Aaron Gwin made it three top five finishes in three tries on the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill tour but was unable to capture the title for the second time this season. Gwin was a bit slow out of the gate as he was tenth at the first split but picked it up over the next couple minutes to move into the top five and finished strong to beat the third and fourth place riders by less than a second. The second place finish gave Gwin 160 points as he grew his lead over Troy Brosnan of Australia who finished fifth.
Gwin wasn’t the only American to find success as Luca Shaw had his best finish of the year in sixth place. Shaw is now 12th in the overall standings. The other three Americans in the final didn’t fare as well with Mitch Ropelato in 55th, Shane Leslie in 60th, and Dakotah Norton in 83rd. All three were over 20 seconds behind the winner.
The next UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill event will be in Leogang, Austria next weekend on June 11th and 12th.
Aaron Gwin was third fastest in the qualifying round on Saturday at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill event in Fort William, Scotland, leading a group of five Americans who will take part in Sunday’s final. Gwin was joined in the top 10 by Luca Shaw who finished sixth. The other three Americans to make the final were Mitch Ropelato (26th), Dakotah Norton (44th), and Shane Leslie (72nd). Notably missing the final were Cole Picchiottino who finished 82nd and missed the final by less than a second and Eliot Jackson who has a top 15 finish this year and was less than a second and a half from qualifying as he finished 85th.
Aaron Gwin will go for his third straight top five finish in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill events this weekend in Fort William, Scotland. Gwin won the season opening event in Lourdes, France but came up fourth in Cairns, Australia. Gwin is joined this weekend by six Americans who did not take part in either of the opening events as well as two who finished in the top 15 in Cairns, Luca Shaw who was 13th and Eliot Jackson who was 14th. Saturday will be the qualifying round for Sunday’s final.
Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Coverage: Cairns Recap
For the first time this year no Americans finished in the top 15 at a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event. The top finishers from the US were Lea Davison and Howard Grotts, both in 18th. Davison was fifth after the first lap and still in the top six after the third lap but fell behind in lap four to drop out of the top 15. She was just 11 seconds ahead of fellow American Georgia Gould who took the opposite path, 43rd after the first lap and slowly moving up the standings. Erin Huck was twenty seconds further back in 23rd after spending the whole race in the top 25.
On the men’s side Grotts started off 41st after the opening lap but moved up steadily to reach 18th before the end where he was 5:06 behind the leader. Stephen Ettinger made it two Americans in the top 30 when he finished 26th, 6:43 back. Ettinger was in the top 30 throughout the race.
The next UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event, the fourth of six, is in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on July 10th. In the mean-time the Mountain Bike World Cup will return to the downhill events with a stop in Fort William, Scotland on June 4th and 5th.
Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage: La Bresse Preview
13 Americans will compete in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event in La Bresse, France on Sunday in the third of six events on this year’s schedule. Through two events Lea Davison has been the most successful American with an eighth place finish last week in Albstadt, Germany. Davison was also in the top 20 in Cairns, Australia earlier this year. She’s joined by six other women in the start list including Chloe Woodruff, the top American in Cairns with a 13th place finish. On the men’s side Stephen Ettinger was the top American in Cairns when he finished 20th while Howard Grotts was 31st in Albstadt. There have been no other top 40 finishes by American men this year.
Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage: Albstadt Recap
While the US still doesn’t have a medalist in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country events this year Lea Davison was able to post the best American finish of the year. Davison was 16th after the first lap but steadily improved on that position throughout the race eventually reaching eighth and finishing 3:15 behind the winner. Davison was the only top 20 finisher from the US. Chloe Woodruff wasn’t higher than 20 after any laps and finished 22nd while Erin Huck finished 24th. On the men’s side Howard Grotts was the top finisher in 31st, 5:55 behind the winner, which was actually pretty impressive after he found himself 64th after the second lap. He posted top 12 times in each of the final three laps.
The next chance for the US to go after a medal in the cross-country event is in La Bresse, France on May 28th and 29th.
Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage: Albstadt Preview
The second UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event of the year will take place in Albstadt, Germany on Sunday. 13 Americans are in the field including three women who have top 20 finishes this year. Chloe Woodruff was 13th in the first event in Cairns, Australia with Georgia Gould 18th and Lea Davison in 19th. On the men’s side Stephen Ettinger was the only American to finish in the top 50 when he placed 20th.
Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage: Cairns Recap
The top American in the cross-country event at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event in Cairns, Australia on Sunday was Chloe Woodruff. Woodruff was the second highest finishing American in the series last year with a 21st overall finish. She was eighth after the first through third laps on Sunday before falling off a bit down the stretch and finishing 13th 4:27 back. Georgia Gould finished 18th while Lea Davison, last year’s third place overall finisher, was 19th. Erin Huck made it four Americans in the top 32 with a 27th place finish.
On the men’s side Stephen Ettinger was the only American in the top 50 on the series last year and he started off this year with a 20th place finish, 2:50 back. Ettinger got off to a slow start and was 35th after the first lap before climbing as high as 17th after the sixth lap. No other Americans finished in the top 50.
The next Mountain Bike World Cup stop is in Albstadt, Germany from May 21st through the 22nd. Only the cross-country portion will be held. The downhill competition doesn’t pick back up until June 4th and 5th in Fort William, Great Britain.
The downhill final was a chance for Aaron Gwin to win his second straight event to start the year but the winner from Lourdes was unable to do so finishing almost three seconds behind winner Loic Bruni of France. Bruni came closer to Gwin’s series lead but Gwin still leads Bruni by 28 points and leads second place Troy Bosnan by 13 points.
While Gwin couldn’t match his finish from Lourdes the other three Americans in the final all improved on their previous season high. Luca Shaw finished 13th after a 21st place finish in Lourdes while Eliot Jackson was 14th after not participating in the first event. Neko Mulally was 23rd on Saturday after a 45th place finish in Lourdes. Shaw is the only American other than Gwin in the top 25 as he sits 19th.
Sunday will be the cross-country event and six men and five women will be competing for the US. The top American finisher from last year’s series in the field on the men’s side is Stephen Ettinger who was 36th while on the women’s side Lea Davison was one of the top riders finishing third for the season. Three other Americans, Chloe Woodruff (21st), Georgia Gould (22nd), and Erin Huck (24th), finished in the top 25 last season.
With the downhill event having qualifying on Friday five Americans were seeking to ensure themselves a spot in the finals. Aaron Gwin, winner from Lourdes, finished third in qualifying. Others to advance were Eliot Jackson in 22nd, Neko Mulally in 33rd, and Luca Shaw in 34th. Luca Cometti just missed out on qualifying as he finished 84th. He was about 1.6 seconds behind the final qualifier.Gwin will race for his second straight gold on Saturday.
Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cairns Coverage: Preview