Britain's Seagrave wins junior women's downhill at MTB Worlds
Beecroft and Molloy earn silver and bronze medals for Australia









Tahnee Seagrave (Great Britain) descended to victory in the junior women's downhill at the UCI Mountain Bike Championships in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on Friday. Australia earned the rest of the medals with Danielle Beecroft and Tegan Molloy getting silver and bronze.
"This means more than anything to me in the world," said Seagrave. "I'm an elite next year, and I've been looking to bring good results this year."
A small field of only five junior women contested the world championship event on a partly cloudy, cool, dusty and windy morning. Ayako Nakagawa (Japan) was the first woman down the mountain. Her time was quickly bettered by Molloy, who was hot on her heels with a 5:11.449.
"The wind was good on my run. It was a little gusty for the tables, but apart from that, it was fine. The pedalling section was the most challenging part," said Molloy.
Beecroft became the next occupant of the hot seat with a time of 4:59.513, improving the best time by more than 11 seconds, but the last woman down the mountain, Seagrave, knocked her out of it with a time of 4:52.001. Seagrave was 7.5 seconds quicker than Beecroft.
Beecroft said, "Yesterday, the track was pretty blown out, but they patched it up for today. The track was real fast for our race fun, but that pedalling section was such a killer. I was knackered. I put everything into it."
Seagrave said she didn't really know where she made up her time. "I just tried to not go too fast. I was really nervous and so scared of crashing," she said.
"At the top I wasn't thinking too much, I was trying to block everything out, but I was thinking of the pedal section the whole way. I was like 'oh god, it's getting closer'. My front wheel was about to wash out at once point, and I had to breath and tell myself it would be ok."
"Every time I went to sit down, I'd think of the red light at the finish line. I didn't wanted that."
Her strategy worked as she got the green light, signifying that she had the best time as she rolled across the finish.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Tahnee Seagrave (Great Britain) | 0:04:52.001 |
2 | Danielle Beecroft (Australia) | 0:00:07.512 |
3 | Tegan Molloy (Australia) | 0:00:19.448 |
4 | Fiona Ourdouillie (France) | 0:00:21.731 |
5 | Ayako Nakagawa (Japan) | 0:01:13.791 |
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Men - Pogačar and Evenepoel face-off at La Doyenne
Don't miss the action as the peloton tackles 11 climbs and a flat finish in Liège for the final Ardennes -
2025 gravel national champions index
A guide to who is wearing the jersey of a gravel national champion and when the title battles take place -
Nearly 20 years in the making – Tiffany Cromwell and Mark O’Brien scoop up first elite Australian titles at National Gravel Championships
Cromwell claims three-way battle into final corners to deliver memorable return from collarbone break, O’Brien triumphs after 30km solo -
How to watch Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 – Live streams, TV coverage for La Doyenne
All the broadcast information for the final of the three Ardennes Classics for both men and women