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Canada’s junior men shine through the mud at Fort William World Cup

Patrick Laffey and Lucas Cruz score podiums in Scotland

Canada’s junior men put on an impressive display through the rocks and mud of an especially muddy edition of the Fort William World Cup DH on Sunday.

Canadians thrive in the mud

Patrick Laffey (Devinci Development Racing) led the Canadian effort. The muddy conditions suited the Vancouver Island rider, who hit the podium at his first ever World Cup appearance, finishing third in the junior men’s race. Laffey’s impressive result comes just a week after he won the junior men’s Canada Cup DH at Mont Tremblant, Que.

Lucas Cruz (SRAM-TLD Racing) claimed the last spot on the extended podium, finishing fifth behind race winner Thibaut Daprela (Commencal Vallnord).

Elliot Jamieson (Norco Factory Team) of White Rock, B.C. and Seth Sherlock finished eighth and 10th, respectively. With their efforts adding to Laffey and Cruz’s results, there were four Canadians in the top 10.

After a second place finish at the opening round in Slovenia, Ethan Shandro (Trek Factory Racing DH) finished 16th at the Fort William World Cup.

Valentina Holl racing 2019 Fort William World Cup. Image: Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
Newkirk delivers upset over Höll

Anna Newkirk (SRAM Young Guns Racing) pulled off an upset in the junior women’s field. The American racer delivered a rare defeat to Austrian phenom Valentina Höll (SRAM TLD Racing). Höll led through the first two splits, before Newkirk pulled ahead to win by 3.419 seconds after a lengthy 5:33.585 run of punishing rocks and thick Scottish mud at Fort William.