Nuke Proof World Cup Team Report from Windham, NY.

Team ChainReactionCycles.com/Nukeproof raced in Windham, USA, at the fifth round of the MTB World Cup over the weekend. Young Lewis Buchanan finished an impressive 18th, Matti Lehikoinen 25th, Joe Smith 29th and Matt Simmonds 49th in the downhill finals. There was no 4X this week so no racing for the Mechura brothers.

The track at Windham was shorter in time and distance from the previous rounds this season, but the race action was as exciting as it gets. Team manager Nigel Page said: “The track was not the steepest, nor did it have the scariest of technical sections but it was more than challenging for the racers to say the least. Each rider had to absolutely pin every part of the track 100% and there was no room for any mistakes. If you made it through the technical rocky sections and big jumps clean you had to pedal where you could and pump the track where you couldn't pedal to gain every millisecond as the times were so close.”

With only 11 seconds separating the top 50 men the times were so close. Lewis Buchanan had a great weekend, qualifying 19th and finishing 18th in the finals, a fantastic result and a great return to form for Lewis. He also had the second fastest speed of the race through the speed trap section and was the third fastest Junior in the competition. We’re expecting this performance to secure Lewis a place on the GB Junior Worlds team for Champery in September.

Matti Lehikoinen finished in a disappointing 25th place after a less than perfect run. Matti’s time was less than three seconds off the top ten, so he needs a bit of luck and a good run to place him where he should be in the results.

Joe Smith had a solid run placing 29th, also with a great time less than one second off the top 20. Joe’s practice runs are up there with the best, so just needs to put together a similar performance in the final runs to bag the result he deserves.

Matt Simmonds finished in a solid 49th place and is still in search of his pre-injury form. We’re sure he’ll find it soon.

Nigel Page said: “A big thanks to Dave and Carl for their hard work keeping the Nukeproof Scalps running sweet, and all our sponsors for their continued support.

We fly back home tomorrow and have one week off before the National Championships in Llangollen.”