UCI Mountain Bike World Cup: Flueckiger and Lecomte win in Leogang
Loana Lecomte and Mathias Flueckiger dominated the cross-country races in Leogang this weekend, both doubling up to take wins in Friday’s short track race as well as the XCO race on Sunday
France’s Loana Lecomte once again rode off the front of the race to take a solo win, her third World Cup XCO victory in as many races this season.
“I’m very happy to have this shape this year,” Lecomte said after crossing the finish line.
In the men’s race, Flueckiger joined an elite group of three leaders along with Ondrej Cink and Anton Cooper. Cooper was the first to crack, and then rode into a solitary third-place finish. Flueckiger eventually was able to open a gap to Cink and held on to take the win by 14-seconds.
“I'm really, really happy with this win,” Flueckiger said, noting that it was a mental battle to find his rhythm during the race.
A number of riders were not at the race, including Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel. Pidock is recovering form a broken collarbone, while van der Poel was racing at the Tour de Suisse. In the women’s field, Kate Courtney also stayed home because of a broken arm sustained in a crash at the Nove Mesto World Cup.
How it unfolded: men’s cross-country
On the start loop, New Zealander Anton Cooper took the lead, looking to have good legs. The Trek Factory Racing rider was joined by Ondrej Cink, who set a fast pace on the first couple of laps. Flueckiger joined them to create a dominant group of three leaders.
Cooper was the first to crack, however, but he held on, riding solo through the rest of the race to take third.
Cink and Flueckiger looked to have about the same pace on the climbs, with Flueckiger a bit more skilled on the technical descents. Each rider pushed hard in the closing miles, and it was Flueckiger who finally was able to open a gap on Cink during the final lap.
The Swiss rider crossed the line 11-seconds ahead of the Czech Cink. The second-place finish for Cink is an improvement on two fourth-place finishes in the previous World Cup rounds this season.
“When I had the gap, I was pretty much confident I could go to the finish with this lead,” Flueckiger said.
Winner of the first World Cup in Germany, Victor Koretzy, came in ninth. Jordan Sarrou won the World Championships in Leogang last year, but didn’t have the same legs on Sunday and instead crossed the line in 13th.
Nino Schurter had a tough weekend as well. A slipped pedal at the start of Friday’s short track race quickly put him out of contention. In the XCO, he placed tenth, far off from his ambitions.
The next World Cup in Les Gets, France, and the following Olympic mountain bike race in Tokyo will be a battle between mountain bikers like Flueckiger and multi-discipline stars Pidock and van der Poel, who both have ambitions on the road this year as well.
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How it unfolded: women’s cross-country
Because of Lecomte’s dominance, the hottest battle on Sunday was for second place.
The race opened with Jolanda Neff leading on the start loop, but Lecomte quickly took to the front and opened up a gap on the field. Neff would later crash off-camera and announced after the race that she broke her hand, although she still was able to take fourth place.
Neff was part of the chase group that also included Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Austrian Laura Stigger, but Lecomte extended the gap to over two minutes heading into the final lap.
After sitting in fifth place earlier in the race, Jenny Rissveds was able to claw back time and finish in second, two seconds ahead of Stigger.
Despite a hard-fought battle from the chasers, Lecomte crossed the line with a minute and 48 seconds to spare.
Lecomte is in great form this year heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games next month. The next World Cup test is in her home country of France, but riders like Ferrand-Prevot and America’s Haley Batten will certainly be hoping to break her streak.
