UCI Trials World Cup: Conejos, Barón and Carthy win in France

After the first round of the 2023 UCI Trials World Cup in Vic, Spain, the world’s best riders came head-to-head again in Ploeuc-l'Hermitage, France, for the second of three rounds.

On a testing course comprising 5 challenging sections, riders also had to deal with mixed weather. After the 2-lap quarter- and semi-finals, it was a single all-or-nothing lap each in the finals on Sunday 23 July. Here’s how the three competitions played out in France…

Men Elite 20in: Conejos shows his class

With UCI World Champion Eloi Palau (ESP) still recovering from injury, it was Great Britain’s Charlie Rolls - perhaps more used to slippery conditions – who led the way to the final. He was joined by the Spanish pair of Round 1 winner Alejandro Montalvo and Borja Conejos (both had been on the 2022 UCI World Championships podium behind Palau), Dominik Oswald (GER), Thomas Pechhacker (AUT) and Slovakia’s Samuel Hlavatý .

In the final, after the first two sections, Charlie Rolls and 2021 UCI World Champion Borja Conejos were neck-and-neck, sharing first position. And as the final progressed the fight became closer between Conejos and the current UCI World Cup overall leader Alejandro Montalvo who recovered from a 0 score on section 2.

But it was 24-year-old Conejos who kept cleanest, scoring 200, and taking the UCI World Cup victory in France from Montalvo on 170 and Oswald (160). Rolls faded to fourth with 140, the same points as Pechhacker.

Women Elite: Barón back to her best

The six riders who emerged to fight it out in the Women Elite category were Eliška Hříbková (CZE), French home riders Nina Vabre and Emma Louineau, the Spanish pair of Vera Barón and 15-year-old Alba Riera (winner in Round 1), and reigning UCI World Champion Nina Reichenbach (GER)... with Reichenbach and Riera each hitting perfect scores of 200, just ahead of world ranked no 2, Barón.

After 3 sections, Riera and Barón were tied on 160 points with Reichenbach on 140. The battle continued, and it all came down to the final section between the top three riders. This time it was the 2021 UCI World Champion Vera Barón who got the better of her rivals over the last obstacles.

Barón, just a few days before her 19th birthday, won with 260 points from the young Catalan Riera on 240 and, in the rainbow bands, Reichenbach, fading on the last two sections to finish third with 190.

Men Elite 26in: Carthy makes it 20!

After the semi-finals in the rain, the six finalists were UCI World Champion Jack Carthy (who showed his confidence on the course by making a clean first run in the semis), the Spanish trio of Julen Saenz, Daniel Barón and Martí Vayreda, and two home riders: three-time UCI World Champion Vincent Hermance and Noah Cardona. The latter, at 21, is 17 years younger than Hermance, but finished second behind him in last week’s National Championships, after what he describes as a “chaotic start to the season”!).

Halfway through the Men 26in final, multiple UCI World Champion Carthy was leading the way, following his semi-final run with 60-50-60 scores on the first three sections. The Briton held his advantage to the end, to secure his 20th Elite victory in a UCI World Cup.

Carthy’s 250-point round earned him the win from Barón on 170, and Saenz who finished strongly in third with 160 (Cordon and Vayreda hitting the same final points).

The challenge continues

Next up, the top riders head to the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships taking place in Glasgow and across Scotland to show off to the whole world their trials skills on Glasgow Green.

Just three weeks after the 2023 UCI World Champions have been crowned, the third and final round of the 2023 UCI Trials World Cup will take place in Aarhus, Denmark, on 1st September.