#2 World Cup XCO: The fantastic return of Simon Andreassen!

Also noteworthy is Juri Zanotti in 11th position. Two elite adrenaline-pumping events from the Olympic World Cup XCO completed the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series doubleheader in style in Brazil this Sunday, with Americans Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) and Simon Andreassen (Cannondale Factory Racing) winning in Araxá, in the western state of Minas Geras in Brazil.

Source: press release

SEE THE HIGHLIGHTS

The first UCI tour Cross-country Olympic World Cup (XCO) The men's elite was carnage with last week's winner, the American Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing), the victim of a fall that took him above 90th position. At the start of the race, many lively New Zealanders Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck), German Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) and the Swiss 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 since his first victory XCO. However, the fast race did not allow much selection despite the silly 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, the Czech Republic will host the next World Cup in XCO UCI on the weekend of May 24-26. With over a month of training and a selection of other riders returning to competition in Europe, the UCI World Cup races could look very different, edging ever closer to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.