McDonald back on world stage

Danielle McDonald is back chasing International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) glory with team Australia, this time in Portugal. McDonald is competing alongside long-time ISDE rider Jess Gardiner and ISDE debutante Madi Simpson, with the trio taking on the Women’s World Trophy. They are competing against some of the world’s best riders at the historic 100th anniversary edition of the event. The six-day competition is being held in Grândola, Portugal, from 12 to 17 October, with more than 500 riders from over 30 nations tackling challenging terrain across cork forests, wild landscapes and the Atlantic coastline. For McDonald, this year’s event marks her fourth ISDE appearance after an impressive run in recent years. She has claimed silver medals with Australia’s Women’s World Trophy team at each of her previous appearances in 2023, 2024 and 2025. This year Australia has made a strong start to their campaign, sitting second in the Women’s World Trophy standings after the opening two days of racing. Day one saw Australia second outright in the Women's World Trophy fight with team USA three minutes quicker than team Australia. McDonald was the third fastest outright on the day and the fastest for team Australia with a time of 53 minutes and 16.31 seconds. Reflecting on her opening day in Portugal, McDonald said it was a solid day for the team but a not so good day for herself. "Just struggling to find my flow and a few too many crashes. Clean it up for tomorrow and come out swingin," she posted to her social media. Day two saw Australia as the fastest women's team overall recording a combined time of 3:02:29.77, ahead of second place for the day, team USA, with their time of 3:06:36.18. Australia's combined day one and two times is 5:30:08.58, leaving Australia 3 minutes and 55.6 seconds behind first place, team USA. With four days of competition to go McDonald will continue to leave it all out on the track as she chases her first ISDE win with Gardiner and Simpson.