Troy Brosnan has finished in 2nd overall in the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup following a 5th place finish at Val Di Sole over the weekend.
Brosnan was confident heading into the final round of the World Cup following his win at Crankworx. The Italian track is renowned as one that’s tough, crazy, rough and dusty, and is one that every rider wants to win.
“I WAS PRETTY EXCITED COMING INTO THE FINAL WORLD CUP RACE AFTER WINNING CRANKWORX. PRACTICE WENT REALLY WELL AND I WAS FINDING SOME LINES AND GETTING SOME GOOD SPEED GOING AND WAS RIGHT WHERE I NEEDED TO BE.”
After finding his lines and speed in Practice, Brosnan had a quick run in Qualifying and finished 4th.
“MY BIKE SETUP WAS GOOD AND THE TRACK WAS PRETTY TOUGH IN QUALIFYING – DUSTY, DRY AND LOTS OF HOLES BUT MY RUN WAS PRETTY SMOOTH. I LOST A BIT OF TIME AT THE BOTTOM AND FINISHED 4TH BUT I KNEW I COULD MAKE UP SOME TIME IN THE RACE.”
Heading out with the goal to cut some time in his Race Run, Brosnan started out strong on the dusty track.
The Canyon Factory Racer finished with a time of 03:36.699, 3 seconds behind the leader and took 5th place for the Round.
“ON THE DAY IT WAS REALLY DRY WITH NO RAIN THE NIGHT BEFORE. MY RACE RUN WAS REALLY GOOD, I HAD A REALLY GOOD TOP SECTION BUT WASN’T FAST ENOUGH ON THE WAY DOWN AND FINISHED 5TH ON THE DAY. MY RUN FELT FAST AND GOOD WHICH MADE IT DISAPPOINTING THAT I WASN’T CLOSER TO THE WIN AND THE OVERALL TITLE KIND OF SLIPPED AWAY.”
Brosnan’s result meant he finished 2nd Overall in the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series, just a few points behind 1st place.
Second is Brosnan’s best result in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series to date, and is now the benchmark for future years.
“TO BE SECOND OVERALL IN THE WORLD CUP SERIES IS INSANE, WITH A NEW TEAM AND NEW BIKE IT’S SOMETHING I’M REALLY PROUD OF.”
Brosnan has now returned home to South Australia and is preparing for the World Championships in Cairns, which will mark the the first time he has raced the Championships on home turf.
“I’M HOME NOW JUST RESTING AND GETTING READY FOR WORLD CHAMPS IN CAIRNS IN TWO WEEKS TIME, IT’S THE FIRST TIME I’VE EVER RACED WORLD CHAMPS IN AUSTRALIA AND I’M EXCITED TO HAVE FUN AND ENJOY HAVING ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY AT THE TRACK.”
The next stop for Brosnan will be the 2017 UCI MTB World Championships in Carins, Queensland from September 5-10.
VAL DI SOLE OVERALL RESULT
1st – Aaron Gwin: 03:32.905
2nd – Amuary Pierron: 3:34.312
3rd – Loic Bruni: 03:34.957
4th – Loris Vergier: 03:35.501
5th – Troy Brosnan: 03:36.699
UCI MTB WORLD CUP STANDINGS
1st – Aaron Gwin – 1149 points.
2nd – Troy Brosnan – 990 points.
3rd – Greg Minnaar – 974 points.
4th – Loic Bruni – 752 points.
5th – Loris Vergier – 700 points.
Thanks to Owlpine Group for the words with Troy!