Palmerston North 17-year-old Jonty Williamson produced a stunning finish to claim his first junior men’s UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the opening round of the world series in South Korea today.
Williamson, the Yeti Fox Factory rider, produced a stunning finish to claim the lead over fellow kiwi Malik Boatwright (Queenstown) by 0.2s.
It looked like a kiwi shutout of the podium when Taranaki’s Camden Rutherfurd edged his way to third, only to be pushed back to fourth by Frenchman Sacha Brizin.
Williamson was thrilled to reach the top step of the podium, especially in the first round of the 2026 season, after earning three podiums last year.
“I’m so happy. I got quite close last year with a fourth, third and second. So, it means a lot. I have wanted to win a World Cup since I was a kid,” said Williamson.
Boatright had earlier set the fastest time of 2:50.863 as the higher seeds fell by the wayside. Williamson was over a second back through the third of four time-splits but scorched down the final section to edge Boatright by less than 0.3s.
“I just went out there and did the same as always. I managed to pull a lot of time back in the bottom split so obviously I did something pretty good there,” said Williamson.
“I can’t say I had much of a plan going down that last section. I was struggling with the middle and upper sections all weekend so the bottom was my strong suit and I rode that quite well.”
Fellow kiwi Rutherfurd put himself up to third in an excellent performance but the kiwi was edged out by Brizin for third by half a second.
Williamson said he was looking forward to the kiwi 1-2-3 to cap off a great start to the world series.
“It was super good for the kiwis today. There’s really strong racing scene in New Zealand and we are all mates. It was pretty cool to have all of us up there and hopefully we can get a one-two-three done sometime this season.”
There were strong performances for kiwi gravity riders in the first downhill world cup staged at Mona YongPyong, which was a venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Double junior world championship medallist Sacha Earnest, ranked eighth in the world, had a strong start to finish sixth in the elite women.
She qualified strongly along with compatriot Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory, Rotorua) and took the early lead with a fast run on the bottom half of the course in 3:17.409.
Four-time world champion Valentia Holl (AUT) claimed the win from Italy’s Gloria Scarsi and French legend Myriam Nicole.
Top seed Asa Vermette (USA) claimed the men’s final from the French pairing of Loic Bruni and Amaury Pierron.
Hawkes Bay teenager Tyler Waite (Yeti Fox Factory), who bagged seven podiums in the junior ranks last year, qualified in his elite debut, finishing 24th in the final.
Earlier Queenstown’s Indy Deavoll (Stoic Racing) and Wellington’s Kiera Vlaar finished seventh and eighth respectively in the final of the junior women.
Tomorrow’s attention turns to cross-country before the UCI MTB World Series returns to Europe for six rounds before a final three rounds in North America.
Finals Results:
Junior Male: Jonty Williamson (Yeti-Fox Factory, Palmerston North) 2:50.589, 1; Malik Boatwright (Continental Atherton, Queenstown) 2:50.863, 2; Sacha Brizin (FRA) 2:51.877, 3. Also NZers: Camden Rutherfurd (Nukeproof Axess, New Plymouth) 2:51.877, 4; Sterling Stevens-McNab (The Alliance, Rotorua) 2:56.296, 10; Seppy Binsbergen (Yeti-Fox Racing, New Plymouth) 2:58.158, 12.
Junior Female: Aletha Ostgaard (Canyon, USA) 3:13.937, 1; Rosa Zierl (Cube Factory, AUT) 3:16.342, 2; Tilly Boadle (Commencal, AUS) 3:20.537, 3. Also NZers: Indy Deavoll (Stoic Racing) 3:27.698, 7; Kiera Vlaar (NZL) 3:37.0579, 8.
Elite female: Valentina Holl (AUT) 3:14.778, 1; Gloria Scarsi (ITA) 3:15.351, 2; Myriam Nicole (FRA) 3:16.529, 3. Also NZ: Sacha Earnest (Trek Unbroken, Auckland) 3:17.409, 6; Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory, Rotorua) 3:55.917, 15.
Elite men: Asa Vermette (USA) 2:43.301, 1; Loic Bruni (FRA) 2:44.869, 2; Amaury Pierron (FRA) 2:45.364, 3. Also NZ: Tyler Waite (Yeti-Fox Factory, Hawkes Bay) 2:52.850, 24.
Jonty Williamson in action during qualification.