Monster Army rider Andrew Crimmins of Australia won the Junior Men’s category here in Lourdes, France, with Monster Energy Elite Men teammates Brendan Fairclough leading the charge to a fantastic 6th place and Troy Brosnan of Australia snapping up 8th place.
The venue in Lourdes is situated right in the middle of town on the side of a hill called Pic du Jer. An old funicular whisked riders to the top of a rough, high speed track. A combination of worn singletrack and fresh cut sections, riders reached speeds of over 35miles an hour, making consequences high should anything go wrong. Large rocks gaps and steep, awkward corners kept racers on their toes all the way to the finish line. The predicted rain held off all weekend, and the track was dusty and loose come race morning with nothing but blue skies and brilliant sunshine.
After qualifying 2.9 seconds back in qualifying, Andrew Crimmins went into Sunday’s race with some confidence knowing he had the speed to win. Being the third from last rider to start in the finals, Andrew’s confidence held strong to the finish and he nipped the win by a mere .3 seconds, enough for the top spot on the podium!
Crimmins was happy to take his first junior world cup win by a mere .30 seconds. “I can’t believe this, it’s so crazy. To get a win here is unbelievable. Coming from home where the tracks are so much different, I was having tons of fun all weekend, it was sick! “The young Australian now takes command of the junior point’s race going into the second round.
Brendan Fairclough was stoked to be back riding at the top of his game this week this week on a track that seemed to suit him well.
Troy Brosnan came into the weekend charging, but wasn’t able to make his way onto the podium. “The weekend went alright; I just wasn’t feeling on pace this weekend. Something wasn’t clicking with me and the track. 8th is still a top ten and I’ll just carry this through to Fort William in a month and try and take the win like last year. It definitely wasn’t the hair slowing me down; it’s got some good downforce!
Early favorite Sam Hill (AUS) was unable to ride after sustaining a shoulder injury during testing earlier last week. “Last weekend at home I was doing some suspension testing and had a silly crash and landed on my shoulder. It did some damage and I’m bummed I couldn’t race the first round this weekend. I’m off to get it looked at this week and will come back swinging in Fort William as long as the doctor doesn’t give me any bad news.”
The World Cup now takes an early season break before making its way to Fort William, Scotland in a month’s time.
