Jordan Williams grabs fourth at 2021 World Cup opener

Jordan Williams took a fantastic fourth place on his debut ride for the Madison Saracen Factory Race Team, as the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup got underway in Leogang.

Williams, racing at his first ever world cup and in his first year of junior competition delivered a standout performance in challenging conditions.

After a big crash in practice, Williams salvaged the day to qualify in seventh and upped his game for finals on a rapidly drying track.

Riding a consistent top section of the track his split times were good for sixth place at the halfway point. Jordan picked up speed through the lower sections and moved up to fourth by the finish, 3.517 seconds back on the race winner.

Veronika Widmann also made her Madison Saracen debut in the elite women’s competition, finishing ninth in both qualifying and finals. The race was her first world cup since 2019, having crashed out in Leogang at the 2020 world championships.

In the elite men’s competition Matt Walker finished his race run in 25th position. Coming into the race as defending world cup champion and the number one on his bike, Matt showed top-10 pace on the first half of the track in both qualifying and race runs, but lost time in the second half of the track. 

World Cup competition resumes on July 3-4 when riders line up in Les Gets, France for round two of the series.