At the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on Thursday, Austria's Laura Stigger won the junior women's XCO race, while Alexandre Balmer (Switzerland) was victorious in the junior men's event.
Junior women
Austria took the first individual title of the 2018 mountain bike Worlds with Laura Stigger successfully defending her junior women's XCO title.
The Austrian was untouchable in the junior women's five-lap race, riding away from the rest of the field on the opening climb, and extending her lead throughout the race to win by over three minutes.
Tereza Saskova of the Czech Republic moved into second place on the first lap, but was challenged in the second half of the race by Harriet Harnden of Great Britain.
Saskova managed to drop her British rival in the last half lap to take the silver medal, 34 seconds in front of Harnden.
Junior men
Host nation Switzerland continued their winning streak for a second day with Alexandre Balmer taking a come-from-behind victory in the junior men's XCO.
Balmer had also been a member of the winning Swiss team relay squad the day before.
The junior men began in the rain, making the track slick and treacherous, although it gradually dried out in the second half of the six-lap race.
Mathis Azzaro of France jumped away to build a strong lead in the first half of the race, opening a maximum gap of 41 seconds on the second lap.
But his gap began to shrunk after that, with Leon Kaiser of Germany, Balmer and his teammate Loris Rouiller steadily closing in.
By the start of the last lap, Balmer, Kaiser and Azzaro were together, and when Kaiser attacked, only Balmer could respond. The Swiss rider then countered to cross the finish line a slim two seconds ahead of Kaiser, and immediately collapsed after his effort.
Azzaro held on for third ahead of Rouiller.
"My start was very bad and I lost 30 seconds," said Balmer. "In my head, I thought my race was over, but I decided to give it everything – for my country, my family, my team.
"I just kept calm, but it was very long and difficult. Leon [Kaiser] went crazy on the uphill, but I was able to come back. It was a crazy race.
"I'm usually not so good at altitude, so I'm very happy with this race; it has been a perfect season. Now I'll focus on Innsbruck," said Balmer, who will head to Austria to compete in the junior race at the road world championships later this month.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laura Stigger (Austria) | 1:09:46 |
| 2 | Tereza Sásková (Czech Republic) | 0:03:03 |
| 3 | Harriet Harnden (Great Britain) | 0:03:37 |
| 4 | Isaure Medde (France) | 0:04:39 |
| 5 | Sofie Heby Pedersen (Denmark) | 0:05:04 |
| 6 | Ronja Blöchlinger (Switzerland) | 0:05:43 |
| 7 | Jacqueline Schneebeli (Switzerland) | 0:05:59 |
| 8 | Marianne Theberge (Canada) | 0:06:06 |
| 9 | Emma Eydt (Germany) | 0:06:26 |
| 10 | Raquel Queirós (Portugal) | 0:06:54 |
| 11 | Giada Specia (Italy) | 0:08:01 |
| 12 | Magdalena Mišonová (Czech Republic) | 0:08:14 |
| 13 | Pasquine Vandermouten (France) | 0:08:15 |
| 14 | Virág Buzsáki (Hungary) | 0:08:20 |
| 15 | Anna Mcgorum (Great Britain) | 0:08:33 |
| 16 | Angie Milena Lara Zarazo (Colombia) | 0:09:03 |
| 17 | Akari Kobayashi (Japan) | 0:09:11 |
