Bryceland wins Windham downhill World Cup

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Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate) won the second downhill World Cup of his career and the season in Windham, New York, on Saturday afternoon. The British rider, known as "Ratboy", finished ahead of home crowd favorite Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing DH) and Australian Troy Brosnan (Specialized Racing DH).

"I didn't feel that smooth, but the run felt similar to my qualifying and a good time is a good time," said Bryceland.

Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof spent some early time in the hot seat, first with Joseph Smith, then with Michael Jones.

"I had a pretty solid run - a good top section which I was surprised about," said Jones, who logged his best career World Cup finish to date. "I struggled there all week, but I just kept attacking and I went into the lead."

George Brannigan (Trek World Racing) and Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof) came close to bumping Jones out of the hot seat, but each slotted into a runner-up spot with their runs.

It wasn't until Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre Gravity Republic) came down with a 2:27:544 that Jones had to step aside. Blenkinsop drew lots of cheers with his crowd-pleasing pedalling through the air over jumps as he neared the finish line.

One of the favorites Danny Hart (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) crashed up top and lost a bunch of time though he still finished fast.

Fifth fastest qualifier Loic Bruni (Lapierre Gravity Republic) had similar issues, with a crash and also a flat. Bruni rode his front flat down to the finish, getting plenty of cheers from the crowd en route.

Brosnan, the fourth to last rider down the mountain, had a great run and was up by almost a second at the first split and by 1.3 seconds at the second split before he clocked the fastest time at that point - one second ahead of Blenkinsop.

"The top section was super hard, and I let it all go on the top. I didn't make any mistakes all the way down," said Brosnan. "The last finish line jump kind pushed me and I couldn't get on the pedals right away. I'm stoked to still be on the podium and in the points."

"It's a super fast course, and there was so much coming at you the whole time."

Racing in his home World Cup and hoping for a good run, third fastest qualifier Neko Mulally (Trek World Racing) lost time in the middle section of the course and did not challenge the day's top riders.

After Mulally, the crowd was pumped for another American Gwin. The former World Cup winner was racing in front of a bunch of family, including his grandmother, who managed to make it to the base of the course with the help of a wheelchair. Gwin had a good run, consistently up on Brosnan and taking over the hot seat with a 2:25.913.

"It was good and I was pushing hard. I made two big mistakes at the top and it definitely cost me the win," said Gwin. "I tried to make it i up but you can't do that on this track - it's too short. Other than that, it was a good run. It was awesome to have my family out and everyone here."

Bryceland said, "When I was in the start gate, I heard the crowd for Gwin and I thought, 'oh shit, he's had a good run.' Then it was my turn."

Bryceland, the last man down the mountain, who was the star of the day. He was up by 1.235 seconds at split 1 and 1.726 seconds by split two, eventually beating Gwin by 1.5 seconds.

"It was pretty smooth. It's such a short track - you have to ride aggressively. I don't really like doing that but it seems to have paid off," said Bryceland, who with 1007 points, leads Brosnan (964 points) in the World Cup standings and Gwin with 925 points.

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