Dalby - UCI World Cup Round 2

Now Orange Monkey-Cannondale, and with young talented riders looking to make an impact on the world of cycling we made our way to the familiar Dalby Forest in Yorkshire, England for the second round of the UCI World Cup surrounded by the biggest brands, riders and teams from across the globe.

The team set up in the expo area and soon made themselves at home as our riders looked to get in some practice on the slightly changed course before we settled into our accommodation.

Friday saw more practice and then the Pro Sprint Eliminator before we got down to business with the main races on Saturday.  Alex had a 10.30 start and we were optimistic after some recent good results at European level.

A reasonable gridding and a solid start saw Alex climb into the top 30 riders.  A frantic pace was not enough to discourage our young rider as he dug deep and by lap 2 was fighting for every position.  A final push on lap 3 after a crash in the BMX track saw Alex really show his desire as he fought hard to shake off the sprint from a group of five to finish in 29th position and 6th fastest of the first year Juniors!  An amazing performance in his first World Cup.

Next to go was the U23 South African National Champion.  Expectation was high after a phenomenal ride in Round one saw him come from the back of the grid to 13th.  A decent start saw Rourke push into the top ten on the opening start loop before settling down into around 20th position on lap one.  The next 4 laps saw Rourke slip down to 36th position after a solid race.  By his own admission this was a bad day after never really feeling 100 percent.  Still finishing in the top half of the race and collecting vital World Cup standing points this was a real show of character and when a good day arrives, the other riders will be in real trouble!

As the curtain closed on our first World Cup their was little time to reflect as we now head off to Offenburg in Germany for the third round of the World Cup series.  The riders are both excited and pumped for what is sure to be one of the biggest races of the year!

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