Trek Future Racing again top U23 team at World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy
Mario Bair convinced with 5th place, Björn Riley and Tamara Wiedmann crossed the finish line in 10th place and Tobias Lillelund secured with place 13 the ticket to the European Championships.
It was hot and dusty in Val di Sole, Italy, and there was plenty to do on the circuit in northern Trento. With extremely steep climbs and technically demanding descents, the course demanded everything from the athletes.
Already at 8:30am the U23 women went on the track and after an excellent short track race on Thursday Lea Huber and Tamara Wiedmann were in the 2nd starting row. Unfortunately Lea Huber was involved in a starting collision and was the last in the field to start the first lap. On this day Tamara Wiedmann showed that the focused work of the last months paid off. With another top10 finish in the World Cup Tamara now travels to the European Championship in Portugal. Emilly Johnston finished in 15th place and was a bit disappointed. Shortly after the first frustration the pride came back "it's a worldcup - Emilly" she said to herself and cheered loudly for her teammates afterwards.
This had an effect - Mario Bair rode continuously forward from 25th place with a race time of 1:15 h and in the end was only 3 seconds behind a podium place. Bjorn Riley was among the top 5 for a long time before he briefly lost control in the downhill sections, but saved himself spectacularly and for all to see on TV. In the end he crossed the finish line visibly relieved, happy that he could avoid a crash. Tobias Lillelund had a special day. Already at the short track on Thursday he showed that he is not without reason at Trek Future Racing. Tobias showed that he is one of the best young riders and rode spiritedly - made speed - led the chasing group and reached the finish line in 13th place at the end. With this top performance he secured his ticket for the European Championships already taking place this weekend.
"We have 5 riders in the top20 at the World Cup and last weekend 3 riders from our team were in the top10 until shortly before the end of the race - this does not go unnoticed in the MTB world and shows that we are on a good path," said head coach Sven Meyer.
Mario Bair:
First Top5 result in the U23 World Cup at a very high level, which confirms a good form. I was able to constantly keep up a very high pace and also downhill in the technical sections I managed very well.
Tobias Lillelund:
I had a good start and was already in the leading group from the second lap. I managed to stay in the group for a few laps without using too much energy, but then made a small mistake and lost contact with the group. I'm happy with the result I achieved and now I'm looking forward to the European Championships in Portugal.
Good News
Our Trek Talent Scouting community continues to grow and as of today, we have a remarkable 764 talents from 62 countries. Thank you all for being part of it.
You can find more about our program at: