The 2021 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships head to Capoliveri on the Island of Elba (Italy) on Saturday 2 October for the first time in their illustrious history. It’s sure to be an historic day, not only for Elba but also for the mountain bike community.
The programme of events starts on Thursday 30 September with the opening ceremony. Friday 1 October will be devoted to course inspection and press conferences before the main action on Saturday.
The men’s race starts at 8.45am and takes in a brutal 115km. After a steep start, the riders will negotiate three laps of a newly designed 35km route that will inspire riders and earn their respect in equal measure. The parcours is filled with the scents, colours and vegetation of this stunning Mediterranean island. The technical route includes steep climbs, speedy firebreaks, old mule tracks and kilometres of dirt roads. The women’s event begins at 8.55am and, after that stiff opening ascent, ticks off two laps of the same 35km course.
Páez León looking for a hat-trick of world titles
Reigning champion Héctor Leonardo Páez León (COL) is aiming to make it three victories in a row after winning in Grächen-St. Niklaus (Switzerland) in 2019 before defending his title in Sakarya, (Turkey) last year. Can the 39-year-old, who competed at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, continue to prove that age is no barrier to success? He certainly looks strong, racking up three wins in 2021 including the Colombian National Championships. He also finished third in June’s UCI MTB Marathon Series event in Selva Val Gardena, Italy.
Arguably the favourite, however, is Germany’s Andreas Seewald. Thirty-year-old Seewald has been in startling form in 2021, winning five races including three rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Series, most recently at La Forestière in France.
Then there’s the Czech Republic’s Martin Stosek, who’s ranked number one in the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon rankings after an incredibly consistent season that’s seen the 27-year-old finish inside the top-five 11 times. Three of those have been atop the podium including the last UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Series race in Jelenia Góra (Poland). Stosek finished the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in third and will be aiming for two better in 2021.
Finally and closer to home, look out for Italians Samuele Porro and Juri Ragnoli, who recently recced the incredible course. Local knowledge could play a big part in the outcome.
Swiss women provide double threat
In the women’s event, it could all be about Switzerland with the double threat of Ramona Forchini and Ariane Lüthi. Forchini returns to defend the title she won in Turkey last year. In 2020, Forchini was racing her first UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Worlds and didn’t let inexperience inhibit one bit as she stormed past Poland’s Maja Wloszczowska in the final couple of hundred metres. She comes into the race in reasonable form, finishing 15th in the cross-country Olympic and 30th in the cross-country short track at the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
As for Lüthi, she’s currently the world number one after a trio of top-10s in the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Series, which includes victory in the La Forestière round in mid-September. She finished third in last year’s UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships and has won the iconic stage race, the Cape Epic (South Africa) an incredible five times. Lüthi definitely has the pedigree to win her first marathon world crown.
Lithuania’s Katazina Sosna arrives in Elba off the back of a strong season that has her ranked second in the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon ranking. The 30-year-old has clocked up four wins in marathon events so far including two rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Series, most recently in Jelenia Góra last weekend following the BMW Hero Südtirol Dolomites in June.
And keep an eye out for South Africa’s Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. The 35-year-old’s one of the most versatile riders around; the current cycling esports UCI World Champion races for SD Workx and is ranked 14th in the world.