XCO Women

Youth Triumph in Pietermaritzburg

Jolanda Neff, the Under-23 world champion in Pietermaritzburg last fall, chose to ride with the Elite field, and she came into the race as a favourite after dominating early season races in Europe. She did not disappoint, jumping to an early lead on the first of five laps, and did not relinquish the front spot for the rest of the race.

XCO Men

Julien Absalon (BMC) took the 27th victory in his storied career in the Elite men’s race

“It is nice to win the first World Cup [of the year,” agreed Absalon, “especially here because I was pretty disappointed last year because I had two crashes [at the world championships] and I broke my ribs, so I was a bit afraid of this course. Especially the rocky garden where I crashed. But all this week the feeling was good. I had a poor start, so I used a lot of energy during the first lap to overtake about fifteen guys. Once I got up to Nino it was a nice fight though.”

DHI Men & Women

2014 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup – Pietermaritzburg (RSA) Opens with U.S. & British Wins

The first round of the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano opened in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, with the Downhill; an event that kept everyone guessing until the final rider finished. The United States were the strongest nation of the day, winning both the Elite and Junior men’s titles, by Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing DH) and Lucas Shaw (SRAM/TLD Racing), respectively. Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen Factory Team) took her first elite World Cup win in the women’s competition.

Categories: Mountain Bike Racing

Tags: mountain bike, World Cup