![\"ccs-41808-0-72026100-1397403857.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-41808-0-72026100-1397403857.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe under-23 men’s cross country clash gets underway in a cloud of dust<\/span><\/p>\n The under-23 women\u2019s race was a no contest with SCOTT-Odlo MTB Racing team rider Jenny Rissveds producing a near flawless performance as she claimed victory by 36 seconds and her first ever World Cup cross country triumph.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels amazing to have won!\u201d said the 19 year old Swede. \u201cIt is my first World Cup cross country win and so I\u2019m really happy!\u201d<\/p>\n Conditions were brutal throughout the clash and, despite being the first race of the day out the blocks, temperatures were already uncomfortable midway through the clash.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a tough race because it was really hot and I\u2019m very relieved we started at 9 o\u2019clock in the morning!\u201d said Rissveds.<\/p>\n Jenny Rissveds of SCOTT_Odlo MTB Racing Team was in a class of her own in the under-23 women’s cross country race<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe first lap was really tough and then I tried to keep focused and cool down a bit for two laps before accelerating a bit again on the last lap.<\/p>\n \u201cI made a big mistake in the rock garden on the last lap. I didn\u2019t crash but I had to get off my bike and run down the whole rock garden but other than that I had a great race and didn\u2019t make a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n The rejigged Cascades MTB Park cross country course has been well-received by the vast majority of riders and Rissveds echoed this sentiment having spent many hours out on course in training beforehand.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried a lot of different lines in training, especially in the new rock garden, which I think helped me today. I like the new course, its tough, technical and fast.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was hard to keep pushing. During the middle laps I heard that the girls were catching me a little and that was tough to hear but I just looked to stay focused and keep positive and just keep pushing to the finish,\u201d an elated Rissveds mentioned.<\/p>\n The race took a dramatic turn towards the back end of the encounter after third ranked rider Jovana Crnogorac (Salcano Alanya) crashed twice during her opening lap and ending her charge for the win.<\/p>\n Jordan Sarrou (BH-Suntour-KMC) digs deep en route to victory in the under-23 men’s cross country race<\/span><\/p>\n Fourth place finisher Helen Grobert (Focus XC Team) then made a costly error in the Tree House rock garden on the second to last lap, losing valuable seconds and allowing a charging Perrine Clauzel (BH-Suntour-KMC) to leapfrog both Grobert and third place finisher Lisa Rabensteiner (Focus XC Italy) to claim second place while South Africa’s Candice Neethling (Velo Life\/BMC-SA) finished ninth.<\/p>\n Shortly after the conclusion of their female counterparts it was the turn of the under-23 men and as the mercury continued to rise there was no respite for the young men.<\/p>\n Cannondale Factory Racing\u2019s Anton Cooper was the quickest out the blocks to claim the hole shot but it was soon the BH-Suntour-KMC\u2019s duo of Sarrou and Victor Koretzky who surged to the front and went about setting a blistering pace.<\/p>\n Disaster struck Koretzky early in the second lap though as he broke his chain, ending his title hopes and leaving it up to Sarrou to fly the team\u2019s flag. And fly it he did.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very happy to have won the first World Cup of the year and to take the leader\u2019s jersey!\u201d said Sarrou afterwards. \u201cI went into the lead right in the beginning and I didn\u2019t let it go for the rest of the race!<\/p>\n \u201cThe course is even better than it was for the World Champs last year. It was very technical and with it being as warm as it was, I\u2019m very happy I felt so good and could get the win.\u201d<\/p>\n Giant Pro XC\u2019s Michiel van der Heijden recovered from a poor start to finish in second place while betch.nl Superior Brentjens MTB Racing Team\u2019s Grant Ferguson claimed his maiden World Cup podium as he claimed third.<\/p>\n H-Suntour-KMC’s Jordan Sarrou claims his victory in the under-23 men’s cross country race<\/span><\/p>\n The host nation\u2019s flag also billowed proudly in the dusty breeze after Trek Racing South Africa\u2019s James Reid got the better of Cooper in the final few hundred meters to finish fourth, equaling his 2012 PMB World Cup result.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be up where I was two years ago,\u201d said Reid. \u201cI\u2019ve always believed I\u2019ve had that kind of shape but it\u2019s taken a full two years to get back up to where I was when I last got a fourth in Maritzburg.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going well at the moment but I took a bit of a knock when I went to the States recently and had my eyes opened to just how fast I actually needed to be so I came and really put my head down and worked hard in the build up to the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n Slow off the mark meant Reid\u2019s top three hopes were dashed early on but the local lad was still happy with the final outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cToday was good. I had a poor start and was slightly off the lead group in the first few minutes which meant it was kind of decided up front already. So I got locked into a bit of a ding-dong battle with (Anton) Cooper.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a tough position to be in because had I tried to go after third I may have gifted fifth a free ride with me.<\/p>\n \u201cAnton and I ended up going a similar speed for much of the middle part of the race before tactics came into play in the last lap. Cooper had been getting quicker little by little so on the last lap I decided just to go for it and fortunately he couldn\u2019t stay with me.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m stoked to get the World Cup season off to a good start. Stoked to be in the top five, podium would have been nice but I\u2019ll take it!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n