Women's race
Unlike the MTB World Cup, the short track race at the UCI World Championships in Val di Sole was not about starting positions for the Olympic cross-country competition, but about medals. For the first time in the history of the World Championships, rainbow jerseys were awarded in the 20-minute race format. However, unlike in the World Cup, the U23 riders such as Ronja Eibl, Laura Stigger and Mona Mitterwallner were not eligible to compete. Loana Lecomte, the 2021 World Cup dominator, was also absent due to illness. The young Frenchwoman will also not be racing in the U23 race on Saturday.
Full speed ahead right from the start
Immediately after the starting signal, Olympic champion Jolanda Neff (SUI) pushed the pace hard and the field quickly thinned out. Britain's Evie Richards capitalised on a riding error by another rider on the technical uphill on the third lap and took the lead. As a result, a small group of riders were able to break away, including favourites such as Neff, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Rebecca McConnell, Sina Frei and Linda Indergand. On the fourth of seven laps, the Australian McConnell took the lead and kept the pace high.
Then it was once again cyclo-cross specialist Evie Richards who attacked on the fourth lap just before the descent. Seven riders then went into the fifth lap together, while Jenny Rissveds dropped back. At the start of the sixth lap, only six riders were still together, including three Swiss riders.
Sina Frei was able to counter an attack by Ferrand-Prévot, so the six riders went into the last lap together. This was followed by a short stumble by Jolanda Neff. Then Sina Frei's attack before the technical uphill, which was to be decisive. In the end, gold and silver were decided by an exciting sprint to the finish! It was so close that the photo finish had to decide whether Sina Frei and Evie Richards had won. In the end, Frei was a few centimetres ahead. This was the first World Championship title in short track for the small Swiss athlete, who has never won an elite World Cup before. Ferrand-Prévot took bronze for France, Linda Indergand finished fourth. The German riders Nadine Rieder and Elisabeth Brandau finished 24th and 27th respectively, both having been involved in a crash.
Men's race
What a race by Max Brandl! The Lexware rider takes bronze in the short track race and thus the second MW medal for German men in 32 years of World Championship history. Gold went to Christopher Blevins from the USA and silver to Henrique Avancini from Brazil at the World Championship premiere of the XCC format. Manuel Fumic broke his right metacarpal and elbow in training and was unable to start in the short track race.
After a turbo start by Sam Gaze, Alan Heatherly set the pace for a long time. Until the Czech Ondrej Cink attacked on the uphill towards the middle of the race and broke into the leading group. A quintet consisting of Cink, Heatherly, Blevins, Avancini and Brandl formed at the front until the start of the seventh lap. Then the Lexware rider from Freiburg took heart and attacked on the climb. Brandl soon had a few seconds advantage because Cink braked at the back of the descent. With a seven-second lead, Brandl set off alone on the final 950 metres.
Blevins sprints from the front to gold
Henrique Avancini and Christopher Blevins were only able to catch up with Brandl on the final climb. Before the final bend, the young American finally pulled ahead of Brandl and sprinted to short-track gold. Behind him, Avancini kept the 24-year-old German at bay and secured silver. The reward for Brandl's courageous attack was bronze, which is already the second World Championship medal for Germany in Val di Sole after the relay bronze.
More information about the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole can be found at www.valdisolebikeland.com
