The final two rounds of the eight-round 2024 UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup saw exciting action at the Monaco Alpes Maritimes circuit in both the Men and Women Elite competitions across the weekend of Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October. The competitions had been left intriguingly poised after rounds 5 and 6.
Along with the drive to achieve podium positions in the last two UCI World Cup races, the focus was also on securing the overall standings for the year’s campaign, with 25 points awarded for a win, 20 for second place and 16 for third.
After the last double-header in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Anna Spielmann (AUT) was leadiing the women’s competition with 130 points, from Sofia Wiedenroth (GER) on 91 points and Solène Bouissou (FRA) with 64.
Jérôme Gilloux (FRA) led in the men’s overall with 140 points, from Joris Ryf (SUI) with 122 points, and Mirko Tabacchi (ITA) on 72.
The overall wins in both the men’s and women’s competitions could be decided in either round 7 or round 8, along with the other overall podium placings. Here’s how it played out in the final double-header in the principality of Monaco.
Women Elite: Spielmann’s consistency wins out
Going into Saturday’s round 7, Sofia Wiedenroth – winner in rounds 1, 5 and 6 – was looking for her fourth victory of the year to chase down the advantage of Anna Spielmann who had won rounds 3 and 4, but had also finished second in all the other races of the year, scoring consistently to push her overall total points above her rivals.
And in the first race in Monaco, UCI World Champion Wiedenroth went all-out to take victory, but could do nothing in the race for the overall title in the face of Spielmann, her relentless shadow, second again in Monaco. It was enough for the Austrian to know her overall advantage could not be overhauled. Solène Bouissou took third place in the race, to firm up her third position in the overall standings.
In Sunday’s round 8, Wiedenroth took her fifth victory in the season’s eight World Cup rounds, with Bouissou second and Spielmann DNS. That left the final overall table as Spielmann the winner with 150 points, Wiedenroth a close second on 141 and Bouissou third with 100 points.
Men Elite: Gilloux’s class shines through
As the Men Elite reached round 7, the dominant 30-year-old UCI World Champion Jérôme Gilloux had finished either first or second at every round throughout the campaign. It was his closest rival Ryf – winner of round 3 in Bielstein, Germany and round 5 in Belgium – who could catch the Frenchman in the race for the overall title, but to do so he’d need to win both remaining rounds and hope that the 2021, 2022 and 2023 overall winner would fail to podium in at least one of them. Tabacchi could also mathematically catch Ryf for second overall, but it would require an even less likely set of circumstances to occur.
But Gilloux’s class was clear as he won the first of the two races in Monaco – traditionally a happy hunting ground for him, and regularly used to host the season’s opening fixtures – and in so doing, confirmed the overall title for 2024. Tabacchi finished second with Ryf in third.
Sunday’s round 8 saw the course raced in the opposite direction. Again Gilloux was victorious, his sixth UCI World Cup win of the year, with Tabacchi taking second place again and Adrián Alonso (ESP) beating Ryf to third.
Gilloux took another overall title with 190 points, Ryf second with 151 and Tabacchi having a strong finish to the season, taking third overall with 112 points.