Round 1 – UCI MTB WORLD CUP
MONA YOUGPYONG, SOUTH KOREA
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SHORT TRACK (XCC)
The racing began with the women’s XCC, where Emilly Johnston fought her way from a back-row start to finish in 24th, giving her a better start position in the XCO. A strong result after only recently recovering from an off-season injury.
“The start was hard, as usual, but I was pleasantly surprised with how my legs turned around after the first lap.”
Björn Riley was also up at the front until an unfortunate collision with a tree brought his race to an early end and landed him in hospital. A few stitches and some good work from the medical team and physio had him back on the bike by the next day.
“I am happy about the feeling, I just missed the legs for the sprint in the last lap.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
CROSS COUNTRY (XCO)
Sunday came with rain that turned the track to mud and created some of the worst race conditions possible. Most of the climbs were unrideable, and more time was spent running than riding.
“There was no riding, it was all running. You just couldn’t move, you were just walking”
It was a tough day for Emilly in the women’s XCO, with conditions making even running difficult.
“It was far from being a mountain bike race, it was more just a run.”
In the men’s race, the team performed well despite the brutal conditions. Filippo and Fabio were consistently at the sharp end of the race, remaining in the top ten throughout and crossing the line in 8th and 10th respectively, a solid points haul to start the season.
“I think we’ve never had a world cup like this before.”
Despite starting from the fifth row following his crash in the short track, Björn put in an impressive ride, methodically picking off riders throughout the race to cross the line in 11th, his best ever Elite World Cup result.
“It feels good, but I feel like this isn’t a real race. I haven’t ran that much ever so I’m happy.”
Andri also put in a great ride, fighting through the chaos from the back of the pack to finish 35th.
“I am happy I finished this race because it was very sketchy and hard conditions”
XCC RESULTS
7th Fabio Püntener
5th Filippo Colombo
DNF Björn Riley
24th Emilly Johnston
XCO RESULTS
10th Fabio Püntener
8th Filippo Colombo
11th Björn Riley
35th Andri Frischknecht
41st Emilly Johnston
Overall, the team is happy with their form heading into the season and capped off the weekend with a 6th place finish in the overall team standings. With a two-week break ahead, the team returns to Europe before the next World Cup in Nové Město na Moravě.
Photos by Piper Albrecht
