First Cross-country titles awarded at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Val di Sole-Trentino: the Australian and Swiss riders dominate the Junior races in the Olympic discipline. Cross-country Short Track medals up for grabs this afternoon
Of the six rainbow jerseys up for grabs on Thursday, August 27th, at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Val di Sole-Trentino, two were awarded this morning in the Junior Cross-country races. Australia’s Connor Wright and Switzerland’s Anja Grossmann claimed the rainbow jerseys after dominating their respective races from start to finish.
XCO JUNIOR MEN: CONNOR WRIGHT PUTS EUROPE’S BEST IN THEIR PLACE
First came Connor Wright, followed by the best of Europe’s young cycling talent: that is perhaps the simplest way to sum up the Junior Men’s Cross-country race, which was dominated by the Australian’s relentless pace, too much for all his rivals to match.
On the opening lap, Filippi, Hettegger and Ghibaudo tried to stay with Wright, but all three were gradually dropped over the following two laps. Austrian rider Hettegger was the last to lose contact and went on to secure the silver medal.
Wright crossed the finish line after the five scheduled laps with a winning margin of 1:16 over Hettegger. Swiss rider Marwan Barhoumi came through strongly from the chasing group to take bronze, 1:43 down on the winner.
XCO WOMEN 23: SWITZERLAND TAKES GOLD AS GROSSMANN WEARS DOWN THE FIELD
Switzerland claimed the top step of the podium in the first Cross-country medal race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Val di Sole-Trentino. Anja Grossmann took the World title in the Women Junior category after a dominant performance from start to finish. Czech rider Barbora Bukovska secured the silver medal, finishing 48 seconds behind the winner, while France’s Agathe Vauchamp took bronze, 1:29 down.
A multidiscipline rider who also claimed a bronze medal in the road race at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, the 17-year-old Swiss rider made her intentions clear from the first lap of the Val di Sole XCO course. Bukovska managed to stay on Grossmann’s wheel for one lap, but the Czech rider was unable to match her pace on lap 2 as Grossmann gradually opened up a decisive gap and rode on to claim the UCI World title.
For Anja Grossmann, it is a prestigious double after winning the European title in Monteceneri: European and UCI World Champion in the same year.
"I've dreamed about this moment for so long. I thought about it in every single training session and I never stopped believing it would come. The last few years taught me a lot, the disappointments included, and I've had the best people around me the whole way: people who give everything, every day, and who believed in this dream as much as I did. The race itself was incredible. I had a good start and rode the first two laps with Bukovska, then I settled into my own pace and rode my own race. On the last lap I had to get off the bike and I had problems with the shifting, but I just kept believing in myself and kept fighting. Yesterday with the team we dreamed of gold and it didn't quite come together. Making it happen today means even more”, said Anja Grossmann.
