Too early attack

Les Gets is known for being one of the toughest short-track circuits in the world, with a particularly fast start/finish. The dry conditions the riders faced on Friday only made them faster.

In the race, it was Chiara Teocchi (Orbea Factory Team) who soon took the lead. Jenny Rissveds (Team 31 Ibis Cycles Continental) held on to second place while Pieterse took the lead after one lap. At the start of the second lap, the Dutchwoman pulled away from Teocchi and Rissveds before Martina Berta (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) attacked in the middle of the race. Premature? Perhaps. In any case, she gave the place back to Pieterse at the end of the second lap. Pieterse didn't hold back and pulled away from the field on the climb. Her first serious burst of speed did all sorts of damage.

At the halfway point, Pieterse still looked strong, but her job was far from done. Had she gone too soon? Had Alessandra Keller let her down? By lap 7, Pieterse was leading by eleven seconds. Evie Richards turned on the turbo, positioned herself low over the handlebars and pedaled hard in pursuit of Pieterse. Keller was happy that the Brit was able to do the lion's share of the work, as Rebecca Henderson was another bike length behind.

With two kilometers to go, it was still three riders against one until Keller pushed past Richards as she began to weaken. On the descent, Keller was only just behind Pieterse, with just three seconds separating them. Keller had the opportunity to pass on the climb, but opted to stay on Pieterse's wheel. With one lap to go, Pieterse rode her own rhythm, while Keller took the lead for the first time and extended it from then on. She was soon out of Pieterse's reach and took the win with the fastest lap time.

Although Pieterse was exhausted by the early attack and the long solo break, Henderson was unable to dislodge the Dutchwoman from second place and finished third.

"Puck rode away because she likes to make the race fast, while I thought I could save some energy," Keller explained. "My team boss told me to focus on second place. Coming into the penultimate lap, I thought it was going to be close. I tried to let the others work and so we caught Puck again and then I launched my attack."

Results

Hold back first, then strike

In the men's race, Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) and Martín Vidaurre (Specialized Factory Racing) got off to the best start of all. Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) looked strong, but it was Schwarzbauer who took the lead on the uphill switchbacks and eventually led them all around the course at a tremendous pace. Green patches on his jersey indicated that Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck) had gone down on the grass. The UCI world champion found himself in last place.

The race began to drag on until the halfway point, but the gaps between the groups evened out again on the fourth lap. On lap 5, Schwarzbauer led ahead of Litscher, Hatherly, Aldridge and Vidaurre. Neither Filippo Colombo (Scott-Sram MTB Racing Team) nor Chris Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) were able to pull away decisively. Gaze had fought his way back into the top 20. He continued his chase and was in 14th place with a good three laps to go.

Alan Hatherly took command when Blevins and Vidaurre began to weaken. The South African attacked Schwarzbauer on the climb, but the latter still knew how to respond. Charlie Aldridge was the only rider from the leading group to keep his nose to the wind. On lap 9, he sat on Schwarzbauer's shoulder, but preferred to ride into second position on the penultimate climb. Gaze was already in sixth position. 

Aldridge launched his attack at the start of the final lap and his teammate Hatherly was able to go with him. The two fought a short duel before Hatherly broke away before the short descent. The latter extended his lead and crossed the finish line with a four-second advantage. Sam Gaze snatched third place from Schwarzbauer, who had perhaps put in a little too much work. Thomas Litscher completed the podium in fifth place. 

"This win has been a long time coming and I'm over the moon that it paid off today," said Hatherly, whose last short track win was in Brazil in 2022. "I had the confidence to go all out before the last lap to take the edge off the guys. I had something left in the tank to put the final push on."

Results