2017 Velocity Tour Champion Marcilio Back in the U.S. and Ready for World Finals Push
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – It has been five months since 2017 Velocity Tour champion Alex Marcilio stepped foot in an arena in the United States.
Marcilio returned home to Macaubal, Brazil following the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s Bakersfield Buck Off on April 6 to spend the summer with his wife, Carla, and celebrate their son, Jose Augusto’s, first birthday in August.
“It is very hard to be away from them,” Marcilio said this week. “I went to see my son, who turned 1 year old in August, but I will stay here (in the United States) the rest of the year.”
Marcilio added that he is ready to make a late-push at qualifying for the 2019 PBR World Finals on Nov. 6-10 in Las Vegas.
The 31-year-old is set to compete at this weekend’s Syracuse Showdown in upstate New York on Friday and Saturday night.
There is still plenty of time for Marcilio to qualify for a third consecutive PBR World Finals, and he is entered in three of the final four Velocity Tour regular-season events.
Yes, Marcilio is ranked 77th in the world standings, but he is still only 370 points behind No. 37 Scottie Knapp for the last qualification spot for the 2019 PBR World Finals.
One rider can earn up to 270 points toward the world standings in Syracuse during the two-night event.
Marcilio is 56th in the Velocity Tour standings, but he only needs to earn 105 points to get back inside the Velocity Tour Top 35.
“If I ride well at these last events, I think I can reach the Finals,” Marcilio said.
Marcilio has drawn Borracho for Round 1.
Marcilio is 9-for-33 (27.27%) at all levels of competition this season, including 3-for-9 on the Velocity Tour. He also finished a season-best fourth overall at the Mason Lowe Memorial in St. Louis before ultimately being cut from the Unleash The Beast following the Bad Boy Mowdown on March 1.
Marcilio said he also took some time off in the summer to rest a nagging left groin injury.
“I am very well, ready to ride,” Marcilio said. “I am very well.”
Marcilio competed at a select few rodeos or bull ridings in Brazil this summer to stay in riding shape.
He went 1-for-3 at the PBR Brazil Iron Cowboy events in Americana – riding Euro Copa for 87 points –and he finished in fourth place this summer at the Circuito Rancho Primavera Rodeo in Buritama, Brazil.
Marcilio is one of the best riders currently on the Velocity Tour roster.
He is a career 53.52% bull rider at that level of competition, going 38-for-71, and is a late-season favorite to make a strong push to at least the Velocity Tour Finals.
The last chance for any rider trying to make the World Finals is the Velocity Tour Finals on Nov. 2-3 at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa. Five wild card berths will be awarded to riders who fail to qualify for the World Finals as one of the Top 35 healthy and eligible riders in the world standings.
The top two finishers in the Velocity Tour standings, top two finishers in the event average and the best finishing international invite will receive a wild card spot at the World Finals.
In 2017, Marcilio earned his first bid to the World Finals since 2013 by winning the Velocity Tour championship.
He led the Velocity Tour that season with 28 qualified rides and posted a 59.57 percent riding percentage in 22 events when he won the 2017 Velocity Tour championship on a tiebreaker over Ramon de Lima.
Lima also is competing in Syracuse this weekend as he tries to make a late push to Las Vegas after being cut from the Unleash The Beast in March and then breaking his collarbone at the Wichita, Kansas, Velocity Tour event on April 13.
Don’t rule Lima out for a berth to the Finals, either. The 2018 World Champion contender is 19-for-45 (42.22%) at all levels of competition and looked solid at the Calgary Stampede (3-for-5). However, Lima then had to miss an additional two months after aggravating his collarbone in Calgary.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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