Isabella Holmgren added another rainbow stripes jersey to her growing collection, this one a first-ever women’s U23 short track cross-country title at the 2024 Mountain Bike World Championships in Pal Arinsal, Andorra.
Ella Maclean-Howell took the silver for Great Britain, 22 seconds behind the 19-year-old Canadian, while Isabella’s sister Ava Holmgren earned the bronze, edging compatriot Emilly Johnston by five seconds for the final podium spot.
Isabella Holmgren won double world titles in 2023 as a junior in mountain bike cross-country and cyclocross, while Ava Holmgren won the Canadian junior cyclocross national championship the past two years and earned the silver medal at MTB Worlds in cross-country in 2023.
This was the first time a U23 XCC world championship event had been contested. From the start, all the favourites were packed together on the opening lap, The trio of top Canadians riding with Maclean-Howell, Kira Böhm (Germany) and Madigan Munro (United States).
Maclean-Howell was the first rider to surge to the front with a 4-second gap, then Isabella Holmgren made the pass before the second lap unfolded and rode solo at the front until the end. On the final lap, Maclean-Howell brought back nine seconds in the chase, but could not get the Canadian in her sights.
A last-lap surge by Ava Holmgren put her on the podium, as she distanced Johnston and Bohm from the three-rider chase group.
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Results – Short track cross country U23 women
Results – Short track cross country elite women
