Mélanie Pugin wins E-MTB title at UCI MTB Worlds

Mélanie Pugin (France) won the elite women's E-MTB world title at the UCI Mountainbike World Championships. She beat the Swiss duo Kathrin Stirnemann, who claimed silver, and Nathalie Schneitter, who claimed bronze.

After a delay, venue change and multiple rounds of COVID testing, the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships finally got under way on Wednesday in Leogang, Austria, with the E-MTB races. Introduced last year at Mont-Ste-Anne, Canada for the first time, the electric motor assist races are restricted to pedelec (power assist with no throttle) bikes with the assist cutting out above 25 kilometres per hour.

Defending champion Nathalie Schneitter (Switzerland) jumped into an early lead on the first lap but Pugin and Stirnemann were only a few seconds back, and both passed her - Pugin on the next lap and Stirnemann a lap later. Pugin was clearly the fastest, recording the fastest lap splits for all but the first lap to beat Stirnemann by 27 seconds and Schneitter at 1:15.

"The race began very fast," said Pugin, "and I was very careful in the technical parts. I knew I was in good shape from my Enduro season [two wins and a second place]. These world championships are not my main goal for the season, so this win is more of a bonus. It is very good to have the jersey and I am proud to wear it."