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9 things we learnt from the UCI MTB World Championships 2021
The 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships have been crowned. You can get all the highlights from Val di Sole right here.
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The UCI MTB World Championships is the biggest race of the season, giving one rider the chance to become World Champion and wear the coveted rainbow stripes. With the athletes representing their home nations and gold, silver and bronze up for grabs, the World Championships are a showcase of skill and calculated risk. Find out what makes the World Champs so special in the video above and scroll down for the 2021 highlights.
01
Evie Richards became Elite XCO World Champion
Britain's Evie Richards won gold at 2021's Val di Sole World Champs
© Bartek Wolinski
Evie powering to victory at 2021's Val di Sole MTB World Championships
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Anne Terpstra took silver
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Kate Courtney in the pack at Val di Sole
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Evie Richards is no stranger to a rainbow jersey, but the Elite XCO title is her first in mountain biking. Prior to this, she twice won the U23 Cyclocross World Championships but has previously crumbled at cross-country World Championships due to the pressure. With a calm confidence on Saturday, she was unstoppable.
02
Myriam Nicole took her second World Championship title
Gold for World Champion Myriam Nicole
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Myriam Nicole takes her second World Championship title
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Eyes on the prize
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There was heavy rain on Saturday evening, enough to create small streams running down the track. The skies had cleared by Sunday morning, but Juniors and Women faced slippery conditions for the first time. Practice runs were full of slips, crashes and headaches. Myriam Nicole came down on her first run, in exactly the same place she crashed in 2011. Having gone on to win that race, she took it as a good omen, and it ended up being a good one, with her taking her second World Championship title.
Nicole with her World Champs bike
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Myriam 'Pompon' Nicole shows off her helmet
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03
Glory for Switzerland's Schurter
Nino Schurter may not have been the hot favourite to win in Val di Sole, but he is the rider with the best track record at the venue with an amazing five World Cup victories. This, together with his fourth place at the Summer Games, should have perhaps made it less of a surprise to see him at the front. When he won his first Elite World title in 2009, he was the youngest man ever to do so. With his victory this year, the 35-year-old is now also the oldest man to wear the XCO rainbow jersey.
Sprint to victory for Schurter
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Schurter takes gold for Switzerland
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It was a two-man race between Flückiger and Schurter
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Fourth place for Romanian Vlad Dascălu
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04
Greg Minnaar claimed his fourth World Championship title
Greg Minnaar won his first World Championship title in Lugano in 2003, and at thirty-nine-years-old he doesn’t appear to be slowing down! Taking his fourth World Championship win on the Val di Sole track.
Greg Minnaar and Myriam Nicole are your 2021 World Champions
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Greg takes his fourth World Championship title having last won in 2013
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05
The Black Snake was more venomous than ever
The Black Snake, as the Val di Sole downhill track is known, is certainly a venomous beast! This year, a lot of work had been put in by the trail builders to repair sections that had become increasingly blown-out over years of World Cup racing. The very top section out of the start hut was packed down and smoothed out and included some new berms and jumps. Further down the track, we saw the steepest sections sured up by way of rock gardens hoping that the track would withhold the assault of the world’s best riders in full attack mode. By and large, it worked, and without detracting from the technicality and physicality that the venue is famed for. What it did add was even more intrigue than usual as the riders grappled with line choices all the way down.
4 min
Downhill course preview POV
See how the downhill course in Val di Sole looks from a rider's perspective via Reece Wilson's POV.
When the downhillers attack the Black Snake, it often bites back. The lead into World Champs race day was no different, with Loïc Bruni, Brook Macdonald and Camille Balanche all falling victim. Macdonald's crash was as heavy as you’d expect from the Bulldog; it’s an absolute wonder that he didn’t break bones. Rocks are hard, but apparently, the Bulldog is harder.
Bruni takes on the track
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Bruni's crash was a mad one with his bike taking on a bucking bronco persona and flipping him over the bars. Luckily, he landed on dirt rather than rock and managed to get up and continue his Worlds week. Balanche crashed in her first run on race morning, falling foul to the slippery conditions caused by overnight rain. She bashed up her ankle and was limping heavily but managed to put the pain aside to ride to bronze a few hours later.
