/UPDATED with Downhill results/ Two of the best riders in the history of Mountain Bike racing won brilliant victories at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships at Mont-Sainte-Anne in Quebec, Canada: France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Swiss superstar Nino Schurter.
In the women’s Cross Country event, Ferrand-Prevot came in with good recent results, having been first and third in the two World Cup races in August. She started 10th and after a modest start, moved up to ninth after the first of six laps on the hilly course.
Then she took over. Her second lap was the fastest of the entire field in the entire race at 14:07, then her third lap of 14:11 and fourth lap of 14:08 were all faster than anyone else on the day and she found herself with a three-second lead over Australia’s Rebecca McConnell in what had become a two-woman race.
Ferrand Prevot kept the pressure up and broke McConnell on the fifth lap, timing 14:22 as McConnell had trouble and moved back to third (15:00), as 2017 World Champion Jolanda Neff (SUI) moved into second place. But the gap was now more than a minute and Ferrand Prevot cruised home to win in 1:28:51, 43 seconds ahead of Neff and 1:17 ahead of McConnell in third. American Kate Courtney, the 2018 World Champion, finished fifth in 1:31:33.
For Ferrand Prevot, it continues her remarkable run of individual world titles: the 2014 world title in the women’s Road Race, then 2015 wins in Mountain Bike Cross Country and Cyclo-Cross and now a second individual title in Mountain Bike Cross Country. And she is still just 27.
Schurter, now 33, won his fourth consecutive World Championship title and seven career title, adding to his record total. He and France’s brilliant Julien Absalon (five world titles) are now tied for the most career World Championships medals with nine.
The Swiss star left little doubt almost from the start, taking the lead by the end of the first lap. But while he was challenged by countryman Mathias Flueckiger and France’s Stephane Tempier during the middle of the race, Schurter broke it open on the fifth lap, extending a four-second lead to 40 seconds with a 12:08 loop and his victory was assured. Schurter cruised in to the finish at 1:27:05, 30 seconds ahead of Flueckiger and 38 seconds ahead of Tempier.
In the Sunday Downhill races. France’s Loic Bruni won his third World Championships gold in a row (and fourth in five years), taking control from the start and finishing 0.581 seconds better than Australia’s Troy Brosnan. The women’s title was won by France’s Myriam Nicole, who finally got to the top of the podium after finishing 2-2-3 in the past three years. She led from start to finish, recording the fastest split at each checkpoint and finishing 1.204 seconds ahead of Britain’s Tahnee Seagrave, who won silver for the second year in a row. Summaries:
UCI Mountain Bike World Championships
Mont-Sainte-Anne (CAN) ~ 28 August-1 September 2019
(Full results here)
Men
Cross Country (29.7 km): 1. Nino Schurter (SUI), 1:27:05; 2. Mathias Flueckiger (SUI), 1:27:35; 3. Stephane Tempier (FRA), 1:27:43; 4. Titouan Carod (FRA), 1:28:01; 5. Gerhard Kerschbaumer (ITA), 1:28:07; 6. Ondrej Cink (CZE), 1:28:39; 7. Victor Koretzky (FRA), 1:28:48; 8. Jordan Sarrou (FRA), 1:29:02; 9. Andri Frischknecht (SUI), 1:29:05; 10. Henrique Avancini (BRA), 1:29:12.
Cross Country/Junior (21.5 km): 1. Charlie Aldridge (GBR), 1:07:31; 2. Luca Martin (FRA), 1:07:42; 3. Andreas Vittone (ITA), 1:07:51.
Cross-Country/U-23 (25.6 km): 1. Vlad Dascalu (ROM), 1:19:50; 2. Filippo Colombo (SUI), 1:21:47; 3. Vital Albin (SUI), 1:21:56.
Downhill (2.9 km): 1. Loic Bruni (FRA), 4:05.544; 2. Troy Brosnan (AUS), 4:06.125; 3. Amaury Pierron (FRA), 4:08.93; 4. Danny Hart (GBR), 4:08.349; 5. Greg Minnaar (RSA), 4:08.731; 6. Laurie Greenland (GBR), 4:10.440; 7. Finn Iles (CAN), 4:10.525; 8. Dakotah Norton (USA), 4:11.034; 9. Mark Wallace (CAN), 4:11.673; 10. Luca Shaw (USA), 4:11.891.
Downhill/Junior (2.9 km): 1. Kye A’Hern (AUS), 4:17.776; 2. Antoine Vidal (FRA), 4:18.920; 3. Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (NZL), 4:19.070.
Women
Cross Country (25.6 km): 1. Pauline Ferrand Prevot (FRA), 1:28:51; 2. Jolanda Neff (SUI), 1:29:34; 3. Rebecca McConnell (AUS), 1:30:08; 4. Anne Terpstra (NED), 1:31:17; 5. Kate Courtney (USA), 1:31:33; 6. Annie Last (GBR), 1:31:45; 7. Anne Tauber (GBR), 1:32:03; 8. Tanja Zakelj (SLO), 1:32:31; 9. Emily Batty (CAN), 1:32:50; 10. Linda Indergand (CAN), 1:33:37. Also in the top 25: 11. Lea Davison (USA), 1:33:43; … 15. Chloe Woodruff (USA), 1:34:32.
Cross Country/Junior (17.4 km): 1. Jacqueline Schneebeli (SUI), 1:05:03; 2. Mona Mitterwallner (AUT), 1:06:11. 3. Helene Marie Fossesholm (NOR), 1:08:14. Also in the top 10: 6. Madigan Munro (USA), 1:10:07.
Cross Country/U-23 (21.5 km): 1. Sina Frei (SUI), 1:16:34; 2. Laura Stigger (AUT), 1:17:05; 3. Loana Lecomte (FRA), 1:17:10. Also in the top 10: 6. Haley Batten (USA), 1:19:56.
Downhill (2.9 km): 1. Myriam Nicole (FRA), 4:53.226; 2. Tahnee Seagrave (GBR), 4:54.430; 3. Marine Cabirou (FRA), 4:54.920; 4. Tracey Hannah (AUS), 4:57.347; 5. Emilie Siegenthaler (SUI), 4:58.617; 6. Eleonora Farina (ITA), 5:01.781; 7. Melanie Chappaz (FRA), 5:11.335; 8. Vaea Verbeeck (CAN), 5:12.009; 9. Sian A’Hern (AUS), 5:13.816; 10. Carina Cappellari (SUI), 5:17.039.
Downhill/Junior (2.9 km): 1. Valentina Holl (AUT), 5:01.033; 2. Mille Johnset (NOR), 5:13.961; 3. Anna Newkirk (USA), 5:22.263.
Mixed
Cross Country Team Relay (20.5 km): 1. Switzerland (Roth, Baumann, Frei, Neff, Schurter), 1:02:55; 2. United States (Chris Blevins, Riley Amos, Haley Batten, Kate Courtney, Keegan Swenson), 1:03:11; 3. France, 1:03:23; 4. Italy, 1:03:53; 5. Canada, 1:04:04; 6. Great Britain, 1:04:26; 7. Denmark, 1:05:39; 8. Czech Republic, 1:06:10.
