The UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup elite finals in Andorra are to go ahead after being postponed due to high winds. The prospect of worsening conditions meant that the races had been set to start earlier than planned on Saturday in a reduced format - with no semi-final - but a worsening outlook early on Saturday morning forced a further safety hold. Now, after favourable weather updates, the finals will be live from 14:30 (CEST) on GCN+ globally, Eurosport.com and discovery+ The women - whose race will also be live on Eurosport 2 -will be on track from 14:45 and the men at 15:30. A statement by the UCI WBD Sports and the local organisers reads: "Due to extreme wind speeds Saturday's UCI Downhill World Cup will go ahead on a reduced schedule. "This safety decision has been made by the UCI, WBD Sports and the local organisers to ensure the welfare of the athletes, teams, marshals, volunteers, spectators, and everyone working at the event. "There will be no semi-final race." The juniors went between the tapes during Friday’s sunshine and enjoyed dry and dusty conditions. It was new World Champion Erice Van Leuven (Commencal Les Orres) who backed up her triumph in Scotland by taking the win in the women’s race by a hefty 5.3 seconds from Colombian Valentina Roa Sanchez (Transition Factory Racing). France’s Lisa Bouladou was third but keeps hold of the leader’s jersey. In the junior men, USA’s Ryan Pinkerton (GT Continental Factory Racing) made good on some scorching qualifying runs by taking the win by just over a second from Italy’s Christian Hauser (Union - Forged by Steel City Media). Bodhi Kuhn (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) ended up fifth but retains the lead in the overall. The Cross-country racing is due to continue on Sunday when the fifth round of the UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup gets underway in Andorra. Full results from the weekend’s racing so far are available here. Full details on on how to catch the weekend's action on TV
Switzerland’s Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Racing) dominated the dry and dusty conditions in the elite women’s short-track race at Pal Arinsal, Andorra to take her first win of the 2023 season. The 2022 overall champion in both UCI Mountain Bike cross-country formats controlled the high-altitude action for most of the series’s fifth-round race crossing the line some six seconds ahead of hard-charging Brit Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing XC). In the sixth of eight laps the pair managed to gap a group containing third-placed finisher Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Martina Berta (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team). Newly-crowned World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers) came in sixth. Keller now takes the lead from Ferrand-Prévot in the overall standings. In the men’s race it was another characteristically high-powered display from series leader Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) that saw him take his third short-track win of the season. The German was pushed hard by Switzerland’s Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) who came in second from a front group that included third-placed finisher Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC). Schwarzbauer mastered the 2,000m altitude and once again spent most of the nine-lap race in front to extend his lead in the overall standings. The U23 riders were in short-track action on Thursday afternoon with Switzerland’s Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory Racing) making it her fifth straight win of the season by edging out Kiwi Samara Maxwell on the line. Blöchlinger leads the rankings. In the U23 men, it was a third 2023 win for France’s Adrien Boichis (Trinity Racing MTB) with the USA’s Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing XC) in second. Boichis leads the overall ahead of round six. The action continues on Saturday when the UCI Downhill World Cup semi-finals and finals take place on the super-fast and technical 1.6km track from Andorra’s Pic del Cubil to Fontanals. And on Sunday the cross-country athletes are back between the tapes for the fifth round of the UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup. For the full results, schedule and more information on this week’s races click here. You can watch this weekend’s action live globally on GCN+, and across Europe on Eurosport.com and discovery+. For more information on Where to Watch: Pal Arinsal Andorra, click here
The 2023 UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup has been closer than ever, impossible to predict and already a record breaker.Now, approaching the halfway point with three of eight rounds in the bag, it’s Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and Camille Balanche (Dorval AM Commencal) who are leading the way in the elite fields coming into Andorra.Goldstone is out front by a scant 12 points from his Canadian countryman Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity). In third place just 32 points further back is France’s Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing Gravity).In the women’s, Balanche leads newly-crowned World Champion Valentina Höll (Rockshox Trek Race Team) by just 38 points. British downhill legend Rachel Atherton (Continental Atherton) lies in third after racing at just two of the first three 2023 rounds.The UCI mountain bike World Series Downhill season kicked off at the start of June in Lenzerheide in Switzerland. The form book was promptly torn up with two of the most notable wins in recent history - Britain’s Atherton took an unprecedented 40th UCI World Cup win after a break of several years. The men’s race was