Wilier-Vittoria: Gustav Pedersen Conquers the Mud in Les Gets!

The French World Cup weekend could hardly have started any better for the Wilier-Vittoria MTB Factory Team. In Les Gets, Gustav Heby Pedersen claimed victory in the short track, mastering the rain and mud to deliver the Italian team its first win of the season in the UCI MTB World Series.

It was a victory built on strength and technical skill, as Pedersen got the better of Germany's Paul Schel, who had dominated the U23 category so far this season but this time had to surrender to the Danish rider's impressive performance. Beyond the significance of the victory itself, Pedersen and Wilier-Vittoria have even more reason to smile: it comes just one week before the World Championships in Val di Sole, on home soil for the Italian team.

"For the past five weeks, I've been working incredibly hard to make sure I was ready for this final part of the season," said Gustav after his victory, having already won the XCC in Nové Město in 2025. "I'm so happy to see all that hard work pay off straight away. I felt good throughout the entire race and, towards the end, when I saw an opportunity to attack and put Schel under pressure, I didn't think twice. I went all-in and pushed as hard as I could all the way to the finish."

In the Elite men's race, Simone Avondetto also delivered an excellent performance, finishing 5th, just a handful of seconds behind winner Adrien Boichis. Italian champion Juri Zanotti finished 14th, with Luca Braidot in 17th. In the women's races, Sofie Heby Pedersen took 19th in the Elite category, while Ella MacPhee finished 11th among the U23s.