On Thursday the Junior Cross-Country racers took to the muddy and slick 3.6-kilometer course in Leogang, Austria for the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Four of the Team USA racers were able to race to a top-20 result in highly competitive fields.
Ruth Holcomb (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team), Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing), and Haley Randel (Mill Valley, Calif.; Bear National Team) took the start in a 47-rider field of the Junior Women’s race. After the initial start loop shake out, Holcomb and Munro sat in the top-20 of the race, both less than 1:30 back from the race leader. At the finish, Munro would place eighth, seven minutes and twenty-four seconds back from race winner, Mona Mitterwallner of Austria. Holcomb would maintain her top-20 status and finish 18th, in a time of 1:28:25.
On the Junior Men’s side, Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Bear National Team) and Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Bear National Team) took the start of the 5-lap race. Amos would take the lead early in the race, along with French competitor Luca Martin, putting a small gap on the field at the end of the initial start loop. The duo would extend that lead through the first lap, and going into the second lap, have a gap of twenty seconds on the next set of riders. After the first check point in the second lap, Amos dropped his chain and fell from first to fourth. Over the next two laps he valiantly would try and make back time, at one point moving up into third just over 90 seconds back. Another dropped chain would cement his comeback. Amos and Martin would duck it out for the bronze, with Amos just narrowly missing the last podium spot. He finished two seconds back from Martin, and one minute and twenty-six seconds back from the winner, finishing in fourth. Riley had a solid ride, finishing in 15th, with a group of five other riders.
| 1. | Mona Mitterwallner | AUT | 1:15:55 |
| 2. | Luisa Daubermann | GER | +1:56 |
| 3. | Aneta Novotna | CZE | +2:36 |
| 8. | Madigan Munro | USA | +7:24 |
| 18. | Ruth Holcomb | USA | +12:30 |
| 44. | Haley Randel | USA | @2 Laps |
| 1. | Lennart-Jan Krayer | GER | 1:16:39 |
| 2. | Janis Baumann | SUI | +0:40 |
| 3. | Luca Martin | FRA | +1:24 |
| 4. | Riley Amos | USA | +1:26 |
| 15. | Bjorn Riley | USA | +7:45 |
Racing continues tomorrow with the U23 Men’s Cross-Country race, and qualification runs for all Downhill riders.
U23 Men’s Cross-Country
Start Time:
3:00pm Local Time / 6:00am PT / 9:00am ET
Who To Watch:
Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing)
Junior Women's Downhill Qualification
Who To Watch (All times local):
10:33:00 am Ella Erickson (Hayden, Idaho; Commencal)
Junior Men's Downhill Qualification
Who To Watch (All times local):
11:09:30 am Christopher Grice (Brevard, N.C.; Specialized Factory Racing)
11:10:30 am Austin Dooley (Yucaipa, Calif.; Commencal)
11:14:00 am Dante Silva (Chula Vista, Calif.)
11:18:30 am Matthew Sterling (San Jose, Calif.; Giant Factory Off-Road Team)
Elite Women's Downhill Qualification
Who To Watch (All times local):
11:49:30 am Mazie Hayden (Pittsfield, Vt.; Defiant Racing)
11:51:30 am Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; SRAM Young Guns Racing)
Elite Men's Downhill Qualification
Who To Watch (All times local):
12:51:00 pm Aaron Gwin (Murietta, Calif.; Intense Factory Racing)
12:51:30 pm Neko Mullaly (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Intense Factory Racing)
12:54:00 pm Luca Shaw (Hendersonville, N.C.; Santa Cruz Syndicate)
12:56:00 pm Dakotah Norton (Knoxville, Tenn.; Unior Devinci Factory Racing)
12:58:00 pm Charlie Harrison (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.; Trek Factory Racing)
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