NZ bulldog MacDonald put in an unbelievable run in Val Di Sole.

In confirmation of the speed he's had all year, Brook MacDonald threw down a classic 'Bulldog' run on the steep and root strewn track in Italy at the final round of the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. After dislocating his knee in training the day before, there was doubt about his ability to race, yet a strong showing in yesterday's qualifiers for a 10th place showed he had gas in the tank and was ready for a strong final result.

Meanwhile Laurie Greenland, who had already wrapped up the World Cup title prior to this round, had next month's World Championships on his mind as he rode a smooth and slightly cautious final to take 3rd place. The result was his 9th podium in a row this year, and kept his record of constant top 3 results since Méribel last year, intact.

George Brannigan who had qualified well in 9th place lost 2 seconds in the second sector which pushed him out of the top 10 into 17th, but ended up25th overall for the year. Greg Williamson finished his downhill race season with today's race, taking 33rd place and moving up to 32nd in the overall.

Brook said: "Man that was a great run, I enjoyed it so much. About a third of the way in I was hitting everything just as I wanted and I was able to pick things up by the end of the 2nd sector. In the final sector I just let it rip, and was stoked to see I was 2secs quicker than the rest when I crossed the line. Great to be back on the podium, and I know I've had that speed all year but stupid little errors or wash outs have stopped me converting my runs into podiums. To finish the season ranked top 10 after some messy results like Windham, well I'm pretty happy about that. The fans were amazing today and I just want to thank every fan that has supported me both on-line and live at the races this year, it means more than you know."

Laurie said: "The podium today was amazing. So many people came to watch us get our trophies for the season overall and it meant a lot. Coming into this race it was hard not to think about the World Championships coming up in a couple of weeks and as I came into the finish arena the first thought I had was 'yes, I'm uninjured for Worlds!'. Huge thanks to Ben my mechanic; he's kept me on a fast machine all year, and thanks to all the sponsors for being such a big part of helping me achieve this goal of Junior World Cup Champion."

The next major event is the UCI World Championships in Vallnord, Andorra, from September 1 to 7.