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Spectacular finals in Congonhas, Brazil

World Cup win for Marcela Lima (BRA) & Jeroen van Eck (NED)

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Marcelo Oliveira – MRYPL CIMTB18 CNG 3269 — Marcelo Oliveira – MRYPL_CIMTB18_CNG-3269

World Cup win for Marcela Lima (BRA) & Jeroen van Eck (NED)

Jeroen van Eck and Marcela Lima write history, as they are the first riders to win a UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup in South-America. Jeroen van Eck won the men’s race, ahead of world-class athlete Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi from Brazil and German champion Simon Gegenheimer. Frenchman Lorenzo Serres settled for fourth place.

Brazil tops the podium in the women’s UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup, as Marcela Lima wins a spectacular final round of the women’s eliminator in Congonhas/MG, Brazil. As the finals began to start, the rain started to fall. Marcela Lima managed to hold off Karen Olimpio after a tight battle for first place. The rain didn’t keep the crowd away from watching the race. Tania Clair Pickler and Paula Gallan finished respectively third and fourth.

In pouring rain, home rider Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi had an amazing start and held off his main contenders when entering the local laps. The Brazil rider led the entire race and was favoured to win in Congonhas. It was Jeroen van Eck who could stay in his slipstream. The Dutch rider saw his chance to overtake Cocuzzi before entering the sneaky corner that leads to the uphill cobbled sector. German champion Simon Gegenheimer was riding for third place and finished ahead of French rider Lorenzo Serres.

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"I’ve been working hard to get here. It’s amazing to finish off in style.”

Marcela Lima told afterwards: “It was an amazing event from start to finish. I’m very happy with this victory. It’s great to have a challenging XCE race on home soil. At the time I realised there is going to be a World Cup in Brazil, I found out this race could be my biggest goal of the year. I’ve been working hard to get here. Having a World Cup in Brazil really motivated me to perform well. I’m glad to share some experience now and spread the word of this exciting discipline. It’s simply amazing to finish this way.”