It is Henrique Avancini and Mathieu van der Poel who dictate the race at the start. But soon there is a big break and the maps are reshuffled. But it becomes clear which riders will take the win. In addition to Schurter, Flückiger and Cink, Thomas Pidcock with start number 100 is suddenly in the mix at the front. The Briton is mainly at home in cyclocross and on the road, but as U23 world champion in cross country, he is one of the great all-rounders of our time.

Mathias Flückiger kept pushing on the gas, reducing the leading group to three riders with Schurter and Koretzky, the chasers never far away. But suddenly Flückiger struggles, he can no longer keep up. The reason, however, is not to be found in his strength. His dropper post no longer rides out, leaving only the tiring pedaling in the saddle.

Meanwhile, the Swiss-French finale begins. Schurter attacks and is able to keep Koretzky at a distance. And while it looks good that he will equal Julien Absalon's World Cup record, the Frenchman crawls back up, rides past Schurter just before the home straight and then sprints determinedly to his first World Cup victory.
"I didn't get off to the best start. After a few laps, I got going better and tried to save energy in the leading group. It's amazing that I was able to win - I can hardly believe it," said a delighted Koretzky.

However, Schurter's joy about second place is limited: "It's hard to take losing the victory in the last few meters. I'm not satisfied with my second place, it was just a little bit lacking. But now I'm looking forward to Nove Mesto. It's one of my favorite races, where I've already been able to celebrate a few victories."

Behind Schurter and Koretzky, Flückiger battles Ondrej Cink for third place, with success. He was able to keep the Czech at bay on the downhill and crossed the finish line two seconds ahead of him.
"I felt strong and had a good tactic to tackle the long climb first. I was probably the strongest uphill today. Unfortunately, my dropper seat post went on strike at the end, which made it impossible for me to continue challenging for the win. At least it was enough for third place and I'm very happy with that," said Flückiger, drawing a positive conclusion.

Behind Cink, Thomas Pidcock rode to fifth place. This is his first Elite World Cup and it is all the more remarkable that he fought his way up from 100th on the grid. Thomas Litscher rides a consistent race and finishes in a good twelfth place as the third Swiss athlete.

Full results men

Lecomte climbs away from everyone

In the women's race, the preliminary decision is already made in the starting lap: France's Loana Lecomte surprisingly won the delayed 2020 World Cup opener in Nove Mesto, and now in Albstadt she is once again on the road to victory. The U23 World Champion already pulled away on the start lap and gradually began to extend her lead. She was around a minute ahead of world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot until the last lap, when she eased off a little, but this did not change her ranking. The young Frenchwoman wins her second World Cup race in Albstadt.

While Ferrand-Prevot also rides a lonely race, more changes happen behind the world champion. Kate Courtney was initially on course for the podium, then it was Rebecca McConnell. However, the Australian was also unable to maintain her pace and was caught again by Courtney, who had Haley Batten (USA) in tow. It is also Batten who has more power in the end, distancing her compatriot in the penultimate round and finishing third. Kate Courtney and Yana Belomoina finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The Swiss women cannot compete for the podium places. Nevertheless, Linda Indergand is the closest, and after her success in the short track on Friday, she showed a strong race on a track that doesn't entirely suit her. She was the best Swiss racer in seventh place - her best World Cup result for a long time.

Sina Frei was still in the top five at the start, fell back a little, but was able to finish tenth ahead of Eva Lechner. Jolanda Neff, also once in the top 5, also loses ground and finishes 13th

Full results women

U23: Roth fourth - Mitterwallner unbeatable

In the U23 women's race, junior world champion Mona Mitterwallner breaks away after the start lap and consequently rides the best time on every lap. In the end, the Austrian won by 2:39 minutes ahead of Denmark's Caroline Bohe. Jacqueline Schneebeli was the best Swiss rider in ninth place.

Full results U23 women

In the U23 men's race, Canada's Carter Woods wins by just six seconds ahead of Germany's David List. Swiss rider Joel Roth rode a strong race and was in the leading group until the last lap. In the end, however, the man from Aargau lost out slightly and missed out on the podium by just a few seconds. With Alexandre Balmer, Luca Schätti, Luke Wiedmann and Fabio Spena, four other Swiss riders did well, finishing sixth to ninth.

Full results U23 men