UCI Mountain Bike World Championships: Laura Stigger, Adrien Boichis claim narrow victories in elite short track
Sister and brother Monique and Nicolas Halter take double gold in the U23 short track
Elite Short Track
Laura Stigger (Austria) powered to victory in the elite women's short track, coming from behind to out-sprint Evie Richards (Great Britain) in a photo finish. Sina Frei (Switzerland) was third.
Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) finished fourth after breaking the race apart with a blistering surge on lap seven of ten, but at the start of the final lap, Frei managed to get in front, but tangled with Rissveds in a curve, allowing Stigger and Richards to open up a gap.
"Jenny Rissveds set a furious pace, but in the end I came out of the last corner well and won," said Stigger. "Val di Sole is a special place for me. I have goosebumps. This is a dream coming true."
Richards opened up the sprint, accelerating out of the final turn but Stigger matched her pace and then won by a tyre's width with a bike throw.
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Laura Stigger (Austria) |
20:50 |
2 |
Evie Richards (Great Britain) |
Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 |
Sina Frei (Switzerland) |
0:00:01 |
4 |
Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) |
0:00:01 |
5 |
Nicole Koller (Switzerland) |
0:00:02 |
6 |
Alessandra Keller (Switzerland) |
0:00:12 |
7 |
Isabella Holmgren (Canada) Lidl-Trek |
0:00:14 |
8 |
Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) Fenix-Premier Tech |
0:00:20 |
9 |
Sofie Pedersen (Denmark) |
0:00:20 |
10 |
Savilia Blunk (United States) |
0:00:21 |
11 |
Ronja Blöchlinger (Switzerland) |
0:00:29 |
12 |
Luisa Daubermann (Germany) |
0:00:32 |
13 |
Rebecca Henderson (Australia) |
0:00:34 |
14 |
Samara Maxwell (New Zealand) |
0:00:34 |
15 |
Gwendalyn Gibson (United States) |
0:00:43 |
16 |
Vita Movrin (Slovenia) |
0:00:48 |
17 |
Caroline Bohé (Denmark) |
0:00:53 |
18 |
Giada Specia (Italy) |
0:00:53 |
19 |
Emilly Johnston (Canada) |
0:00:54 |
20 |
Kira Böhm (Germany) |
0:00:54 |
21 |
Janika Lõiv (Estonia) |
0:00:57 |
22 |
Emeline Detilleux (Belgium) |
0:00:58 |
23 |
Madigan Munro (United States) |
0:01:08 |
24 |
Ana Santos (Portugal) |
0:01:17 |
25 |
Candice Lill (South Africa) |
0:01:22 |
26 |
Catalina Vidaurre Kossmann (Chile) |
0:01:38 |
27 |
Oda Laforce (Norway) |
-1LAP |
28 |
Gabriela Wojtyła (Poland) |
-2LAP |
29 |
Karen Fernandes Olímpio (Brazil) |
-3LAP |
30 |
Raiza Goulão Henrique (Brazil) |
-3LAP |
31 |
Tereza Tvarůžková (Czech Republic) |
-4LAP |
32 |
Maria Carolina Flores Garcia (Mexico) |
-4LAP |
33 |
Tatiana Saitarova (Individual Neutral Athletes) |
-9LAP |
In the men's event, Adrien Boichis (France) emerged as the winner after riding at or near the front for nearly the whole 11-lap race, out-sprinting Great Britain's Charlie Aldridge by a bike length.
The victory came just days after the French rider claimed the XCO victory at his home world cup in Les Gets ahead of Mathieu van der Poel.
"I am in a fantastic moment,” said Adrien Boichis. “The last seven days have been extraordinary and what is happening is really incredible.
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"It was a very fast short track. I tried to make it selective, because I am better when the race gets harder. Aldridge pushed very hard on the last lap, especially on the climbs, but in the end I got the better of him in the sprint."
Luca Martin (France) was third, out-duelling the USA's Bjorn Riley for the bronze medal.
