In a vibrant Elite Women's race, Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) enjoyed a slightly easier afternoon as she distanced the favourites with a ferocious final-lap attack to win her second consecutive XCC round.
Source: press release
PIDCOCK OVERRIDES THE 23 SECOND MARGIN FOR A CLEAR VICTORY
In his final weekend of mountain biking before heading south to the Grand Departure of the Tour de France, then defending his Olympic title in Paris, Pidcock proved he will be a force to be reckoned with on all fronts with a comeback unlikely credible from worst to first.
The INEOS Grenadiers slipped a pedal after starting from the second row and sank into the field like a stone, then collided with a rival as he attempted to recover on the descent.
Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) eventually led the peloton to the finish line to begin the second of six laps after an unforgiving first circuit that saw a four-person group sprint on the opening climb in the battle to lead on the technical descent.
Gaze was the holeshot but quickly lost contact with the leaders with eventual fourth-place finisher Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) later admitting they had “shot themselves in the foot” by going too fast from the start.
With a full 23 second lead over Pidcock after the first lap, Schurter briefly broke away with Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) but the pair were unable to make the move as a washing machine effect at the front also saw Blevins and Thomas Litscher ( Lapierre Mavic Unity) start up to no avail.
However, a break on the third and fourth laps allowed the Olympic champion to recover and take a rested group with him when he finally made contact, quickly climbing onto the podium alongside Schwarzbauer and Schurter.
Finally making its first attack at the front at the start of the penultimate lap, only the Scott-SRAM pairing of Schurter and Filippo Colombo managed to match Pidcock's pace initially before Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) joined the group and make it British. -two to start the final circuit.
The national champion was a spent force though and the most patient man on the course finally got his reward with Julian Schelb (Stop&Go Marderabwehr MTB Team) overtaking Aldridge, Schwarzbauer and the tired Swiss riders to put in a second pace he hadn't never had. never give up.
Fastest across the finish line on the final run, the German was even visibly getting closer to victory, but left it too late to make a difference while Pidcock was able to position himself ahead of the line and celebrate what seemed the most unlikely of victories in the first minute of the race – less than a week later he was sixth in the general classification of the Tour de Suisse.
“I didn't make it easy, that's for sure,” Pidcock said afterward. “I got unhooked at first, then I was behind, and I was actually falling on that first climb, they were going so fast.
“Coming from a week-long stage race it's something a little different, but I was just riding flat out, just to pull away from the riders every time uphill and it was just my tactic, riding full throttle.
“Going into the downhill if you have riders in front of you, you can only lose time, so I was trying to time it well so I could make up time on the downhills.”
“I got there and I was in pain and I looked around and no one was making faces, so I thought 'Oh God, these guys have had it easy' but I kept going and obviously they were in pain.”
Looking at the start with heavy knee straps and his dismal return means Koretzky remains three-digits behind at the top of the UCI Cross-Country World Cup standings. Schwarzbauer was one of the main protagonists in the first part of the race, but faded at the end, allowing Blevins to leap to third place in an exciting battle for the final place on the overall podium: only 142 points separate the American from the ninth-placed Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC).
MEN'S ELITE RANKING
| 1. |  | PIDCOCK Thomas (INEOS GRENADIERS) | 19:31 |
| 2. |  | SCHELB Julian (STOP&GO MARDERABWEHR MTB TEAM) | 19:33 +2 |
| 3. |  | BRAIDOT Luke (SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM) | 19:37 +6 |
| 4. |  | BLEVINS Christopher (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 19:40 +9 |
| 5. | | BRANDL Maximilian (LEXWARE MOUNTAINBIKE TEAM) | 19:41 +10 |
| 6. |  | SCHURTER Nino (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 19:43 +12 |
| 7. | | COLUMBUS Philip (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 19:44 +13 |
| 8. | | GUERRINI Marcel (BIXS PERFORMANCE RACE TEAM) | 19:45 +14 |
| 9. |  | DE FROIDMONT Pierre (ORBEA FACTORY TEAM) | 19:46 +15 |
| 10. | | ALDRIDGE Charlie (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) | 19:47 +16 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
FEMALE RANKING
| 1. |  | * PIETERSE Puck (ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK) | 19:03 |
| 2. | | KELLER Alexandra (THOMUS MAXON) | 19:07 +4 |
| 3. | | TAUBER Anne (ORBEA FACTORY TEAM) | 19:07 +4 |
| 4. |  | LECOMTE Loana (CANYON CLLCTV XCO) | 19:11 +8 |
| 5. | | GIBSON Gwendalyn (TREK FACTORY RACING – PIRELLI) | 19:36 +33 |
| 6. |  | STIGGER Laura (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 19:48 +45 |
| 7. |  | HENDERSON Rebecca (PRIMAFLOR MONDRAKER RACING TEAM) | 19:54 +51 |
| 8. | | COURTNEY Kate (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 19:54 +51 |
| 9. |  | LILL Candice | 19:56 +53 |
| 10. | | WIEDMANN Tamara | 20:01 +58 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
