Barón, Montalvo and Carthy win in Denmark to confirm overall UCI Trials World Cup titles

The third and final round took place in Aarhus, Denmark.

The third and final round of the 2023 UCI Trials World Cup was held in Aarhus, Denmark, with victories for Vera Barón (ESP), Alejandro Montalvo (ESP), and Jack Carthy (GBR) in the Women Elite, Men Elite 20in and Men Elite 26in competitions respectively. The trio’s wins in Denmark confirm their overall UCI World Cup victories.

Women Elite: Baron best again

The six women who reached the finals in Aarhus represented Spain, Germany, France, Sweden and Belgium. And it was the three riders who have animated much of the 2023 season who claimed the three final 2023 UCI Trials World Cup podium places.

Spain’s Vera Barón repeated her 2nd round win in Ploeuc, France, followed by her 15-year-old compatriot Alba Riera, winner of the 1st round in Vic, Spain, and Germany’s six-time UCI World Champion Nina Reichenbach, who concluded a mixed season with third place.

It was another thrilling display with high drama, befitting this year’s action. Barón took the final’s only 60-point section, finishing with 210 points, while Riera and Reichenbach both zeroed the 2nd section and could only be separated at the end on countback. Meanwhile French teenager Nina Vabre was in the hunt for a podium spot right up to the final obstacle. Even the 5th and 6th placed finalists – Sweden’s Hilda Andersson and Belgian Perrine Devahive – could only be separated on countback!

After her squeals of frustration in Scotland (she finished 2nd at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow), Vera Barón’s smile in Denmark says it all.

Men Elite 20in: Montalvo leads Spanish 1-2

The six finalists in the Men Elite 20in competition were familiar faces at the top of the international scene.

Scoring a final round of 280, the 23-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Montalvo took the win from his countryman, friend and rival, Borja Conejos. The 24-year-old beat British athlete Charlie Rolls on countback after they both scored 240 in the final (Conejos hit three 60s to Rolls’ two), repeating the podium from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

It may have been a strong Spanish 1-2 but the six finalists represented five nations, with Germany’s Dominik Oswald a close 4th on 230, from Finland’s 18-year-old Nillo Stenvall and Austria’s Thomas Pechhacker.

Men Elite 26in: Carthy confirms ‘perfect’ season

With four Spanish riders making the final, it was down to 39-year-old former UCI World Champion Vincent Hermance of France, and Great Britain’s Jack Carthy – winner of the first two rounds of the 2023 UCI Trials World Cup, and recently re-crowned UCI World Champion in Glasgow Green – to deny Spain a clean-sweep in Denmark! And it was 27-year-old Yorkshireman Carthy who delivered with a final round of 290 in his rainbow bands, only dropping 10 points on the 3rd of 5 sections, to confirm a ‘perfect’ season.

But just as in Glasgow, it was no walk in the park, as Spain’s Julen Saenz pushed him hardest, posting a score of 260, with Daniel Barón just edging out his compatriot Marti Vayreda on countback (Barón had scored one 50) as they both scored 190.

Overall finals standings and rankings

In the Women Elite 2023 UCI Trials World Cup, Alba Riera won the first round in Vic, Spain, in April, beating Vera Barón into 2nd position. However, in the following two rounds that order was reversed, with double points being awarded in round three. Nina Reichenbach finished third each time. It leaves the final overall standings as:

  • Vera Barón (ESP), 780 points

  • Alba Riera (ESP), 680

  • Nina Reichenbach (GER), 560.

The Men Elite 20in competition saw wins in Vic and Aarhus for Montalvo, with Conejos 2nd on both occasions, while that order was reversed in the round in France. Rolls came third in rounds 1 and 3, while it was Oswald who took bronze in Ploeuc. It leaves the overall final standings as:

  • Alejandro Montalvo (ESP), 760 points

  • Borja Conejos (ESP), 680

  • Charlie Rolls (GBR), 545.

In the Men Elite 26in, Carthy won all three rounds, earning him an unsurpassable 800 points. Daniel Barón’s two second places (in Vic and Ploeuc), and third in Aarhus, assures him 2nd overall, while Saenz’s solid progression through positions 4, 3 and 2 in the three rounds nets him third overall. The final UCI Trials World Cup standing for the Men Elite 26in is therefore:

  • Jack Carthy (GBR), 800 points

  • Daniel Barón (ESP), 600

  • Julen Saenz (ESP), 585.