Danish riders Oliver Sølvhøj and Heby Sofie Pedersen showed their class at the opening round of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup taking impressive wins.

In the U23 men, Denmark’s Oliver Vedersø Sølvhøj lined up with Adrien Biochis (Trinity Racing MTB) and Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing XC) to make the perfect front row thanks to their Short-Track performances. 

In a thrilling race, a peloton formed early on before Sølvhøj, Amos and Dario Lillo (Scott Davos MTB Project) managed to pull away on lap four. After several lead changes, the Dane Sølvhøj finally took the lead on lap six and took that lead to the finish. Lillo from Switzerland finished second, Tom Schellekens from Holland third.

After the race, Oliver Sølvhøj said: “Yeah, it was just incredible. I still can’t quite believe it. It was just flat out racing all day and a very good weekend in general for me. I’m just over the moon. 

“When we were pushing on up the Expert Climb, Riley made a mistake on the downhill. At that point I took it a bit slower on the downhill and then putting a bit more pressure on the uphills to try and force a mistake from Dario. At that point it was quite scary.“

Dario Lillo said after the race: “It was a good, hard race. It’s always hard in Nové Město, the track is quite physical. We were quite a big group at the front at the beginning of the race then us three guys managed to open a gap. Then it was an all-out sprint to the finish with Oliver. He was a bit faster than me, I had some problems in the last lap but I think it was a good performance from me today. 

“Yeah, it was special because it was the first time that we have done a short track race before a World Cup, so it’s new and we had to adapt a little to everything that goes with it. I made some mistakes in the short track, but I felt the performance was there so I tried to enjoy today and see what’s possible. I’m really looking forward to my home World Cup in Lenzerheide now.“ 

Results XCO U23 Men Top 5:

1.    Oliver Vedersø Sølvhøj (DEN) 1:08:27

2.    Dario Lillo (SUI | Scott Davos MTB Project) 1:08:29

3.    Tom Schellekens (NED) 1:09:08

4.    Oleksandr Hudyma (UKR | KMC MTB Racing Team) 1:09:12

5.    Matthew Wilson (NZL | Team Talley’s – Kiwi MTB Collective) 1:09:22

In the women's race in the absence of reigning U23 overall World Cup winner and World Champion Line Burquier (Canyon CLLCTV), who will contest her first elite season in 2023, Switzerland's Noëlle Buri (Bixs Performance Race Team), who finished second last year, was one of the favourites. Over the short distance on Thursday, she only had to admit defeat to compatriot Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory Racing), who in turn has the chance of a perfect World Cup weekend.

Blöchlinger, Heby Sofie Pedersen (Wilier – Pirelli Factory Team XCO) and Giana Caluori (Thömus Akros – Youngstars) pulled away from the field early in the race before Blöchlinger had to say goodbye to the title fight on the fourth lap with a mechanical. Now the hour had struck for the Dane Pedersen, who dominated for the remainder of the race. Swiss rider Caluori challenge to Pedersen eventually faded and she crossed the line in second place. Third place went to Emilly Johnston (Trek Future Racing) from Canada.

Sofie Pedersen had this to say about her victory: “It was a super hard and exciting race. I just tried to go full gas from the start. I think I was strong on the downhills so I could get more time on each descent then go full gas on the uphills. It was hard to tell what Ronja’s mechanical issue was, she was very strong and it’s a shame she had a problem.”

Second place Ginia Caluori said: “I can’t believe it, I feel like I’m in a film. It’s so cool. Today I felt really strong and I could ride the downhills controlled and concentrated and push the uphills too. Cross-country is my favourite compared to the short track so it was super cool to start in the second row and just ride today.”

Results XCO U23 Women Top 5:

1.    Heby Sofie Pedersen (DEN | Wilier – Pirelli Factory Team XCO) 1:09:21

2.    Giana Caluori (SUI | Thömus Akros - Youngstars) 1:09:51

3.    Emilly Johnston (CAN | Trek Future Racing) 1:10:41

4.    Sara Cortinovis (ITA | Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) 1:10:53

5.    Noëlle Buri (SUI | Bixs Performance Race Team) 1:11:11

Here are the full U23 men's results

Here are the full U23 women's results