Valentina Corvi (Canyon XC Racing) and Nicolas Halter (Thomus Maxon) took the Under 23 XCO victories on day two of racing at Mona Yongpyong, as the 2026 WHOOP UCI MTB World Cup got underway in South Korea.
U23 Women
Corvi was dominant from the front, crossing the line in 1:07:33 to take a convincing win. Elina Benoit (Lexware Mountainbike Team) finished 3:28 back in second, with Bailey Cioppa (USA) completing the podium in third — one of three riders separated by just a single second at the line.
Britain's Ella Maclean-Howell (Cube Factory Racing) rode well to finish fifth, while Marin Lowe (Liv Factory Racing), Fiona Schibler and Maruša Tereza Šerkezi all finished in the leading group.
Photos: ©️ WHOOP UCI Mountain BIke World Series / Michal Cerveny
U23 Men
The men's race was a closer affair. Nicolas Halter came out on top in 1:26:13, holding off Paul Schehl (Lexware Mountainbike Team) by 35 seconds, with Thibaut Francois Baudry (Canyon XC Racing) in third a further six seconds back.
Ian Ackert (Canada) rode strongly in fourth, with Antoine Jamin (BH-Wallonie MTB Team) and Daniel English (Trinity Racing) rounding out the top six. Romano Püntener, younger brother of elite men's world number one Fabio, finished tenth on his World Cup debut.
©️ WHOOP UCI Mountain BIke World Series / Javier Zubiko