Last year’s World Cup winner Nikoline Splittorff DEN made the best possible start to her 2026 campaign with a 13-second win, and Jonas Maiselis LTU took the men’s race by 8 seconds. There were 5 different nations in the top six in both classes.
This race counts for the 2026 U-23 World MTBO Championships; the new U-23 World Champions in Sprint are Iris Aurora Pecorari, Italy and Hannes Hnilica, Austria.
On a warm but cloudy Spring day, Splittorff made an early mistake and was 23 seconds down after 3.5 km, in tenth place. Ten minutes later she was leading by 3 seconds, and for the final five minutes of the course she maintained a 14-second lead over second-placed Pecorari, the 22-year-old tipped by many to be Splittorff’s closest challenger this year.
Reigning World Cup champion Nikoline Splittorff won the first World Cup race of the season.
Iris Pecorari took the U23 World Championship title and finished second in the World Cup race.
Third today was Elvira Larsson SWE, 29, IOF world-ranked number 26, getting her best result so far at World Cup level; she was fourth in the European Championships Sprint in 2024.
In the men’s race, Hnilica was fastest in the early stages, but last year’s clear World Cup winner, Vojtech Ludvik CZE, was riding strongly, and was up with the lead four minutes out from the finish. However it was 34-year-old Maiselis who finished best, 8 seconds faster in the race than Hnilica, with Jan Hasek CZE a further 3 seconds down.
Jonas Maiselis crosses the finish line on Friday.
Maiselis, world ranked number 15, won the Middle race in last year’s European Championships and was second in the Sprint at the 2024 World MTBO Championships. He has been riding at World Cup level since 2011 – this is his sixteenth season.
Hannes Hnilica is the new U23 World Champion in Sprint.
No nation dominated the races today – there were two Danes in the top six in the women’s race, and two from Czechia in the men’s. Tomorrow the course lengths move up a notch to Middle Distance, with the first starts at 10.00 CEST. Follow the races with live results and GPS tracking on IOF Live!
Leading results, CX80 World Cup Sprint
Women
- Nikoline Splittorff DEN 24:21
- Iris Aurora Pecorari ITA 24:34
- Elvira Larsson SWE 24:46
4= Celine Wellenreiter SUI & Ruska Saarela FIN 24:59
- Cæcilie Christoffersen DEN 25:05
Men
- Jonas Maiselis LTU 24:52
- Hannes Hnilica AUT 25:00
- Jan Hasek CZE 25:03
- Vojtech Ludvik CZE 25:07
- Tomi Nykanen FIN 25:39
- Jeremi Pourré FRA 25:55