Top-ranked young riders choose their category for 2012
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National Champion Annie Last (Great Britain National Team) rode to her best World Cup result to date, cheered on by the home crowd(Image credit: Luke Webber)
Since the UCI separated the elite and U23 categories, it has allowed the top-ranked 10 men and five women in the U23 category to decide whether they will race with their fellow U23s throughout the World Cup or move up early into the elite category. Either way, all U23 riders still have to race in their category at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Racers make the decision prior to the first World Cup and then must stick to it all season until Worlds.
Among the U23 men, only two racers elected to compete with the elites at the World Cups: Henk Jaap Moorlag of the Netherlands and Marek Konwa of Poland. Top ranked Gerhard Kerschbaumer of Italy decided to stay among the U23s.
A majority of the eligible U23 women have decided to race up, including top ranked Annie Last of Great Britain, Anne Terpstra of The Netherlands and Pauline Ferrand Prevot of France.
A complete list of U23 riders eligible to race with the elites is below. Their UCI ranking and points are listed as of December 31, 2011.
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
