finishes at the Pro GRT’s NW Cup April 19-20 in Port Angeles, Wash., the Plattekill Gravity Open, May 21-25, in Roxbury, N.Y., and at Bikes, Brews and Views, as well as a seventh-place result at the Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships.

Michelle Pederson (Los Alamos, N.M./Bike n Sport Racing) notched the lone juniors women’s automatic bid after winning the Junior National Championship, while Taylor Allison (Woodstock, N.Y.) got the discretionary nod for taking third at the Plattekill Gravity Open.

2014 USA World's Team Announced

2014 UCI World Cup Round 2 Cairns Final Results

Pro Men Results

Pro Women Results

Neko Mulally Takes His First World Cup Podium!

Round 2 of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup took place today in Cairns, in very difficult conditions that saw the venue pounded by torrential rains during the week, with very muggy and steamy conditions today. The track was extremely slippery in places and brought many an experienced rider undone. Neko Mulally who came into the race ranked 8th in the World Cup qualified well yesterday in 7th, despite a crash, but showed he had the speed to win. With a 1st at the first split, and 2nd at the second split, the signs were good for today.

The 21 year old from Pennsylvania remained focused on race day and was determined to get the job done and not be distracted by all of the attention his form was attracting. In the race run all was going to plan and all of his lines were working well, until just before the second split where a line which he’d been trialling all week had deteriorated with more exposed roots, dropping the rear wheel off line and eventually the whole bike from under him. A quick recovery and a solid finish in the third sector despite damaging a brake in the crash saw Neko cross the line in 2nd, and eventually hold on for an incredible 3rd place. His first ever World Cup podium and the 36th Downhill podium for the Trek Session since Trek World Racing began racing the bike in 2009.

Neko said: “This is a dream come true and something I’ve been working really hard to achieve. This week everything just fell into place, the bike, my set up, having Justin and Chris on course helping me, I just couldn’t be happier. Saying those words, ‘I got third’, it’s just incredible.”

Moving into the next round Neko will hold plate number 4.

Neko’s teammates had mixed fortunes on the demanding track. Brook MacDonald ‘had a messy run’ in his words, but the speed is returning after coming back from surgery, and his 27th is up for 36th at Round 1. George had a crash in his final training session and hurt his hip and this had an impact on his race run. Both Brook and George are looking forward to racing with Neko on the East Coast of the US, in some Pro GRT events, as a good lead up to Fort William, as they did last year.

Greg Williamson had a good smooth run going but crashed on the rock garden, buckling his wheel and was unable to race the rest of his run at speed.

Meanwhile Trek World Racing’s Junior rider Laurie Greenland had his first World Cup race this weekend, and despite a crash and losing time to bigger guys in the heavy muddy conditions, was happy with his 11th and like his team mates, can’t wait to be at Fort William.

Team Manager Martin Whiteley acknowledged the incredible work done by the team mechanics and staff under extremely difficult conditions at the remote venue, and that Neko’s result was a wonderful way to finish what had been a challenging week.

2014 UCI World Cup Round 2 Cairns Qualifying Results

Junior Men

Pro Women

Pro Men