Defending Champions Valkenswaard United have extended their lead in the Global Champions League after a second-place finish in the Miami leg on Saturday which was won by London Knights.

Having won the opening leg in Mexico last week, Valkenswaard had a five point lead over St. Tropez Pirates coming into the Miami Contest, and they now head the leaderboard by eight points, with London Knights moving into second place in the table and St. Tropez Pirates dropping to third after they finished third in the latest event.

With two riders per team, it was Alberto Zorzi and Bertram Allen who lined out for Valkenswaard over the two days of the Miami leg. Both went clear in Thursday’s opening round, and Zorzi repeated the feat with Cornetto K yesterday, but Allen and Hector van d’Abdijhoeve had 8 faults which equaled the tally of London Knights, but the league leaders had to settle for second place on time.

“I am so happy for the team”, said Zorzi. “Last week we won, today we were second.”

The winning London Knights team were represented by Ben Maher (Don Vito) and Kent Farrington (Creedance), while third-placed St. Tropez competed with Jerome Guery (Grand Cru van de Rosenberg) and Simon Delestre (Hermes Ryan).

Guery went on to win the Grand Prix, for which the team event doubled as the opening round.

Of the other Irish riders involved, Darragh Kenny had eight faults with Gasper van den Doorn for his team Paris Panthers who finished 15th, while Michael Kearins’ Moscow Bears team continue to struggle, finishing last of the 18 teams and now also last in the overall standings.

Cian O’Connor has yet to take to the arena for Miami Glory whose two participants, in what for them was a home leg, were Scott Brash and Georgina Bloomberg. The team ended up in 12th position in this leg, and are in sixth place overall.

Mike Dunne

Global Champions League Standings after Miami
1. Valkenswaard United 55
2. London Knights 47
3. St. Tropez Pirates 46
4. Chantilly Pegasus 38
5. Hamburg Diamonds 31
6. Miami Glory 29
7 Doha Fursan Qatar 27
8. Rome Gladiators 27
9. Cannes Stars 27
10. Shanghai Swans 25
11. Mexico Amigos 24
12. Madrid In Motion 23
13. Vienna Eagles 19
14. Monaco Aces 16
15. Paris Panthers 16
16. Cascais Charms 13
17. Berlin Lions 12
18. Moscow Bears 9