Action got under way this evening in Vic, Catalonia, and will run through until Sunday 5 September. This is the first time the event has been held in the birthplace of the trials discipline, Spain, since 2000.
The format
Five individual titles are up for grabs over the competition: Men Junior 26”, Men Junior 20”, Women, Men Elite 26” and Men Elite 20”. The sixth title is awarded in the UCI Teams’ World Championship, which opened proceedings in Vic.
The current trials competition format follows that first introduced in 2017 at the inaugural UCI Urban Cycling World Championships – where trials was one of three disciplines featured -, based on the accumulation of points across the five sectors of each section. In each sector, riders can chose between the scored gates (10, 20, 30 or 40). It they achieve a 'clean' crossing of the chosen gate - ie without setting either foot or part of the bike, except the tyres, on the ground - they collect the points allocated to that gate.
The last time the team competition was held, in 2019, Spain took the title ahead of Switzerland and France. The lack of competition over the past two seasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic meant those three teams lined up at the 2021 UCI Trials World Championships as the teams to watch. For reference, each team features five riders: one from each category represented in the individual competitions.
How it unfolded
Elliott Cooper was first out of the starting gate, though Great Britain was only able to register 10 points. Spain (Borja Conejos, Vera Barón, Julen Saenz, Marti Riera and Daniel Cegarra) set the early running with 160 points. They repeated the feat in the second run to take a commanding lead on 320 points.
The French quintet of Nicolas Vallée, Manon Basseville, Louis Grillon, Charles Chibaudel and Thomas Jeu sat in second on 270 points with Germany third 10 points further back.
Spain extended their lead on run three thanks to a staggering 200-pointer, leaving them at the top of the leaderboard on 520 points. A below-par 40 points saw France drop to fourth. Germany took advantage with a 140-point effort that elevated them to second on 400 points. Austria were third on 340 points.
With just two rounds remaining, Spain’s 120-point lead looked unassailable. But this is trials, arguably the most technical discipline in cycling. One bad round and defeat could be clawed from the jaws of victory. But if it was to happen, Spain hadn’t given any hint of it thus far.
France came fighting back in the fourth run with a 200. A final effort saw them rack up 170 points and go one better – silver - than in the 2019 UCI World Championships in Chengdu, China. Germany’s 180-point effort on run four couldn’t be added to on the fifth run, leaving them with bronze on 580 points.
But as seemed clear from early on, Spain proved unbeatable, a solid 130 points on run four and a final run of 120 points giving them a gold medal-winning total of 770 points.
Tomorrow’s schedule consists of semi-finals for Men Junior 26”, Men Junior 20” and Women.