LAURIE GREENLAND CROWNED AS WORLD CHAMPION

After a very strong World Cup season never being out of the top 3, and winning the overall World Cup title, Trek World Racing’s Laurie Greenland backed up his silver medal from 2014 by taking it a top step further, winning the World Championship and receiving the coveted UCI Rainbow Jersey.

Meanwhile his team mates Brook MacDonald and George Brannigan had strong showings with both being the fastest at the 2nd interval during their run, but Brook unfortunately came off his bike in the steep technical section, and George suffered from a lack of upper body strength and rode the final sector a little too tightly and lost time precious time, but still finished 15th.

Laurie said: “I’ve loved this track ever since we got here, whether it was in the pouring rain or drying out as it was for the final race. The last steep sector is really the type of riding I love the best. Before the run I was in the start house, had some quiet thoughts to myself about how far things have come in these past two years, and just tried to remain relaxed. I sprinted a little too hard out of the start and had to sit down on the bridge and recover a bit but then I just got into it. Martin (Maes) put up a great time and I’m just happy the result went my way today. It really is a huge honor to win this title and
do so in front of friends and family who came to Andorra to support me.”

Laurie’s World Title brings to 4 the number of World Championships won by the team since its inception, 2 in Downhill and 2 in XC.

Team Owner Martin Whiteley said: “It was a tough start to the week when a major storm hit the area and several teams including us suffered major damage to our team set up. Fortunately we managed to recover quickly from that and get on with the racing. Brook and George once again showed speed during the week but the World Champs run is a tough race where you have to give it everything and it doesn’t always pay off, but I’m extremely proud of how they’ve represented the team with poise and professionalism all year. Laurie’s result just caps off a brilliant season. He’s continued to grow as an athlete and his ability to read a race and deliver are exceptional. To end this season on such a high, adding Laurie’s gold medal to the 3 golds, 4 silvers and bronze the team has already achieved over the years, was a great bonus for all the staff and sponsors of TWR.”

Laurie Greenland Wins in Windham and Wraps up Series Title

After qualifying 7th on Friday Laurie Greenland had a nerve wracking wait in the hotseat during the finals as 6 of the best juniors in the world attempted to beat his race time of 2m 49.9secs. Laurie was suffering from hay fever for qualifying lacking his usual energy, and the track in Windham which was running extremely loose and fast, provided its own set of challenges. Fastest qualifier Jacob Dickson went faster than Laurie at split one so it was an anxious 90secs of waiting to see if Laurie’s time would hold. In the end Laurie scored his 3rd World Cup win in a row, by a margin of 0.7secs.

With main rival Andrew Crimmins finishing 6th Laurie gained a sufficient points advantage to secure the 2015 World Cup Downhill for Junior Men, with one round remaining. This is a great achievement for the young rider from Bristol who has continued to grow and learn throughout his junior career and caps off a 5 race winning streak that started at the iXS Cup in Schladming.

Laurie said: “When Martin told me I’d won the overall I couldn’t actually believe what I was hearing, I mean I only just got the leader jersey back last week so it took some time to sink in. Even when I crossed the line in the race I was afraid it may not be enough for the win. I thought my first sector went really well and that gave me some confidence for the rest of the run, but it turns out my 2nd sector was the strongest. It’s a massively good feeling to go to Italy for the final round in Val Di Sole without any pressure for the series and just enjoy the race. I’m really proud of this title and want to thank my family, team and sponsors for all their support these past 2 seasons.”

Unfortunately for Brook MacDonald and George Brannigan the Windham track bit back as both crashed early on while pushing to the limit. Both of their initial incidents happened off camera and Brook suffered a mechanical due to the crash when his grip slid 3cm along his handlebar affecting the rest of his run. George continued to push after his first crash which resulted in a number of excursions off course. Both riders are fine and did not suffer any injury other than some skin abrasions.

Greg Williamson aimed to improve both his race time and position from the qualifier, which he did easily. Greg found 8 seconds and improved 34 places, which resulted in an improvement in his World Cup ranking of a further 2 spots.

The team now heads to Europe to prepare for the final round of the series in Val Di Sole, Italy, a classic track known for being extremely steep and strewn with roots, and it will also host the World Championships in 2016.

Brook MacDonald Takes 9th Place in Leogang, Laurie Greenland Scores another Podium

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.

Laurie Greenland Finishes 2nd At World Cup Opener in Lourdes, France

Trek World Racing’s junior rider Laurie Greenland started the 2015 World Cup season by landing yet another podium, while crashes marred the Elite Men’s race where Brook MacDonald finished 12th for the day.

The standout ride for the team came on Saturday when Laurie qualified fastest in the juniors by close to 3 seconds over his rivals and in a time that would have qualified him 9th in Elite Men. His middle sector was only 0.5sec off fastest qualifier Loic Bruni (FRA), but unfortunately in the race run on Sunday Laurie arrived at a corner in sector 1 that had been blown out and had no chance to avoid it as he was already committed to his line. He didn’t crash but lost time coming to a complete stop on an important section for carrying momentum. Despite losing over 2 seconds he pulled back all but 3 tenths to finish 2nd. Laurie now sits 2nd in the overall World Cup standings heading to Fort William.

Laurie said: “So much to take away from the weekend. Seeing that I had comparable speed to the Elites was encouraging after all the hard work and training over the winter. Of course I’m disappointed not to have taken the win, but it’s a long season and I’m keen to get to Fort William which has been kind to me over the years.”

Brook MacDonald was looking for a solid top 10 on this new course and was a little disappointed to finish 12th but the points haul against some of his main rivals was very strong and Round 2 at Fort William promises to see Brook as a podium threat, like he was in 2013 finishing 2nd.

George Brannigan had great pace on the track and was bringing his New Zealand season form to the table in the qualifier where he would have finished top 6 had he not been slowed up by a rider who’d punctured and failed to clear the course. In the final practice session George had a small crash but damaged his Fox Forks and needed to head to the pits for a fork change. Unfortunately getting to the top of the hill 4mins too late and was denied a final practice run. This impacted his final race run as the course had changed to powder in many sections and a crash in sector 1 cost him dearly.

A spectacular crash for Greg Williamson ended what was shaping up to be a great run for the Scottish rider. Despite an earlier crash higher up on the course, Greg was 0.4secs up on the 2nd split but mechanical issues suffered in the first crash contributed to his dramatic flight over the bars, off the edge of a bridge and onto the road below. Fortunately not suffering any serious injury the crowd applauded as he walked away from a potentially nasty crash.

Greg said: “I literally found myself on a road and had no idea how I got there. It’s frustrating because I’d gained a lot of pace on this track after struggling on practice day 1. Practice prior to the race had gone great, and I was sure I could get a solid start to the season here. Time to ice up, recover and be ready for my next race in May.”

Team Director Martin Whiteley says: “A very interesting start to the season. New tracks often provide mixed results and the weather was also completely different to what we all expected; we ended up with 27 degrees Celsius and the track turning to powder. We’re fortunate to get through the event with everyone in one piece unlike some, and the new 2015 Trek Sessions performed flawlessly. Laurie’s pace is extremely exciting, but all 4 have shown this weekend that they’ve done their homework over winter, and if not for a couple of small errors, the results would have been quite different for us.”

George, Greg and Laurie will all compete in the 2nd Round of the British DH Series at Fort William next month.