Nael Rouffiac pulled out a gap on the fifth lap of seven to hold firm to the line in Vale di Sole to claim the U23 men's title at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
After 1:17:20 of racing the 20-year-old French rider clinched the rainbow jersey with a nine second gap to his compatriot Alix Andre Gallis. At 13 seconds back it was Swiss rider Nicolas Halter in third, who won the short-track.
"I am speechless. It is a dream come true," said Rouffiac. "The plan was to attack towards the end, but I was feeling good and decided to go for it on the fifth lap. I am really happy to share this with a teammate. It was the perfect day."
It was Paul Schehl (Germany), who was a close second in the short-track, that pushed the pace early along with Benjamin Kruger (Germany) but the chase was on behind, and ultimately the pair from Germany fell away from the podium places as Rouffiac, Andre Gallis, Halter and Gustav Pedersen (Denmark) passed the early leaders, with Kruger finishing in fifth and Schehl in sixth.
For winner Rouffiac it was a well-timed move to ramp up his results a level, as while the French rider had been on the podium a number of times at the World Cups this season the top step has been illusive, though he made the move up when it counted most.
The 26.1km event over was the second event on Sunday, with Italy's Valentina Corvi taking the women's U23 title earlier in the day. The women's elite and men's elite XCO races later in the day rounded out competition at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
Position |
Rider |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Nael Rouffiac (France) |
1:17:20 |
2 |
Alix Andre Gallis (France) |
+09 |
3 |
Nicolas Halter (Switzerland) |
+13 |
4 |
Gustaz Pedersen (Denmark) |
+21 |
5 |
Benjamin Kruger (Germany) |
+32 |
6 |
Paul Schehl (Germany) |
+58 |
7 |
Sivert Ekroll (Norway) |
+1:09 |
8 |
Alejandro Garcia Vazquez (Spain) |
+1:32 |
9 |
Lucas Teste (France) |
+2:00 |
10 |
Manen Rens van Teun (Netherlands) |
+2:13 |
