World Championships: Junior XCO Titles
The Junior XCO World Championships were hectic, with riders going volle kannon in the huge starts. Here's how it played out.
Thursday was another epic day at the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, France. On the cards today was Downhill practice and qualification, plus the Junior XCO title fights for men and women.
AMB was lucky to have Matt Rousu, Jack Fletcher and Piper Albrecht behind the lens and behind the tape taking a look at how the action unfolded.
'It was also another scorcher of a day here,' Matt Rousu said. 'The sun is plenty bitey here at an altitude of 1200m and with the reflection off the main climb fire road it was a hot race for both the U19 Women and Men in the XCO.'
Junior women were off first, with 62 women on the start – likely the biggest and most competitive field that the majority have raced in.
'Our Junior women Ruby Dobson and Haley Oakes battled through from the back of the field valiantly to place 50th and 56th respectively.
'It was the ever so speedy Swiss duo of Monique Halter and Lea Huber who would deny our Aussies a final lap with the Polish Natalia Grzegorzewska rounding out the medals.'
'These are some names to remember in the years to come I’m sure! Ruby Dobson would describe her race as fun but really hard because of the heat, she would pour a bottle of water over her neck every lap to try and stay cool, something she has never had to do before. She also can’t wait until next year!'
Find all the results for Women's Junior XCO online.
Junior XCO Men
The Junior men's field saw 106 starters light their engines under the scorching alpine sun.
'The Junior Men’s field was massive,' Matt confirms. 'There were over 100 racers starting out making it super dusty for the whole race, with the combination of the hot weather it was just a brutal race.'
'A group of 11 started out in the front of the race but you could tell it would be a 3 rider race by the 2nd lap,' Matt said. 'Germany’s Paul Schehl and Switzerland’s Jan Christen alongside France’s Paul Magnier (much to the delight of the crowd) rode away and would battle all race.'
'On the last lap Christen would try a risky overtake on one of the open off-camber grass turns and crash dramatically in view of the finish line. Schehl would ride to a lone victory and was in tears with 50m to race.'
'The tears would last another 30 minutes as the whole German team swarmed in to congratulate him, It was awesome!'
'Our Aussies all finished on the lead lap with Jack Ward finishing an impressive 38th, another team member who described his race as super fun and enjoyable despite the conditions.'
Joel Dodds was 66th, Cohen Jessen was 73 and Riley Corke was 74th. Jack Fletcher caught up with Cohen after the finish.
'It was super hot, super dusty – and insane field and crowds. 'I struggled a fair bit on the technical roots and off-camber, but tried to gain it back on the climbs.'
'I'm happy with my ride, there are things to work on which is good. Hopefully I'll come back next year and work for a better result.'
Todd Cuthbert was onsite, over in France as a coach and chaperone for some of the riders, whose parents had chipped in to get him there to provide adequate support for their kids who were racing. He had some insights into the race, and the year so far for Australia's Juniors.
'A couple of the boys had a bad start and they were right off the back, but on laps 1 and 2 they managed to fight super hard and make up positions, and move forward for the whole five laps and to finish on the lead lap on a 3.8km course is a massive achievement for all of them'
'The leaders get very close to the back of the field on a shorter course, so it's very hard to not get caught by the 80% rule,' adds Todd. 'There are two first year Juniors, so they'll get another go next year.'
So, why did the juniors lose time at the start? It's to do with being used to the fight.
'For the Juniors, it's hard to replicate the European starts in Australia. This track had a long straight to provide opportunities to get past, but you can't replicate the chaos of over 100 riders going bar to bar, all wanting to win. I'm not sure how we go forward – but getting over here and getting the experience is what the riders need.'
'All these juniors came over earlier in the year with 4 races. And I think that helped them each. Some of them didn't have the best start but they knew they had to fight through, to get into it. In the past, Aussies have come to Worlds and it is their first international race, which is scary. The fact they had a bit of experience helps. We need need to replicate that.'
'Our riders have the speed, but when they drop 2-4 minutes on the first lap, it's hard. That one month trip was good. But getting them over here and in the siutations that are scary and they have to want it. The programme needs the time and effort as I think the riders have the talent – they just need the exposure.'