won by another Brit but this one was a rider racing their first-ever elite level UCI World Cup - Specialized Gravity’s Jordan Williams. The series then moved across the border to Leogang in Austria - a venue that always produces close racing.History was made yet again with a double Austrian win on home soil. Valentina Höll finally ticked off victory at her home track to get the crowd going before Andreas Kolb sent them into raptures with his debut UCI World Cup win after nearly a decade of trying.The third round took place on one of the most terrifying tracks of all - Val di Sole Trentino. Again, Höll struck gold with her second win of the season. Superb consistency however sees her great rival Balanche still sporting the overall points jersey. Will she still have it in her possession come Saturday evening in Pal Arinsal - Andorra?The Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Jackson Goldstone had had enough of watching his rivals doing the winning and stormed to his debut elite win at Val Di Sole with one of the best runs of the season so far. Incredibly, it put the 18-year-old Canadian into the overall points leader's vest. In the Junior standings after three rounds, it’s France’s Lisa Bouladou leading the women’s overall and Bodhi Kuhn (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) leading the men’s.We can’t wait to find out who can take to the top step this weekend in Pal Arinsal Andorra. You can watch all the action across GCN+ (globally), on the Eurosport App, discovery+ and the UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel. To find out more, click here.
The UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cups in 2023 have seen new players, impossibly tight head-to-head racing and history made. As riders prepare for the fifth round of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup in Andorra this weekend, the overall standings in the elite fields reveal a mouth-watering showdown in prospect. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers) Going into the second half of the season, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers) and Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) lead the way in the Cross-country Short Track while Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Nino Schurter (Scott SRAM MTB Racing Team) have control of the Cross-country Olympic ranks. Just 14 points separate France’s Ferrand-Prévot and second-placed Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) in the XCC while Schwarzbauer leads Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) by 180 points going into the fifth round. Nino Schurter taking another win in Val Di Sole, Italy. In the Cross-country Olympic rankings, it’s multiple World Champion Schurter who leads the men’s field by some 122 points from France’s Sarrou. Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) trails Sarrou by just five points back in third. Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) In the women’s XCO standings, it’s Dutch debut elite Pieterse who leads the way by 296 points from Ferrand-Prévot who comes to Andorra in fantastic form fresh from a second consecutive World Championship win in Scotland. Austrian Stigger is another 110 points back in third. Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) The opening Endurance race of the year kicked off in the Czech Republic in Nove Mesto na Morave back in May. In the elite women’s category there was a changing of the generational guard with two debut winners. Stigger won the Cross-country short track and Pieterse took a hard-fought victory in the Cross-country Olympic. Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) The elite men’s races were dominated by Ineos Grenadiers’ Tom Pidcock who did the double. Lenzerheide in Switzerland followed and Jenny Rissveds (Team 31 Ibis Cycles Continental) and Schwarzbauer took the short track wins whilst Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV) won the women’s Cross-country Olympic race. In the men’s, it was over to Schurter to make history by taking a record 34th UCI World Cup win in front of an ecstatic home crowd. Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV) The following week brought with it a very different set of circumstances as riders headed for Leogang in Austria. The steepest track of the year ensured that the racing would be all about the climbers. The French pairing of Ferrand-Prévot and Sarrou took the Cross-country short track wins whilst Puck Pieterse and Lars Forster (Thömus Maxon) won over the longer distance. Val di Sole Trentino in Italy was the next stop and the first chance for the Italian fans to see their Endurance heroes go bar-to-bar this season. Laura Stigger edged out Puck Pieterse in a photo finish in the short track whilst Jordan Sarrou won the men’s race. Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) In the Cross-country Olympic races, Puck Pieterse took another win, this time ahead of Martina Berta (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) whilst Nino Schurter scooped a 35th career win with Mathias Flückiger in second. After four rounds in the U23 women’s short-track it’s Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory Racing) of Switzerland leading the overall and in the men’s it’s France’s Adrien Boichis (Trinity Racing MTB) out in front. In the U23 Olympic distance, it’s Boichis again leading the way in the men’s and in the women’s it’s Dane Sofie Pedersen (Wilier-Pirelli Factory Team XCO). You can watch all the action from Pal Arinsal - Andorra across GCN+ (globally), on the Eurosport App, discovery+ and the UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel. More information about the races taking place in Pal Arinsal - Andorra is available here.
