Emily And Luk in National Races, Qualifying From Fort William
Emily Batty wins the Canadian National Round #3 at Hardwood Hills, Lukas podiums at the Plaffeien round of the Racer Cup Series in Switzerland, and TWR qualifies strongly at Fort William.
The Hardwood Hills race is only an hour from Emily's home and one she loves to support. Sponsored by Trek Toronto, it is very popular with the locals. More than 100 kids came out to ride with Emily and the Trek Toronto riders in the warm sunny conditions.
For the 4 lap race, Emily felt great from the start but with the high temperatures (32+ Celsius) she decided to sit in for 2 laps before making a move. Going into the third lap Emily attacked up the climb and made a break that stuck for the remaining of the race, taking a popular win.
Emily said: "I absolutely love traveling the world and racing, as well as meeting so many new people but there's just something about coming home to the familiar faces I grew up with. I felt great right from the start but with it being so hot I knew I was going to have to be patient and sit in for a lap or two before I made a move. So that's exactly what I did. It was a great day for me and the sponsors".
Meanwhile, on the same day but in Switzerland, Lukas Flueckiger was racing a world class field at the Racer Cup, the Swiss National Series.
The night before the race saw a lot of rain, so the course was muddy and slippery. The course had one long uphill on big open dirt road, as well as single track. There was also one long downhill with rocks, wet and slippery roots - extremely technical.
Luk chose his Top Fuel with the a prototype Bontrager XR3 mud tires. The riders had 1 startloop and 5 laps to complete. Luk had taken a 3 day break off the bike after the Offenburg World Cup and was fresh and looking forward to the race.
Luk said: "After a solid start, I was in the lead group after the startloop. In the first lap I felt strong and did some attacking in the uphills. On the highest point I was a few seconds in lead. Then on the downhill I had a good run and gained even more time. So, after the first lap I was in lead ahead of (World Champion) Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel. On lap 3 I had a front flat tire, changed the wheel and jumped on the bike just as Nino caught me. I was still in front with him but then Vogel and Jean-Christophe Peraud were coming up fast. Nino did no work because his team mate Vogel was not far behind, but with the wind it was pretty hard to do all the work alone. On the last section Vogel caught us just as Nino attacked. No chance to follow him as I was already too tired from all the lead work before. Vogel won the sprint, Nino 2nd, and I finished 3rd, but happy".
Meanwhile yesterday in Fort William (SCO), Tracy Moseley qualified 4th after being fastest at the 1st split. Riding with some room for improvement, Tracy's knows exactly what to do today. In the Men's, Andrew Neethling carried on his fine form from the US to have his best ever qualifier in Fort William, with 7th, riding at around 90%. As a non-protected rider, Andrew needed to get safely through qualifying to the final so rode within his limits. Justin made a couple of mistakes in the woods which cost him speed coming onto the lower 'motorway' section, and finished 14th. All are keen to improve today.
Watch the World Cup DH Finals on Freecaster for free and live, coverage from 2pm Central European Time.
