Erice van Leuven

Erice van Leuven (born 30 November 2006) is a downhill mountain biker from Aotearoa, New Zealand. She is the current UCI Downhill Junior Women's World Champion.[3]

Erice van Leuven
Personal information
Born (2006-11-30) 30 November 2006[1]
Team information
DisciplinesMountain Biking
RoleRider
Rider typeDownhill (DHI)

Enduro (EDR)

Freeride
Professional team
Commencal Les Orres[2]
Major wins
UCI DHI Junior World Champion 2023

Three World Cup Junior (U19) DHI wins in 2023 in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), Pal Arinsal (Andorra) and Snowshoe (USA), and two second places in Val di Sole and Loudenvielle

Winner of World Cup U21 EDR race in Derby, Tasmania, and second place in Maydena, Tasmania

Career

Van Leuven began riding at age 7 with her older brothers, exploring local trails and creating jumps in her family's garden.

At age 10, a YouTube video of her riding trails in Rotorua, NZ on a 16-inch coaster break bike gained traction and caught the attention of bike brands including Commencal.[4]

She went on to race recreationally around Wellington and greater Aotearoa. In 2019 she was invited to Andorra to ride with the Commencal Kids project, and in 2022 she raced in Europe for the first time at the French Cup in Châtel.[4]

A freerider as well, Erice won the honour of being named ‘Dark Horse’ at the women’s Dark Horse Invitational freeride event at Revelstoke, Canada in 2022.[5]

In 2023, her 6th year supported by Commencal, she signed with the Commencal Les Orres[6] race team and began competing on the World Cup circuit primarily in Downhill with some Enduro races. She won the most World Cup Downhill races in 2023 of any of the Junior Women - winning three races, in Lenzerheide,[7] Pal Arinsal[8] and Snowshoe[9] - and she placed second in two others.[10][11] In the two Enduro World Cup races she competed in, she won at Derby, Tasmania,[12] winning every one of the six stages, and came second in Maydena,[13] with two stage wins. In August 2023 she became Junior World Champion at Fort William, Scotland,[3] ahead of her New Zealand compatriots Poppy Lane and Sacha Earnest in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.[14]

Personal life

Van Leuven was born in 2006. She grew up in Lower Hutt and is a student at Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School.[2]

Results

Downhill

2023

3rd Place: UCI Mountain Bike Junior Downhill World Cup Overall[15]

1st Place: UCI Mountain Bike Junior Downhill World Cup, Showshoe, West Virginia[9]

2nd Place: UCI Mountain Bike Junior Downhill World Cup, Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, France[11] (based on qualifying results as the final race was cancelled)

1st Place: UCI Mountain Bike Junior Downhill World Cup, Pal Arinsal, Andorra[8]

1st Place: Coupe de France / French Cup, Châtel[16] (3rd overall elite women)

1st Place: UCI Cycling World Championships Junior Downhill, Fort William, Scotland[3]

2nd Place: UCI Mountain Bike Junior Downhill World Cup, Val di Sole Trentino, Italy[10]

1st Place: UCI Mountain Bike Junior Downhill World Cup, Lenzerheide, Switzerland[7]

1st Place: Coupe de France / French Cup, La Grand-Combe[17] (1st overall elite women)

2nd Place: Cycling New Zealand National Champs U19, Coronet Peak, Queenstown, NZ[18] (3rd overall women)

2022

3rd Place: Coupe de France / French Cup, Châtel[4]

2nd Place: Cycling New Zealand National Champs U17, Christchurch, NZ[19] (6th overall women)

Enduro

2023

1st Place: UCI Mountain Bike U21 Enduro World Cup, Derby, Australia[12]

2nd Place: UCI Mountain Bike U21 Enduro World Cup, Maydena, Australia[13]

Freeride

2022

'Dark Horse' women's freeride invitational, Revelstoke, Canada. Named 2022 'Dark Horse'[5]

'Hangtime' women's freeride invitational, Bellingham, WA, USA[4]

References
  1. Erice van Leuven at UCI
  2. "Rising Hutt Valley junior claims UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill title". Cycling New Zealand. 10 June 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  3. "UCI DHI World Championships Junior Women Final Results - Fort William". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  4. Henehan, Justin. "Little Bikes to Big DH Dreams". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  5. Hughes, Nora (26 September 2022). "15-year-old mountain biker awarded Dark Horse Invitational title". Revelstoke Mountaineer. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  6. "ERICE VAN LEUVEN OFF TO THE WORLD CUP". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  7. "2023 UCI DHI Junior Women Final Results - Lenzerheide" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  8. "2023 UCI DHI Junior Women Final Results - Pal Arinsal" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  9. "2023 UCI DHI Junior Women Final Results - Snowshoe" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  10. "2023 UCI DHI Junior Women Final Results - Val di Sole Trentino" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  11. "2023 UCI DHI Junior Women Qualifying Results - Loudenvielle-Peyragudes" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  12. "2023 UCI EDR World Cup Women U21 Results - Derby". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  13. "2023 UCI EDR World Cup Women U21 Results - Maydena". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  14. "UCI Cycling Worlds: Kiwi clean sweep of Women Junior mountain bike downhill podium". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  15. "2023 UCI DHI WORLD CUP RANKINGS: WOMEN JUNIOR". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  16. "2023 MTB French Cup Powered By SKF - DHI - Châtel". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  17. "2023 MTB French Cup Powered By SKF - DHI - La Grand-Combe". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  18. "2023 NZ DHI National Championships Women U19 Junior Results" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  19. "2022 NZ DHI National Championships Women U17 Results". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
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