The UCI Mountain Bike World Series kicks off the second half of the season in Pal Arinsal - Andorra, this weekend. But where in the world are we, what makes it special and what should we expect from the Endurance and Gravity tracks?Here’s all that you need to know:High altitude hideawayThe Principality of Andorra is situated on the Iberian peninsula and is bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. It’s a microstate consisting of a total of 467 km squared. Situated in the eastern Pyrenees it’s highest peak is the Coma Pedrosa (2942m vertical) and, in terms of mountain biking, it is home to Max Commencal’s eponymous bike company. The country is a co-principality currently presided over by the Bishop of Urgell (Joan Enric Vives) and the President of France (Emanuel Macron) jointly and a parliament of local councilors. Tourism accounts for roughly 80% of its GDP. This is comfortably the highest round of the year. The start of the downhill track is at 2400m vertical whilst the Cross-country tracks are situated at 1900m vertical. What are the tracks like? The UCI World Cup first came to Andorra back in 2008 and since then it has been producing thrillers. The downhill track is the third one to have featured in the principality. The high altitude is less of a factor for the Gravity athletes but can come into play towards the bottom of the run. The latest version of the Andorran track is one of the shortest of the year however at just 1.6km in length with a vertical drop of 427m vertical. The top half is brutally fast right from the gate (which is situated just a couple of meters inside the border with Spain) and it’s a theme which continues right to the new-look finish bowl. Around the halfway point it swaps bullet-fast hardpack for super choppy rock gardens, open off-camber piste and widely-taped wooded sections. The latter of which are new for this year and are coated in a deep covering of fluffy loam. Expect it to change dramatically as the week wears on. The Cross-country tracks are dominated by altitude. Many Endurance racers use altitude as part of their training regimes but when it comes to monstering around the 3.8km lap of the Cross-country Olympic track. At this kind of altitude oxygen levels are reduced by around 25% which can dramatically effect performances. Some riders are better at it than others and there are a variety of ways to deal with it. Extremely dry, scorching climbs and dusty rock gardens mix with root-lined wood sections to make for a supremely tough high altitude dust up. Who has done well here in the past? Last year's races in Pal Arinsal - Andorra finished like this:Downhill Elite Women1st. Vali Höll: 3:09.8032nd. Nina Hoffmann: 3:13.3413rd. Camille Balanche: 3:13.4874th. Jess Blewitt: 3:15.0025th. Mille Johnset: 3:15.922Downhill Elite Men1st. Loris Vergier: 2:44.5002nd. Loic Bruni: 2:45.9183rd. Finn Iles: 2:46.1974th. Aaron Gwin: 2:46.9135th. Andreas Kolb: 2:47.519Cross-country Short Track Elite Women1st. Alessandra Keller 20:502nd. Anne Terpstra 0:013rd. Rebecca McConnell 0:054th. Linda Indergand 0:125th. Laura Stigger 0:16Cross-country Short Track Elite Men1st. Mathias Flueckiger 20:552nd. Alan Hatherly +0:013rd. Vlad Dascalu +0:044th. Thomas Litscher +0:115th. Jordan Sarrou +0:12Cross-country Olympic Elite Women1st. Anne Terpstra: 1:15:212nd. Mona Mitterwallner: 1:16:183rd. Ramona Forchini: 1:16:554th. Laura Stigger: 1:17:045th. Caroline Bohé: 1:17:10 Cross-country Olympic Elite Men1st. Luca Braidot: 1:15:312nd. David Valero Serrano: 1:15:413rd. Nino Schurter: 1:15:584th. Vlad Dascalu: 1:16:095th. Jordan Sarrou: 1:16:21Where can I watch it?You can watch all the action from Pal Arinsal - Andorra live on GCN+ globally, Eurosport 1, Eurosport app and discovery+ across Europe. For a detailed schedule of where and how to tune in, click here.
