Andreassen wins junior men's XC world title

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The Junior men's cross-country race at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Vallnord, Andorra, began with heavy rain and even some hail, but that did not stop Simon Andreassen (Denmark) from successfully defending his title. Maximilian Brandl (Germany) took silver and Egan Bernal (Colombia) won the bronze medal.

Andreassen came into the race as the favourite, after a strong performance the day before as Denmark took bronze in the Team Relay. Along with Bernal and Brandl, the trio rode away from the rest of the field in the first half lap, and then Andreassen dropped the other two by the end of the first lap to solo in for the title.

Bernal initially took the lead in the chase, but could not decisively drop Brandl, and the German rider finally got a gap in the last half lap to take the silver medal.

Junior women

Italy took its first Cross-country title of the 2015 Mountain Bike World Championships on Thursday at Vallnord, Andorra, with a dominating performance by first year junior, Martina Berta. Evie Richards (Great Britain) took silver, with defending champion Nicole Koller (Switzerland) having to settle for bronze.

Heavy rain overnight left the track muddy and slippery for the women as they started their four-lap race. Richards jumped into the lead on the first climb, but Berta was not far behind and caught the British rider late in the first lap as the nearly 2000 metre altitude took its toll.

Berta was then able to ride away steadily to win by 1:20 over Richards. Richards hung on for silver, although she was nearly caught mid-race by Koller before recovering to stay clear.

Full Results