Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, is renowned for being one of the most technical courses in the UCI World Cup Cross-country Olympic (XCO). And the cold, wet conditions made every root and rock in the wooded sections extremely slippery.
LECOMTE OUTPUT STIGGER IN FIGHTED BATTLE
Loana Lecomte has had a solid second half of the season and the Frenchwoman was on the verge of back-to-back UCI XCO World Cup victories last weekend after her victory in Crans-Montana, Valais, Switzerland.
Coming into Mont-Sainte-Anne, the 25-year-old was one of the favourites, having won there in 2023. She was positioned in the lead group alongside Rebecca Henderson (Primaflor Mondraker Racing Team), Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing – Pirelli) and Candice Lill on the opening lap, but used her climbing skills to build an eight-second lead by the end of the opening lap.
Lecomte and Stigger were inseparable at the start of the final lap: the French national champion attacked on one of the long climbs of the course and Stigger did not respond. Lecomte thus took her second victory of the season with Stigger second, nine seconds behind, and Frei third.
FEMALE ELITE RANKING
| 1. |  | LECOMTE Loana (CANYON CLLCTV XCO) | 1:19:01 |
| 2. |  | STIGGER Laura (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 1:19:10 +9 |
| 3. |  | FREI Sina (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 1:20:20 + 1: 19 |
| 4. |  | LILL Candice | 1:21:01 + 2: 00 |
| 5. | | KELLER Alexandra (THOMUS MAXON) | 1:21:05 + 2: 04 |
| 6. |  | RICHARDS Evie (TREK FACTORY RACING – PIRELLI) | 1:21:22 + 2: 21 |
| 7. |  | Risveds Jenny (TEAM 31 IBIS CYCLES CONTINENTAL) | 1:21:38 + 2: 37 |
| 8. | | HABERLIN Steffi (TEAM BMC) | 1:21:48 + 2: 47 |
| 9. | | WIEDMANN Tamara | 1:21:48 + 2: 47 |
| 10 |  | BLUNK Savilia (DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM) | 1:22:03 + 3: 02 |
| 11 |  | HENDERSON Rebecca (PRIMAFLOR MONDRAKER RACING TEAM) | 1:22:15 + 3: 14 |
| 12 |  | BERTHA Martina (SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM) | 1:22:21 + 3: 20 |
| 13 | | SPECIA Jade (WILIER-VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM XCO) | 1:22:32 + 3: 31 |
| 14 | | FORKS Ramona (JB BRUNEX SUPERIOR FACTORY RACING) | 1:23:00 + 3: 59 |
| 15 |  | EIBL Ronja | 1:23:23 + 4: 22 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
HATHERLY WINS FINAL ROUND AND OVERALL RANKING
Alan Hatherly was in a strong position heading into the final round of the season, but the overall standings were not a given: Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) could have swooped in and overtaken the South African if he had won and Hatherly had finished further back in the pack.
As soon as the race began, however, it was clear that the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series was only going to end one way. Hatherly got off to a flying start, riding solo to build a 20-second lead on the opening lap. The UCI XCO World Champion continued to increase the gap between himself and the chasing pack, led by Koretzky and Mathis Azzaro (Decathlon Ford Racing Team).
The pair attempted to keep the South African at a comfortable distance, keeping the rainbow jersey lead at 30 seconds as the halfway point approached.
On lap six, Azzaro managed to get back on Hatherly, but within minutes Hatherly had retaken his lead to 14 seconds as he crossed the start-finish lap for the penultimate time. The Frenchman had nothing left in the tank and Hatherly was able to complete the final lap without a hitch.
With first and second place having been decided, there was a battle for third place between Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing), Koretzky and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) with Avondetto finishing in a magnificent 5th place.
