Union’s race bikes stolen at Fort William World Cup
Syndicate steps up to keep devo race team on course in Scotland
The Union, a World Cup development team, woke up to a very unwelcome surprise on Saturday at the Fort William World Cup. Their team truck was broken into and seven bikes, including the team’s Santa Cruz V10 race bikes, were stolen. Instead of settling in to final practice before qualis, the team was left scrambling to piece together replacements so they could still race.
The downhill scene is a tight-knit one. Santa Cruz Syndicate stepped up to loan Union riders spare bikes and frames while several other teams added whatever spare parts they could.
Despite a very hectic saturday, Union riders still fared impressively well. Racing on borrowed bikes, Lachlan Stevens-McNab was 20th in the junior men’s qualifying. Olivar Zwar was 39th in elite men and Friday Ronning 11th in elite women’s qualifying. Only Ben Zwar misses out on finals, and by one spot – just an agonizing 0.037 seconds.
The team’s own bikes, and a long list of parts, kit and tools, are still M.I.A. But at least the riders still get their chance to race this weekend.
