Also of note was Juri Zanotti in 11th place. Two adrenaline-fueled elite events from the Olympic XCO World Cup completed the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series doubleheader in Brazil this Sunday, with Americans Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) and Simon Andreassen (Cannondale Factory Racing) taking victories in Araxá, in the western state of Minas Geras in Brazil.
Source: press release
SEE THE HIGHLIGHTS
The first UCI tour Cross-country The Men's Elite Olympic World Cup (XCO) was a bloodbath, with last week's winner, American Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing), suffering a crash that dropped him to beyond 90th place. The early going featured plenty of pace from New Zealander Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Germany's Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) and Switzerland's Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon).
There was an exchange of positions on the second lap, with the Frenchman Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) taking control of the race and later the Swiss Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team), exactly 14 years after his first XCO victory. However, the fast race did not allow for much selection despite the foolish pace.
The race was decided with 2 laps to go with the attack of Victor Koretzky, who however was then the victim of a chain jump during the last lap which led Colombo, Andreassen, Sarrou and Hatherly to return. At that point, Andreassen launched a decisive attack but was unable to distance Colombo and Koretzky, who promptly managed to rejoin the group. In the end it flew by, with Andreassen winning ahead of Koretzky and his teammate Hatherly.
Blevins recorded an incredible comeback, rising from last place to 23rd place.
ITALIANS IN THE RACE
Beautiful race by Simone Avondetto (Wilier Vittoria), always in the leading group fighting for the victory. Too bad for some mechanical problems that caused him to lose around 40 seconds. Despite this, he returned to finish in 10th position! 11th place for Juri Zanotti (Team BMC), another exceptional performance. Withdrawal for Luca Braidot struggling with breathing problems.
MEN'S ELITE RANKING XCO ARAXA
| 1. |  | ANDREASSEN Simon (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) | 1:20:00 |
| 2. |  | KORETZKY Victor (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 1:20:01 +1 |
| 3. |  | HATHERLY Alan (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) | 1:20:01 +1 |
| 4. |  | COLUMBUS Philip (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 1:20:01 +1 |
| 5. | | SARROU Jordan (TEAM BMC) | 1:20:10 +10 |
| 6. | | SCHURTER Nino (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 1:20:23 +23 |
| 7. |  | VIDAURRE KOSSMANN Martin (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 1:20:23 +23 |
| 8. |  | GAZE Samuel (ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK) | 1:20:35 +35 |
| 9. |  | DASCALU Vlad (TREK FACTORY RACING – PIRELLI) | 1:20:39 +39 |
| 10. |  | AVONDETTO Simone (WILIER-VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM XCO) | 1:20:46 +46 |
| 11. | | ZANOTTI Yuri (TEAM BMC) | 1:20:59 +59 |
| 12. |  | FOIDL Maximilian (KTM FACTORY MTB TEAM) | 1:21:02 + 1: 02 |
| 13. |  | ALDRIDGE Charlie (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) | 1:21:25 + 1: 25 |
| 14. |  | LIST David | 1:21:29 + 1: 29 |
| 15. |  | WOODS Carter (GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM – XC) | 1:21:33 + 1: 33 |
THE WORLD CUP RETURNS TO EUROPE
After two opening rounds in Brazil, the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series returns to Europe, with the next destination being Fort William in Scotland, United Kingdom, where the Mountain Bike World Cup also kicks off. downhill of UCI mountain bikes, revisiting the venue where the DH world championships were held last year.
Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic will host the next UCI XCO World Cup on the weekend of May 24-26. With over a month of training and a selection of more riders returning to competition in Europe, the UCI World Cup racing could look very different as we inch ever closer to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
