The Aosta Valley girl completes the work and also wins the world title, taking home the World Cup, the European title and the rainbow jersey in the same year. For her it is the 4th title of her, for the Federation of the 121st medal of 2023.
The UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Championships in Palangkaraya, Indonesia took place in a thrilling battle, with Gaia Tormena from Italy and Titouan Perrin-Ganier from France showing their strength in defending their 2022 XCE rainbow jerseys. The two Eliminator stars successfully retained their titles for another year. The show attracted a large audience to the Tuah Pahoe Stadium, where spectators witnessed the world's best cyclists, representing nearly 40 different nations, go head-to-head.
Gaia Tormena wins her fourth rainbow jersey
Gaia Tormena completes the work and also wins the world title, taking home the World Cup, the European title and the rainbow jersey in the Eliminator MTB in the same year. The Aosta Valley also gives the 121st medal to Italian cycling which not even two days ago had celebrated the Giro d'Onore in Milan and a season full of medals. Numbers that speak clearly, both as regards the Federation, which also takes home its 49th gold medal in international competitions (equaling last year's record), and for the 21-year-old from Aosta, with her fourth world title and dominator absolute champion of the specialty for four years now.
However, the world championship that took place this weekend in Indonesia was more difficult than other editions. An enthusiastic Mirko Celestino tells it: “At the start we admired a large number of athletes, many of them Asian, who until now we have seen little in the World Cup trials. The overall level was very high and I must congratulate Gaia who managed to get to the bottom of complicated situations thanks to her technical skills."
Her usual opponents, the Brazilian Matos and the German Fromberger respectively, tried to put her in difficulty, both in the semi-final and in the final, who forced themselves to stay in front of her, both ending up in the lands. Treacherous ending also due to a particularly technical route: “We feared for the second lap – Celestino commented – because the risk of falling was high. Gaia was good at checking.”
Finishing behind her were the Indonesian Dara Latifah and the Dutch Annemoon Van Dienst.
Titouan Perrin-Ganier secures his sixth UCI world champion title
Although Swede Edvin Lindh set the fastest time in the qualifying time trials, a crash in the semi-final relegated him to the B final, where he showed strength and took fifth place overall.
The men's final began with a battle for first position, with German rider Simon Gegenheimer taking the lead with the fastest start. The reigning UCI world champion, Titouan Perrin-Ganier, then overtook his teammate. Shortly thereafter, Gegenheimer slips on the descent of the rock garden. Fellow Frenchman Lorenzo Serres and Norwegian Sondre Rokke were closing the gap on the reigning UCI world champion, with Rokke closing on Perrin Ganier during the second lap. However, the Norwegian's pursuit was cut short when he crashed on the same slope that Gegenheimer had slipped down. Perrin-Ganier took the opportunity to go and win his sixth rainbow jersey.
Female results
- Gaia Tormena (ITA)
- Dara Latifah (INA)
- Annemoon van Dienst (NED)
- Marion Fromberger (GER)
- Iara Caetano (BRA)
Male results
- Titouan Perrin-Ganier (FRA)
- Lorenzo Serres (FR)
- Sondre Rokke (NOR)
- Simon Gegenheimer (GER)
- Edvin Lindh (SWE)
COMPLETE RESULTS
