Day four proved to be disastrous for numerous teams . On the World Trophy side , Teams Canada , Venezuela , Portual , Austria , Poland , New Zealand , and Australia all had a rider retire from their teams ; Team Australia suffered from a rider with a dislocated shoulder ( Todd Waters ), only to have another rider , Josh Green , retire on day 5 with two broken bones in his hand .
Team USA suffered bike issues , with Dante Oliveira dealing with residual problems from day 3 as well as a few new issues . After all the problems , the team was still able to keep a solid hold on fifth place , only 13 minutes behind the leader , Great Britain .
The Women ' s team suffered a tragic end to their championship dreams with Brandy Richards suffering a crash in the first test , hitting her head and ribs and causing the team to make the tough decision to pull her out of competition . Despite the unfortunate situation , it was the right call to make , putting the rider ' s health above the desire to win .
" Brandy is the toughest human I know ," said Gutish . " It was simply unsafe for her to continue . While we ' re disappointed to lose the trophy , it isn ' t worth risking your lilfe for . The right call was made and I ' m proud of her and the team doctor for knowing it was time to withdraw . Korie and I will continue to ride as individuals and fight to the finish ,
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 90