| 18 | Radka Paulechová (Slovakia) | 0:09:30 |
| 19 | Melanie Tresch (Switzerland) | 0:09:51 |
| 20 | Zoe Cuthbert (Australia) | 0:09:57 |
| 21 | Leoni Fend (Germany) | 0:09:58 |
| 22 | Roxane Vermette (Canada) | 0:09:59 |
| 23 | Tamara Wiedmann (Austria) | 0:10:26 |
| 24 | Zandri Strydom (South Africa) | 0:10:33 |
| 25 | Lisa Baumann (Switzerland) | 0:10:45 |
| 26 | Tina Züger (Switzerland) | 0:10:59 |
| 27 | Darya Alexeeva (Russian Federation) | 0:11:06 |
| 28 | Mireille Larose Gingras (Canada) | 0:11:10 |
| 29 | Anna Mirolyubova (Russian Federation) | 0:11:31 |
| 30 | Vita Movrin (Slovenia) | 0:11:32 |
| 31 | Justine Tonso (France) | |
| 32 | Agnieszka Szpocinska (Poland) | 0:11:57 |
| 33 | Catalina Maria Vidaurre Kossmann (Chile) | 0:11:58 |
| 34 | Madeline Robbins (United States Of America) | 0:12:11 |
| 35 | Urara Kawaguchi (Japan) | 0:12:48 |
| 36 | Noëlle Buri (Switzerland) | 0:13:16 |
| 37 | Monika Kucerová (Czech Republic) | 0:13:35 |
| 38 | Rina Matsumoto (Japan) | 0:13:38 |
| 39 | Fiona Eichenberger (Switzerland) | 0:13:40 |
| 40 | Kata Blanka Vas (Hungary) | 0:14:09 |
| 41 | Tiffany Keep (South Africa) | 0:15:19 |
| 42 | Simone Roßberg (Germany) | |
| 43 | Eva Poidevin (Canada) | |
| 44 | Saga Molin (Sweden) | |
| 45 | Mina Ricci (United States Of America) | |
| 46 | Fatima Anahi Hijar Marin (Mexico) | |
| 47 | Teagan Atherstone (Australia) | |
| 48 | Eszter Bereczki (Romania) | |
| 49 | Surattiya Buppha (Thailand) | |
| 50 | Aleksandra Ushakova (Russian Federation) | |
| 51 | Larisa Bošnjak (Croatia) | |
| 52 | Camila Samso (Argentina) | |
| 53 | María Valentina Santomartino (Argentina) | |
| DNF | Oleksandra Logvinyuk (Ukraine) | |
| DNS | Kätlin Kukk (Estonia) |
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandre Balmer (Switzerland) | 1:13:45 |
| 2 | Leon Reinhard Kaiser (Germany) | 0:00:02 |
| 3 | Mathis Azzaro (France) | 0:01:13 |
| 4 | Loris Rouiller (Switzerland) | 0:01:22 |
| 5 | Moritz Schäb (Germany) | 0:01:53 |
| 6 | Cameron Wright (Australia) | 0:02:07 |
| 7 | Alexander Young Andersen (Denmark) | 0:02:15 |
| 8 | Simone Avondetto (Italy) | 0:02:23 |
| 9 | Holden Jones (Canada) | 0:02:45 |
| 10 | Pierre Chabaud (France) | 0:03:46 |
| 11 | Hugo Peyroux (France) | 0:04:00 |
| 12 | Carter Woods (Canada) | 0:04:07 |
| 13 | Kevin Vermaerke (United States Of America) | 0:04:49 |
| 14 | Tim Van Dijke (Netherlands) | 0:04:59 |
| 15 | Andreas Emanuele Vittone (Italy) | 0:05:02 |
| 16 | Charlie Aldridge (Great Britain) | 0:05:04 |
| 17 | Kedup Gyagang (Switzerland) | |
| 18 | Jørgen Anmarkrud (Norway) | 0:05:12 |
| 19 | Luca Schätti (Switzerland) | 0:05:15 |
| 20 | Benedikt Fritz (Germany) | 0:05:16 |
| 21 | Lars Hemmerling (Germany) | 0:05:40 |
| 22 | Clément Horny (Belgium) | 0:05:41 |
| 23 | Simon Walter (Switzerland) | 0:05:44 |
| 24 | Carlos Canal Blanco (Spain) | 0:06:20 |
| 25 | Charles Antoine St-Onge (Canada) | |
| 26 | Stiven Thür (Switzerland) | 0:06:43 |
| 27 | Nils Brun (Switzerland) | 0:06:44 |
| 28 | Alex Miller (Namibia) | |
| 29 | Ignacio Esteban Gallo Florido (Chile) | 0:06:54 |
| 30 | Valeriy Sukhnev (Russian Federation) | 0:07:03 |
| 31 | Nikolay Ivanov (Russian Federation) | 0:07:04 |
| 32 | David Domingo Campos Motos (Spain) | 0:07:05 |
| 33 | Eitan Levi (Israel) | 0:07:13 |