The UCI Mountain Bike World Series is back as the second half of the race season kicks off this weekend in Pal Arinsal, Andorra. This incredible venue makes its ninth appearance in the international calendar, with athletes lining up to take on the famously steep trails that sit at a lung-busting altitude of over 2000m! You can watch all the action from the UCI Cross-country Olympic, short track and downhill World Cups across GCN+ (globally), on the Eurosport App, discovery+ and the UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel. Friday 25 August Live on UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel:12.40 CEST UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup - Junior FinalsLive on GCN+ globally, Eurosport 1, Eurosport app and discovery+ across Europe:From 17:15 CEST UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Short Track World Cup - Elite **UPDATED** Saturday 26 August Due to extreme wind speeds Saturday's UCI Downhill World Cup will go ahead on a reduced schedule. This safety decision has been made by the UCI, WBD Sports and the local organisers to ensure the welfare of the athletes, teams, marshals, volunteers, spectators, and everyone working at the event. There will be no semi-final race. 14:30 Elite Finals LIVE on GCN+ globally, and across Europe on the Eurosport.com and discovery+ The women's final will also be broadcast live on Eurosport 2 Sunday 27 AugustLive on GCN+ globally, and across Europe on the Eurosport app and discovery+:From 12:30 CEST UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Olympic World Cup - Elite You can find out more about Pal Arinsal - Andorra here.
The world of mountain bike racing has had a bit of a summer holiday, albeit a busy one. With this year’s UCI Cycling World Champions crowned in Glasgow, Scotland over the first mega event of its kind it is finally time for the UCI Mountain Bike World Series to roar into life for the second half of the season. And what a place to do so - Pal Arinsal - Andorra is a unique venue for a few reasons and some riders are arriving here off the back of huge wins, whilst others remained on the hunt for a badly needed ‘W’. Here then are some of the names to watch this weekend in Pal Arinsal - Andorra: Charlie Hatton (Continental Atherton Race Team) What a difference a day makes, eh? So long a protege of the Atherton family’s race team, mild-mannered yet searingly fast Charlie Hatton is the newly-crowned UCI World Champion in elite men’s Downhill. The 25 year-old beat the world’s best on a wet afternoon in Fort William and having been in and around the top 10 for a few seasons now, he will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Danny Hart (Cube Factory Racing) and Reece Wilson (Trek Factory Racing) and back up that Worlds win by taking a debut UCI World Cup victory. All eyes are on Charlie. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) A living legend of the sport, France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot openly admitted that the first half of the season was a dress rehearsal to help her to adjust to life in her new team. Her performances at the UCI World Championships in Glentress were every bit as impressive and dominant as those conjured up in Les Gets 12 months prior. The last four UCI World Champion Cross-country titles have now gone her way. Will we see the same all-conquering realignment of what’s possible in Andorra? Camille Balanche (Dorval AM Commencal) The Swiss racer was third last time in the elite women’s Downhill round in Andorra, but she desperately needs to go two spots better in 2023. Her arch rival Valentina Höll (RockShox Trek Race Team) is currently running amuck at the front of the field, has a new set of rainbow stripes and looks as though she’ll hit the second half of the season like a wrecking ball. If Balanche wants to keep her crown, she needs to get on terms and a win in Pal Arinsal - Andorra would feel like the place to start. Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) An 18 year-old leads the overall points chase in the elite men’s ranks of the UCI Downhill World Cup. It’s a staggering stat that puts him already comfortably into the pages of the mountain bike history books. The Canadian missed the UCI World Championships to hopefully put pay to his season-long battle against (what was left of) his own appendix. The Santa Cruz Syndicate rider took his debut elite win in Val di Sol - can he add to it at a track that he’s won at as a Junior? There is plenty of action and intrigue set to unfold at the latest round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series when racing gets underway this weekend in Pal Arinsal - Andorra. Find out where you can watch here.