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) | 1:15:50 |
2 | Ondřej Cink (Cze) | 0:00:14 |
3 | Anton Cooper (NZl) | 0:00:45 |
4 | Thomas Griot (Fra) | 0:01:26 |
5 | Vlad Dascalu (Rom) | 0:01:27 |
6 | Thomas Litscher (Swi) | 0:01:28 |
7 | Maxime Marotte (Fra) | 0:01:44 |
8 | Simon Andreassen (Den) | 0:01:49 |
9 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) | 0:01:54 |
10 | Nino Schurter (Swi) | 0:01:59 |
11 | Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den) | 0:02:11 |
12 | Nadir Colledani (Ita) | 0:02:24 |
13 | Jordan Sarrou (Fra) | 0:02:38 |
14 | Milan Vader (Ned) | 0:02:47 |
15 | Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita) | 0:03:03 |
16 | Lars Forster (Swi) | 0:03:11 |
17 | David Valero Serrano (Spa) | 0:03:17 |
18 | Daniele Braidot (Ita) | 0:03:24 |
19 | Anton Sintsov (Rus) | 0:03:30 |
20 | Reto Indergand (Swi) | 0:03:44 |
21 | Christopher Blevins (USA) | 0:04:14 |
22 | Antoine Philipp (Fra) | 0:04:18 |
23 | Titouan Carod (Fra) | 0:04:26 |
24 | Alan Hatherly (RSA) | 0:04:33 |
25 | Jens Schuermans (Bel) | 0:04:40 |
26 | Erik Hægstad (Nor) | |
27 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) | 0:04:44 |
28 | Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) | 0:04:45 |
29 | Marcel Guerrini (Swi) | 0:04:46 |
30 | Maximilian Brandl (Ger) | 0:04:48 |
31 | Peter Disera (Can) | |
32 | Andri Frischknecht (Swi) | 0:04:53 |
33 | Vital Albin (Swi) | 0:05:07 |
34 | Karl Markt (Aut) | 0:05:16 |
35 | Luca Schwarzbauer (Ger) | 0:05:25 |
36 | Georg Egger (Ger) | 0:05:48 |
37 | Pierre De Froidmont (Bel) | 0:05:57 |
38 | Maximilian Foidl (Aut) | 0:06:09 |
39 | Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo (Mex) | 0:06:15 |
40 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) | 0:06:28 |
41 | Maxime Loret (Fra) | 0:06:33 |
42 | Joshua Dubau (Fra) | 0:06:37 |
43 | Luca Braidot (Ita) | 0:06:41 |
44 | Krzysztof Lukasik (Pol) | 0:06:43 |
45 | Basile Allard (Fra) | 0:06:44 |
46 | Gregor Raggl (Aut) | |
47 | Jofre Cullell Estape (Spa) | 0:06:49 |
48 | Jan Škarnitzl (Cze) | 0:06:54 |
49 | Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) | 0:06:56 |
50 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) | 0:07:05 |
51 | Sean Fincham (Can) | 0:07:13 |
52 | Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spa) | 0:07:15 |
53 | Martins Blums (Lat) | 0:07:16 |
54 | Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) | 0:07:43 |
55 | Bruno Vitali (Swi) | |
56 | Gioele Bertolini (Ita) | 0:07:48 |
57 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) | 0:07:51 |
58 | Niklas Schehl (Ger) | 0:08:08 |
59 | Mirko Tabacchi (Ita) | 0:08:27 |
60 | Jan Vastl (Cze) | 0:08:30 |
61 | Andrew L'Esperance (Can) | |
62 | Frazer Clacherty (GBr) | 0:08:41 |
63 | Leandre Bouchard (Can) | 0:08:57 |
64 | Nicholas Pettina' (Ita) | 0:09:20 |
65 | Simon Vitzthum (Swi) | 0:09:25 |
66 | Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) | 0:09:27 |
67 | Quinton Disera (Can) | |
68 | Filip Helta (Pol) | 0:09:37 |
69 | Ivan Filatov (Rus) | 0:09:42 |
70 | Matej Ulik (Svk) | 0:09:43 |
71 | Lukáš Kobes (Cze) | |
72 | Emil Lindgren (Swe) | 0:09:55 |
73 | Julian Schelb (Ger) | 0:10:05 |
74 | Moritz Bscherer (Aut) | 0:10:10 |
75 | Sebastian Miranda Maldonado (Chi) | 0:10:29 |
76 | Josef Jelínek (Cze) | 0:10:39 |
77 | Hugo Drechou (Fra) | 0:11:55 |
78 | Andrin Beeli (Swi) | |
79 | Thibault Daniel (Fra) | |
80 | Ursin Spescha (Swi) | |
81 | András Parti (Hun) | |
82 | Sven Strähle (Ger) | |
83 | Luis Neff (Ger) | |
