Sunshine, European mountains and Schnitzels, Austria you good thing… Round 3 saw us return to Leogang Bike Park for round 3 of the world cup. It has only been a week since Fort William but it felt longer and once riders started hitting the track, it was evident, we were in for a totally different race then Ft Bill.
As always some corner of the internet has a view about each track but positive vibes meant riders were enjoying riding the track, which had a few new features. As predicted riding was close, you could throw a blanket over the top place getters with times being super close. Unfortunately this meant, a simple mistake in qualifying saw you sit out on Sunday…
We have some great Pics from Andy Vathis to tell the story & a video from @David McMillan of @Vanzacs fame!
Prepping in the pits, for those on form having a quick turn around between events allowed them to make the most of their form. For those nursing injuries the quick turn around meant less time to recover…The track in Leogang has some of the best views going… tight racing is a bonus.A few small changes had the riders on their toes, some of the favourite sections, such as the scrub jump mid way down remained. Here Finn Iles showed us he is one of the best when it comes to scrubs…Finn isn’t the only one though, here Darcy Coutts show us his rendition!Speaking of privateers here is Conor Clancy, he missed the qually cut – one of many racers who did with such tight times.Jake Newell, another one to hit up the no qually party. Jake will be doing some more reports for us this year as he lives the van life across Europe.Talking about privateers, we are super excited to see Wyn Masters come to the aid of privateers. Offering a cash prize to the highest finisher at each round.It wasn’t an Aussie who took the prize, rather an Italian, Johanne von Klebelsberg.
We were quietly hoping Connor Fearon would repeat his second place performance of a few years ago. In the end 8th place was a solid result!Not the weekend Rachel Atherton was hoping for, dead last a position she isn’t familiar with.Loris Vergier, again a lightening fast qualifier but a small crash coming into the final straight undid his work up to that point.Greg Minnaar showed after a less than ideal season last year and start to the season this year he showed he still knows how to race. Second place dispelled the vibe of late.
Again, we thought Troy Brosnan had the win but was pipped at the post!Vali Holl was back on the top step, by some 18 seconds!Loic Bruni claimed another win and moves up to second in the overall.Smiles for Loic…We were super pumped to see Tracey Hannah grab her 4th world cup win!Boosting!Aussie Aussie Aussie! Leading both overalls at the moment.
