Isabella Holmgren and Cole Punchard (Pivot Cycles – OTE) come away with wins in dominant solo performances, while Kira Böhm (Cube Factory Racing) and Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing – Pirelli) lead the overall series with one round to go.
After Friday’s high-intensity UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup races, today saw the turn of the Olympic (XCO) format for the U23 age category. It was also the first time fans got to see the full extent of the newly unveiled Mt Van Hoevenberg – Lake Placid course, and it once again didn’t disappoint.
While the Men’s and Women’s U23 XCC races were both close contests until the last, the XCO formats presented a punchier, feature-packed course, and two athletes seized the opportunity to break away and solo to the line.
HOLMGREN KEEPS UP 100% RECORD
Twenty-four hours earlier, Isabella Holmgren was forced to settle for second in the Women’s U23 UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup – the new UCI XCC and XCO World Champion unable to keep up with Kira Böhm’s (Cube Factory Racing) final lap surge.
In the XCO, the Canadian wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. Part of a sizeable leading group in the first lap, the 19-year-old made her move on the course’s main climb on lap two and it would prove decisive. Pulling away from the pack, she was able to put 37 seconds into second place Böhm by the end of lap two, and it was a gap that would continue to grow with each loop.
Behind her, Böhm, Ginia Calouri (Willier-Vittoria Factory Team XCO) and Madigan Munro (Trek Factory Racing – Pirelli) were the next group on course, but the trio appeared to be more interested in battling for the remaining podium spots rather than reeling in the Canadian.
Holmgren’s advantage allowed her to ease up on the final lap, savouring the adoration of the many Canadians who had made the trip over the border to be at the USA’s WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series round.
Crossing the line, she maintained her incredible 100%-win record for all four XCO races she’s entered in the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series and will be looking to make it a fantastic five at her home event in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec next weekend.
Böhm edged away from Calouri and Munro in the last lap to secure second, while the Swiss Calouri pipped the local favourite on the line to claim third.
Speaking after the race, Isabella Holmgren said: “It was a super tough race today. Really hard course. I just went full gas the whole time. It was super special to wear the jersey today in the race. The crowd was amazing. Lots of Americans and quite a few Canadians came out since we’re quite close to the border. It was really nice to have some good crowds out there today. It was super tough. There’s a really long climb for pretty much the first half of the course. It feels like you’re going up forever. I tried to keep it a hard pace for the whole climb, and I made a bit of a gap and did my best to hold it.
PUNCHARD WINS FIRST UCI U23 XCO WORLD CUP
Just like in the U23 UCI XCC World Cup race, all eyes were on Riley Amos. But it wasn’t to be for the series leader, with another North American – Cole Punchard – seizing the initiative from the off.
Just like in the Women’s U23, a big group led by Luke Weidmann (Thömus Maxon) remained bunched together as the pack crossed the line for the first time. But when Punchard attacked, unlike Holmgren’s efforts in the earlier race, one rider – the previous day’s U23 XCC winner Dario Lillo (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) – was able to hold his wheel.
The pair held a marginal lead over Amos and newly crowned UCI Cross-country Olympic World Champion, Luca Martin (Orbea Factory Team) at the halfway point of the race, but when a puncture put a dent in Lillo’s efforts, Punchard sensed it was his time to attack again.
The Canadian cleverly used the Swiss rider’s misfortune as a launch pad, extending his lead out to over a minute, and by the time he crossed the line for the final time, he had enough of an advantage to let the experience of his first UCI U23 XCO World Cup win sink in.
Behind him, Lillo had managed to recover to find himself in a group with Alex Junior Malacarne (Trinity Racing MTB) and Amos, and the up-and-coming Swiss star used his XCC prowess to sprint his way to second, Malacarne pipping Amos to third.
Speaking after the race, Cole Punchard said: “That’s such an unreal race. Riding from the front all race long. The crowd here, everyone cheering my name, is just unreal. The power you feel at the front of a race is just crazy and I was riding my tempo every lap, ticking off sections lap by lap. When Dario [Lillo] flatted, I was just like ‘okay we’re going right to the end’, and I just wanted to hang on. Two laps to go, I couldn’t believe the gap behind. I was just riding for my life. That was an unreal race. So fun. Canada next week baby!”
The action continues tomorrow in Mt Van Hoevenberg – Lake Placid with the men’s and women’s Elite UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup from 11:30 (EDT). Find out how to watch all the racing here.
