Lillo Leads Giant MTB Squad with Multiple World Cup Wins!

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Swiss rider Dario Lillo finished the 2024 UCI MTB World Cup season in style, sweeping the XCC and XCO races at the final round at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Québec. Australian Sascha Kim and France's Remi Thirion also earned multiple podium finishes this year.

Lillo had already been enjoying a consistent first half of the season, culminating in a strong showing at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra, where he piloted his Anthem Advanced 29 race bike to a silver medal in the U23 cross-country Olympic (XCO) race, just 21 seconds away from winning the rainbow jersey. He also finished fourth in the U23 cross-country short-track (XCC) world championship before heading to the Lake Placid World Cup with full confidence that he could compete against the best young riders in the sport in the two final events on the calendar.

At Lake Placid, located in New York State’s Adirondack Mountains, Lillo went clear in the XCC race with a last-lap attack that no one could match to take his first World Cup victory with Giant. Two days later, he finished second in the XCO event, less than one minute off Canadian Cole Punchard’s winning time.

“The weekend started really good with the short track," said Lillo, who wore the Giant Rev Elite helmet. "I was able to ride the whole race from the first few positions and keep myself out of trouble. In the last lap I went to the front and set a high pace. I started the sprint quite early and when I got to the finish line, I was by myself. After the first win of the season I was stoked and looking forward to the XCO. In the first laps I tried to stick to the front group. By the middle of the race it was only me and [Punchard] left. In that moment I caught a screw in my back tire and had to pit for a new back wheel. After that I still had a lot to play for and went hard until the finish. I was able to win the sprint for second and ended the weekend with two solid results.”

A week later at Mont-Sainte-Anne in Québec, Lillo won the XCC race by holding off a late surge from American U23 world champ Bjorn Riley, sprinting across the line for his second consecutive U23 XCC win.

“After a successful weekend in Lake Placid, the motivation was high,” Lillo said. “In the short track I was riding the same strategy as at Lake Placid. I stayed in the first position and avoided any trouble. With one lap to go, I attacked onto the start/finish and went all in there. I was able to fight the other riders off until the line and achieved another World Cup win."

Two days later, Lillo was able to overcome a late-race crash to win take his first XCO World Cup victory in his final race in the U23 category, making it a clean sweep in Québec across the short track and cross-country disciplines. Heavy rains after Friday’s XCC race made the XCO course a slippery affair, which nearly derailed the Swiss rider’s victory.

“I was riding a long time in the race with two French riders in the front group,” Lillo said. “I had a good rhythm and was confident for the last lap. I attacked before the highest point and put a small gap between me and my chasers. But in the following downhill I crashed and they came back. I attacked again into the final uphill and was able to regain my advantage. And with that I was able to win my first XCO for Giant in my last race as an U23 rider. I‘m really happy with how I was able to end my season, and I‘m thankful to all the work the staff and members of the team put into this season.”

Lillo finished the 2024 World Cup season ranked third overall in the U23 XCC standings, behind Americans Riley Amos and Bjorn Riley, and fourth overall in the U23 XCO standings. He also led the Giant Factory Off-Road Team in World Cup wins (three).

ELITE CROSS-COUNTRY

Belgian Jens Schuermans was riding high after finishing third in the men’s elite XCC World Cup event at Val di Sole on June 14. Unfortunately the following week he crashed while training on course at the Crans Montana World Cup, sustaining a small fracture and large bone bruise to his left tibia. The injury forced him to miss the Les Gets World Cup in early July. He was able to return to competition to win the Belgian national short-track title, but another crash just minutes after winning his national XCC title resulted in a fractured left wrist, which required a pin to be surgically implanted just one week before the Paris Olympics. Showing his resilience and commitment, Schuermans came back to race in the Olympics and finish out the season with 12th place XCC finishes at both Lake Placid and Mont-Sainte-Anne.

Canadian champion Carter Woods also faced challenges, coming down with a mid-season Giardia infection that took over a month to overcome. Woods returned to competition at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra, and he closed out the season with an encouraging 13th place finish in the XCC event at Lake Placid, his best finish in his first year as an elite.

DOWNHILL

Flying down mountains across the globe aboard his Glory Advanced, French downhiller Remi Thirion finished the season ranked 11th in the elite men’s rankings, closing out the season with a fourth-place finish at Mont-Sainte-Anne, just 1.163 seconds off the winning time set by Australian Troy Brosnan. It was Thirion’s second podium finish of the season, matching his fourth place at Les Gets, France, his home race.

“I’m happy with the way I prepared for this last round,” Thirion said. “I stayed focused on working hard to be ready. I like the track, but Mont-Sainte-Anne has never been good to me in the past.”

Thirion’s qualifying run was disrupted by the crash of another rider, but he finished 19th in the semifinals with what he called a “safe and controlled” run to secure his position in the finals. However "safe and controlled" went out the window the night before the finals when the skies opened up, complicating conditions on the course.

“When I entered the start hut, I could not see the first corner due to the rain and the fog,” Thirion said. “So I knew I was going to have to improvise, be more careful, and compromise certain lines. I had a decent run, placing sixth on the first split, and first on the second and third splits, but I lost a bit of time on the bottom due to a small mistake.”

Thirion crossed the line second, and two riders ultimately surpassed him in a tight finish that saw the top-three finishers separated by just a half-second, with the entire top 10 separated by less than five seconds. “This was the second podium for me this year and one of my best seasons so far,” Thirion said. “I want to say a massive thank you to everyone on the team for all the hard work, without them nothing would be possible.”

Giant Factory Off-Road Team teammate Luke Meier-Smith finished 11th at Mont-Sainte-Anne, his top downhill World Cup result for the season, and finished the World Cup season ranked 21st. Earlier in the season, Luke also defended his elite men's DH national title in Australia. His younger brother and teammate Remy Meier-Smith took a season-best 17th at Fort William, and closed out the World Cup ranked 28th.

ENDURO

Australian Sascha Kim finished the 2024 World Cup season ranked third in the Under-21 Enduro category. Though he never came away with that elusive victory, Kim finished third on three occasions in the six-event series, and never finished worse than seventh aboard his Reign Advanced. He also finished 17th in the elite category at the first Enduro World Championship, held in the Italian Dolomites in September.

Moonlighting in the Enduro discipline, downhiller Luke Meier-Smith took second place at the elite men’s Enduro World Cup in the village of Combloux in the French Alps in late June, winning two of six stages. And French rider Youn Deniaud turned in a solid final season before his retirement, closing out his career with Giant.

Source:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/global/news/lillo-leads-giant-mtb-squad-with-multiple-world-cup-wins/29218