The world’s best trials riders will finally compete in the 2021 UCI Trials World Cup with three days of competition to take place in Belfort, France, between 17 and 19 September. The event is much-awaited after the cancellation of the rounds in Salzburg (Austria) in July and in Wadowice (Poland) last month due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After quarter-finals and semi-finals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning, all the finals will take place on Sunday afternoon: for Women Elite, Men Elite 26” and Men Elite 20”.
Here’s a rundown of the riders to look out for…
Women Elite: Barón in rainbow
Vera Barón was arguably the standout performer two weeks ago at the UCI Trials World Championships in Vic (Spain), winning the gold medal after a nerveless exhibition of trials riding. The 17-year-old Spanish rider won the Salzburg UCI World Cup back in 2019 at just 15 years old before going on to win the final round in Il Ciocco (Italy). That was enough to earn her the overall UCI World Cup title. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Barón has had little chance to show what she can do on the UCI World Cup stage since. Can she build on her recent success and become the dominant performer in the Women Elite category? If that’s her aim, she’ll have her work cut out for her faced with the incredible powers of Germany’s Nina Reichenbach, who’ll look to shake off the disappointment of finishing second behind Barón in Vic. The four-time UCI World Champion and double European Champion will aim to avenge her defeat at the UCI World Championships, and also reverse Barón’s victory over her in Il Ciocco, where Reichenbach looked set to win the round and the overall title before dropping points on the final obstacle. They’ll both have to be in top form to fend off 23-year-old Manon Basseville, who’ll aim to give the home crowd something to cheer about by going two better than her bronze in Vic. In 2019, she also finished third overall in the UCI World Cup after a series of impressively consistent performances, on the podium in every round.
Men 26”: Carthy’s absence leaves competition open
In the absence of Great Britain’s Jack Carthy, due to a back injury, competition in the Men 26” category is wide open. The reigning UCI World Cup winner and UCI World Champion leaves the way clear for talents such as Julen Saenz de Ormijana, of Spain, who finished second behind Carthy in Vic and won gold with Spain in the teams competition. And will 37-year-old Vincent Hermance continue to roll back the years after winning bronze in Vic? The Frenchman looks as fit and agile as ever and finished third overall in the 2019 UCI World Cup.
Men’s 20”: Spanish clean sweep?
If Spain comes away with a similar result to Vic in the Men Elite 20” competition, they’ll head home happy as they swept the board, led by Borja Conejos. Conejos was in sublime form on home soil, taking a memorable victory and Spain’s first Men Elite 20” title since 2017. He’ll have to dig deep to beat the competition, especially his countrymen Alejandro Montalvo and Eloi Palau who finished second and third, respectively, in Vic. Montalvo will have extra motivation to beat his compatriot. In Vic, it looked like he’d win gold until Conejos’ faultless final run, which saw him ride past Montalvo for gold. It was a similar situation in the last round of the 2019 UCI World Cup in Il Ciocco where the double points awarded for the final round saw Conejos once again leapfrog Montalvo, rising from fourth overall to take the overall title ahead of his fierce rival. Also look out for the likes of Austria’s Thomas Pechhacker, Germany’s Dominik Oswald and Spain’s Ion Areitio.