History has been made in the historical Brazilian town of Congonhas, with the crowning of the winners of the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup powered by citymountainbike.com,
It was the first time that the UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup has visited South America, with riders starting and finishing at the UNESCO World Heritage site, Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas.
The Netherlands’ Jeroen van Eck claimed victory and the overall title, while it was Marcela Lima who won the women’s race in Congonhas in front of her home Brazilian crowd. Norway’s Ingrid Bøe Jacobsen is the overall women’s winner of the 2018 World Cup.
Two weeks after his fourth place in the UCI Urban Cycling Championships, van Eck finished his season as he began it in June in Columbus (USA): with a victory. In the seven World Cup rounds, van Eck was on the podium five times, amassing a total of 263 points. “Finishing off my season with a victory in Brazil is just great…” he told citymountainbike.com. “The race course is just crazy! I really loved it.”
In pouring rain, home Brazilian rider Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi led for the early part of the final before being overtaken by van Eck. Cocuzzi held on for second place in front of Germany’s Simon Gegenheimer, who is second overall in the UCI World Cup (169 points). Frenchman Lorenzo Serres, fastest qualifier in Brazil, came fourth in the final and finishes third overall in the World Cup, just nine points adrift of Gegenheimer.
The women’s final was an all-Brazilian affair with Marcela Lima taking victory in front of Karen Fernandes Olimpio (2nd), Tânia Clair Pidler Negherbon (3rd) and fastest qualifier Paula Gallan (4th).
“Having a World Cup in Brazil really motivated me to perform well,” said the winner afterwards. “It’s great to have a challenging XCE race on home soil.”
The Brazilians’ take-over of the podium in Congonhas did not change the overall standings of the UCI World Cup. Ingrid Bøe Jacobsen is the comfortable winner of the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup powered by citymountainbike.com with 265 points. She is followed by Sweden’s Ella Holmegard (150 points) and Iryna Popova, of the Ukraine, 12 points further back.