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Adrien Boichis (France) |
20:32 |
2 |
Charlie Aldridge (Great Britain) |
+0:00 |
3 |
Luca Martin (France) |
+0:02 |
4 |
Bjorn Riley (United States) |
+0:03 |
5 |
Tobias Lillelund (Denmark) |
+0:06 |
6 |
Dario Lillo (Switzerland) |
+0:07 |
7 |
Mathis Azzaro (France) |
+0:09 |
8 |
Samuel Gaze (New Zealand) |
+0:09 |
9 |
Jens Schuermans (Belgium) |
+0:09 |
10 |
Martin Vidaurre Kossmann (Chile) |
+0:10 |
11 |
Luca Braidot (Italy) |
+0:10 |
12 |
Simon Andreassen (Denmark) |
+0:11 |
13 |
Carter Woods (Canada) |
+0:11 |
14 |
Gunnar Holmgren (Canada) |
+0:12 |
15 |
Luca Schwarzbauer (Germany) |
+0:14 |
16 |
Filippo Colombo (Switzerland) |
+0:14 |
17 |
Fabio Puntener (Switzerland) |
+0:15 |
18 |
Maximilian Brandl (Germany) |
+0:16 |
19 |
Pierre de Froidmont (Belgium) |
+0:16 |
20 |
Maximilian Foidl (Austria) |
+0:16 |
21 |
Jofre Cullell Estape (Spain) |
+0:18 |
22 |
Knut Rohme (Norway) |
+0:20 |
23 |
Julian Schelb (Germany) |
+0:21 |
24 |
Simone Avondetto (Italy) |
+0:22 |
25 |
Luke Moir (South Africa) |
+0:22 |
26 |
Sebastian Fini Juul (Denmark) |
+0:22 |
27 |
Alan Hatherly (South Africa) |
+0:23 |
28 |
Ondřej Cink (Czech Republic) |
+0:25 |
29 |
Ulan Bastos Galinski (Brazil) |
+0:25 |
30 |
Filippo Fontana (Italy) |
+0:25 |
31 |
Alex Junior Malacarne (Brazil) |
+0:30 |
32 |
Sondre Rokke (Norway) |
+0:34 |
33 |
Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo (Mexico) |
+0:46 |
34 |
Victor Koretzky (France) |
+0:58 |
35 |
Tomer Zaltsman (Israel) |
+1:01 |
36 |
Christopher Blevins (United States) |
+1:07 |
37 |
Christopher Dawson (Ireland) |
+1:08 |
38 |
Anton Cooper (New Zealand) |
+1:08 |
39 |
Adair Zabdiel Gutierrez Prieto (Mexico) |
+1:08 |
40 |
Agustin Duran (Argentina) |
+1:09 |
41 |
Riki Kitabayashi (Japan) |
+1:10 |
42 |
Krzysztof Łukasik (Poland) |
+1:12 |
43 |
Nelson Pena Franco (Colombia) |
+1:29 |
44 |
Patrick Pescaru (Romania) |
+1:35 |
45 |
Roberto Ferreira (Portugal) |
-2LAP |
46 |
Ignacio Gallo Florido (Chile) |
-3LAP |
47 |
Evgenii Evgrafov (Individual Neutral Athletes) |
-5LAP |
48 |
Farzad Khodayari (Refugee Olympic Team) |
-6LAP |
DNS |
Oleksandr Hudyma (Ukraine) |
Row 48 - Cell 2 |
DNS |
Tom Schellekens (Netherlands) |
Row 49 - Cell 2 |
Under-23 Short Track
The Swiss cycling team kept it in the family on Thursday, siblings Monique and Nicholas Halter winning the women’s and men’s under-23 short course rainbow jerseys, and taking the country’s second and third gold medals of the championships.
Monique was off first in the women’s race after a race-long battle royal in which the top 16 riders began the final lap within 10 seconds of each other. The race came down to a four-woman sprint, Halter edging British rider Bethany-Ann Jackson into second place.
USA’s representative, Makena Kellerman, won the battle for the bronze medal, just about beating Denmark’s Julie Lillelund, the leading four women separated by one second.
Her younger brother, 20-year-old Nicolas, had a similar battle in the men’s race. Though he was never far from the front, he led only on the final lap, eventually out-sprinting German Paul Schehl into second place, with Dutchman Rens Teunissen van Manen winning the kick for third place.
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Monique Halter (Swi) |
19:55 |
2 |
Bethany-Ann Jackson (GBr) |
Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 |
Makena Kellerman (USA) |
0:00:01 |
4 |
Julie Lillelund (Den) |
0:00:01 |
5 |
Tyler Jacobs (RSA) |
0:00:06 |
6 |
Rafaelle Carrier (Can) |
0:00:07 |
7 |
Ella Maclean-Howell (GBr) |
0:00:08 |
8 |
Natalia Grzegorzewska (Pol) |
0:00:10 |
9 |
Lea Huber (Swi) Nexetis |
0:00:10 |
10 |
Elina Benoit (Swi) |
0:00:11 |
11 |
Lisa Kristine Jorde (Nor) |
0:00:13 |
12 |
Marin Lowe (Can) |
0:00:14 |
13 |
Mariia Sukhopalova (Ukr) |
0:00:15 |
14 |
Bloeme Kalis (Ned) |
0:00:15 |
15 |
Marta Cano Espinosa (Spa) |
0:00:16 |
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Nicolas Halter (Swi) |
20:54 |
2 |
Paul Schehl (Ger) |
Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 |
Rens Teunissen van Manen (Ned) |
0:00:03 |
4 |
Alejandro Garcia Vazquez (Spa) |
0:00:03 |
5 |
Nicholas Konecny (USA) |
0:00:04 |
6 |
Ian Ackert (Can) |
0:00:05 |
7 |
Gustav Pedersen (Den) |
0:00:06 |
8 |
Jack Spranger (USA) |
0:00:07 |
9 |
Nikolaj Hougs (Den) |
0:00:08 |
10 |
Thibaut Francois Baudry (Spa) |
0:00:08 |
11 |
Roger Suren (Nam) |
0:00:24 |
12 |
Maks Alfred Barret Maunz (Aut) Wsa Ktm Graz |
0:00:24 |
13 |
Romano Puntener (Lie) |
0:00:26 |
14 |
Felix Sprenger (Lie) |
0:00:26 |
15 |
Mika Comaniuk (Can) |
0:00:27 |
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A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
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