Description
August 11, 2023
Mountain Bike World Championships 2023 – XCO MU23 🇬🇧 – Glasgow, Scotland
This summer, Glasgow, Scotland is hosting the first-ever combined UCI World Championships, bringing together almost every UCI-sanctioned discipline for one big super event this August.
Show more...
August 11, 2023
Mountain Bike World Championships 2023 – XCO MU23 🇬🇧 – Glasgow, Scotland
This summer, Glasgow, Scotland is hosting the first-ever combined UCI World Championships, bringing together almost every UCI-sanctioned discipline for one big super event this August. From road racing to artistic cycling, more than 200 rainbow jerseys will be given out in 13 different disciplines across the 11 days of action in and around Glasgow. With the first combined World Championships heading to Glasgow and Scotland this year, the downhill riders will return to the famed Fort William track to battle for the rainbow jersey.
The Friday races were held under overcast skies on the 3.5km circuit at Glentress Forest in the Scottish Borders. The men faced 1,015 metres of elevation gain, the women 870 metres, which wore down competitors on a technical course with stiff climbs mixed with rooty and rocky descents.
Charlie Aldridge (Great Britain) charged from a leading group of three riders on the last lap and won the under-23 men’s world title in Scotland.
Adrien Boichis (France) finished 13 seconds back for the silver medal, while another 16 seconds later Dario Lillo (Switzerland) crossed the line to secure bronze.
The 22-year-old from Perthshire in central Scotland made the most of his final appearance in the U23 category, accelerating in a technical, single-track section with only half a lap remaining. The two riders in tow could not match the pace.
“It feels insane. Standing in front of all my friends and family, I still can’t believe it,” he said about the strong crowd reaction when he received the rainbow jersey and gold medal on the podium.
“Representing Great Britain across the world is one thing, but racing at home in the British jersey and then hearing ‘God Save the King’ when the flag went up was pretty cool, standing up there on the podium. Four years of under-23 and to pull it off in the last year is pretty good.”
A junior men’s XCO gold medallist in 2019, Aldridge made history with that victory as the first British man to win a world title in cross-country mountain bike. He didn’t waste any energy and executed his plan to perfection.
The mass of 89 contestants assaulted the narrow funnel at the start causing several riders to go offline with dropped chains and remounts. Away from the chaos, the front was controlled by Boichis, who took the lead into the first singletrack section in the woods. Aldridge took a turn out front as the two were followed closely by Lillo and Riley Amos (USA). A long queue of riders filled the course behind the quartet.
It was not until the fourth lap that Tobias Lillelund (Denmark) and Jente Michels (Belgium) broke free from the field in a two-rider chase, but still had a long way to go to even get the front four in their sights. Riley began to lose touch with the lead pack on the fifth circuit and lost time in solo fourth place.
Riding in third position on the final lap, Lillo made a small mistake as the lead trio headed up the long climb at the edge of the forest. Aldridge and Boichis gained a few seconds across a chunky section of deep roots, then Aldridge made his move. He kept the pressure high and held his gap to the line.
“It’s a long race so you have to save energy a bit and watch the other boys and see how they’re getting on. That last lap was just all out, whoever was the strongest really. I didn’t believe it until the finish line I think! I was just all out until I was at the home straight. All I could hear was ‘Go on Charlie’ up the climbs! It was super, super cool.”
Results :
 charged from a leading group of three riders on the last lap and won the under-23 men’s world title in Scotland.
Adrien Boichis (France) finished 13 seconds back for the silver medal, while another 16 seconds later Dario Lillo (Switzerland) crossed the line to secure bronze.
The 22-year-old from Perthshire in central Scotland made the most of his final appearance in the U23 category, accelerating in a technical, single-track section with only half a lap remaining. The two riders in tow could not match the pace.
“It feels insane. Standing in front of all my friends and family, I still can’t believe it,” he said about the strong crowd reaction when he received the rainbow jersey and gold medal on the podium.
“Representing Great Britain across the world is one thing, but racing at home in the British jersey and then hearing ‘God Save the King’ when the flag went up was pretty cool, standing up there on the podium. Four years of under-23 and to pull it off in the last year is pretty good.”
A junior men’s XCO gold medallist in 2019, Aldridge made history with that victory as the first British man to win a world title in cross-country mountain bike. He didn’t waste any energy and executed his plan to perfection.
The mass of 89 contestants assaulted the narrow funnel at the start causing several riders to go offline with dropped chains and remounts. Away from the chaos, the front was controlled by Boichis, who took the lead into the first singletrack section in the woods. Aldridge took a turn out front as the two were followed closely by Lillo and Riley Amos (USA). A long queue of riders filled the course behind the quartet.
It was not until the fourth lap that Tobias Lillelund (Denmark) and Jente Michels (Belgium) broke free from the field in a two-rider chase, but still had a long way to go to even get the front four in their sights. Riley began to lose touch with the lead pack on the fifth circuit and lost time in solo fourth place.
Riding in third position on the final lap, Lillo made a small mistake as the lead trio headed up the long climb at the edge of the forest. Aldridge and Boichis gained a few seconds across a chunky section of deep roots, then Aldridge made his move. He kept the pressure high and held his gap to the line.
“It’s a long race so you have to save energy a bit and watch the other boys and see how they’re getting on. That last lap was just all out, whoever was the strongest really. I didn’t believe it until the finish line I think! I was just all out until I was at the home straight. All I could hear was ‘Go on Charlie’ up the climbs! It was super, super cool.”
<strong>Results : </strong>
<iframe width="100%" height="730" scrolling="yes" frameborder="0" data-lazy-priority="low" data-lazy-src="https://firstcycling.com/widget/?r=11248&y=2022&s=1&lang=ENG&cn=1" src="https://firstcycling.com/widget/?r=17024&y=2023&lang=EN&cn=1"></iframe>)
