{"id":1821,"date":"2024-08-31T08:08:20","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T02:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/blog\/"},"modified":"2024-09-01T19:42:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T13:57:33","slug":"britains-richards-frances-koretzky-claim-elite-xcc-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/news\/britains-richards-frances-koretzky-claim-elite-xcc-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s Richards and France’s Koretzky star at Elite XCC Worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PAL ARINSAL, Andorra:<\/strong> The 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships have witnessed thrilling victories in the Elite Cross-Country Short Track (XCC) categories as Evie Richards of Britain and France’s Victor Koretzky claimed the Women\u2019s and Men\u2019s titles, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A busy third day of the event marked intense competition in Pal Arinsal, Andorra, which also saw the inaugural Under-23 XCC titles awarded to Riley Amos of the United States and Canada\u2019s Isabella Holmgren. Full results<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Women\u2019s Elite XCC race brought together 45 competitors, including favourites Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot of France, Switzerland\u2019s Alessandra Keller and the Netherlands\u2019 Puck Pieterse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot, the reigning UCI World Champion and Olympic Champion, set a blistering early pace, closely followed by Sweden\u2019s 2016 XCO Olympic Champion, Jenny Rissveds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Winner Evie Richards from Britain, centre, second-placed Frances’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, left, and Jenny Rissveds from Sweden pose on the podium after the Short Track Women Elite race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Pal Arinsal, Andorra. Photo: Maxime Schmid\/UCI<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Midway through the race, Richards, who earned a bronze in last year’s XCC, began to make her move. She passed Pieterse and soon overtook Rissveds as the Swede began to fade. Richards then set her sights on Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot, and the two riders pulled clear of the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the race neared its climax, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot launched an attack on the main climb, but Richards held firm. Timing her sprint to perfection, Richards crossed the line in 19:46, securing the XCC rainbow jersey to add to her 2021 XCO title. Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot finished just one second behind, with Rissveds taking bronze, 18 seconds adrift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really can\u2019t believe it; I wanted to win so badly,\u201d Richards said after the race. \u201cWhen Pauline stayed on my wheel, I wasn\u2019t sure if I could hang on. I waited for the sprint and gave it everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Men\u2019s Elite XCC, Victor Koretzky of France emerged victorious after a tactically brilliant race. Among the 45 starters were his compatriot Jordan Sarrou, Denmark\u2019s Simon Andreassen, South Africa\u2019s Alan Hatherly, and 2021 XCC World Champion Chris Blevins of the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Victor Koretzky of France, the winner in the Men\u2019s Elite Cross-Country Short Track, poses in the centre with runner-up Charlie Aldridge of Britain, left, and third-placed Alan Hatherly of South Africa. Photo: UCI<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Koretzky and Sarrou set the early pace, with Andreassen and Hatherly in close pursuit. As the race progressed, Koretzky launched a decisive attack on the penultimate lap. Blevins stayed in contention until he was overtaken by Britain\u2019s Charlie Aldridge, the 2023 XCO U23 World Champion, just before the final lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koretzky maintained his lead, finishing three seconds ahead of Aldridge, who took silver, with Hatherly claiming bronze. Blevins finished fourth, while Sarrou slipped to fifth, 11 seconds behind the winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m super happy about this win,\u201d Koretzky exclaimed. \u201cI\u2019ve won many UCI World Cups, but never the Worlds. I\u2019m thrilled to finally wear this jersey!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under-23 XCC: Holmgren and Amos make history<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the inaugural Under-23 XCC races, Canadian Isabella Holmgren and American Riley Amos etched their names in the history books by claiming the first-ever titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
On the Women’s U23 Cross-Country Short Track podium, winner Isabella Holmgren stands at the centre, flanked by her sister Ava Holmgren, who took third, and Britain’s Ella MacLean-Howell, who claimed second place. Photo: UCI<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the Women\u2019s U23 race, 31 riders took to the start, with Holmgren leading a strong Canadian contingent alongside compatriot Emilly Johnston. Pre-race favourite Madigan Munro of the US and Britain\u2019s Ella Maclean-Howell also battled for podium spots. However, Holmgren\u2019s dominance was unchallenged, as she pulled away to secure gold, with her twin sister Ava Holmgren also finishing strongly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Riley Amos of the US, winner of the UCI Men\u2019s U23 Cross-Country Short Track, centre, is seen with second-placed Bjorn Riley of the US, left, and Tobias Lillelund of Denmark. Photo: UCI<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the Men\u2019s U23 race, Riley Amos led a 48-strong field that included his compatriot Bjorn Riley and several other North American hopefuls. Despite early pressure from South Africa\u2019s Luke Moir and Denmark\u2019s Tobias Lillelund, Amos executed a perfectly timed sprint to take victory ahead of Bjorn Riley, with Lillelund settling for bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior XCO: Philipsen and Chlado\u0148ova shine<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Junior XCO races saw outstanding performances from Denmark\u2019s Albert Philipsen and Slovakia\u2019s Viktoria Chlado\u0148ova. Philipsen, the defending champion, retained his title in a dominant fashion, leading from start to finish and crossing the line nearly two minutes ahead of his closest competitor. In the Women\u2019s Junior XCO, 17-year-old Chlado\u0148ova delivered a commanding performance, winning by a significant margin to claim her first World Championship title. (With inputs from UCI)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Related Images:<\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New champions are crowned in Junior XCO and the inaugural Under-23 XCC events on a busy third day with six finals at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[73,74,20,3,58,81,82],"class_list":["post-1821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-palarinsal","tag-andorra","tag-cycling","tag-mountain-biking","tag-uci","tag-xcc","tag-xco"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"8850 Media","author_link":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/author\/usr_8850\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/UCI-Worlds-300x200.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["#PALARINSAL<\/a>","ANDORRA<\/a>","Cycling<\/a>","MountainBiking<\/a>","UCI<\/a>","XCC<\/a>","XCO<\/a>"],"unlinked":["#PALARINSAL<\/span>","ANDORRA<\/span>","Cycling<\/span>","MountainBiking<\/span>","UCI<\/span>","XCC<\/span>","XCO<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 \u0935\u0930\u094d\u0937 ago","modified":"Updated 2 \u0935\u0930\u094d\u0937 ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 31 \u0905\u0917\u0938\u094d\u091f 2024","modified":"Updated on 1 \u0938\u0947\u092a\u094d\u091f\u0947\u092e\u094d\u092c\u0930 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 31 \u0905\u0917\u0938\u094d\u091f 2024 08:08","modified":"Updated on 1 \u0938\u0947\u092a\u094d\u091f\u0947\u092e\u094d\u092c\u0930 2024 19:42"},"featured_img_caption":"[:en]A glimpse of the Men\u2019s Elite Cross-country Short Track race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Pal Arinsal, Andorra. Photo: UCI<\/em>[:]","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1979,"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions\/1979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8850media.com\/np\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}