France Dominates day 2 of Worlds, While Grotts Scores Top-10 Results for the U.S.

CHAMPERY, Switzerland (ST) — France dominated the second day of competition at the Mountain Bike World Championships, taking both world titles on offer, and giving them three of the world titles awarded thus far. In the Under 23 women’s race, Julie Bresset, to no one’s surprise, was the easy victor, but the junior men’s race saw a surprise win by Victor Koretzky, after all the favorites struggled in the early part of the race. Howard Grotts was the top American finisher, with a very respectable eighth place at his first world championships.

Junior Men

A thunderstorm overnight had made the course muddy and treacherous, with riders crashing and having to run many sections. However, Koretzky, a member of the gold medal-winning French squad a day earlier in the Team Relay, had no problems and quickly moved into the lead. He set the fastest splits for every lap except the final one, and cruised into the finish arena to loud applause from the large French crowd.

“When I saw my lap time from yesterday’s relay it was encouraging for today’s race,” commented Koretzky. “It was not an easy ride. I didn’t have a great start and I was only seventh or eighth after the start loop. So I was really back and I had to fight my way back up in the standings. I gained time in the technical parts of the course and then I took off on my own.”

Behind, Costa Rica’s Andrey Fonseca took control of second, holding off a challenge from a second French rider — Maxime Urruty — until that rider suffered a mechanical on lap three. However, by that point, the young New Zealand phenomenon Anton Cooper had overcome his early race problems and was literally sprinting up through the field, moving from the mid-20s to fifth at the start of the final lap. On that last lap he continued to chase hard, catching Fonseca with 500 meters to go, and then outsprinting him to the line. Fonseca’s bronze medal was the first mountain bike world championship podium result ever for Costa Rica.

“I’m not sure where I was after the first lap, I hear around 21st,” explained Cooper. “It’s not ideal to be there at World Champs. So it was a fight right from the start. I did have a good start out in the front straight but then riders came from everywhere and I was just sitting in the middle up that climb a few rows back and then it strung out in the single track. Not an ideal start but it’s probably the best race I’ve ever ridden in terms of how I fought to come back and I’m pretty proud of that.”

Top North American was Team USA’s Howard Grotts in eighth place, at his first world championships. “I had a really good start and then I made some mistakes here and there, and then I caught back up again. So I was just yo-yoing back and forth. But I’m pretty happy with my race.”

Grotts, who earlier this year became the first American junior to win an official UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event, started in strong position in the nearly 100-rider junior men’s field. The current junior 17-18 cross-country mountain bike national champion was able to move as high as fifth place before falling into eighth on the slick, wet Champéry course.

Women

Bresset, who won the Elite World Cup a week ago, but is required to race in her age category for the Worlds, was clearly in a class of her own, quickly moving a minute clear of Great Britain’s Annie Last – also a top-10 finisher in the Elite World Cup circuit. While Last closed to less than a minute briefly at the halfway mark, Bresset surged again to win by 90 seconds. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, Bresset’s French teammate and the Under 23 World Cup champion, took the bronze medal. The two U.S. riders — Jill Behlen and Kaila Hart — did not fare well, finishing 31st and 40th respectively, multiple laps down on Bresset.

“After yesterday’s success in the team relay I managed to refocus and get really into this race,” explained Bresset. “A race is never won before the finish so I really had to focus. I was completely concentrated right until I passed the finish line. You can’t think about other things during the race. I only allowed myself to relax as I crossed the finish line.”

FILED UNDER: News / Race Results TAGS: UCI world championships