September 02, 2014  (Hafjell, Norway) – The 2014 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships in Hafjell, Norway, opened on Tuesday with the first titles awarded in the Eliminator. Kathrin Stirnemann gave Switzerland their first title of the championships in the women’s competition, while Fabrice Mels of Belgium took the men’s gold medal.

The event was held in the unique historic village of Maihaugen, on the outskirts of Lillehammer, which offers examples of Norwegian architecture going back hundreds of years. The 840 metre course has everything from gravel road, to rocks and roots, drops and banked turns.

Stirnemann, who won the World Cup overall title a week earlier, qualified third, and made her way into the final round by winning her first two heats and then finishing second to countrywoman Linda Indergand in the semi-final, with both going to the final. The two Swiss riders were joined by Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) and Ingrid Boe Jacobsen of host Norway.

Stirnemann and Indergand quickly dropped the other two, and sprinted down the final stretch for the gold medal, with Stirnemann winning by a bike length. Boe Jacobsen took a very popular bronze medal, after she and Rissveds tangled in the final corner, and the Norwegian was the first to get back on her bike.

“It’s unbelievable,” commented Stirnemann. “I tried to save as much energy as I could in the heats before so I could give it everything I can in the final. I just can’t believe it, it is a dream coming true.”

“It was our goal to go for a double and once we were in the final, Linda and I tried our best. We told each other which line we’d take in the forest and it worked out. I’m proud to be Swiss and I think the Swiss team is on fire now for the world champs.”

We asked her about her gameplan. “My idea was just how I rode: get out on front and drive the race hard, as this was a huge goal of mine and I’m floating right now! I just wanted to make sure not to make mistakes or get caught by someone’s wheels so I tried to stay out in front.”

Lone Canadian U23 rider Rachel Pageau qualified 16th and was happy to return after competing in last year’s XCE race. She got through two rounds with strong riding but was eliminated in the quarter finals.

“This course has a lot of technical aspects with less climbing except at the beginning. Still, I had a blast and except for a few things, the race went well,” she told Pedal post race. Pageau will race in the U23 Women’s XC race this week as well – full interview with Pageau here.

The men’s competition saw numerous crashes and some top riders go out of contention early. Defending world champion Paul van der Ploeg (Australia) went out in the first round, while Simon Gegenheimer (Germany) did not even qualify for the 32 finalists.

Mels qualified fastest and won his first two races, before finishing second to Kevin Miquel (France) in the semi-final that put both riders into the medal race. They were joined by Emil Lindgren (Sweden) and Daniel Federspiel (Austria) for the final.

Federspiel got off to a fast start, but then his rear wheel broke and he crashed into Miquel, holding up the rest of the riders. Miquel was the first to get going and opened a sizable gap before Lindgren began to close in the second half of the race. In the final sharp left turn, Lindgren attempted to cut inside of Miquel, catching his pedal in the French rider’s wheel and giving Mels a clear path to victory. Lindgren took second ahead of a very disappointed Miquel.

“I had a very bad start,” explained Mels, “and I was trying to keep up the pace and to pass Emil (Lindgren) because he had a quite big gap to Kevin (Miquel). Then, at the end, Lindgren came on the inside of Kevin and they crashed, so I had the way open to the finish line.”

“It’s crazy. I was waiting for the sprint because I had not a very good start, so with this … yeah, it is beyond my imagination at the moment. I am really happy.”

“This is way above winning the World Cup; way, WAY above it. You have the Rainbow Jersey, and you can wear it all the year, and that makes it so nice. You work so hard for it the whole year, and then getting this … all the hard work pays off.”

Raphael Gagne was the top Canadian, who qualified 29th and ended up 30th after suffering a crash in his heat. “Whoever is most aggressive will do well here, there is NO room anywhere for passing, and the corners will be crucial and I expect a lot of cut offs and elbows,” he told Pedal post race.

Gagne, who was on the Eliminator podium in Germany last year but hasn’t race any WCups this year, couldn’t have predicted it better. His strategy to lead out was working perfectly until he hit a protruding rock – and thus his chance to advance – doing a 360 and sailing into the crowd. He also felt the course was too short and used the event as a training exercise as he is competing in this weekend’s XC race and took  his crash in stride. “I can still do a perfect race this weekend, who knows?” – full interview here.

Also on the start line for Canada was B.C. Junior, Rhys Verner, competing at his first international race. Despite being eliminated in the qualifying round – he finished 40th but only the top 32 riders advance to the rounds – Verner was still happy to compete citing this as his first world cup/championship race that he has competed in outside of North America.

“As a junior, I’ve got a lot more time, and as an XC and downhill rider, this kind of event suits me well,” Verner told us post race – full interview here.

Full results here.