Laurie Greenland

English MTB Downhill racer Laurie Greenland's love of the sport began when he was given his first mountain bike at the age of eight. Laurie grew up in Bristol, UK, in a house that overlooked the city's St George's Skatepark, which fed his love of skateboarding and BMX, and it was Laurie's father that encouraged the young Laurie away from the park and out and about on his mountain bike. Much of his early years of riding his mountain bike were spent in South Wales, where Laurie began to learn about racing at the Dragon Downhill Series, which ran from 1998 to 2008 (and was organised by the father of up-and-coming off-read cycling star Manon Carpenter). Racing in locations such as Rheola, Abercarn and Mountain Ash was inspiring to Laurie, who says: "I used to watch the Earthed films back in the day and see all my heroes riding tracks like Rheola. Then having the chance to go myself was really cool." It wasn't long before Laurie took the youth scene by storm, posting Elite times before he was even five feet [1.52m] in height and going on to land the UCI Junior World Championship title in Vallnord in 2015. Having moved up to the Elite ranks in 2016 Laurie's aggressive riding style landed him second place at the senior UCI World Championships at Val di Sole, an Italian track that seems to suit him perfectly. Laurie came second at the UCI World Cup Downhill at the Italian venue in 2018 and took the win there in 2019 - his first senior World Cup victory. With a third place finish as well in Les Gets, 2019 was most definitely the year that he made the step up to become a serious World Cup contender. A further third place finish in Maribor in 2021 further confirmed that. Currently part of the Mondraker team and riding a Summum Carbon Pro Team, Laurie looks set to add many more Elite level podiums to his burgeoning trophy cabinet in years to come.