UCI Trials World Cup: Skills and thrills at Vic, Catalonia

The first round of the 2023 UCI Trials World Cup at Vic, Catalonia, saw Spanish riders on two steps of the podium in each of the three categories.

The event saw a breakthrough performance in the Women Elite competition for teenager Alba Riera leading a Spanish 1-2, and another 1-2 for the home riders in the Men Elite 20” with Alejandro Montalvo taking top spot. But it was a dominant win for Britain’s Jack Carthy in the Men 26”, with Spanish riders filling the next four slots behind him. Here’s how the action played out…

Women: breakthrough win for Riera!

The trajectory for the Women’s competition in Vic was set on Saturday when, in the semi-final, the local rider Alba Riera – who turned 15 on Friday – was the surprise of the day. She qualified with the third best score while UCI World Champion Nina Reichenbach went through to Sunday’s final in first place, shadowed by Spain’s Vera Barón. They were joined in Sunday’s final by the French duo of Nina Vabre and Emma Louineau and Reichenbach’s fellow German Larena Hees as the six riders facing a one-lap showdown.

And it was Trialsport rider Riera who carried forward her strong momentum: her one-lap final scores - 60, 60, 50, 60, 30 – saw her accumulate 260 points to finish ahead of 2021 UCI World Champion Báron (200) and Reichenbach (160) who both encountered difficulty on the third section.

It’s an amazing step up for the young Catalan who was UCI Trials World Youth Games winner in 2019 and 2022 and who can now call herself a UCI World Cup winner, ahead of the strongest opponents out there!

Men Elite 20”: Montalvo makes it!

The top 6 qualifying for Sunday’s final included three Spaniards and the world’s top four ranked riders: Alejandro Montalvo on 580 points, only dropping 10 marks on the first section of each lap; Borja Conejos whose 570 included a clear 2nd lap; and UCI World Champion Eloi Palau along with Britain’s Charlie Rolls. They were joined in the top 6 shoot-out by Niilo Stenvall (FIN) and Louis Grillon (FRA) - who replaced Germany’s Dominik Oswald.

It was 23-year-old Montalvo who led from the first section, with strong performances early in the one-lap final, from his fellow Spaniards Conejos and Palau. But with errors increasing mid-way through the round on difficult obstacles, the battle for the podium was suddenly more open. Into the final section with only 10 points separating Montalvo and Conejos for top spot, it was between Palau and Charlie Rolls for the bronze… and it was the British rider who took the final podium place to prevent a repeat of last year’s Spanish clean-sweep. But it was the Jitsie Factory team rider Montalvo who took the win (210) from his friend and rival Conejos (190).

Men Elite 26”: Carthy asserts no 1 status

After qualifying and semi-finals on Friday and Saturday, the six qualifiers for Sunday’s Men Elite 26” final were led by UCI World Champion Jack Carthy (GBR), who qualified in first place: despite dropping points in the very first section, he then rode superbly, with a clear 2nd lap, resulting in a combined 550 points. He was closely followed by Julen Sáenz de Ormijana (ESP), ranked 15 in the UCI World Ranking before Vic, who put in an amazing performance (540). Before the competition, he had said “It is my comeback and my first competition after the injury… My goal is to enter the top six. ” First objective achieved!

His fellow Spaniard, UCI World Ranked no 1, Dani Barón, scored 520, and they were joined in the top-six by the Spanish pair of Marti Vayreda (ranked 3) and Toni Guillen Balil (ranked 69), and French veteran Vincent Hermance squeezing into the final at the expense of Spain’s former UCI World Champion Sergi Llongueras.

In the final, Sáenz and Carthy were both clear on section 1, but a fall on section 2 knocked the Spanish rider back. Then Carthy’s mistake on section 3 gave the initiative to Barón and Vayreda before the Briton scored 50 points on section 4 to return to the top of the provisional standings ahead of the final section (Barón and Vayreda each recording 20). And with 60 points achieved on the final section, the world’s no 1 rider lived up to his billing. Carthy won the day with 220, from Barón (170), Vayreda (160) and Sáenz (140).

Round 2 of the UCI Trials World Cup will take place in Plouec - l’Hermitage (France) from 21 to 23 July.