2025 UCI MTB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 11
Cambridge professional Sam Gaze produced remarkable ride to pass more than 50 riders to 12th place in the elite men’s cross-country on the final day of the UCI MTB World Championships in Switzerland.
After an indifferent season, the Commonwealth Games champion was ranked to start in 67th spot near the rear of the field for the exhausting nine-lap race at Crans Montana.
He climbed his way through the field with an extraordinary display to finish in 12th place, 3m17s down on winner Alan Hatherly from South Africa, who produced a solo display to win his second successive rainbow jersey.
The South African pushed to the lead on the second lap and was never threatened, winning by a significant 1m16s from Italy’s Simone Avondetto and Frenchman Victor Koretzky.
The performance from Gaze turned heads as he passed 18 riders on the first lap, and another 16 on lap two. He continued to pass riders on the tight and testing course, eventually moving to 12th overall.
“It was a very hard day out and I was really restricted in the beginning from my start position which was a reflection of the season I’ve had,” said Gaze.
“I was caught up a bit but then I found a good tempo and I could ride a good solid speed with lap times there or thereabouts with the leaders.
“Twelfth in the world – I am content with how it went considering my start from the back of the pack. I am now looking forward to the remainder of the year and to improve on my season from here out.
“Huge congratulations to the rest of the kiwis across all the classes. It is always an honour and a privilege wearing the silver fern. We saw some great performances from the team as a whole and I am happy to have been a part of it.”
Teammate Anton Cooper who rides for the Lapierre Racing professional team, also found progress difficult through the packed field, and did not finish.
Earlier Christchurch rider Amelie Mackay was 36th in the women’s under-23 race.
The cross-country competition completed over two weeks of world championship racing comprising eight disciplines.
New Zealand featured throughout, starting on the opening weekend with a world title to Warkworth’s George Swift on the women’s e-enduro, and Charles Murray from Christchurch on the podium in the elite men’s enduro.
Young New Zealand gravity riders continued to impress among the world’s best in downhill competition midway through the championships, with silver medals to junior riders Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga) and Tyler Waite (Clive).
It concluded with a silver medal to Taupo’s Samara Maxwell in the elite women’s cross-country at the weekend.
There is no respite for kiwi mountain bikers with the UCI MTB World Series continuing in Lenzerheide, Switzerland next weekend for downhill and cross-country. It is the final round in Europe before cross the Atlantic to decide the world series titles in USA and Canada.
Today’s cross-country results:
Elite men: Alan Hatherly (ZAF) 1:30.30, 1; Simone Avondetto (ITA) at 1:16, 2; Victor Koretzky (FRA) at 1:21, 3. Also: Sam Gaze (NZL) at 3:17, 12; Anton Cooper dnf.
Junior women: Isabella Holmgren (CAN) 1:17.24, 1; Vida Lopez de San Roman (USA) at 2:16, 2; Valentina Corvi (ITA) at 3:20, 3. Also NZers: Amelie MacKay at 2laps. 36.
