Leogang look back: Vali Höll and Pemberton’s Lucas Cruz take on Austrian World Cup round

SRAM-TLD Racing may only have a two-rider roster, but they make those two spots count. Valentina Höll is the reigning junior World Cup overall winner and junior world champion. Pemberton, B.C.’s Lucas Cruz is in his second year of junior downhill racing and already has several World Cup podiums to his name.

The team was as close as they get to a home course when the World Cup downhill series stopped in Leogang, Austria for 2019. Höll lives nearby to the bikepark based track.

Austria’s junior world champ was looking to restart her year-plus long winning streak, after a crash in Fort William. That opened the door for American Anna Newkirk to take the win in Scotland, but Höll was not going to let the same happen at home.

Cruz was coming into Leogang after a solid fifth place for SRAM-TLD in For William. With the Austrian track being dry and loose compared to Fort Bill’s mud and never ending rocks, the two weekends couldn’t be more different.

Follow along to see how the weekend played out for the two speedy juiors:

Höll’s return to her dominant winning ways was a great finish to her home World Cup round. While Cruz’s eighth is still a solid result for the young Canadian.

To find out more about Anna Newkirk, and the American’s newfound success on the international scene, follow the SRAM Young Guns rider through the Crankworx Innsbruck weekend: