UCI MTB World Cup, Lourdes

Lourdes, France hosted the first MTB World Cup of the 2016 season this past weekend. Lourdes is considered to have one of the steepest, rockiest and most technical track of the season. Heavy showers from Thursday till Saturday, made it even more challenging.

Juniors category was a showdown amongst the stars of tomorrow. Gaëtan Vigé, of Commencal/Riding Addiction DH Team, put in a solid performance in the hard riding conditions for a promising 4th place.

In Womens, the talented Tahnée Seagrave, of FMD Racing team, stormed through the qualifiers with the fastest run down the hill on Saturday. The finals on Sunday saw the confident Seagrave clinch her best ever World Cup result as she registered the 2nd best time in Women's category

The Mens category witnessed the comeback of the Canadian Stevie Smith, from Devinci Global Racing Team, on the podium. He put in an impressive run for a solid 2nd place in the finals. The crowd's favorite, Josh Bryceland, Santa Cruz Syndicate Team finished 6th in race but was definitely the top contender when it comes to style!

Other notable performances included Mark Wallace of Devinci Global Racing Team and Connor Fearon of Kona Factory Team who finished 8th and 9th respectively.

Remi Thirion, from team Commencal, was really on fire during trainings but unfortunately, a crash on Friday ruined his chance of podium, nothing was less sure that he could ride, but Remi is a tough guy and made it anyway, finishing 44th with a sprained wrist, a performance that a lot of riders are still dreaming of!

For next World Cup, the riders go down under to Cairns, Australia in two weeks' time. Rainy season in Cairns means harsh and slippery conditions are expected.