World Cup Round 2: Round-up

The format for this World Cup round was a full Knock-Out Sprint on Thursday, with a qualification race in the morning, and the head-to-head rounds in the afternoon. On Saturday there was an Individual Sprint (with no qualification race), and the program concluded on Sunday with a Sprint Relay.

Knock-Out Sprint

It was an early and sunny morning in Lidköping, Sweden, for the World Cup Knock-out Sprint qualification race. Athletes faced decisive route choices early on, along with artificially-blocked roads to keep them on their toes.

GB’s top performance came from Grace Molloy, who won her heat and qualified for this afternoon’s Knock-out Sprint. Meanwhile, GB’s Simon Harden came agonisingly close to qualifying, missing out by a single second.

"My race today was pretty decent - I was one second off, which was really sad - I was really keen on going further today - it was a decent first international sprint race for Great Britain, so I am quite happy for that", said Simon Harden.

With only 36 athletes to qualify, and 8 athletes from each nation allowed to take part – and an 8-minute winning time – there really was no margin for error.

Although the town’s roads are laid out in a simple grid, the organisers had peppered the town centre with artificial barriers. This transformed the simple layout into an intricate warren with dead ends and challenging route choices.

Grace Molloy was Great Britain’s only representative in the afternoon knock-out rounds. During her quarter-final, the placement and mapping of an artificial barrier caused confusion in the leading pack. This meant Grace had to fight hard to try to put herself back in contention for a qualifying spot. However, following an intense final few controls, Grace crossed the line in a close fourth place, just missing out on the semis.

The competitions were won by Hedvig Valbjørn Gydesen (Denmark) and Eirik Langedal Breivik (Norway).

Results

Individual Sprint 

The second day of the World Cup in Sweden saw athletes take to the streets of Skara for the individual sprint. The race came in three acts: beginning with criss-crossing around an apartment complex; then moving into the grounds of an open-air museum, with buildings showing Sweden’s past agrarian society; and finally, into the medieval old town. All with plenty of artificial barriers to challenge the athletes’ route choice decision-making. Great Britain’s top performance came from Grace Molloy, who secured a spot in the top 20.

The races were won by Simona Aebersold (Switzerland) and Kasper Fosser (Norway).

Grace Molloy said: “It was a bit more complex than I expected, it was hard that the 2 pivotal legs came right at the start and right after the map flip – I executed the routes I chose well, but not my best result today, unfortunately.” 

“They really managed to put on a hard sprint for us today”, added Simon Harden.

“The Swedish style is to use a lot of barriers, and make really tricky courses”, said coach Emil Wingstedt

“We counted 57 barriers on the course (individual sprint) – we have been trying to prepare, but there is nothing that can prepare you for these crazy route choices”, concluded Fiona Bunn.

Results

Images below: Cecilie Andersen, Simon Harden, Grace Molloy, Ellie Bales, Euan Tryner and Fiona Bunn. Credit: Rob Lines. 

Mixed Sprint Relay 

The final day of the World Cup in Sweden brought the athletes back to Skara for the intense Mixed Sprint Relay. For a World Cup defined by its abundant use of artificial barriers, this finale was no exception.

The medieval old town, which athletes had already raced through the previous day, was redefined by the barriers, adding fresh complexity. Competitors faced long, decisive route choice decisions, made all the more challenging by the relentless pressure of head-to-head racing.

Norway won again, having won the 2025 European Championships and the recent World Cup in Switzerland.

Great Britain’s first team was in the mix for a podium finish for much of the race, sparked by a brilliant opening leg from Grace Molloy, who crossed the line in second place. Peter Molloy ran with the leading group, changing over in 5th, just 7 seconds behind the lead. Simon Harden gained one place but lost some time to the leaders, changing over in 4th, 1:03 behind. Cecile Andersen ran the last leg, bringing the team home as the 9th nation and 18th overall. This is an improvement on the 12th nation placing in Switzerland one month ago – a positive trend before the upcoming World Championships.

“I felt strong, I tried to be confident and trust myself, and slotted into the back of the front pack” Peter Molloy

“It was a good race today, it was physically very hard – it was good to show that we can be up there fighting for a top 3” Simon Harden

Results

Images: Jim Bailey, Rachel Brown, Peter Molloy, Ralph Street, Chloe Potter and Freddie Carcas. Credit: Rob Lines.