Germany's Raphaela Richter and Tomáš Slavík of the Czech Republic qualified fastest in the women's and men's events at the UCI 4X Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole©UCI

Germany's Raphaela Richter and Tomáš Slavík of the Czech Republic qualified fastest in the women's and men's events, respectively, on the opening day of the International Cycling Union 4X Mountain Bike World Championships at Val di Sole in Italy.

Richter, bronze medallist at the same venue last year, posted a time of 50.071sec in her timed qualifying round.

The German's performance saw her progress to the eliminator rounds in style.

She finished 0.346 quicker than defending champion Romana Labounková of the Czech Republic, second in 50.417.

Britain's Natasha Bradley did enough for third having clocked 51.709.

In the men's event, Slavík topped the pile as he laid down a marker for the rest of the field in 44.004.

Slavík, the 2018 runner-up and double world champion, was 1.073 seconds faster than nearest challenger Lutz Weber of Switzerland, who finished in 45.077.

Austria's Hannes Slavik was third in 45.107.

The top 32 riders in the men's event progressed to the eliminator rounds tomorrow.