This storied venue makes its ninth appearance on the UCI International Mountain Bike Calendar, with riders lining up to take on the famously-steep Pyrenean trails, that sit at a lung-busting altitude of more than 2,000 metres, for both the UCI Cross-country and UCI Downhill World Cups. Fresh from the UCI Cycling World Championships (held in Glasgow and across Scotland from 3 to 13 August), athletes now shift their focus to the sharp end of the UCI World Cup calendar. The first elite athletes to get between the tapes will be the cross-country riders, who will kick off their week with the cross-country short track (XCC) on Friday evening, before lining up again on Sunday for the cross-country Olympic (XCO). In the women’s race few would bet against Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers) after her dominant performance in Glentress, Scotland, saw her crowned UCI World Champion for both the XCC and XCO. However, it’s Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who leads the current UCI XCO World Cup standings so expect a strong showing from her, as she fights to maintain that lead. In the men’s competition, Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) remains the man to beat in the XCO, as he leads the standings by more than 100 points, ahead of France’s Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) in second and Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) in third. In the XCC standings it’s Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) who’s way out front and he’ll be working hard to stay at the top of the leaderboard as we head into the last half of the race season. In the UCI Downhill World Cup all eyes will be on the newly-crowned UCI World Champions, Charlie Hatton (Continental Atherton) and Valentina Höll (Rockshox Trek Race Team). Höll currently trails series leader Camille Balanche (Dorval AM Commencal) in the overall standings, but less than 50 points separate the pair and a win from either this Saturday would secure them the series lead. The stakes couldn’t be higher in the men’s race, where just 12 points lie between series leader Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and fellow Canadian Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity). And just over 30 points back lies Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing Gravity). However, Hatton will be heading into the weekend feeling confident after his decisive UCI World Champs victory in Fort William and is more than capable of a podium finish in Pal Arinsal. To follow all the racing live from Andorra be sure to tune into GCN+ . More information about the races taking place in Pal Arinsal is available here.
It’s less than two months to go until the biggest mountain bike festival of the year gets underway - and you can be there. The UCI Mountain Bike World Series Festival, Haute-Savoie - Châtel, Les Gets, Morzine-Avoriaz kicks off next month and is like nothing that’s gone before. Featuring no less than 20 individual UCI Mountain Bike World Cups, this brand new festival is the biggest celebration of mountain biking the world has ever seen. Each of the major mountain bike formats will be represented across the ten days; Cross-country Olympic, Short Track, Marathon, Downhill, Enduro and E-Enduro. The biggest names in the sport will be taking to the iconic trails of this most famous of race venues - but they’re not the only ones. Amateur racers are invited to get between the tapes at the Marathon of Morzine and the Enduro of Chatel , allowing them to race the same trails as the biggest names in the sport and compare their times against the World’s best riders. Racers in the Marathon of Morzine will take on an epic 100km course that encompasses the very best terrain that the region has to offer. Featuring some very challenging climbs, the views at the top and the thrilling singletrack descents will make the event worthwhile. Enduro riders can test their skills on an incredible multi-stage course at the Enduro of Châtel. This famous venue will not only host an amateur race, but also make its UCI Enduro World Cup debut. Amateur racers get to take on the same course as the pros, then watch them hit the same lines the next day. And for those not brave enough to take to the start line, there’s a whole programme of festival events to enjoy instead. Each of the venues (Châtel, Les Gets and Morzine-Avoriaz), will have a dedicated Red Bull fan zone to make sure you can follow all the race action as it happens. There’s also film nights, ride-outs and parties throughout the ten days across all three festival sites. For more information on how to enter the Marathon of Morzine and the Enduro of Chatel click here.
UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Short Track World Cup Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) 860 points (+80) The king of horsepower, Luca Schwarzbauer continues to threaten to turn the world back on its axis with his corss-country short track (XCC) performances. Not only does he have almost irresistible reserves of firepower however, in 2023 he’s becoming a pass master in where and how to best deploy them. There have been some clever performances in his wake but ultimately no-one has found an answer to getting past the big German. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) 720 points (+14) Consistency has long been multiple UCI World Champ Pauline Ferrand-Prevot’s watchword and this season, despite stating that she’d prefer to be winning UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Olympic World Cup races, she’s been a podium constant on Friday evenings. UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Olympic World Cup Nino Schurter (Scott SRAM MTB Racing Team) 848 points (+122) Rumour has it that teams of scholars of linguistics are combing the farthest flung corners of the earth in an attempt to unearth as-yet unheard superlatives for what Nino Schurter is accomplishing in 2023. Joking aside, when he goes, he goes and no-one has any answers for it. Lenzerheide (where he took the overall wins record) and Val di Sole (where he vanished at the front of the race) were both vintage displays and well worthy of the points lead. Behind him his rivals continue to scrap and take points off of each other. Puck Pieterse (Alpecin Deceuninck) 1096 points (+296) The Flying Dutchwoman is rapidly becoming the stand out, brightest star of 2023. She’s a threat in the UCI XCC World Cup but it’s in the UCI XCO World Cup where she really comes to life. Three out of four rounds have gone her way - it looks highly likely that more will follow. UCI Mountain Bike E-Enduro World Cup Fabien Barel 546 points (+13) One of the most established figureheads of international mountain bike racing refuses to hang up his painstakingly well-positioned cleats. Barel is pioneering onwards on a new battlefield - E-EDR. He remains cagey about how many more rounds he will compete in but rest assured if he has a leader's jersey to defend then he will take to the start stage. Flo Espineira (Orbea Fox Enduro Team) 708 points (+49) Popular Chilean Flo Espineira is one of those journeyman racers who seems to have landed in a format that suits her down to the ground. Laura Charles (Miranda Factory Team) remains a thorn in her side but as long as Flo keeps smiling, she’ll keep the lead. UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup Richie Rude (Yeti / Fox Factory Racing Team) 1862 points (+173) They say that the third time's a charm but could this be the season that America’s Richie Rude finally clinches his third overall title for Yeti / Fox Factory Racing Team? The UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup is proving to be a tightly-contested theatre of conflict as ever. Only two riders (Sam Hill and Cecile Ravanel) have managed to snare three titles in staged racing over the years. Rude is on two and, for now, looks confident of making it three. Isabeau Courdurier (Lapierre Zipp Collective) 2210 points (+144) Much more so than the elite men’s ranks, elite women’s side of the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup is more used to seeing single dominating figures loom large at the top of the overall points tables. But over the last couple of years, that has shifted. New faces have emerged and rivalries have dug in. Isabeau Courdurier, already an overall winner, is under pressure from Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) but is still holding on to the jersey. UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup Camille Balance (Commencal AM Dorval) 1020 points (+38) In the elite women’s ranks of the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup the momentum feels like it is firmly with one Valentina Höll (XXXX). The reigning UCI World Champion won at home in Leogang and backed it up with a win in Val di Sole Trentino. But, crucially, it’s not yet been enough to remove the leaders jersey from the shoulders of the reigning overall title holder Camille Balanche. The Swiss star will be hoping that the summer break takes some of the momentum out of Höll’s current stellar form. Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 786 points (+12) The early season headlines and plaudits (rightly) went to Jackson Goldstone’s rival Jordan Williams (Specialized Gravity) when he won his first ever elite level UCI World Cup win at the first time of asking at round one in Lenzerheide. But Goldstone kept working and kept building his speed. It nearly came together in Leogang before his irresistible performance in Val di Sole brought him not only that debut top flight win but also the overall title leaders jersey. It’s tight at the top but, for the moment, an 18 year-old Canadian leads the way.
After a fast and furious start to the season the UCI Mountain Bike World Series visited one of the great cathedrals of mountain bike racing; Val di Sole Trentino in Italy. There was drama up and down the order as racers from both the Endurance and Gravity worlds competed in the mountain bike Cross-country Short Track (XCC), Downhill (DHI) and Cross-country Olympic World Cup competitions.Miss any of the actions? Check out the full highlights, here: The UCI Mountain Bike World Series is now on its mid-season break. You can find full series rankings, here.We are just a few short weeks away from getting racing back underway again in Pal Arinsal, Andorra. Find out all you need to know about that race, here.
