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With the threat of rain hanging over the technical Leogang track in the Austrian Alps, all four Trek World Racing riders put in solid crash fee runs which resulted in all 3 elite men improving their World Cup ranking, and Laurie Greenland back on the podium for the 5th time in a row since Méribel last year.

In the Elite Men’s race, Brook MacDonald and George Brannigan qualified on almost the same time with the latter having the edge in 11th place, Brook in 12th. Come race day and Brook stormed the track and looked to be in great shape, fastest at the second split, but lost 7 tenths in the bottom sector. He was still very happy with his first top 10 of the year.

George was next up and went faster than Brook at the first split, but a small mistake in the second sector needing to put his foot down a few times, cost George valuable time crossing the line 7 tenths behind Brook and eventually finishing 12th. Brook moves up 4 places in the overall, back into a protected position, while George moves up 3 places to 23rd. Greg Williamson had a run he was happy with to finish 25th, moving his overall ranking up from 52nd to 37th overall.

Brook said, “I’m very happy with that. I know where I lost some time in the bottom, casing a section before the rock garden which stalled me, but overall I had a great bike set-up this week and felt great in my run. There was also a really strong headwind for most of the race that seemed to die down for the last 8 guys, so I know there was some time there.”

Laurie Greenland qualified 2nd Saturday, after injuring his knee in training on Friday. The swelling restricted mobility on Saturday and he rode the qualifier fairly conservatively as no points are at stake. Sunday race day saw his knee back to near 100% and Laurie was ready for a great race. Fastest at the first split Laurie unfortunately lost his chain just prior to the long motorway section and dropped a lot of time in the prevailing headwind. To finish 3rd after that is a great result and keeps Laurie in the points chase for the overall, now in 2nd.

The team heads down the road the Schladming for a European iXS Cup at the classic ex-World Cup venue. The next round of the World Cup is in 2 weeks at the new venue of Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

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Sunday

Jun142015

Aaron Gwin and Rachel Atherton win round 3 of the UCI Mountain Bike World Downhill Cup in Leogang

Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 2:28PM

Saalfelden Leogang in Salzburger Land, Austria, June 14th 2015 – Aaron Gwin stole the show in Leogang after winning the Men Elite race, with no chain! Rachel Atherton also had a fantastic day, winning her first ever World Cup in Leogang. This unbelievable day of racing rounds off the 2015 Out of Bounds Festival in Saalfelden Leogang. Watch Aaron Gwin’s amazing run and more race highlights here: win.gs/CrazyChainlessRun

The action began with a spectacular aerial show above Bikepark Leogang by Red Bull Air Race pilot Hannes Arch. As the racers began to come down, the clouds started to roll in and the wind got stronger. These tough conditions suited today’s Women Elite winner, Rachel Atherton (GBR). “I’ve been trying to win here a long time and I think today is the day when it started to rain so… I am really happy and really tired” – said Rachel Atherton. The women’s race was close, with Tahnee Seagrave (GBR) firmly in the hot seat after a pelting run. French rider, Emmeline Ragot looked strong and finished in third. Unfortunately, last year’s winner, Manon Carpenter was disqualified for crossing the tape and missing a gate. She will hope to score more points at round 4 in three weeks.

After the Women Elite, the men took to the Speedster track in Bikepark Leogang. Little did the ten thousand live spectators who lined the tapes and finish area realize what they were about to witness the most determined run in downhill history. Loic Bruni held the hot seat for a long time, then the top 10 riders came flying down and one-by-one, the pack was ruffled. But the man of the hour was Aaron Gwin who stormed out the gate, losing his rear derailer. On course without a chain, the American athlete opened the brakes and charged down the track to victory. “Last weekend was an awesome result and a pretty tough weekend. Leogang has been a lot better, I felt really good the whole weekend. The track is pretty good, you don’t need to pedal much so I just tried to tuck in and charge” – commented Aaron Gwin. This is the second time the World Cup leader has pulled a rabbit out of a hat after his bare rim run, right here in Leogang just last year. Aaron’s run today in Saalfelden Leogang will stay in the history books for many years to come.

The 21-year old Australian rider, Connor Fearon scored his best ever World Cup result finishing in second place. His run was riddled with high and low lines which formed a fast ride down the new Speedster track. Remi Thirion (FRA) came across the line incredibly fast and took the hot seat but eventually, his day in Leogang finished in third position. A great result for the Frenchman. Troy Brosnan (AUS), Greg Minnaar (RSA) and Gee Atherton (GBR) took the following three positions and will look to improve at the next stop in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on July 5th.

Here are the top 5 results from Leogang and the updated UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup overall standings: