CX80 World Cup in MTBO: Sprint wins for Splittorff and Bettega ...
Dane Nikoline Splittorff extended her lead in the CX80 World Cup with a win by 51 seconds, while Italian Fabiano Bettega won the men’s race by 19 seconds. World Cup leader André Haga, Finland was third.
The race doubled as this year’s U23 World MTBO Championships in Sprint, and gold medalists here were the Austrian rider Jana Hnilica, fifth in the race and 1:18 down on the winner, and Noah Rieder, Switzerland who finished seventh, 56 seconds down.
The courses on a pleasant summer day in Smiltene, Latvia were fast, yet with some hills, parkland with trees near the start and finish, and otherwise mainly urban but with one forested hillside. Most riders found it hard to avoid small mistakes in the often complex urban section. In the women’s race, Lithuanian Gabriele Andrasiuniene, equal second-placed with the Finn Ruska Saarela in the World Cup standings before the race, was fastest up to the 11-minute mark, but then made a 30-second error and lost some time later too. She nevertheless finished in second place, with Saarela third, 11 seconds further down. Saarela lost half a minute just before the half-way point, and then pulled back from fifth place to third.
In the men’s race Jonas Maiselis, Lithuania was fastest to the first radio, but lost about 20 seconds near the half-way point. Here Bettega, twelfth in the World Cup list before today, took over the lead and held the 19-second gap through to the finish. André Haga lost 20 seconds in the first half of the race, but was thereafter faster than his compatriot Tomi Nykanen and pulled up one place ahead of him.
Today’s result gives Nikoline Splittorff a World Cup Standings lead of 65 points over Gabriele Andrasiuniene, with Ruska Saarela third, 20 points fewer. The men’s list is still headed by André Haga, now 32 points ahead of Vojtech Ludvik, Czechia and 64 points ahead of Ignas Ambrazas, Lithuania. Bettega’s win brings him up to fourth place, 79 points down on the leader.
IOF TV covered the race with many course and drone shots and carried the English arena commentary. The Mixed Relay on Sunday will also be televised and can be watched free of charge. Tomorrow it is a complete change of tempo; the Long race starting at 10.00 local time has winning times of 105-115 minutes.
Leading results, Sprint
Women
Nikoline Splittorff DEN 18:24 Gabriele Andrasiuniene LTU 19:15 Ruska Saarela FIN 19:26 Cæcelie Christoffersen DEN 19:41 Jana Hnilica AUT 19:42 Tilda Palm SWE 19:53U23 World Championships: Gold, Jana Hnilica; Silver, Tilda Palm; Bronze, Celine Wellenreiter SUI (10th)
Men
Fabiano Bettega ITA 17:50 Jonas Maiselis LTU 18:09 André Haga FIN 18:17 Tomi Nykanen FIN 18:31 Lauri Malsroos EST 18:40 Vojtech Ludvik CZE 18:45U23 World Championships: Gold, Noah Rieder SUI (7th); Silver, Albin Demaret Joly FRA (11th); Bronze, Flurin Schnyder SUI (13th)
Photo: MTBO World Cup R2
