Palmerston North 17-year-old Jonty Williamson produced a top finish to claim his first junior men’s UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the opening round of the world series in South Korea.

Ten kiwi gravity riders have won through to the finals of the new UCI MTB World Cup season which has ventured to South Korea for the first time in 25 years.

New Zealand gravity riders bagged three podium placings across three finals in the penultimate round of the 2025 UCI MTB World Series at Lake Placid, in upstate New York.

New Zealand’s Samara Maxwell had to settle for sixth place but still maintains a significant lead after the final European leg of the UCI MTB Cross-country World Series in Switzerland.