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SNOWSHOE WORLD CUP

THE TOUGHEST SO FAR

Rain and mud played a major role in the Snowshoe World Cup, making it the toughest race so far this season. The racing was very different from what was expected due to the weather conditions. This is what racing is all about.

The week started with a lot of rain. We could already sense that the races would be affected by the weather, as indeed they were. Although it didn't rain on Saturday, the day of the DH finals, the course was very complicated. On Sunday, the XCO races were held under a heavy rain that made it very difficult for the riders to stay on the bike.


PMG RACING TEAM

Bec McConnell had a tough weekend. After a bad crash on Friday in the XCC Short Track race that relegated her to 18th position, losing the leader's jersey for this discipline, she started far behind on Sunday at the start line of the XCO race. The Australian fought from the very beginning to be in the front of the race, but between the starting position and multiple clogs that forced her to put her foot on the ground several times in the first narrow sections of the circuit, she was well behind at the start. After it started pouring with rain, not crashing was almost more important than making up positions, Bec finished 13th, which meant she lost the XCO leader's jersey with two races to go. The best part of McConnell's excellent season is that she is only 8 points behind the new leader, Anne Terpstra of the Netherlands.


The other PMG Racing Team member who made the trip to Snowshoe, Francesc Barber, finished 16th after suffering a puncture and spending most of the race recovering positions.


MS MONDRAKER

Saturday dawned sunny at Snowshoe but the rain throughout the week made the course very slippery. All the riders knew that a crash would mean no chance of a good result, so staying on the bike was a priority.

After an excellent qualifying in 4th position, Eleonora Farina finished 6th. A couple of mistakes and a crash left her out of the podium. Despite this, the Italian was happy after a tough week.

In the men's class, both Dave Trummer and Brook MacDonald improved on their qualifying positions by finishing 10th and 40th respectively, another top 10 for the Austrian. Tuhoto-Ariki did not fare so well on Sunday as an untimely puncture caused him to cross the finish line in 50th position.


Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada

This coming weekend the penultimate World Cup will be held in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, where hopefully the weather conditions will allow us to enjoy the races without affecting the riders' riding so much.