2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships concluded on Sunday with the Junior and Elite Downhill races. Junior Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; SRAM Young Guns), who won her first Junior World Cup earlier in the week took home the bronze medal. Newkirk, who currently lives with her family in Switzerland, suffered a crash during her practice run the day before, cracking her frame. Despite racing the final on a bike one frame size larger than her usual frame, Newkirk still managed to end the day with the third fastest time 21 seconds behind World Champion Velntina Holl from Austria.
“If I’m being honest, this is not the medal I came here for,” said Newkirk, “but given the circumstances of this week, I’m happy to come out of it intact and with a medal. I still have one more race this season in Snowshoe to put all the pieces together and then after that, I’m looking forward to competing on the Elite circuit next year.”
In all, the U.S. National Team walked away from this year’s World Championships with 22 top 20 finishes, two medals and four top North American finishes.
“In all, I am very pleased with how the team performed this week,” said Marc Gullickson, Mountain Bike Performance Director for USA Cycling, “I see a lot of potential in our up and coming cross country and downhill riders. To have the amount of top performances across the board means that we are moving in the right direction. I expect to continue to see great things from these promising athletes moving forward.”
For more about the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, please visit the event website at http://www.velirium.com/.
The USA Cycling 2019 Mountain Bike World Championships selection criteria for XCO is available here
and the criteria for DH is available here
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