Langvad and Van der Poel Win First Ever World Cup Short Tracks
Gaze and Langvad stay top of World Cup standings
The first ever Mountain Bike World Cup short track (XCC) was held on Friday evening in Albstadt, Germany, with Annika Langvad (Specialized) and Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) coming out the winners. The top-16 finishers in the women and men will fill the first two rows for Sunday's cross-country (XCO) races, plus the event offered World Cup substantial points – 50 per cent of the XCO.
The 1.7-kilometre course began with the start of the cross-country circuit on pavement and then grass past the tech zone, followed by a section of the singletrack near the end of the XCO circuit and the pavement finish.
Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing) took the hole shot through the first corner for the women, but a group of 15 formed at the front by the end of the first lap, including most of the favourites, except for Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) and Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Canyon Factory), who had to chase hard to get back to the leaders.
The lead yo-yo'd through the remaining eight laps, with no one able to open an advantage. However, Langvad, who had remained tucked in the middle of the group until that point, launched an attack halfway through the final lap to take the win ahead of Neff and Linda Indergand (Focus XC). The win cemented Langvad's lead in the World Cup standings.
By finishing in the top 16, some riders dramatically improved their start positions for the XCO, while others lost out. The winners were Barbara Benko (Ghost Factory), Kate Courtney (Specialized) and Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Merida), who will jump to the front row. The losers were Ferrand Prevot and Sabine Spitz (Wiawis Bikes), who drop to the third row.
The men's race featured an immediate upset, when world champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) had to stop right after the start to fix a problem with his electronic shifting. Schurter chased for a few laps before eventually abandoning, and will now start on the third row for Sunday's XCO. At the front, the race was dominated from start to finish by Van der Poel.
World Cup leader Sam Gaze (Specialized) had to chase up from a poor start, but joined the front group and then marked Van der Poel. The Dutch former cyclo-cross world champion attacked with a little more than two laps to go, and the rest of the group did not react for a lap before Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory) finally started to chase. Van der Poel easily soloed in for the win, and Gaze outsprinted Mathias Flueckiger (Thomus-RN Racing) for third.
Gaze continues to lead the World Cup standings, but Van der Poel has jumped from fourth to second and Marotte moves into third, while Schurter drops to fourth. On the start line for the XCO, the winners are Mathias and his brother Lukas, plus Lars Forster (BMC) and Marco Fontana (Cannondale Factory) - all jump to the front row; Fontana up from the fifth row. Losers are Schurter and Anton Cooper (Trek Factory), who drop to the third row from the first.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Annika Langvad (Den) | 0:23:56 |
2 | Jolanda Neff (Swi) | 0:00:02 |
3 | Linda Indergand (Swi) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Alessandra Keller (Swi) | 0:00:06 |
5 | Barbara Benkó (Hun) | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Kate Courtney (USA) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) | 0:00:12 |
8 | Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) | 0:00:13 |
9 | Chloe Woodruff (USA) | 0:00:14 |
10 | Anne Tauber (Ned) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Erin Huck (USA) | 0:00:15 |
12 | Emily Batty (Can) | 0:00:16 |
13 | Annie Last (GBr) | 0:00:20 |
14 | Kathrin Stirnemann (Swi) | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Catharine Pendrel (Can) | 0:00:21 |
16 | Jitka Škarnitzlová (Cze) | 0:00:23 |
17 | Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra) | 0:00:27 |
18 | Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) | 0:00:30 |
19 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) | 0:00:31 |
20 | Karla Štepánová (Cze) | 0:00:36 |
21 | Anne Terpstra (Ned) | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Lea Davison (USA) | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Eva Lechner (Ita) | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Katarzyna Solus-Miskowicz (Pol) | 0:00:37 |
25 | Yana Belomoina (Ukr) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Ramona Forchini (Swi) | 0:00:39 |
27 | Sabrina Enaux (Fra) | 0:00:40 |
28 | Githa Michiels (Bel) | 0:00:41 |
29 | Daniela Campuzano Chavez Peon (Mex) | 0:00:45 |
30 | Rebecca Mcconnell (Aus) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Jovana Crnogorac (Srb) | 0:00:47 |
32 | Haley Smith (Can) | 0:00:49 |
33 | Mariske Strauss (RSA) | 0:00:50 |
34 | Tanja Žakelj (Slo) | 0:00:51 |
35 | Irina Kalentyeva (Rus) | 0:00:52 |
36 | Adelheid Morath (Ger) | 0:01:28 |
37 | Samara Sheppard (NZl) | 0:01:56 |
38 | Elisabeth Osl (Aut) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Raiza Goulao Henrique (Bra) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Katrin Leumann (Swi) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) | 0:25:00 |
2 | Samuel Gaze (NZl) | 0:00:03 |
3 | Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Maxime Marotte (Fra) | 0:00:04 |
5 | Lars Forster (Swi) | 0:00:05 |
6 | Florian Vogel (Swi) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Lukas Flueckiger (Swi) | 0:00:06 |
8 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) | 0:00:07 |
9 | Reto Indergand (Swi) | 0:00:08 |
10 | Jordan Sarrou (Fra) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Henrique Avancini (Bra) | 0:00:09 |
12 | Marcel Guerrini (Swi) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Titouan Carod (Fra) | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Stephane Tempier (Fra) | 0:00:10 |
15 | Martins Blums (Lat) | 0:00:11 |
16 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) | 0:00:12 |
17 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) | 0:00:13 |
18 | Martin Loo (Est) | 0:00:14 |
19 | Catriel Soto (Arg) | 0:00:32 |
20 | Jan Škarnitzl (Cze) | 0:00:33 |
21 | Karl Markt (Aut) | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) | 0:00:34 |
23 | Nadir Colledani (Ita) | 0:00:35 |
24 | Anton Cooper (NZl) | 0:00:39 |
25 | Anton Sintsov (Rus) | 0:00:45 |
26 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) | 0:00:49 |
27 | Jaroslav Kulhavý (Cze) | 0:00:50 |
28 | Thomas Litscher (Swi) | 0:00:51 |
29 | Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) | 0:00:52 |
30 | Andri Frischknecht (Swi) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Hugo Drechou (Fra) | 0:00:53 |
32 | Gregor Raggl (Aut) | 0:01:05 |
33 | Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Bra) | 0:01:50 |
34 | Luca Braidot (Ita) | 0:01:55 |
35 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) | 0:02:03 |
36 | Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita) | 0:02:23 |
37 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | David Valero Serrano (Spa) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nino Schurter (Swi) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
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