French revolution: Perrin-Ganier and Medde conquer the 2020 MTB XCE world titles in Leuven

France has dominated the action packed UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Championships in Leuven (Belgium): Titouan Perrin-Ganier conquered a fourth consecutive world title, his compatriot Isaure Medde took the win after a nail biting photo finish.

French revolution: Perrin-Ganier and Medde conquer the 2020 MTB XCE world titles in Leuven

It was a star filled pack racing on the spectacular track on the Ladeuzeplein in Leuven, presenting BMX world champion Twan van Gendt and Andorra XCO WorldCup winner Anne Terpstra. Both failed to survive until the finals, where Titouan Perrin-Ganier and Isaure Medde finished it off.

4 in a row for ‘TPG’

Four in a row: Titouan Perrin-Ganier felt the pressure after three consecutive eliminator world titles, but handled it like a master. ‘TPG’ took the win in all heats, and made the decisive move in the last lap of the finals, beating another experienced rider: German Simon ‘Moustache’ Gegenheimer. Anton Olstam took the bronze medal home for Sweden, beating time trial winner Lorenzo Serres.

Jay Bytebier was the best rider of the Belgian team, finishing sixth behind Mathis Azzaro. Former world champion Fabrice Mels finished tenth, reigning BMX world champion Twan van Gendt took 13th place after a fall took him down in the ¼ finals.

Nail biting photo finish

Have you ever seen a more close finish than this? Defending world champion Gaia Tormena from Italy and French gun Isaure Medde sprinted shoulder to shoulder for gold. The final jump from Medde made the difference: after the longest minutes of their young lives, Medde was announced the new world champion, after taking silver medal in Waregem 2019.

Fair play from Tormena, who was the first to congratulate her successor. Bronze medal went to The Netherlands thanks to first timer Fem van Empel, who pipped out time trial winner Anne Terpstra in the semifinals. Didi de Vries finished fourth, home rider Sara Michielsens twelfth.

Medde: ‘I had no idea!’

20-year-old Isaure Medde couldn’t stop smiling after her first world title: “I’m so happy with this! I have no words! I’m mainly a XCO rider. But after last year’s silver in Waregem, I wanted to do this race again. I like eliminator racing, but it’s such a hard discipline.”

“It really was a special sprint. You had to keep faith, until the very end. And that’s what I did. And it worked! Waiting for the final verdict, to know who took the title, lasted very long. Very stressing! I had no idea who was first, crossing the finish. I really didn’t know. I just threw my bike over the line, and I won!”

Perrin-Ganier: ‘Four in a row: incredible’

Tears in the eyes, 29-year-old Titouan Perrin-Ganier fell into the arms of wife and kid in the streets of Leuven, after having won his fourth consecutive world title. “Worlds, that’s always a ‘big day’. Being the defending world champion, you’re always the guy to beat. I’m so happy to have succeeded today.”

“Winning four world titels in a row, that’s incredible. Some years ago, I would never have believed that I would be able to do this. Year after year, you have to keep asking yourself: what can I do better? And that’s what I did! I also kept adapting this year, after all calendar changes because of Covid-19. That’s what makes me even happier today. We’re lucky to have City Mountainbike to make this possible!