The young Austrian team caused quite a stir as they were even on course for gold at one point and achieved the best World Championship result of an Austrian relay team with sixth place.
With sixth place in the team competition at the start of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Saalfelden Leogang, the young Austrian team of Max Foidl, Mario Bair, Lukas Hatz, Corina Druml, Mona Mitterwallner and Cornelia Holland made a perfect start to the home World Championships in Saalfelden Leogang. The youngest team in the field achieved the best World Championship result for an Austrian relay team in seven years. Austria's medal hope among the juniors, Mona Mitterwallner, even put the Austrian relay team on course for gold before the last transition and handed over the lead to 17-year-old Cornelia Holland from Lower Austria, who then only had to let five strong men, who were used as final riders by the other nations, go on the last lap. ‘I knew that I had a good starting position, Corina did a great job in fourth place. It's a great honour to be able to represent Austria at the home World Championships and that gave me an extra boost. That's why I was able to get a lot out of myself today. The track suits me extremely well. I like riding downhill and I'm a good climber, so it's made for me. I hope that I can prove my good form again tomorrow,’ says Mitterwallner, who will open the junior world championship race in Saalfelden Leogang on Thursday at 1.30 pm with bib number one.
France opens World Championships in Saalfelden Leogang with gold
For the first time in the history of the Team Relay, six athletes per team competed at the World Championships in Leogang. The French team secured victory for the fifth time after 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016, this time with Mathis Azzaro, Luca Martin, Loana Lecomte, Lena Gerault, Olivia Onesti and Jordan Sarrou. On the final lap, the French elite rider showed why he is a regular on the podium in the World Cup, beating the U23 rider Juri Zanotti, who was placed in the final position by the Italians, by 1 min 27.3 seconds. ‘We're super happy to start the week like this. The others set the pace perfectly, I just had to finish the job. We love difficult conditions and tough tracks like this and are looking forward to the next races,’ said Sarrou. Having held on to the team world championship title for the past three years, Switzerland had to settle for the bronze medal today.
The elite decisions of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships presented by Mercedes Benz in Saalfelden Leogang will be shown on Saturday and Sunday on ORF Sport+, on ZDF Livestream and on Red Bull TV.