Good, wasn’t it?! Val di Sole Trentino in Italy has hosted rounds of the UCI World Cup since 2008 and between the carpet of rock and root that are the cross-country courses and the brutally steep, once dirt-free plummet of its downhill track it usually delivers races worth talking about. As the dust (what’s left of it) continues to settle in Trentino, we dissect some of the big learnings from the 2023 instalment:Mountain biking can be cruel Poor old Luca Martin (Orbea Factory Team). The young Frenchman ploughed a heroic, mostly solo furough throughout the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Olympic World Cup race for the U23 men. Time after time we saw him grit his teeth and grind forward visibly faster and harder than anyone around him. Until disaster struck. A double puncture halfway around the last lap left the Frenchman squirming and crawling towards the line. Martin had come unstuck possibly as a result of pushing too hard, too deep into the race. Carter Woods (Giant Factory Off Road) was the biggest beneficiary and took his second win of the weekend having tasted victory in the XCC. The Black Snake still has fangs after all The biggest criticism of the 2022 edition of the Val di Sole Trentino round of the UCI Downhill World Cup was that the (in)famous Black Snake track was on borrowed time. The majority of the dirt which once lay between its hatchet head rocks and staircase-like roots was all but gone. The organisers made themselves very busy in the off season packing the Black Snake with tens of tons of dirt before the annual snowfall landed and acted as a natural compactor. The first track walk of the week bred a strange kind of malaise amongst the elite riders; the Snake was smoother, a few more corners had been marked, it was all OK. Cue baking heat, torrential rain and a busy practice schedule and the Black Snake was (almost) back to its savage best. Rain affected the elite men’s race but importantly the dirt and the organisers efforts clung on, just. Jackson Goldstone. That is all. What is there to say about a season that has seen not one, but two 18 year-olds take debut UCI Mountain Bike DH World Cup wins? Well, how about that one of them now leads the elite men’s overall title race?! Jackson Goldstone of the Santa Cruz Syndicate came close to winning in Leogang but for a last minute drift out of the woods to have handed victory to Andreas Kolb (Continental Atherton). It never seemed to be in any doubt that he would imminently right that wrong but few would have predicted that we would have had such a short period of time to wait. Goldstone’s race winning run in Val di Sole Trentino was a mesmerising freefall of controlled aggression melded with unerring precision in a melting pot of raw talent. It will live long in the memory amongst the upper echelon of top tier performances that the Trentino hillside seems to habitually produce. The fact that the young Canadian now has the overall title leaders jersey in his luggage is simply the icing on the cake. Nino Schurter might well be the best he’s ever been The most successful XC rider of all time, Switzerland’s Nino Schurter, said at the start of the year that his advancing years mean only that he has to now accept that he cannot win every single race. Chillingly for his rivals however he added that when he felt good however, he would go for it. In the scope of his supremely successful career his record-breaking win in Lenzerheide could almost have been predictable - a fairytale result at the end of a clinically brutal drubbing of the world’s best. His win in Val di Sole, his 35th, was cut from an identical cloth. Schurter attacked every root and rock in front of him and his rivals were left reeling. Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing), over ten years his junior, tried but ultimately couldn’t stick the pace and faded back to fifth. Nino Schurter heads to the UCI World Championships in Glasgow and the second half of the UCI World Cup season as the man to beat. The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships are boiling up a treat For the first time in history the 2023 UCI World Championships, across all disciplines and formats, are taking place in one venue. Glasgow and across Scotland will welcome the world’s best cyclists to do battle for the coveted UCI World Champion’s rainbow stripes. For mountain bike racing fans, battle will be joined in the iconic venues of Fort William and Glentress - two of the most important locations for Scottish mountain biking. For the downhillers, the World Championships will return to a hillside that they haven’t visited since 2007 and for the cross-country racers a brand-new track/leveling playing field to compete on. Oh, and Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) will be competing too… just to add a bit of intrigue. Experience the thrill of watching legends of mountain biking take on the mighty Glentress Forest this summer! These fast-selling tickets are the only way to guarantee your spot for the action in the Tweed Valley. Get your tickets here!
