UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2021: Short Track Stars Cheer

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The short track races were decided at the start of the three-day Mountain Bike World Cup in Alpstadt. French women Pauline Ferrand Bravo prevailed. In the men, the Dutchman Matthew van der Paul won.

The ladies started the international event in a short way. And there is also: the big toe, Ronja Ebel. Six laps had to be completed from a distance of 1.1 kilometers. Swiss Linda Endergand took the lead early on and made great progress quickly. Ebel finished 21st in the first round, and the second German player on the field with 40 participants, Elizabeth Brandau, was parked in the backcourt.

The 21-year-old from Alpecin-Fenix ​​managed to jump slightly to 19th place (21:12) in the final standings, and Brandau crossed the finish line in 32nd (21:46). For a long time at the head of the field, it seemed that Indergand would confidently turn his career into a victory, but the world and European champion had something against him. The 29-year-old led her Swiss opponent on the final lap and achieved victory 20:37 seconds faster than Endergand. Third place was won by British Annie Last (20:39).

In the men’s class, none of the top drivers were able to decisively separate in the early stages of the race. In principle, 30 of the 40 drivers formed a closed group. In the middle there were two German players: Maximilian Brandel finished the race on 20 (21:03), Manuel Vomitch 23 (21:04). There are some changes in the leadership at the top. Dutchman Matteo van der Boyle dominated the first two rounds, but was later replaced by Niño Shorter from Switzerland and Jordan Sarrow from France. Matthias Flockinger (Switzerland), Milan Feder (Netherlands) and Brazilian Henrique Avancini were in the lead, and the other drivers had a hard time keeping up with the extremely high speed.

But in the final round, it was Van der Boyle who advanced in an impressive final. Teammate Alpecin-Fenix ​​in Ronja Eibl kept his nerve and won the race at 20:39 after a thrilling end. Second, it was the Frenchman Victor Kuritzky (20:41), who in turn led a strong final lap. The shortest complete the stage (8:42 PM).

With the short track racing end, day two of the World Cup in Bishti will be owned by young talent. In the Cross-Suburb Beginner’s Word Series on Saturday, men will fight first (9:30 AM) then young women (11.15 AM) for world ranking points. This is followed by U23 races – here too the men start (3 PM) and the women follow (4.30 PM). On Sundays, the cross-country women’s elite (11.20 am) and men’s elite (2.35 pm) have a high-end finish. These two races will be broadcast again on Red Bull TV on the final day.