New Zealand gravity riders bagged three podium placings across three finals in the penultimate round of the 2025 UCI MTB World Series at Lake Placid, USA.
Auckland’s Sacha Earnest secured her first podium in her debut elite season with the Trek Factory team, and was joined with podiums for emerging kiwi junior stars Tyler Waite (Hawkes Bay) and Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga).
There were high hopes for a first-ever podium clean-sweep for kiwi downhill riders across all four grade finals but in-form Rotorua elite Lachlan Stevens-McNab crashed in his run after qualifying sixth fastest.
His Trek Factory teammate Earnest secured her best elite World Cup finish, after qualifying second fastest. She was third in the final with a superb run, picking up time on the bottom half of the course to finish 0.03s from second place.
The 19 year old, who finished on the world championship podium twice as a junior, finished in top company today just behind winner Valentina Hull (AUT) and runner-up Myriam Nicole (FRA) who have won six world championship elite titles between them.
Queenstown’s Jess Blewitt (Cube Factory), who did not qualify for the finals, remains in the top-10 on the overall standings with Earnest moving to 13th with one round remaining.
Hulsebosch led the way for the kiwi riders in the junior women today, finishing third in the final, impressing on the bottom half of the run, 3.9s down on Americans Aleta Ostgaard and Matilda Melton.
It moved the Santa Cruz Syndicate rider up to fourth in the overall standings, just 10 points behind Melton with one round remaining.
Rotorua’s Bellah Birchall (Team High Country) was seventh and Queenstown’s Indy Deavoll (Yeti-Fox) 10 in another strong performance from the kiwi junior women.
It was similar for the junior men where Waite claimed third place in an impressive display with Palmerston North’s Jonty Williamson (Yeti-Fox) fourth.
Waite has moved back into the top three on overall standings with Williamson fifth and Kaikoura’s Oli Clark sixth.
Attention moves to the cross-country tomorrow where kiwi Samara Maxwell is looking to build her overall elite women’s series lead in the penultimate race of the season.
Results:
Downhill, elite female: Valentina Holl (AUT) 3:30.422, 1; Myriam Nicole (FRA) at 2.815s, 2; Sacha Earnest (Trek Factory, NZL) at 2.849, 3.
Elite male: Luke Meier-Smith (AUS) 3:05.946, 1; Luca Shaw (USA) at 0.713, 2; Henri Kiefer (GER) at 0.870, 3. Also: Lachlan Stevens-McNab (NZL) at 26.145, 29.
Standings: Loic Bruni (FRA) 1768, 1; Jackson Goldstone (CAN) 1696, 2; Luca Shaw (USA) 1156, 3. Also: Stevens-McNab 737, 12.
Junior female: Aletha Ostgaard (USA) 3:34.522, 1; Matilda Melton (USA) at 3.207, 2; Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga, Santa Cruz Synd) at 3.960, 3. Also: NZers: Bellah Birchall (Rotorua, Team High Country) at 13.046, 7; Indy Deavoll (Queenstown, Yeti Fox) at 39.402, 10.
Standings: Rosa Zierl (AUT) 455, 1; Ostgaard 405, 2; Melton 290, 3; Hulsebosch 280, 4; Birchall 230, 6.
Junior Men: Max Alran (FRA) 3:06.590, 1; Asa Vermette (USA) at 1.165, 2; Tyler Waite (Hawkes Bay, Yeti-Fox) at 3.175, 3; Jonty Williamson (Palmerston North, Yeti-Fox) at 7.028, 4.
Standings: Max Alran (FRA) 439, 1; Asa Vermette 407, 2; Tyler Waite 364, 3; Till Alran (FRA) 338, 4; Jonty Williamson 286, 5; Oli Clark (NZL) 278, 6.
