The Winterberg Winners: Titouan Perrin-Ganier and Gaia Tormena!

The first ever (EVER!) UCI World Cup round win for Titouan Perrin-Ganier from France, and another convincing victory for Gaia Tormena from Italy: the fourth leg of the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup in the German ski resort of Winterberg delivered another big show.

The Winterberg Winners: Titouan Perrin-Ganier and Gaia Tormena!

The ‘primeur’ of Perrin-Ganier

Ricky Morales was the big revelation of this year’s classic race in Winterberg. The guy from Puerto Rico was the surprising winner of the qualifying time trials and his quarter final, eliminating Graz’ bronze medallist Anton Olstam. In the semi-finals however, the fast succession of tough racing on the hilly track took its toll: Morales was eliminated himself.

With brand new UCI world champion Simon Gegenheimer, European champ Jeroen van Eck, French star Titouan Perrin-Ganier and his compatriot Lorenzo Serres, four of the biggest pre-race favourites made it to the big final. In a close sprint battle with Van Eck, four-times world champion Perrin-Ganier freed himself, winning the first UCI World Cup round of his rich career.

Van Eck took second place home, Serres third and home favourite Gegenheimer fourth. Another home rider, German champion Felix Klausmann, took the win in the small final, securing fifth place.

Tormena torpedoes again

Things stayed as usual in the women’s category, with UCI world champion, European champion and UCI World Cup leader Gaia Tormena dominating the race from start to finish. ‘Torpedo’ won the qualifying time trial once again, didn’t lose control in the semi-finals, and stormed to another UCI World Cup win in the finals, opening a big gap from the first lap on the hilly circuit.

Home riders Lia Schrievers (second) and Marion Fromberger (third) delivered Germany the remaining podium spots. Ella Holmegard from Sweden finished in fourth place, Iranian Fanarak Partoazar in fifth.

Finish line quotes

“I’m so happy to finally take a win in the UCI World Cup”, Titouan Perrin-Ganier smiled. “I was so close, so many times. I have like fifteen podium finishes, often few centimetres away from the win. I’m very happy to win now, after the disappointment from Graz. Breaking my chain there was bad luck. But I had super legs, so I decided last-minute to come here too. And after today, I can say that I had a good season after all!”

“This track in Winterberg is a bit different from what we normally do”, Gaia Tormena explained. “I think the spectactors really like it, but it was very easy to make a mistake, which I did in the jump during my qualifying time trial. So I never pushed too hard after that, rode a tactical race, and I made it again! After this, I’m confident about the UCI World Cup classification. The big focus now for the remaining rounds will be not to make any big mistake.”

Results

Men’s results – UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup Winterberg
1. Titouan Perrin-Ganier (FRA)
2. Jeroen van Eck (NED)
3. Lorenzo Serres (FRA)
4. Simon Gegenheimer (GER)
5. Felix Klausmann (GER)

Women’s results – UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup Winterberg
1. Gaia Tormena (ITA)
2. Lia Schrievers (GER)
3. Marion Fromberger (GER)
4. Ella Holmegard (SWE)
5. Fanarak Partoazar (IRN)

FULL RESULTS

2021 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup standings

With only two rounds in Seine-et-Marne (FRA) and Barcelona (SPA) left, the fight for the overall 2021 UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup win seems to be more exciting than ever, with Van Eck taking over Gegenheimer’s leader’s shirt, leading with a small margin of 14 points over the world champion. In the women’s category, Tormena is already close to mathematically securing the overall win.

VIEW STANDINGS