Courtney Wins Worlds, Blevins, Van der Poel, Harnden Podium at MTB XCO Worlds

The UCI XCO mountain bike World Championships took place in Lenzerheide, Switzerland over the weekend.

The races brought results that were exciting for fans of cyclocross, American cycling, American cyclocross and English cyclocross. Phew. There’s a lot to cover.

Kate Courtney Wins Worlds

Even though Kate Courtney does not race cyclocross, we are not going to bury the lede here.

Twenty-two-year-old Kate Courtney of California turned in the ride of her young career to win the Elite Women’s World Championship on Saturday.

Courtney took the lead early in the last lap when Denmark’s Annika Langvad dismounted in a rooty, technical section. Once in front, Courtney did not look back en route to winning the first U.S. XCO world championship since six-time U.S. cyclocross national champion Alison Dunlap accomplished the feat in 2001 in Vail, Colorado.

Courtney got her start in the sport via her high school’s mountain bike team. With the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) growing in leaps and bounds in the U.S., Courtney’s win at Worlds is hopefully the harbinger of future success of the Junior developmental program in the U.S.

Langvad, who raced the U.S. cyclocross World Cups last year, finished second, and Canada’s Emily Batty, who will be at the Trek CX Cup next weekend, finished third.

Home country favorite Jolanda Neff took 4th, Elisabeth Brandau of Germany placed 8th and America’s Erin Huck, who occasionally races ’cross finished 12th.

A replay of the race is available from redbull.tv. Results are below.

Christopher Blevins Takes U23 Second

On Friday, Christopher Blevins, who won U23 Cyclocross Nationals in Reno, put his name on the Worlds map with a second-place ride in the U23 XCO race in Lenzerheide. Blevins went into the bell lap even with Alan Hatherly of South Africa before taking home a second-place finish.

We will hopefully see Blevins on the cyclocross course this fall, once he takes a little break from his long mountain bike season, of course.

Last we saw Christopher Blevins, he was winning U23 Nationals in Reno .U23 Men, 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine

Van der Poel Takes Third

Throughout the mountain bike World Cups this year, Mathieu van der Poel has been near the front of the races. Van der Poel did not win a race outright, but he still finished second overall in the World Cup standings.

On Saturday, Van der Poel capped his first full year of racing on his mountain bike with a third-place finish at Worlds. Not bad for a season that also saw him finish second at the European Road Championships and unify the Dutch National Road, Cyclocross and Mountain Bike jerseys.

Van der Poel’s ‘cross handling in the mud paid off during his third-place ride at XCO Worlds. 2017 Vlaamse Druivencross. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

Swiss legend Nino Schurter took home his record-setting sixth Worlds title in front of the home country fans. Schurter’s 6th title gives him 1 more than Frenchman Julien Absalon and 2 more than the ageless Norweigan legend Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja, who won a World Cup earlier this year at age 45.

A replay of the race is available from redbull.tv. Results are below.

Harnden Takes Junior Bronze

Earlier this year, young English rider Harriet Harnden stole the show at U23 Worlds in Valkenburg-Limburg when she finished finishing fourth in her first World Championships at age 16.

In Lenzerheide, Harnden got the chance to race her first XCO Worlds and made the most of it with a third-place finish.

Harriet Harden is one of the sport’s up-and-coming stars. U23 Women. 2018 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Valkenburg-Limburg, The Netherlands. © Bart Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine

With the apparent correlation between mountain bike and cyclocross success, we feel somewhat validated in our argument that mountain biking is good for developing cyclocross bike handling skills. For more on why, you can listen to our recent interview with Ellen Noble, who was selected for the Team USA contingent in Lenzerheide.

Elite Women's Results: 2018 XCO World Championships

Elite Men's Results: 2018 XCO World Championships