MEN'S ELITE RANKING
| 1. | | HATHERLY Alan (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) | 1:26:56 |
| 2. | | AZZARO Mathis (DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM) | 1:27:26 +30 |
| 3. | | KORETZKY Victor (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 1:27:44 +48 |
| 4. | | ALDRIDGE Charlie (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) | 1:27:46 +50 |
| 5. | | AVONDETTO Simone (WILIER-VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM XCO) | 1:27:57 + 1: 01 |
| 6. | | SARROU Jordan (TEAM BMC) | 1:28:10 + 1: 14 |
| 7. | | COLUMBUS Philip (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 1:28:27 + 1: 31 |
| 8. | | SCHURTER Nino (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 1:29:19 + 2: 23 |
| 9. |  | ANDREASSEN Simon (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) | 1:29:20 + 2: 24 |
| 10 | | GUERRINI Marcel (BIXS PERFORMANCE RACE TEAM) | 1:29:47 + 2: 51 |
| 11 | | FOUNTAIN Filippo (CS CARABINIERI – OLYMPIA CYCLES) | 1:29:55 + 2: 59 |
| 12 | | FOIDL Maximilian (KTM FACTORY MTB TEAM) | 1:29:59 + 3: 03 |
| 13 | | DUBAU Joshua (DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM) | 1:30:13 + 3: 17 |
| 14 | | BRANDL Maximilian (LEXWARE MOUNTAINBIKE TEAM) | 1:30:18 + 3: 22 |
| 15 | | LIST David (LEXWARE MOUNTAINBIKE TEAM) | 1:30:23 + 3: 27 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
BÖHM AND LILLO MAKE THE DOUBLE
The Elite XCO races were interspersed with the UCI XCO U23 World Cups, which saw top performances from Kira Böhm (Cube Factory Racing) and Dario Lillo (Giant Factory Off-Road Team), both of whom took XCC-XCO doubles at Mont-Sainte-Anne.
MEN'S U23 RANKING
| 1. | | LILLO Dario (GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM – XC) | 1:08:13 |
| 2. | | MARTIN Luke (ORBEA FACTORY TEAM) | 1:08:26 +13 |
| 3. | | MUSY Yannis | 1:08:39 +26 |
| 4. | | WIEDMANN Luke (THOMUS MAXON) | 1:09:00 +47 |
| 5. | | MOIR Luke (CUBE FACTORY RACING) | 1:09:10 +57 |
| 6. | | PEDERSEN Heby Gustav (WILIER-VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM XCO) | 1:09:46 + 1: 33 |
| 7. | | KRAYER Lennart-Jan | 1:10:04 + 1: 51 |
| 8. | | LILLELUND Tobias (TREK FUTURE RACING) | 1:10:09 + 1: 56 |
| 9. |  | FRANCOIS BAUDRY Thibaut (CANYON CLLCTV XCO) | 1:10:29 + 2: 16 |
| 10 | | GROSLAMBERT Martin (JB BRUNEX SUPERIOR FACTORY RACING) | 1:10:42 + 2: 29 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
RANKING U23 WOMEN
| 1. | | BÖHM Kira (CUBE FACTORY RACING) | 1:10:11 |
| 2. | | HONEST Olivia (TRINX FACTORY TEAM) | 1:10:42 +31 |
| 3. | | SCHIBLER Fiona (BIKE TEAM SOLOTHURN) | 1:10:54 +43 |
| 4. | | DAUBERMANN Louise | 1:11:04 +53 |
| 5. |  | MACPHEE She (PIVOT CYCLES - OTE) | 1:11:16 + 1: 05 |
| 6. | | MUNRO Madigan (TREK FACTORY RACING – PIRELLI) | 1:11:34 + 1: 23 |
| 7. | | HEATS Ginia (WILIER-VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM XCO) | 1:11:49 + 1: 38 |
| 8. | | JOHNSTON Emily (TREK FUTURE RACING) | 1:12:28 + 2: 17 |
| 9. | | CROWS Valentina (SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM) | 1:12:44 + 2: 33 |
| 10 | | VAN THIEL Sin (LEXWARE MOUNTAINBIKE TEAM) | 1:12:44 + 2: 33 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
