American Asa Vermette and New Zealander Erice Van Leuven are crowned junior downhill world champions.

The 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Pal Arinsal continue to deliver excitement and spectacle. Today's action was centered in the Fontanals area, where the downhill races of these World Championships are taking place, with the junior finals and the Elite qualifying rounds. More than 200 riders across all categories raced at full speed down the 1.9-kilometer downhill course, spanning from the Cubil peak to Fontanals, with a 458-meter descent. American Asa Vermette and New Zealander Erice Van Leuven were the stars of the day, crowned junior downhill world champions, while Loïc Bruni and Myriam Nicole posted the fastest times in the Elite qualifiers.

Junior Downhill Finals

The day began with the junior women’s final, where Erice Van Leuven was unstoppable, securing the rainbow jersey with a descent of 2'59''891. The New Zealander won by a considerable margin over her rivals, finishing 6 seconds ahead of second-place finisher, Sweden’s Ella Svegby. Fellow New Zealander Sacha Earnest completed the podium with a run that was 12 seconds slower than her compatriot.

The junior men’s final was much closer and wasn’t decided until the last rider completed his descent. In the end, it was Asa Vermette who claimed victory with a time of 2'39''185, earning him the 2024 world champion’s jersey. Frenchman Max Alran finished just a second and a half behind the American, taking the runner-up spot, while fellow American Bode Burke rounded out the podium, two and a half seconds behind Vermette.

Elite Downhill Qualifiers

The big names in downhill racing gathered this afternoon for the downhill qualifiers. All of them completed their first official timed run on the course where, in two days, the men’s and women’s world champion titles will be decided. The top favorite and World Series leader, Loïc Bruni, was the fastest with a time of 2'39''700, making a clear statement of intent ahead of the final. The French rider, who resides in Andorra, was followed by American Ryan Pinkerton (+2''139) and Britain’s Danny Hart (+2''374), finishing second and third, respectively.

Meanwhile, Andorran Arnau Graslaub qualified for a downhill final for the first time. The rider from the Principality clocked a time of 2'58''901, which placed him in 78th position, just making the cut for the top 80 riders who advance to Saturday’s final. "It was really tough. I had confidence that I could qualify, but I’ve been dealing with an arm injury. It made the run painful, and I thought I would just barely make the top 80. I started crying," said the Andorran, visibly emotional after achieving his goal. Looking ahead to Saturday’s final, the rider sponsored by Pal Arinsal set the goal of "putting in a run where I can maintain the pace I know I have, despite the discomfort in my arm, and aiming to get close to the 60th position."

In the women’s qualifiers, French rider Myriam Nicole posted the fastest time (3'03''286), followed by Britain’s Tahnee Seagrave (+3''189) and the reigning world champion, Austria’s Valentina Höll (+5''465), who remains the favorite. The decisive run to crown the world champion will take place on Saturday.

The Main Events Are Here

The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Pal Arinsal are set for an intense day tomorrow, with six rainbow jerseys up for grabs. All the finals will take place in Caubella, the heart of the cross-country events, starting at 10 a.m. with the junior women’s cross-country Olympic (XCO) final, followed by the men’s final at 12 p.m.

The day’s main events will kick off in the afternoon, starting at 4 p.m., with the U23 and Elite cross-country short track (XCC) races— the most explosive and anticipated competitions. This will be the first chance to see all the stars of the discipline together, including the reigning Olympic champions Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Tom Pidcock.

The men's race will miss the presence of Nino Schurter, but other top contenders like last year’s short track World Cup winner in Pal Arinsal, Luca Schwarzbauer, and current discipline champion Samuel Gaze will compete, along with Andorran rider Oriol Pi. On the women’s side, the Elite final will feature big names such as Alessandra Keller and Puck Pieterse, among many others.