Palmerston North mountain biker Jonty Williamson made it two from two with victory in the junior elite downhill at the UCI MTB World Series in Loudenvielle, France today.
After winning the opening round of downhill in South Korea, Williamson produced a stunning performance in the second round in the French Pyrenees today, with the Yeti-Fox top seed descending 540m down the 2.4km track to victory.
Fellow kiwi rider, Hawkes Bay 19-year-old Tyler Waite, finished an outstanding fifth place in his second start as an elite gravity rider, finishing a blink from the podium.
Williamson, 17, qualified as the top seed in emphatic fashion and had the long wait before the final run where he produced a controlled performance in dry and loose conditions time check just 0.25 seconds from glory.
The Yeti Fox rider edged into the lead and pushed to a one second gap to victory.
“I am super happy with how I rode. It gives me quite a bit of confidence going into the next round in Leogang,” said Williamson.
“Hopefully I can keep the results coming. I rode basically how I wanted to today - just super-smooth and consistent throughout the whole run. There were not many mistakes, so I am stoked.”
There were solid performances from Rotorua’s Sterling Stevens-McNab (The Alliance) and Taranaki rookie Jed Kuegler who were ninth and 15th respectively in the junior men’s final.
Waite, who bagged six podiums as a junior last year, was the only kiwi to qualify for the men’s elite final, mid-pack in the 30-strong field. He rode superbly to claim the hot seat with his run, only to be edged by final handful, finishing only 0.25s from the podium and 0.9s from winner Luca Shaw (USA).
In other finals, Queenstown’s Indy Deavoll was fifth in the junior elite women, following on her seventh-place finish in Korea, the sole kiwi to qualify for the final.
Former junior double world championship medallist, Auckland’s Sacha Earnest (Trek Unbroken) was 11th in the elite women’s final with Tauranga’s Eliana Hulsebosch 13th in her rookie elite season, with Queenstown’s Jess Blewitt unable to start after qualifying for the final.
The world series action moves to Leogang in Austria in two weeks for a big weekend with the third round for both downhill and cross country and second round for enduro.
Results Finals:
Male Junior: Jonty Williamson (Yeti-Fox Factory) 3:32.781, 1; Raoul Schneeberger (SUI) at 0.986, 2; Sacha Brizin (FRA) at 2.129, 3. Also NZers: Sterling Stevens-McNab (The Alliance) 3:38.911, 9; Jed Kuegler (NZL) 3:44.254, 15.
Elite: Luca Shaw (USA) 3:27.637, 1; Benoit Coulanges (FRA) 3:27.764, 2; Jordan Williams (GBR) 3:28.248, 3. Also NZ rider: Tyler Waite (Yeti Fox, Hawkes Bay) 3:28.505, 5;
Female Junior: Rosa Zierl (AUT) 3:58.237, 1; Lina Frener (AUT) 3:58.254, 2; Aletha Ostgaard (USA) 3:59.7977, 3. Also NZer: Indy Deavoll (NZL) 4:09.339, 5.
Elite: Valentina Holl (AUT) 3:51.920, 1; Gracey Hemstreet (CAN) 3:55.177, 2; Lisa Baumann (SUI) 3:56.222, 3. Also NZers: Sacha Earnest (Trek Unbroken, Auckland) 4:02.278, 11; Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Synd, Tauranga) 4:02.793, 13; Jess Blewitt (Scott Downhill, Queenstown) dns.
Jonty Williamson at the 2025 UCI World Championships. (SWPix)