Carter Woods back on the podium in Les Gets World Cup XCC opener
Emilly Johnston takes on the under-23 women's short track field
Photo by:
Michal Cerveny / UCI Mountain Bike World Series
Carter Woods made his return to a World Cup podium on Thursday, earning bronze in the under-23 men’s Short Track (XCC) event. The intense 20-minute races kicked off the Les Gets portion of this first-ever “super World Cup” in Haute-Savoie region of France.
Woods (Giant Factory Racing) finished behind powerhouse French racer Adrien Boichis (Trinity Racing) and the U.S.A.’s Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing). Just six seconds separate the top three after 20 minutes of racing in Les Gets.
It’s Woods’ first time back on the World Cup podium since his sensational XCC/XCO double in Val di Sole at the start of July. The Cumberland, B.C. racer was close in Vallnord, finishing fifth.
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On the women’s side, Emilly Johnston (Trek Future Racing) rolled in 12th, riding in just behind the lead group. Ronja Blochlinger (Liv Factory Racing) earned another XCC victory to extend her World Cup short track win streak to six races. The Swiss racer has yet to lose a u23 XCC since the race was introduced at the start of the year. U23 XCO world champ Samara Maxwell came close, finishing just two seconds behind Blochlinger. Noëlle Buri (Bixs Performance) rounded out the podium in third.
