SDG all over the podium in Cairns!

Race conditions were far from ideal in Cairns at the MTB World Cup this past weekend, but SDG riders made the best of it, scattering themselves across the podiums.  

Loris Vergier of France took home the win in the junior category aboard his Lapierre to get things started.  In the women's race, Emmeline Ragot was 4th, also on a Lapierre.

In the men's event, it was Neko Mullaly getting his first ever World Cup podium in 3rd and Aaron Gwin in 4th place.

The track in Cairns is a newly cut version of the same track that was run in 1996, and with torrential rains for the first day, it was reduced to one long mud pit. The sun came out for race day and baked the upper steep twisty sections, but the jungle remained steamy and the track turned into a slog.  

Miraculously, the dark clouds that rolled in just in time for racing blew back out and racing took place under sunny skies.  There was 2 lengthy course holds, one for an injured rider, and one for an injured fan who decided to drunkenly ride a bike down the track and proceeded to crash about 10 feet later, knocking himself out.

Racing was exciting, with some of the early favorites getting wild in the slippery roots and dashing their chances at the win. Riders now have a few weeks to relax and head home before the next round of the World Cup, which will take place in Fort William, Scotland in a month's time.