UCI Cycling Worlds: Kiwi clean sweep of Women Junior mountain bike downhill podium

Erice Van Leuven topped the Women Junior podium in Fort William followed by New Zealand teammates Poppy Lane and Sacha Earnest. Men Junior gold went to Germany’s Henri Kiefer.

Fort William in the Scottish Highlands today hosted the opening of the mountain bike downhill competitions as part of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships taking place in Glasgow and across Scotland (GBR) from 3 to 13 August.

The competition at the beautiful Aonach Mòr track was held in dry conditions, 13 degrees, and with a steady 14mph (22km/h) wind at the top.

Erice Van Leuven, Poppy Lane and Sacha Earnest made it a 1-2-3 for New Zealand in the Women Junior competition, while German Henri Kiefer claimed the Men Junior title ahead of Canadian Bodhi Kuhn and Frenchman Léo Abella.

Women Junior: Kiwi 1-2-3

With riders in the finals starting in UCI Ranking order (rather than by qualifying times), the 2nd out of the start hut was 3rd fastest in the qualifications, Poppy Lane. The New Zealander set a blazing time of 5:20.821 (5.6sec faster than her quali run) for the rest to chase.

Halfway through the finals, Lane’s compatriot Sasha Earnest - Junior winner of the Italian round of the 2023 UCI Mountain bike World Cup in Val di Sole (Italy) - was the only rider to come close, slotting into second place (+0.417).

Into the last five riders, USA’s Riley Miller started fast, but faded in the woods to sit in 3rd, before fastest qualifier Erice Van Leuven - winner of the Lenzerheide (Switzerland) round of the UCI World Cup - put together a super-hot 5:15,613 run to break Lane’s time by 5sec. It was a time nobody else could beat.

“It was insane!” said Van Leuven. “Best time of my life for sure, I’m so stoked!”

Men Junior: Kiefer kills it!

With 10 riders left to start in the Men Junior finals, the French delegation looked strong, with Nathan Pontivianne in the hot seat, followed by Lucas Lagneau and Mylann Falquet.

Canada’s Tegan Cruz briefly spoiled the French party before Léo Abella – winner of the UCI World Cup round in Leogang (Austria) - went top to reinstate the French provisional podium lockout.

Fastest qualifier Ryan Pinkerton (USA) was a non-starter, but second-fastest qualifier Henri Kiefer put it all together to claim the hot spot with a run in 4:30.727. Canada’s Bodhi Kuhn (winner of the UCI World Cup at Val di Sole) pushed hard to go 2nd (+0.418). Abella held 3rd, with fellow Frenchmen Pontvianne and Lagneau finishing in 4th and 5th places respectively.

“It’s crazy… It was such a good run, so emotional right now,” said Kiefer. “They’ve made the whole track super fresh… super good, super fun!”

Elite qualifications: Defending UCI World Champions go through

Before the Junior finals, the crowd at Fort William had been treated to the qualification rides from the Women and Men Elite.

Reigning UCI World Champion Valentina Höll (Austria) qualified fastest followed by Great Britain’s Tahnee Seagrave and France’s Marine Cabirou. In Men Elite qualification, reigning and five-time UCI World Champion Loïc Bruni put in the fastest time followed by Austrian Andreas Kolb and Great Britain’s Bernard Kerr.

The Women and Men Elite finals will take place tomorrow, 5 August.

Live timing and results