Strong Ride By Annie Last

 

Mountain Bike World Championships

Val di Sole, Italy, June 17-22, 2008
Report & Images: Rob Jones

Link: Mountain Bike Worlds Home Page

Day2 - Junior Women and Under-23 Women XC

 

The first full day of competition at the Mountain Bike World Championships saw a strong performance by the lone British rider - Annie Last, who finished ninth in the Junior Women's cross-country. In the Junior race, Laura Abril won Colombia's first ever world title in mountain bike with a start to finish ride from the front, while Tanja Zakelj of Slovakia was an unexpected winner over favoured Nathalie Schneitter of Switzerland in the woman's U23 category.

For every rider it was a relief to wake up to sun after days of rain. The warm conditions quickly dried out the open sections of the circuit, however, the technical descents under tree cover were still slick and treacherous.

Laura Abril claimed Colombia's first gold at the MTB worlds

Abril and Barbara Benko (Hungary) went to the front on the first lap, and stayed away together until the final climb of the race, when Abril attacked and dropped her rival to solo in 37 seconds ahead. Meyer was overtaken by European champion Mona Eiberweisser (Germany) for the bronze medal. Eiberweisser, who had been a favourite, had a poor start and had to work her way up through the field. Last hit the first climb in the top-15 and worked her way up gradually to take ninth.

Annie Last grits her teeth on one of the climbs

In the U23 four lap race, the favourite should have been defending champion Ren Chengyuan of China. But, after winning the first round of the World Cup, Ren has been inexplicably going backwards, finishing 25th at the Fort William, Scotland World Cup two weeks ago. This made Schneitter and Zakelj the favourites, and they did not disappoint.

Annie Last enjoys some of the rare Alpine sunshine

France's Julie Krasniak jumped into the lead on the first lap, but Schneitter, Zakelj, Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Poland) and Laura Metzler (France) were the first of a long line of riders within a few seconds.

L to R: Under-23 winner Tanja Zakelj (Slovenia) and runner up Nathalie Schneitter (Switzerland)

Schneitter jumped into the lead for the second lap, with Zakelj at nine seconds and Tereza Hurikova (Czech Republic) at 15 seconds. But Hurikova was having a bad day, eventually crashing and finishing well back in 20th place.

Zakelj moved up to join Schneitter on the climb, and then dropped her rival in the technical downhill sections before the second climb, gaining almost a minute.

The under-23 women's podium: Nathalie Schneitter (Switzerland), Tanja Zakelj (Slovenia) & Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Poland)

Zakelj continued to ride away through the remainder of the race to finish nearly three minutes up on the Swiss rider, who barely managed to hold on for silver after suffering a flat on the last lap. Schneitter finished a slim 16 seconds ahead of a late surge by Poland's Aleksandra Dawidowicz.

 

Results

Junior Women - 17.62 km
1. Laura Abril (Colombia) 1:16:08
2. Barbara Benko (Hungary) at 0:37
3. Mona Eiberweiser (Germany) 2:11
4. Vivianne Meyer (Switzerland) 3:18
5. Paula Gorycka (Poland) 6:31
6. Bianca Adolf (Canada) 6:46
7. Jana Valesova (Czech Republic) 7:46
8. Cornelia Schuster (Italy) 7:55
9. Annie Last (Great Britain) 8:00
10. Sanne Cant (Belgium) 8:10
11. Michelle Hediger (Switzerland) 8:18
12. Camille Devi (France) 9:45
13. Martina Giovanniello (Italy) 9:49
14. Karin Rappo (Switzerland) 9:52
15. Kajsa Snihs (Sweden) 10:06
16. Rozanne Slik (Netherlands) 10:21
17. Gesa Bruchmann (Germany) 10:51
18. Noga Korem (Israel) 11:12
19. Marina Giger (Switzerland) 11:12
20. Samara Sheppard (New-Zealand) 13:08
21. Mariske Strauss (South Africa) 13:57
22. Rebecca Henderson (Australia) 14:58
23. Cristina Molina (Ecuador) 17:10
24. Caitlin De Wet (South Africa) 17:24
25. Maria Babanova (Russian Federation) 18:07
26. Weronika Rybarczyk (Poland) 18:26
27. Jerneja Tratnik (Slovenia) 18:50
28. Serena Calvetti (Italy) 18:57
29. Michela Battaglia (Italy) 19:45
30. Nadezhda Orlova (Russian Federation) 21:01
31. Jill Behlen (United States Of America) 21:52
32. Daria Zaitseva (Russian Federation) 22:27
33. Diedre York (United States Of America) 24:14
34. Marta Pastore (Italy) 24:20
35. Leah Kirchmann (Canada) 25:34
36. Daniela Rojas (Chile) 27:18
37. Chiara Pastore (Italy) 29:21
38. Brigitta Koos (Hungary) 30:24
39. Javiera Ocampos (Chile) 30:48
DNF. Alla Boyko (Ukraine)
DNF. Anna Oberparleiter (Italy)
DNF. Jitka Skarnitzlova (Czech Republic)
DNF. Julia Haase (Germany)
DNF. Marketa Sladkova (Czech Republic)
DNF. Melissa Horvat (Austria)

 

Under-23 Women

1 Tanja Zakelj (Slovenia) 1.35.31
2 Nathalie Schneitter (Switzerland) 2.59
3 Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Poland) 3.15
4 Nataliya Krompets (Ukraine) 3.43
5 Caroline Mani (France) 4.04
6 Emiliy Batty (Canada) 5.00
7 Julie Krasniak (France) 5.54
8 Julie Bresset (France) 6.11
9 Maaike Polspoel (Belgium) 8.05
10 Daniela Campuzano (Mexico) 8.09
11 Stephanie Wiedner (Austria) 8.12
12 Hanna Klein (Germany) 8.18
13 Chengyuan Ren (People's Republic of China) 9.31
14 Katarzyna Solus (Poland) 10.13
15 Silke Schmidt (Germany) 12.05
16 Alexandra Engen (Sweden) 12.46
17 Laura Metzler (France) 14.08
18 Vera Andreeva (Russian Federation) 15.34
19 Jamie Dinkins (United States Of America) 16.14
20 Tereza Hurikova (Czech Republic) 17.16
21 Anja Gradl (Germany) 18.13
22 Judith Pollinger (Italy) 19.31
23 Iryna Slobodyan (Ukraine) 21.09
24 A. Serrano Rodriguez (Ecuador) 23.09
25 Ana Zupan (Slovenia) @ 1 lap
26 Sibylle Werth (Italy) @ 1 lap
27 Karen Brouwer (Netherlands) @ 1 lap
28 Claudia Sieder (Italy) @ 1 lap
29 Semra Yetis (Turkey) @ 1 lap
30 Elisabetta Borgia (Italy) @ 1 lap
DNF Kathrin Stirnemann (Switzerland) @ 1 lap
DNF Ines Thoma (Germany) @ 1 lap