84 | Tyler Orschel (Can) | |
85 | Nick Burki (Swi) | |
86 | Alessio Agostinelli (Ita) | |
87 | Alexandre Vialle (Can) | |
88 | Dario Thoma (Swi) | |
89 | Fabian Giger (Swi) | |
90 | Amando Martinez Galvan (Mex) | |
91 | Tim Feinauer (Ger) | |
92 | Clément Auvin (Fra) | |
93 | Rob Vanden Haesevelde (Bel) | |
94 | Marc Andre Fortier (Can) | |
95 | Patricio Farias Diaz (Chi) | |
96 | Michal Topor (Pol) | |
97 | Armin Embacher (Aut) | |
98 | Raphael Auclair (Can) | |
99 | Pau Romero Barcelo (Spa) | |
100 | Matej Baco (Svk) | |
101 | Zdeněk Vobecký (Cze) | |
102 | Lucas Thilly (Fra) | |
103 | Maël Desrieux (Fra) | |
104 | Anthony Bergeron (Can) | |
105 | Vincent Jonatan Beckmann (Ger) | |
106 | Joris Ryf (Swi) | |
DNF | Jakub Zamrozniak (Pol) | |
DNF | Remy Duquesne (Fra) | |
DNS | Gioele De Cosmo (Ita) |
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Loana Lecomte (Fra) | 1:17:03 |
2 | Jenny Rissveds (Swe) | 0:01:48 |
3 | Laura Stigger (Aut) | 0:01:50 |
4 | Jolanda Neff (Swi) | 0:02:02 |
5 | Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra) | 0:02:30 |
6 | Evie Richards (GBr) | 0:02:42 |
7 | Rebecca Mcconnell (Aus) | 0:03:17 |
8 | Anne Terpstra (Ned) | 0:03:24 |
9 | Rocio Del Alba Garcia Martinez (Spa) | 0:03:32 |
10 | Eva Lechner (Ita) | 0:04:14 |
11 | Sina Frei (Swi) | 0:04:21 |
12 | Linda Indergand (Swi) | 0:04:22 |
13 | Lena Gerault (Fra) | 0:04:38 |
14 | Janika Lõiv (Est) | 0:04:46 |
15 | Daniela Campuzano Chavez Peon (Mex) | 0:05:10 |
16 | Haley Batten (USA) | 0:05:12 |
17 | Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) | 0:05:13 |
18 | Ronja Eibl (Ger) | 0:05:17 |
19 | Yana Belomoina (Ukr) | 0:05:25 |
20 | Anne Tauber (Ned) | 0:05:42 |
21 | Alessandra Keller (Swi) | 0:06:04 |
22 | Nicole Koller (Swi) | 0:06:53 |
23 | Malene Degn (Den) | 0:07:29 |
24 | Jitka Čábelická (Cze) | 0:07:32 |
25 | Lotte Koopmans (Ned) | 0:07:37 |
26 | Catharine Pendrel (Can) | 0:07:41 |
27 | Sandra Walter (Can) | |
28 | Barbara Benkó (Hun) | 0:08:01 |
29 | Steffi Häberlin (Swi) | 0:08:15 |
30 | Katarzyna Solus-miskowicz (Pol) | 0:08:20 |
31 | Hélène Clauzel (Fra) | 0:08:44 |
32 | Emily Batty (Can) | 0:08:59 |
33 | Lucie Urruty (Fra) | 0:09:05 |
34 | Sophie Von Berswordt (Ned) | 0:09:11 |
35 | Jennifer Jackson (Can) | 0:09:38 |
36 | Karla Štěpánová (Cze) | 0:09:57 |
37 | Haley Smith (Can) | 0:10:07 |
38 | Kelsey Urban (USA) | 0:10:14 |
39 | Martina Berta (Ita) | 0:10:15 |
40 | Tanja Žakelj (Slo) | 0:10:46 |
41 | Greta Seiwald (Ita) | 0:10:58 |
42 | Elisabeth Osl (Aut) | 0:11:24 |
43 | Kim Ames (Ger) | 0:11:48 |
44 | Nina Benz (Ger) | 0:14:41 |
45 | Candice Lill (RSA) | |
46 | Giorgia Marchet (Ita) | |
47 | Paula Gorycka (Pol) | |
48 | Tereza Tvarůžková (Cze) | |
49 | Theresia Schwenk (Ger) | |
50 | Chrystelle Baumann (Swi) | |
51 | Cherie Redecker (RSA) | |
52 | Janina Wüst (Swi) | |
53 | Anna Spielmann (Aut) | |
54 | Charline Fragnière (Swi) | |
55 | Seraina Leugger (Swi) | |
56 | Amelie Laquebe (Fra) | |
57 | Gabriela Wojtyla (Pol) | |
58 | Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) | |
59 | Cindy Montambault (Can) | |
60 | Katharina Kurz (Ger) | |
DNF | Chiara Teocchi (Ita) | |
DNF | Andrea Waldis (Swi) | |
DNF | Ramona Forchini (Swi) | |
DNF | Michelle Vorster (Nam) | |
DNF | Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Ned) | |
DNF | Githa Michiels (Bel) | |
DNF | Mariske Strauss (RSA) | |
DNS | Laurie Arseneault (Can) | |
DNS | Fabienne Schaus (Lux) |
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