| 34 | Markus Pajur (Estonia) | |
| 35 | Scott Funston (United States Of America) | 0:07:20 |
| 36 | Martin Vidaurre Kossman (Chile) | 0:07:30 |
| 37 | Arne Janssens (Belgium) | 0:07:42 |
| 38 | Rafael Rita (Portugal) | 0:07:43 |
| 39 | Matthew Dinham (Australia) | 0:07:54 |
| 40 | Vilgot Lindh (Sweden) | 0:08:12 |
| 41 | Sam Fox (Australia) | 0:08:26 |
| 42 | Cameron Jones (New Zealand) | 0:08:27 |
| 43 | Markus Kaad Heuer (Denmark) | 0:08:28 |
| 44 | Gil-Li Gonen (Israel) | |
| 45 | Markus Eydt (Germany) | 0:08:29 |
| 46 | Mick Van Dijke (Netherlands) | 0:08:51 |
| 47 | Zaccaria Toccoli (Italy) | 0:09:10 |
| 48 | Samuel Jirouš (Czech Republic) | 0:09:17 |
| 49 | Omer Katzman (Israel) | 0:09:21 |
| 50 | Ian Millennium (Denmark) | 0:09:33 |
| 51 | Didac Carvacho Sevilla (Spain) | 0:10:11 |
| 52 | Hugo Eliasson (Sweden) | 0:10:14 |
| 53 | Sean Flynn (Great Britain) | 0:10:24 |
| 54 | Sam Walsh (Australia) | 0:10:29 |
| 55 | Agustin Duran (Argentina) | 0:11:37 |
| 56 | Tyler Clark (Canada) | |
| 57 | Mikhail Pilipchuk (Russian Federation) | |
| 58 | Paul Fabian (United States Of America) | |
| 59 | Shinichi Kaminaga (Japan) | |
| 60 | Adrian Barros Rodriguez (Spain) | |
| 61 | Colton Woods (Canada) | |
| 62 | Nadav Raisberg (Israel) | |
| 63 | Jakub Jencuš (Slovakia) | |
| 64 | Jeronimo Bedoya Botero (Colombia) | |
| 65 | František Honsa (Czech Republic) | |
| 66 | Wiktor Wisniewski (Poland) | |
| 67 | Tomáš Dudek (Czech Republic) | |
| 68 | Kilian Folguera Diaz (Andorra) | |
| 69 | Thomas Creighton (Ireland) | |
| 70 | Nolan Jenkins (United States Of America) | |
| 71 | Max Taylor (New Zealand) | |
| 72 | Maxwell Wickens (New Zealand) | |
| 73 | Julian Agustin Molina (Argentina) | |
| 74 | Emanuel Zangerle (Austria) | |
| 75 | Caleb Bottcher (New Zealand) | |
| 76 | Jamie Penfold (South Africa) | |
| 77 | Corey Smith (Australia) | |
| 78 | Agustin Dominguez (Argentina) | |
| 79 | Andre Alonso Vega Cordova (Chile) | |
| 80 | Genadiy Moiseev (Ukraine) | |
| 81 | Pawel Garczyk (Poland) | |
| 82 | Dominik Dankowski (Poland) | |
| 83 | Connor Johnston (New Zealand) | |
| 84 | Phunsiri Sirimongkhon (Thailand) | |
| 85 | Niko Heikkilä (Finland) | |
| 86 | Daniel Van Der Walt (South Africa) | |
| 87 | August Höglund (Sweden) | |
| 88 | David Juarez (Venezuela) | |
| 89 | Tomáš Meriac (Slovakia) | |
| 90 | Rodzers Petaks (Latvia) | |
| 91 | Lee Harvey (Ireland) | |
| 92 | Keagan Bontekoning (South Africa) | |
| 93 | Vasile-Gabriel Silaghi (Romania) | |
| 94 | Sebastian Brenes Mata (Costa Rica) | |
| 95 | Yudai Fujiki (Japan) | |
| 96 | Rangsiman Hangquart (Thailand) | |
| 97 | Stjepan Hunjak (Croatia) | |
| 98 | Koutarou Murakami (Japan) | |
| 99 | Silviu-Narcis Buzan (Romania) | |
| 100 | Josh Burnett (New Zealand) | |
| DNF | Filippo Fontana (Italy) | |
| DNF | Erik Fetter (Hungary) | |
| DNF | Adair Zabdiel Gutierrez Prieto (Mexico) | |
| DNF | Matevž Govekar (Slovenia) | |
| DNF | Jake Yackle (United States Of America) | |
| DNF | Ádám István Fülöp (Hungary) | |
| DNF | Miha Klemencic (Slovenia) | |
| DNF | Harry Birchill (Great Britain) | |
| DNS | Alex Juan Pablo Zapata Unas (Colombia) | |
| DNS | Mirco Näf (Switzerland) |
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