Welcome to the UCI Mountain Bike World𝔍 Championships.  We're testing out some live coverage today at the Under 23 men's cross country race.  The race starts at 5:00 PM Central European Time.

As of now, we understand the U23 men will race one start loop plus six laps.  86 ridꦇers are on the start list.

It's been a nice day in Champery so far tod💜ay. Not too hot, not too cold. Rider call up is unde𒆙rway

And they are off!

There are lots of people out today to cheer on the U23 men. Some favorites include Thomas💯 Litscher (Swi) and Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy). The latter won the 2011 World Cup overall.

Through the finish at the end of the st⛦art loop, Litscher led Kerschbaumer, much to the delight of the Swiss fans. They are already all strung out. 6 laps to go.

It's been th𒐪understorming each night here, which is keeping the technical course damp. Lots of roots and rocks mean riders have to stay very concentrated.

We're standing next to the main climb. It's a steep one. The very low part is paved and fans have written on the road like in a road race. We hear lots of c💝owbells and air horns. They should beඣ here soon!

On the clওimb of Lap 1, Litscher leads Kerschbaumer. The two are together. They have a 22-second gap over chasers Diego Rosa (Ita) and Henk Jaap Moorlag (Ned). Next up is Marek Konwa(Pol).

Litscher got a gap on Kerschbaume🌃r in the Snake, a technical tooth DH and he pushes it to finish lap 1 in the lead.

𒁏33 riders are through lap 1. Litscher has a 20-second lead. The Swiss fans are delighted. He won silver last year in Mont Saint Anne and has excelled in the new cross country eliminator format of racing.

Going up the m♔ain climb on lap 2, Litscher leads by 23 seconds. He climbs mostly seated and ♐looks smooth.

Kerschbaumer went through at 23 seconds and Moorlag was just 3 seconds later. He'd nearly caught the Italian. Konwa was next at 1:02 on his own whil🌜e Mathias Stirnemann (Swi) and Rosa were together.

Kerschbaumer continues to extend h🅺is lead in the early part of lap 3. Michiel van 🍌der Heijden, last year's junior world champion, rolls through in 17th.

The root✅s are slick but it's not nearly as slippery as it was for the junior men yesterday. We're missing US national champ Stephen Ettinger today. He crashed in the team relay on Wednesday. We heard he may have broken his finger and we haven't seen him yet today so he may not have started.

Near the end of lap 3, Litscher rolls through the roots by a river. He leads by 1:16. On the uphill singletrack𓃲 Moorlag leads, but Kerschbaumer leads the downhill singletrack. The two chasers are right on each other. Konwa is solo in 4th at 1:24 while Stirnemann and Rosa battle๊ for 5th.

This U23 race is really a show of strong young Europeans. We've 🗹only seen the occasional rider from Brasil, South Africa and Australia in the top 30 or so riders. Haven't seen any Canadians or US riders near the front.

Paul van der Ploeg (Aus) has been ri🗹ding as the top non Continental rider.

Thomas Litscher cℱrosses 🐟the line with one to go and a huge lead. Konwa has moved up to second place. He rolls through at 1:39, just in front of Moorlag at 1:57.

Stirnemann rides through in fourth while yet another Swiss rider Reto Indergand comes through in fifth.𝔍 After a mechanical, Kerschbaumer is in 6th, then Rosa.

Litscher is about halfway 🍌through his final lap. Barring major disaster, he looks good for the win with aཧ 1:40 advantage at the top of the fireroad climb. He'll be riding carefully these last five minutes.

The Swiss have 🏅an impressive three riders in the top 5. Litscher in the lead on the final climb. Stirnemann is in fourth and indergand in fifth. American Jack hinkens is racing in 41st and just rolled out for his final lap.

Thomas Litscher wins gold for Switzerland to loud cheers and has plenty of time to pick up his bike and ca𒅌rry it overhead across the line. Marek Konwa gives Poland it's first 2011 worlds medal in second at 1:42. Dutchman Hank Jaap Moorlag takes bronze at 2:13.

That wraps up our live coverage for today.  Thanks for joining us and tune in again tomorrow for more of the elite women's and men's cr🐭oss༒ country races.  Full coverage from today's Under 23 cross country will be posted as usual.  Stay tuned!