September 01, 2019 ( Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que.) – It’s a wrap for the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships presented by Mercedes-Benz! Now some 650 mountain bike athletes from 45 countries around the world are on their way home, the organizers can celebrate the overwhelming success of the event. This year marked not only a record third time that Mont-Sainte-Anne has hosted the UCI World Championships, but also heralded 30 years of UCI World Championships competition. With perfect weather all weekend, conditions were prime for competition of the very highest calibre. And with the crowds out in full force to cheer on the teams, all the ingredients were there for an event to remember.
“We are extremely proud of all the work that was done in recent months that made it possible for us to present these UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. This was by far the best mountain bike event we’ve organized since it all began back in 1991,” said Chantal Lachance, Vice-President of Production and Marketing for event producer Gestev. “It’s always hard to say exactly how many people were here, but going by naked eye, I can safely say than in 29 years I’ve never seen crowds as big as this weekend’s here at Mont-Sainte-Anne.”
No doubt about it, the Swiss and French teams stole the show all weekend, with at least one athlete riding for their country climbing onto essentially every podium in these prestigious Cross-Country Olympic and Downhill competitions.
The Swiss team get to fly home with no fewer than five rainbow jerseys. As well as sweeping the win in the team relay, Swiss rider Jacqueline Schneebeli was crowned Junior World Champion and Sina Frei took the U23 world title. Nino Schurter won an incredible eighth world championship title, and Nathalie Schneitter took the win in the new e-MTB world championship race. As the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) officials charged ahead with a new world first in mountain bike competition, there was certainly plenty of buzz around these inaugural UCI e-MTB World Championships, with the athletes stoked to be taking things to the next level and pushing the future limits of the sport.
As the crowds turned out in the thousands under the blazing Quebec sunshine, French riders Loïc Bruni and Myriam Nicole put on quite the show on the UCI Downhill World Championship course, climbing to the top step of the podium in the Men’s and Women’s Elite Downhill events, while Pauline Ferrand Prévot flew the tricolore flag for France as she was crowned UCI World Champion in the Elite Women’s Cross-Country Olympic event.
Admirable performances by Canadian athletes in the Downhill included Finn Iles, finishing in 7th place, and Vaea Varbeeck chalking up an impressive 8th place finish, and other notable results in the Cross-Country Olympic discipline included Emily Batty and Léandre Bouchard, who finished in 9th and 27th place respectively. Full results from all competitions can be found online here.