Ella MacPhee recently rode to a sixth-place finish during World Cup cross-country Olympic (XCO) action in Val di Sole, Italy. Her time of one hour, eight minutes and 30 seconds wasn't quite enough to challenge gold medallist Valentina Corvi (1:05:59), silver medallist Fiona Schibler (1:06:29) and Sara Cortinovis with bronze (1:06:51).
Instead it was Corvi giving her home fans something to cheer about, establishing a notable lead and refusing to give it up until even her compatriot Cortinovis fell behind. The performance marks a return to form for Corvi, who fractured her collarbone in a crash earlier this year.
"I tried to push super strong from the beginning," Corvi said in a press release. "I had super-good feelings, it’s amazing here with my crowd and my people. Winning my first UCI World Cup is amazing. Sara (Cortinovis) pushed super strong from the first lap and I tried to keep the speed high. I’m super happy that we finished all together on the podium in Italy, it’s a big day for us."
However, MacPhee still leads the U23 women's overall ranking with 521 points, with Cortinovis (401) and Corvi (372) in her rearview. The Squamish native won her first World Cup in May.
Meanwhile, Dutch athlete Rens Teunissen Van Manen prevailed in the men's U23 XCO discipline (1:18:53) for the inaugural time in his career. Finn Treudler occupied the runner-up spot for Switzerland (1:19:27) and Germany's Benjamin Kruger found himself third (1:19:44).
"It is everything that I’ve ever dreamed of," said Teunissen Van Manen in a release. "To win here on this course couldn’t have been any better. In the last lap on the first downhill I got stuck in between some roots, in the dust, and went down. Luckily it wasn’t anything bad and I could continue."
Click here for more results from Val di Sole.
