Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing XC) and Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) powered away from lead groups to win the elite short track races of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Snowshoe, West Virginia.
It was the first XCC victory of the season for the British rider. She broke free from a small pack of leaders to ride solo for the final one and a half laps. World Cup XCC points leader Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished five seconds back for second, and Rebecca Henderson (Primaflor Mondraker Genuins Racing) another four seconds later for third. Alessandra Keller (Thômus Maxon), who holds second place in XCC elite women’s standings, finished fourth, just ahead of Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV).
In the elite men’s race, Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) scored his third consecutive short track victory of the season, saving something for the final climb and riding away from Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC), who took second, and World Cup XCC leader Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV).
It was the seventh podium in seven World Cup events for the German. With his third place finish, Schwarzbauer secured the World Cup title in short track ahead of the season finale at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Québec next weekend, but he was not ready to accept the title yet.
“I have finished first? I think not, but I am even more happy for sure if won the overall,” Schwarzbauer said to Eurosport/GCN at the finish. “It was a good race. I felt very good. It’s a secret, but I think my numbers were not as good as in the beginning of the season in training. It was harder because I knew it was the end of the season. The race gives me confidence.”
The UCI Mountain Bike World Series landed in Snowshoe, West Virginia, for the seventh of eight rounds. Before the snow falls to convert the area to skiing, the exposed rocks and roots make the courses - Friday for short track, Saturday for downhill and Sunday for XCO - very technical.
Dry weather and mild temperatures across the Appalachian mountains of the eastern USA brought fast racing. The course had a unique start loop, a rocky chute and a massive rock garden. Positioning proved to be the key factor for both races, four laps for women and five for men, plus the start loop.
Elite Women's XCC
Across the long and wide drag on the grass at the women’s start, Italian Chiara Teocchi (KTM Protek Elettrosystem) hit the front. The 40 riders began to string out on the pass of the narrow rocky section, Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV), winner of test event, controlling the pace. Pieterse followed in second, but struggled through the descent of the rock garden. Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon), one of the title contenders, trailed in 10th position.
On the second full lap, Pieterse moved in front of Lecomte and Richards in third. Only a few second back were Rebecca Henderson (Primaflor Mondraker Genuins Racing) and Keller to round out the top five.
At the start of the third lap, the same five remained at the front, then Richardson hit the front with Henderson on her wheel as they passed over the narrow, single-lane bridge as the front duo. Keller slipped back to sixth and was overtaken by Martina Berta (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro). Batten had worked her way through 20 positions into seventh.
On the long uphill section, Richards began to pull away, creating separation from the six riders behind. With one to go, she held a six-second lead over Pieterse, and another four seconds back to Berta and Lecomte. Henderson and Keller fought another two second back.
Through the bumpy wood section, Pieterse appeared to make up some time, but Richards held the lead gap using a high cadence on the final climb. She looked back only once and did not see the Dutch rider, rolling across the line solo for the victory.
“I can’t believe it. I’ve got now words really, just great isn’t it,” Richards said at the finish for the Eurosport/GCN live coverage. “I feel I’m still jet lagged, really. With two laps to go, I felt comfortable on the descent, but I need two laps to get a good gap, right? So, let’s go! I was lucky they didn’t catch on.
“The excitement took over when [announcer] said two laps. I’m just really happy with that, and finally get a win at the end of the year with my new coach.”
Elite Men's XCC
On the green light, Schwarzbauer led the pack across the grass and onto the first uphill, the World Cup cross-country leader Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB) on his back wheel. Headed across the narrow bridge after the opening loop, Schwarzbauer set the pace. Briton’s Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) had moved into ninth place, with USA’s Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) in 18th.
Koretzky then took the lead on the first full lap across the first pass of the rock garden, pulling Schwarzbauer and Swiss duo of Schurter and Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon) and French rider Sarrou to set the top five.
Across the second lap, the long line of 40 racers seemed to settle in and no major gaps opened. Schwarzbauer went back to the pacemaking at the front on the big climb and he led Sarrou, Koretzky and Schurter through the start/finish for a third lap, other riders beginning to go adrift of the fast pace.
Only seven riders matched the pace of Schwarzbauer as the fourth lap began, others trailing by 12 seconds or more. Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) moved into fourth position, Vlad Dascalu (Trek Factory Racing XC) in fifth, as Joshua Dubau (Rockrider Ford Racing) moved into sixth and Schurter in seventh. Tagging on the back in eighth was Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Lapierre Mavic Unity).
Aldridge attacked at the start of the fifth and final lap, then Koretzky countered just before the bridge, taking the lead onto the rocky descent. Schwarzbauer was on his back wheel. Koretzky accelerated in the woods and onto the final climb, creating a small gap and holding on for the victory.
“I’m super happy about the race. It’s my [third] win in a row, so it’s super good. With a big uphill in the middle, it was tough to manage, but in the end it was the strongest who won. It was a little bit less strategy compared to a normal short race,” the Frenchman said after the finish.
“At the beginning of the last lap, I was not in good position, I think I was third with a big fight with Luca [Schwarzbauer] and Charlie [Aldridge]. You need to push a lot to finish and cross the line first.”
Pidcock finished 13th and Blevins, the only US rider in the event, faded to 28th.
Results XCC Elite Women
Results XCC Elite Men