Once upon a not so long time ago, it was extremely hard for younger racers to impress the amassed ranks of battle-hardened UCI World Cup regulars. There would be the odd stand-out result or race run but aside from that properly making an impact on the big stage was a tricky proposition. This season however it feels like a veritable glut of youngsters are making names for themselves in just about every format. You could write a university thesis on the reasons behind this sudden spike in prodigious young talents but for now let's just concentrate on who is riding beyond their years in 2023.Puck Pieterse (Alpecin Deceuninck) The Flying Dutchwoman may just be 21 years of age but in her quietly spoken way she is going about having perhaps the greatest debut season that the UCI XC World Cup has ever seen. Already established as a cyclocross heroine Puck won on her ‘cross bike in Val di Sole when the place was still covered in snow at the UCI World Cup there at the end of last season and did just the same on her mountain bike. She narrowly missed out on a win in the Cross-country Short Track (XCC) on Friday evening to Laura Stigger (Specialized Racing) but what followed on Sunday afternoon was unstoppable. Just as in Leogang, Pieterse rode away from the field and never looked back. She has a Schurter-like ability to distance herself from the chasing herd by attacking seemingly every inch of the track as she goes. The fact that the rest of the world’s best clump together and attempt to group think a solution seems to give her the vital lap or so she needs to disappear up the road. Puck has won three out of four UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cups this season. More would look to be on the cards. Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Factory Racing) Canada’s Gracey Hemstreet is blazing a trail like no other female downhiller at the minute. Still only 18 years of age, the Squamish, BC local has already been knocking at the door. A brace of seventh and one sixth bely an all-action style on the bike which does look like it will equal top step finishes. She set the fastest time at the DH Pre-season Testing event in Lourdes earlier in the year and looks like she has plenty more in the tank. Hemstreet was third in the semi finals in Val di Sole Trentino with a scintillating run that saw her skim her way across the roots and rocks of the brutal Italian track. She finished her finals run in seventh with a crash even setting fastest split times after the impact. The speed is definitely there. Her big rival from last season’s Junior competition, Phoebe Gale (FMD Racing) has already cracked the podium; it should be worth noting as the two continue to make good on their searingly fast early pedigree. Jackson Golstone/Jordan Williams (Santa Cruz Syndicate/Specialized Gravity) It would be impossible to talk about the young riders who are making a name for themselves in 2023 without talking about Jackson Goldstone and Jordan Williams. The UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup is notoriously tough on first-year elite riders. Stellar junior careers can be savagely nullified in the face of the blisteringly fast senior ranks. Bodies can need more muscle as the compression dials are closed a further couple of clicks and race day trajectories are re-calibrated. But there was always a sense that the hard battling Goldstone and Williams might just be different. They finished last season with the UCI World Cup overall title and UCI World Champs title respectively but the shockwaves of Williams’ win at round one in Lenzerheide were still being felt when his rival Goldstone clinched his first in Val di Sole Trentino. Both had posted potentially race winning times in their final junior season but nevertheless the establishment were rocked and for the most part elated. Jackson Goldstone hit the halfway point of the season with the UCI World Cup overall points leader's jersey on his young shoulders. Remy Meier-Smith (Giant Factory Off Road) At just 18 years of age Australia’s Remy Meier-Smith has endured a tough cradling in terms of his junior-level classmates. Between them Jordan Williams and Jackson Goldstone represent two of the biggest, most spotlight-grabbing, headline-writing talents of theirs or just about any other generation. But in the younger Meier-Smith brother there is perhaps a slower burn. In the face of the big name humbling Black Snake track in Val di Sole Trentino, the young Australian danced his way to sixth in qualifying. He overclubbed the following semi final session bringing his retro painted Giant Glory home in 24th but crucially refocussed to light the timing screens up in his race run to finish 10th. There was a big bobble at the base of one of the tracks steepest sections but, that aside, Meier-Smith was on pace amongst the fastest of company and most daunting of terrain. Rhys Verner (Forbidden Synthesis) At 23 years of age, we are starting to see the best of Canada’s Rhys Verner. His move to Forbidden Synthesis from Kona as blossomed into a huge leap forward not only in terms of his own performances but of the whole squad. So much so that they’ve even been scrapping it out with some of the biggest race teams in the teams championship. Verner’s debut win in the Finale Outdoor Region helped massively with that. Enduro is a war of attrition and he rode superbly through a torturous installment of the Italian staple event. He will head to the next UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup in Loudenvielle, France second in the overall behind Richie Rude (Yeti Fox Racing Team). The UCI Mountain Bike World Series now takes a break but will be back in action on August 24-27 in Pal Arinsal, Andorra for more cross-country and downhill action.
