Snowshoe XCO World Cup preview: Riders primed for final race of the season

Big crowds at the Snowshoe World Cup in 2019
(Image credit: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool)

It's been a long season for the top cross-country racers. From the World Cups, to qualifying for and racing the Olympic Games and battling it out at the World Championships, they are certainly deserving of some rest. 

There's just one race left on the World Cup calendar, and that's this weekend in West Virginia. After spending most of the season in Europe, the athletes have traveled to the East Coast of the United States to race at the mountain resort of Snowshoe, where the race circuit also visited in 2019. 

We've heard that there have been some improvements made to the course to make it even more worthy of challenging the best racers in the world. Here are our picks for riders to watch in Friday's short track and Sunday's XCO. 

Jenny Rissveds races in Snowshoe in 2019

Jenny Rissveds has been consistent all season so we are expecting another great performance at Snowshoe  (Image credit: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool)

Women

Evie Richards 

Evie Richards has truly found her form this season. After winning the World Championships, she took another big victory at the Lenzerheide World Cup. Could she cap off the season with a third win? 

Loana Lecomte

After the last race, Loana Lecomte officially secured the World Cup series overall title. Since that's all wrapped up, perhaps the pressure will subside and she can pull out another great result in Snowshoe. 

Jenny Rissveds 

Another success story this season is Jenny Rissveds. The Swedish racer is sitting in second place overall and has been consistent all season. It will be exciting to see what the 2016 Olympic Champion can do. 

Rebecca McConnell 

Another rider to watch in the overall contest is Rebecca McConnell. With Pauline Ferrand-Prévot ending her season early, McConnell could easily slot into third place in the overall. After a second-place finish last round, she could also land on the podium in Snowshoe. 

Haley Batten 

It's Snowshoe so we have to mention an American, and the best American in the women's elite field has been Haley Batten. She is currently within the top-10 overall and will be one to watch as she races on home soil.

Koretzky racing Albstadt XCO World Cup

Koretzky started the season well and will want to finish the same way (Image credit: Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto)

Men

Christopher Blevins

Keeping with the American theme, Short Track World Champion Christopher Blevins will also be taking the start. Hopefully, he will have good legs after a week of racing on the road bike at the Tour of Britain. 

Victor Koretzky 

Koretzky opened up the World Cup season with a win in Germany, and he finally got another win in Switzerland. The Frenchman is sitting in third in the overall contest as well. 

Mathias Flückiger

Although the world's attention has turned to Nino Schurter after he won the rainbow stripes, another Swiss racer is leading the World Cup overall points tally. After a close race in Lenzerheide, the pressure will be one this time around. 

Alan Hatherly

Alan Hatherly had a fantastic race in Switzerland coming in fourth. The South African seems to be having a late-season surge in fitness, so he's worth keeping an eye on. 

Ondrej Cink 

Cink is sitting in second overall but is closely trailed by Koretzky. If all goes well, Cink could be looking to round the season off with a career-best overall result. 

Ryan Simonovich

Ryan Simonovich has been riding and racing for nearly a decade. He got his start as a cross-country mountain bike racer in California, where he cultivated his love for riding all types of bikes. Ryan eventually gravitated toward enduro and downhill racing but has also been found in the occasional road and cyclo-cross events. Today, he regularly rides the trails of Durango, Colorado, and is aiming to make a career out of chronicling the sport of cycling. 

Rides: Santa Cruz Hightower, Specialized Tarmac SL4

Read more
A rider wearing the best mountain bike goggles
Best mountain bike goggles 2025 – top-rated models that provide clarity and protection on the trails
100% Celium – one of the best MTB gloves
Best mountain bike gloves – top-rated full-finger gloves for every trail and situation
The best MTB grips are the ODI Reflex seen here fitted to a mountain bike handlebar
Best MTB grips 2025 – our testers' picks of the models that will improve your mountain bike's comfort and handling
Latest in Mountain Bike
Calibre Bossnut 2025 seen side on
Don't buy a budget hardtail! The full-sus Calibre Bossnut is the best-value MTB right now with a massive £500 price cut in this Black Friday MTB deal
Continental Race King XC tire side view
Continental’s Olympic and World Championship XC winning Race King Protection is the fastest rolling MTB tire I’ve ever ridden, but it’s not for the nervous
Schwalbe Rocket Ron
Schwalbe Rocket Ron XC tire review – our favorite all-condition race tire
Pinarello Dogma XC bike
Golden beginnings – How Pinarello’s Dogma XC HT rose to the top of cross-country mountain biking
GT Sensor ST Carbon Pro
Is GT's Sensor ST Carbon Pro full-suspension MTB cheap at half the price?
Calibre Bossnut 2025 seen side on
The all-new Calibre Bossnut is a fantastic comeback and only a shock tweak away from being a totally awesome budget full-sus MTB
Latest in Latest news
Calibre Bossnut 2025 seen side on
Don't buy a budget hardtail! The full-sus Calibre Bossnut is the best-value MTB right now with a massive £500 price cut in this Black Friday MTB deal
Ritchie Rude riding Fox Live Valve Neo listing
Fox launches Live Valve Neo, a wireless electronic suspension system that can be fitted to any full-suspension bike
e*thirteen's new Sidekick hub being ridden on a trail
e*thirteen launches Sidekick hub which eliminates pedal kickback using a new pawl system
Specialized Stumpjumper 15 Alloy
Specialized grants rider's wishes with the release of an alloy Stumpjumper 15 featuring its Genie shock tech and good old mechanical shifter routing
Steve Peat riding the Santa Cruz Hightower 4
Santa Cruz pitches its new Hightower 4 as the mythical MTB that can truly ride everything
Canyon Spectral:ONfly in a forest
The new Spectral:ONfly is Canyon's lightest e-MTB ever