This Sunday ended the Mountain Bike World Championship held in Pal Arinsal, Andorra, with the Olympic Cross Country (XCO) competitions in the Under-23 and Elite categories, in which the Canadian Isabella Holmgren won the only title for America among the under 23 years old.
Holmgren dominated the race from start to finish to cross the finish line in first place with an advantage of 1 minute and 17 seconds over second-placed Olivia Onesti of France. Another French rider, Emilly Johnston, 2 minutes and 31 seconds off the first time, completed the U23 women’s podium.
“It was a beautiful competition and I want to thank everyone who helped me, including my family. It’s a medal that inspires me to new challenges,” commented the Canadian rider, who is one of the most solid promises of cycling in her country, to the official website of the event.
In the elite category, South African Alan Hatherly was crowned XCO world champion (first title for his country in this specialty), with a final time of 1:09:51, which was 22 seconds less than that of Frenchman Victor Koretzky, silver medalist, and 39 seconds less than that of British Thomas Pidcock, Olympic champion in Paris 2024 and now bronze medalist in Andorra.
Meanwhile, in the Under-23 men’s category, Frenchman Luca Martin became the new world champion with a final time of 59 minutes and 48 seconds. The silver medal went to the Swiss Dario Lillo, who arrived 21 seconds behind the Frenchman (1:00:09), and the bronze medal went to the Danish Tobias Lillelund, third at 52 seconds (1:00:40).