CANADIANS SUFFER MISFORTUNE AT CAIRNS DH WORLD CUP

(Cairns, AUS – April 23, 2016) It was a hard day for Canada on Saturday at Round 2 of the Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup in Cairns, Australia.

Steve Smith (Devinci Global Racing), second in the first round of the World Cup for Elite Men and fifth in qualifying at Cairns, flatted high on the course during the Final, ruining his chances of a podium. Finnley Iles (Specialized Gravity), the winner of the first round in Junior Men, crashed heavily in qualifying, injuring his right arm, and did not start the Final. Canada did not have any women competing, with Rachel Atherton (Trek Factory Racing) of Great Britain taking her second consecutive win.

Two Canadians did finish the Elite Men’s race, with Mark Wallace (Devinci Global Racing) finishing 26th, 8.622 seconds behind winner Loic Bruni (Specialized Gravity) of France, the world champion. Forrest Riesco was 44th, 12.955 seconds behind Bruni. Henry Fitzgerald (Steve Peat Syndicate) was the only Canadian the Junior Men’s Final, finishing 13th.

Smith drops from second to sixth in the Elite Men’s overall standings after two rounds, having scored no points in Cairns. Mark Wallace fell two spots in the standings, to 13th, while Riesco is 63rd. American Aaron Gwin (The YT Mob) leads the standings. In the Junior Men, Iles drops from first to second, behind Round 2 winner Matt Walker (Madison Saracen) of Great Britain, with Fitzgerald 19th in the standings.