The Big Picture | UCI World Championships – Junior Women

The first race of the weekend in Dübendorf was also the very first of its type in cyclocross history; a chance for the Junior Women to claim World Championship medals. Among the top favorites were two American riders. Madigan Munro of the Boulder Juniors program and Lizzy Gunsalus of the Cannondale p/b Cyclocross World development squad. 

The Junior Dutch Women pre-riding the course at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
The Dutch team pre-riding the course and giving us a fairly good idea of how the day will play out.
Swiss fans with cowbells at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Dübendorf
Swiss cow bell game is strong.
Junior Women on the start line at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships - Dubendorf
The Junior Women on the start line, about to make history.

The upside of being in the first race on the first day was that the riders had the best weather conditions. The sun was out and the track was relatively fast, allowing nearly all the riders to complete four full laps. At my first shooting position, near the start of the long berm, Gunsalus and Munro were at the head of the race in 3rd and 6th place respectively.

Fem van Empel leads a group at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships - Dubendorf
Fem van Empel, closely shadowed by Madigan Munro, leads a small group on the first lap.
Cassidy Hickey rides by a group of Swiss fans at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Cassidy Hickey of team USA rides past a group of Swiss fans. Hickey finished in 35th place in her first Cyclocross Worlds.
Madigan Munro drops in at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Madigan Munro drops off the long berm behind Fem van Empel and in front of Line Burquier.
Puck Pieterse crests a berm UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Eventual silver medal winner Puck Pieterse skillfully crests the long berm.
Lizzy Gunsalus shouldering her bike at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Lizzy Gunsalus shouldering her bike. Gunsalus finished the race in 8th place.

At the halfway point in the race Munro had passed her teammate and was in the bronze medal position. Gunsalus was holding on to 7th/8th position riding in good company near eventual 5th place finisher Fem van Empel. Having taken the hole shot, Shirin Anrooij was now well off the front with a lead of over 30 seconds to her teammate Puck Pieterse.

Shirin van Anrooij at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Leader Shirin van Anrooij confidently drops into a tricky descent.
Line Burquier in a rut on an off-camber descent at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Top French finisher Line Burquier commits to the rut.
Mirthe Van Den Brande slides out on an off-camber descent at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Mirthe Van den Brande slides out on an off-camber descent.
Yui Ishida picks herself up at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Yui Ishida picks herself up after sliding out on a tricky off-camber.

As the race neared its conclusion Van Anrooij’s gap to her chasers continued to grow but at a much lower rate compared with her first laps. She finished 53 seconds up on Pieterse, 1:18 up on Munro and more than two minutes faster than 5th place, Fem van Empel.

Cassidy Hickey carries her bike at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Cassidy Hickey carries her bike across one of the many fly-overs on the course
Madigan Munro at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Madigan Munro crosses the finish line in third place for the first and only medal of the weekend.
Bridget Tooley at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Bridget Tooley gets a jacket from a USAC soigneur after the finish

With the first ever Junior Women CX Worlds race comes the first ever Junior Women CX Worlds podium. And the first ever U.S. junior woman on a Worlds podium. Overall this was a great debut for this category. I was a bit nervous before the start that the riders would be subjected to an unnecessarily short race but the final race time was right where it should have been with only two riders pulled and the last rider on the lead lap coming in at 50:31. After seeing the size of some of the fields in the women’s races at the World Cups this year, it was obviously past time for this category to have its own race.

Puck Pieterse, Shirin Van Anrooij and Madigan Munro on the podium at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Medal winners Puck Pieterse, Shirin Van Anrooij and Madigan Munro on the podium
Shirin Van Anrroij on the podium at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
First ever Junior Women World Champion, Shirin Van Anrroij on the podium.
Madigan Munro in the press conference at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Madigan Munro in the press conference

Follow Ethan on Instagram at: @thepenultimatestage

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