BRYCELAND SMASHES FIELD IN WINDHAM AND GRABS WORLD CUP LEAD WITH OVER 1000 POINTS!

Josh “Ratboy” Bryceland stormed to the top of the podium once again at UCI Downhill World Cup #6 in Windham (USA) on Saturday, August 9.
His winning margin of 1.581 seconds was a country mile on such a short course. The result marks his third podium and second win of the season, now placing him squarely in the lead overall with 1007 points. 

“I'm still in awe that I'm leading the World Cup,” said Bryceland. “I could hear the crowd from the bottom cheering for Gwinny in the finals, so I knew he had had a good run. I put that out of my head and took a few deep breaths, and then gave it everything I had.”

Teammate Greg Minnaar, the reigning World Champion who was recovering from knee surgery earlier in the year, finished in eleventh to consolidate his sixth place in the overall rankings. 

“I was refining my bike settings during the week and I felt like I had it dialed in for the qualifier, but I missed getting up to speed in practice.“ explained Greg. “Finishing 11th isn't acceptable to me” he added, suggesting the best is still to come from the South African this season.

Steve Peat was the first to congratulate Josh as he crossed the line, visibly ecstatic at the continued rise of his protégée.

“Ratboy rules!” exclaimed Peaty. “It was another great event at Windham, and my bike was rad. I'm just gutted to be leaving without a decent result, but this place has always had mixed emotions for me over the years!”

The Syndicate are now amped for the final round of the World Cup in Méribel (FRA) set for August 21-23.  Will Ratboy be able to retain his lead and take his first World Cup title?  The whole mountain biking World will be tuning in live to find out!!

Windham Results: 
1st  JOSH BRYCELAND (GBR)    2:24:332 
2nd  AARON GWIN (USA)             2:25:913  
3rd  TROY BROSNAN (AUS)         2:26:455 
11th  GREG MINNAAR (RSA)        2:28.540 
43rd STEVE PEAT (GBR)              2:33.488

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.