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..jpg)
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. .jpg)
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.
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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.
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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.
