Canadian Cyclist

 

August 27/21 13:20 pm - Switzerland & France Win eMTB Titles


Posted by Editoress on 08/27/21
 

For the third year, the Mountain Bike World Championships have included eMTB competition and, for the third year, new champions were awarded rainbow jerseys. Nicole Goeldi of Switzerland won the women's title, while Jerome Gilloux of France, after finishing second in the two preceding years, finally won gold.

The circuit was a modification of the XCO course; including the first section of climbing, before sending the riders backwards up a switchback descent, with sections as steep as 38 degrees. The riders finished the lap with the rock garden descent feature of the XCO course. The women did six laps and the men seven, with both winners finishing in under an hour.

The women's race saw Laura Charles of France lead out the 20 rider field for the first two laps before Goeldi reeled her in. The two rode together for two laps before Goeldi started gapping her rival on the technical sections. Her lead was never more than 15 seconds, but it was enough to hold on for the title. Sofia Wiedenroth of Germany took bronze, 43 seconds back.

 

Photo

Photo

Photo

Photo Gallery

 

"It's pretty unbelievable, I never thought this could happen," said Goeldi. "I surprised myself a lot. I started behind and had to chase all the riders, and then in the last lap my motor switched off; it was very strange and I was afraid [of being caught]. But in the end it was all good."

The men's race was heavily stacked with French talent, including Gilloux as the number one UCI ranked men's eMTB rider. Two-time Olympian Julien Absalon was also on the start line for France, eventually finishing a respectable ninth, one of five French riders in the top ten. The wild card was Christopher Blevins of the USA. In his fourth straight day of racing, after winning the silver in the Team Relay and the world title less than 24 hours earlier in the Short Track, Blevins was in his fourth straight day of racing, but starting well back in the field due to no eMTB ranking points.

Gilloux and his team mate Hugo Pigeon quickly rode away from the rest of the field and were not challenged at the front of the race. Gilloux eventually dropped Pigeon before the start of the last lap to claim the title.

 

Photo

Photo

Photo

Photo Gallery

 

"The track was technical with very steep climbs," commented Gilloux. "I had a good start and we were able to be at the front right until the finish line, so I am very happy."

Behind, Blevins was racing up through the field; eighth after Lap 1, then fifth with team mate Charlie Mullins by Lap 4, and then catching the third placed rider, Joris Ryf of Switzerland, on the next lap. He started to slow at that point and sat on with Ryf until attacking just before the start of the last lap to win his third medal of the championships - a unique record in mountain biking. Blevins will do his fifth race tomorrow - the Elite XCO.

"It was only a couple of weeks ago that I decided to give it a go for eBike and turn this into a five day stage race," revealed Blevins. "I haven't spent much time on an eBike, but I definitely will now, that was so much fun. When I was battling for third, it was definitely motivating to try and get another medal. It's been an incredible week, with how different each race has been."

Results from the eBike races in Val di Sole, Italy

Women, 14.28 km (6 laps)
1 Nicole Goeldi (Switzerland) 0:49:24
2 Laura Charles (France) at 0:13
3 Sofia Wiedenroth (Germany) 0:43
4 Harriet Harnden (Great Britain) 0:51
5 Melanie Pugin (France) 0:52
6 Kathrin Stirnemann (Switzerland) 2:16
7 Andrea Waldis (Switzerland) 2:37
8 Tracy Moseley (Great Britain) 2:50
9 Kata Blanka Vas (Hungary) 3:42
10 Justine Tonso (France) 3:51
11 Nathalie Schneitter (Switzerland) 4:18
12 Anna Oberparleiter (Italy) 4:51
13 Karen Pepper (Great Britain) -1 lap
14 Camilla Martinet (Italy) -1 lap
15 Sandrine Koenig (France) -2 Laps
16 Isabella Goncalves Ribeiro (Brazil) -2 Laps
17 Jacqueline Mariacher (Austria) -3 Laps
18 Callan Horwath (United States of America) -3 Laps
19 Noa Natascha Wischmann (Germany) -4 Laps
20 Ashley Hendershot (United States of America) -4 Laps
DNS Josefina Casadey (Argentina)
 
Men, 16.66 km (7 laps)
1 Jerome Gilloux (France) 0:51:44
2 Hugo Pigeon (France) at 0:18
3 Christopher Blevins (United States of America) 1:11
4 Joris Ryf (Switzerland) 1:15
5 Theo Charmes (France) 2:01
6 Charlie Mullins (United States of America) 2:18
7 Francescu Camoin (France) 2:51
8 Andrea Garibbo (Italy) 3:08
9 Julien Absalon (France) 4:15
10 Vital Albin (Switzerland) 4:58
11 Joshua Carlson (Australia) 4:59
12 Lucas Dubau (France) 5:03
13 Stefan Peter (Switzerland) 5:32
14 Jeroen Van Eck (Netherlands) 5:37
15 Luke Wiedmann (Switzerland) 5:46
16 Natan Patrois (France) 5:50
17 Loic Noel (Switzerland) 5:56
18 Olivier Giordanengo (France) 6:01
19 Andreas Moser (Switzerland) 6:14
20 Matthew Lombardi (South Africa) 8:13
21 Erick Eduardo Bruske (Brazil) -1 lap
22 Filip Sklenarik (Slovakia) -2 Laps
23 Ovidiu Tudor Oprea (Romania) -2 Laps
24 Kyle Smith (United States of America) -2 Laps
25 Jasper Ockeloen (Netherlands) -2 Laps
26 Simone Massoni (Italy) -2 Laps
27 Marco Ricci (Italy) -3 Laps
28 Tumelo Makae (Lesotho) -3 Laps
29 Benjamin Vibert (France) -3 Laps
30 Alexandre Cure (France) -4 Laps
31 Nat Ross (United States of America) -4 Laps
32 Marius Kottal (Germany) -5 Laps
33 Gerald White (United States of America) -5 Laps
34 Siegfried Jank (Germany) -6 Laps
35 Charles Murray (New Zealand) -6 Laps
DNF Martino Fruet (Italy)
DNF Juerg Graf (Switzerland)
DNS Valentin Escriou (France)
DNF David Harrison (United States of America)
DNF Stephane Tempier (France)

 

 

Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top


 
 | 
 Privacy Policy | Contact | Subscribe to RSS Feed  | Logout
 © Copyright 1998-2024 Canadian Cyclist. All rights reserved.