The quickfire action of the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup powered by Kuwait continues with the racers making a visit to France, for round 5 at Seine-et-Marne-Jablines-Annet on 17 September – the latest installment in an Eliminator season that keeps on giving. In the thrilling UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Championships in Graz, Austria, that punctuated the UCI World Cup programme, rainbow stripes were awarded to Germany’s Simon Gegenheimer and Italy’s Gaia Tormena. The races on 5 September saw disappointment for leading French riders Hugo Briatta and Titouan Perrin-Ganier, both suffering mechanical issues.
Then last weekend the series returned to the hilly, grassy park circuit at Winterberg, Germany, for the fourth of six UCI World Cup rounds. The start list reflected the inclusive, global nature of the competition, with two riders making their UCI World Cup debuts: the men’s fastest qualifier Ricky Morales of Puerto Rico, and Iran’s Fanorak Partoazar racing in the women’s semi-finals. The big finals in Germany produced victories for Tormena and Perrin-Ganier, the Frenchman bouncing back after losing his rainbow stripes and the Italian woman bidding farewell to her Italian tricolour.
A return to France
Now we reach the penultimate race, this season’s only round in France, at a new venue, Île de Loisirs de Jablines-Annet in the Seine-et-Marne department of the Île-de-France region. The Leisure Island lake location offers a host of activities with swimming, boarding and sailing amongst the attractions. Of course, the region also welcomes cycling in its many forms. And that includes the Eliminator. Race organisers citymountainbike.com bring new venues in each season. And despite the name not all are in cities – including the new French lake venue, in the beautiful area just 40km east of Paris in Northern France. This early autumn fixture will see the time trials raced late afternoon, with the finals starting at 18.30 local time. There was no French race in the 2020 UCI World Cup with the cancelation of the round in Villard-de-Lans where, in 2019, three French riders made the podiums. Hugo Briatta (FRA), Felix Klausmann (GER) and Perrin-Ganier (FRA) were the men’s 1-2-3, while Gaia Tormena (ITA), then Magdalena Duran (ESP) and Mano Winner (FRA) graced the women’s podium. How is the form for further French podiums in the 2021 French race? The 12 September race in Germany saw another win for the apparently unstoppable Tormena. She crossed the line 4.49sec ahead of home rider Lia Schrievers who got the better of her German compatriot Marion Fromberger. Ella Holmegård (SWE) completed the big final.
“I didn’t have to sprint as I thought I already had the race under control,” said Tormena. “I managed to stay in front from the first metres and here we are again!”
Perrin-Ganier won the men’s big final by 0.16sec after swapping the lead in the final corners with European Champion Jeroen van Eck (NED). Lorenzo Serres (FRA) took third and new UCI World Champion Gegenheimer was unable to podium on his first home-soil race in the stripes. There was no appearance for Briatta and Sweden’s Anton Olstam went out in the quarter-finals.
“I finally took my first victory in the UCI World Cup. Last week I broke my chain in the UCI World Championships when I had super good legs!” said Perrin-Ganier. “I made a little mistake in the start and took last place. I managed to get to the front, step by step. And on the last straight I took Jeroen - super cool!”
The UCI World Cup standings
After four rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup powered by Kuwait the women in the Winterberg big final are the top four overall. First is Tormena with 360 points: that’s 30 points for being quickest in each time trial and 60 points for coming first in each final! Second is Fromberger with 198. With 90 points available from each of the last two races, she can still win the overall, but the race at Jablines-Annet may decide top spot. Schrievers is third with 163, now ahead of Holmegård, on 156. The men’s overall is tight. With 244 points Van Eck has taken the lead from Gegenheimer’s 230. It’s a knife-edge balance that brings into focus the importance of the time trials, not just for determining the seedings of the heats – keeping the fastest qualifiers apart – but for the points they earn for the overall total. The Dutchman has out-scored the German in three of four time trials, and that makes the difference. Heading into their home race, the French duo of Perrin-Ganier (148) and Serres (146) have both leapfrogged Olstam, occupying 3rd and 4th overall respectively. The Swede now lies in 5th place on 130 points.