Switzerland’s Ramona Forchini claimed the women's under 23 cross-country title at the UCI Mountain Bike ©Getty Imagesand Trials World Championships

Switzerland’s Ramona Forchini and New Zealand’s Anton Cooper claimed the respective women’s and men’s under 23 cross-country titles on day four of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in Vallnord, Andorra.

Forchini clocked a time of 1 hour 37min 23sec to finish 39 seconds ahead of Russia’s Olga Terentyeva in second and a further 22 seconds clear of Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds, who completed the top three.

Torrential rain just before the start of the women’s race made the race almost 20 minutes longer than expected with riders collapsing after crossing the finish line.

World Cup champion Rissveds took her usual place at the front on the opening lap, but Forchini caught her on the second before steadily pulling away.

With Rissveds fading in the closing stages, Terentyeva bridged a 10-second gap going into the final lap to move ahead on one of the climbs and secure the silver medal.

New Zealand's Anton Cooper took top honours in the men's under 23 cross-country race
New Zealand's Anton Cooper took top honours in the men's under 23 cross-country race ©Getty Images

Meanwhile in the men’s race, Cooper crossed the line in a time 1:22:03 to edge out France’s Victor Koretzky with Great Britain’s Grant Ferguson taking bronze.

The race was shortened by a lap in light of the conditions the women faced and it was New Zealand’s Sam Gaze, silver medallist in the men’s eliminator on Tuesday (September 1), who charged to the front of the field on the first climb, with compatriot Cooper in hot pursuit.

Koretzky soon moved to the front however, sparking an intriguing battle with Cooper, which lasted for the remainder of the race.

Ferguson, winner of the World Cup final round last month, gradually moved through the field to overtake Gaze into third and looked as though he could threaten the two front-runners on the final lap.

But it ultimately came down to a straight fight between Cooper and Koretzky, with the former attacking in the final steep climb to establish a slim two-second advantage which he was able to preserve for the final 150 metres.

The action in Vallnord is set to continue tomorrow with the elite cross-country events among the highlights.



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