Jeroen van Eck and Gaia Tormena claim overall UCI MTB XCE World Cup titles with another win in Barcelona

The bronze medal of the 2021 UCI World Championships, Anton Olstam from Sweden, sprinted to the fastest time in the qualifying time trials, in front of defending leader Jeroen van Eck. Van Eck started the day with a tiny three-point-lead on UCI world champion Simon Gegenheimer. Both made it to the big final, but surprisingly, French hero Titouan Perrin-Ganier didn’t: the winner of Winterberg and Seine-et-Marne was eliminated in the semi-finals.

In the big final, Van Eck didn’t lose control: he dominated the race from the first lap, taking his second round of the season after the home win in Valkenswaard, and securing the overall win in the 2021 UCI MTB XCE World Cup. Gegenheimer finished second in both results, Lorenzo Serres from France was the third of the day, in front of Olstam. It also turned out to be an important day for Singaporean cycling, with Riyadh Hakim Bin Lukman (fifth) taking a podium place.

“Before this final round, I already had the points to take the general classification home”, Gaia Tormena said. “My legs feel tired, and I’m already thinking about off-season. But still, I wasn’t able to stay calm when I was in race mode: I was here to give it my all, one more time, to try to end the season in the best possible way. It was so beautiful to be here with my Italian fans, and hear them sing the Italian anthem while I was on the podium.”

“It was a great season. Once again, City Mountainbike demonstrated that Eliminator is a fair sport, fun, and getting bigger. It is great to see the City Mountainbike family growing. I’ll stay in this family for sure, next season. In the 2022 World Cup, and in the 2022 UCI World Championships in Barcelona. I like this track: technical and physical. See you next year!”