Emily Batty takes a strong second place in World Cup La Bresse
The UCI World Cup has been an absolute barn burner for 2018. This past weekend’s event in La Bresse, France continued to stoke the fire of an exhilarating season, with numerous podiums for Trek Factory Racing.
Emily has had a strong showing in La Bresse, and made it count when it mattered, taking second on the day, and finishing third overall in the World Cup standings.
Evie Richards has had a dream season, and that continued this weekend in earnest. Second for her on the day, and third overall for the World Cup U-23 season.
Anton Cooper was looking to make a statement at the last race of the World Cup series.
"After arriving in La Bresse I felt a little below par. Probably a combination of a big training load, a slightly higher elevation than usual and still feeling like I was adjusting to the European time zone after returning from Mont Saint Anne. Unfortunately late in the week l still felt 1 or 2 percent off and had a disappointing short track race, missing out on a front 2 row start position."
"I desperately wanted to finish the World Cup season on a high and fought hard over the opening lap of the XCO to move up some places. I felt a little over my limit on the second lap and had to button off a little so I didn't risk destroying my whole race. I was able to ride the technical sections well but it took a while to really find my climbing legs I stayed in sight of the top 10 over the early laps and with 4 to go I felt the tide start to turn and I could make back some places on the guys in front. I had a really strong last 2 laps to bring it home for 7th on the day and to secure 7th overall in the World Cup series."
Sergio has a solid finish as well with an 11th on the day.
"I'm happy to close the World Cup season on a positive note. After an injury plagued 2017, I feel like I've fought back to solid results, and am able to fight for a podium position. In La Bresse, the circuit changed significantly on race day, and I decided to adopt a more conservative strategy in the technical areas, along with a hard push on the uphills. This allowed me to avoid mechanicals, and keep climbing up to nearly the top 10!"
Keep up with the team as they head to World Championships in Switzerland in just a few weeks time!