06
Fans made the World Champs a race to remember
XCO fans bringing the party to the trackside
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Their support was infectious
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You know the crowds are good when the atmosphere for the Junior cross-country races are electric. Having had their World Cup cancelled in 2020, the Italians were ready to make up for it this year and flooded into the venue at any available opportunity. The venue in Val di Sole is not the easiest to negotiate, but fans sprinted up and down the hillside steps of the cross-country course to cheer on their favourite riders. Adults displayed enjoyably childish excitement, and children looked on in awe as their sporting heroes battled for glory. By Saturday, it was hard to find a single spot trackside that wasn’t occupied.
Fans lined the track
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
The downhill track is a brute to ride and a beast to walk up or down; few spectators were without the tell-tale signs of a slip! The loose ground and mad gradients didn’t stop them, though, with fans shouting, wielding air horns and bashing old bike frames from the first rock garden to the final jump. As the men’s finals reached their climax, hundreds of people had made their way off the hill and crowded into the finish area to welcome the riders home. The podium presentations were fitting of the World Championships, with national anthems sung in full voice and a party atmosphere winding up.
07
The XCO choppy track evolution
3 min
XCO course preview POV
See how the MTB World Championships cross-country course in Val di Sole looks from Emily Batty's perspective.
There has been a constant, gradual evolution to the XCO course over the last few World Cup editions, but there were more significant changes this year. Come race day, the XCO course was looking in fine fettle, but the riders were faced with a pretty choppy track when they began practice on Tuesday. New sections had been cut into the hillside, adding extra turns, berms, and punchy climbs to the first loop. The time added here was cut off with a shorter second loop that the riders tackled after dropping down towards the start, under the bridge and through the pits. There was a second rock garden added to the final descent down to the finish. It was fast but physical and caused a few problems in practice. After a couple of days of training, everything was well bedded in, and there was as much flow as there will ever be on the steep slopes of Val di Sole.
08
XCC World Champions were crowned for the first time
Gold for Frei, silver for Richards and bronze for Ferrand-Prevot
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Short Track Racing (XCC) has become a firm fan favourite, with the flat-out racing providing all the action. 2021 saw the first XCC World Champions crowned. It was a photo finish between Sina Frei and Evie Richards, with Frei taking gold by the slimmest of margins and France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot securing the bronze medal.
3 min
XCC recap
See which riders to watch at the World Championships in Italy as the XC short track races set the bar.
In the men's XCC, USA Christopher Blevin's took the gold after making a decisive move on the last corner. Henrique Avancini tried to match the sprint but couldn't quite match the American's power placing silver, with Germany's Maximilian Brandl taking bronze.
Gold for Blevins, silver for Avancini and bronze for Brandl
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
09
New kit and bikes galore
World Championships always deliver the swankiest bikes and best kit of the year, and a walk through the Val di Sole pits didn’t disappoint.
Bruni with his World Champs bike
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Loïc Bruni opted for a less patriotic and more venue-specific theme. The chrome effect has a snakeskin finish as a tribute to the Black Snake.
Ready to take on the Black Snake track
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Snake scales on Bruni's bike
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Bruni always has a show-stopping World Champs rig
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More details from Bruni's lid
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"Just Getting Started"
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Vali Höll wanted to bring back the leopard print kit that she wore for the 2020 World Championships given that it didn’t get a great outing thanks to her nasty crash. This year it got a faster look and, to her happy surprise, matched perfectly with her bike.
Höll with her World Champs bike
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Unicorns adorn Vali Höll's helmet
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Adding a little extra magic
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Finn Iles worked directly with the Canadian designer; he wanted the spirit of the bike to reflect home. Mountains, snow and a classic maple leaf make for a very cool look.
Iles with his World Champs bike
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A closer look at Iles's bike
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Other standout designs included Jolanda Neff’s Tokyo gold medal bamboo design, Myriam Nicole’s sunset and the Mondraker team's special effects.
Seagrave with her World Champs bike
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Bernard Kerr's bike was based on a vintage Ferrari
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Brook Macdonald shows off his World Champs lid
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Brook 'Bulldog' Macdonald's lid adorned with NZ ferns
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Greg Minnaar's World Champs ride
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Greenland with his World Champs bike
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3D glasses reveal the hidden graphics
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Racing for his country
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All revealed when wearing the glasses
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No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you
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Gold leaf bamboo for Jolanda Neff
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Close up of Neff's golden bamboo theme
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2020 World Champ Camille Balanche
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Avancini's bike flying the Brazilian flag
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We're back to racing next weekend as the UCI MTB World Cup heads to Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Tune in to all the action September 3-5 on Red Bull TV.
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