After two podium finishes in recent years, Thomas Pidcock is finally celebrating victory at his home race in Pal Arinsal - Andorra. The Olympic champion, who lives in Andorra, is competing in the UCI XCO World Cup for the first time this year and is making the most of his opportunity. After two third places in the last few years, he manages the hoped-for victory in front of his home crowd at the third attempt.

Victor Koretzky, who arrived in third place overall, wants to redeem himself after a disappointing 27th place in Val di Sole and a broken chain in the short track. But it is Pidcock who dominates the race. Despite starting from the fourth row, the Brit worked his way through the dense field. French champion Luca Martin, full of confidence after his victory in the short track on Friday, opens the race at a high pace and takes the lead. Pidcock uses the wide track profile and the challenging climbs to quickly make up ground. After the first lap, he is already in 14th place. On the second lap, he catches up with a leading group of six, including Nino Schurter.

Martin continues to push the pace, together with compatriot Mathis Azzaro. The duo opened up a gap of nine seconds. But Pidcock recognizes the danger, closes the gap and gets into position. His compatriot Charlie Aldridge is also in the fight for the podium. After 30 minutes, Martin and Pidcock are 27 seconds ahead of Azzaro and Aldridge. Pidcock chooses a short climb to launch an explosive attack. On the sixth of eight laps, he is 12 seconds ahead of Martin when the latter suffers a tire failure in the technical root section. Martin had to change his bike and then had mechanical problems again. When he rejoins the race, he is over a minute behind Pidcock. From then on, the Briton controlled the race with aplomb.

The battle for third place remained exciting, with Azzaro and Aldridge close together. At the bell for the final lap, Pidcock leads Martin by 47 seconds. Aldridge has pulled away ten seconds ahead of Azzaro. Pidcock enjoys the last lap, shows a few tricks for the crowd and wins by 21 seconds. Aldridge completes the British double podium, 52 seconds behind his compatriot. Christopher Blevins, who has won two of the first three World Cup races, travels to Andorra as the overall leader. But after 17th place in Saalfelden Leogang, he had another bad day and finished 29th, more than four minutes behind Pidcock. Nevertheless, he leads the overall standings by 313 points. Nino Schurter rides to seventh place as the best Swiss rider. With Fabio Püntener in 11th, Mathias Flückiger 13th and Lillo Dario 14th, three more Swiss riders finished in the top 15, thus fulfilling the selection criteria for the World Championships in Crans Montana.

Pidcock was satisfied after the race: "It's a great feeling to finally win here after all these years. It's really not an easy place to race. I was nervous about the start, but it went okay. I rode a little too hard about halfway through the race. It's hard for everyone at this altitude, you can't just get the oxygen here." When asked whether he will ride any more World Cup races this season, he replied: "I don't think I will this year. But I definitely want to ride some races again next year."

Rankings Elite Men

Maxwell defies puncture and crashes to take the win

Despite two crashes and a puncture, Samara Maxwell does not let them take her victory. The New Zealander fought her way back to the top and pulled away decisively on the final climb. Maxwell travels to Andorra with a lead of 335 points, having finished on the podium in all previous World Cup races.

The challenging start climb initially played into the hands of Brit Isla Short, who briefly pulled away. But on the singletrail, the field falls apart and the Swiss rider Ronja Blöchlinger takes the lead until she crashes on a sideways inclined climb and also hinders Maxwell. There are more crashes early on in the technical Rock Garden. Evie Richards and Loana Lecomte both go down, Lecomte even has to abandon the race.

On lap two, Maxwell and Blöchlinger pull away from world champion Puck Pieterse by ten seconds. But then Maxwell is hit by bad luck: a puncture forces her to change tires and costs her 47 seconds. Pieterse senses her chance and increases the pace. While Maxwell fights her way back, the Dutchwoman crashes in the Rock Garden and then has technical problems. Martina Berta and Jenny Rissveds catch up, and a little later Alessandra Keller also catches up with the leaders. Maxwell works her way back and forms the leading group with Keller, Rissveds and Berta.

But then Maxwell crashes again on a technical climb and has to walk for a bit, Rissveds pulls away slightly. But the New Zealander shows fighting spirit, catches up with the breakaway and heralds the final lap with the leading trio. Maxwell sets the pace on the long final climb, Rissveds tries to keep up, but pays for it later. Maxwell extends her lead and rides to victory. Keller shows morale and overtakes Rissveds shortly before the finish to take second place. Nicole Koller in fifth, Ronja Blöchlinger in eighth and Jolanda Neff in ninth ensured a good Swiss team performance and further top 10 places.

"I honestly can't believe that I won today," said Maxwell after the race. "My motto today was: just because you have a thought doesn't make it true. I had a flat tire and two crashes in what felt like five seconds. I thought: This is going to be one of those days where everything goes wrong. But then I said to myself: that's just a thought and not a fact. I am a fighter. I just caught up one by one."

Rankings Elite Women

Corvi triumphs and Treudler leads Swiss one-two-three

Valentina Corvi put in a dominant performance in the women's U23 race, winning by over three minutes. The rider from the Canyon CLLCTV XCO Team breaks her collarbone at the start of the season, but makes an impressive comeback and also wins in Andorra after Val di Sole. Corvi misses two World Cup rounds due to her injury, while Ella Macphee continues to lead the overall standings.

Macphee gets off to a nightmare start in Andorra. A crash in the first section knocks her out of the top ten. Corvi, on the other hand, got off to a strong start and built up a lead of over a minute after the first lap. Her compatriot Sara Cortinovis initially leads the chasing pack, but falls back as the race progresses and finishes in 17th place. The altitude of Pal Arinsal takes its toll. The American Vida Lopez De San Roman suffers after a fast start and finishes fifth. Corvi leads by over four minutes at one point, but crashes twice on the final lap and her lead shrinks to 3:25 minutes.

Swiss rider Monique Halter secures second place after distancing Sina Van Thiel halfway through the race. Van Thiel fights back and finishes third, just eight seconds behind Halter. Olivia Onesti comes close with a strong finish, but just misses out on the podium.

"I have no words for this race," says Corvi at the finish. "I tried to control the race from the start. I crashed twice on the last lap, but I'm super happy about the win. Next week I'll start at the Italian championships, then at the European Championships and then I'll prepare for the World Championships."

Finn Treudler extends his overall lead in the men's U23 World Cup. The Swiss rider already pulled away on the second lap and controlled the race with a commanding lead of over a minute. The Swiss show an impressive team performance on the high-altitude course in Andorra. Nicholas Halter rides the fastest time of the day on the sixth lap and secures second place, with Maxime Lhomme in third. Rens Teunissen van Manen, direct pursuer in the overall standings, loses important points with eighth place.

After his victory in the XCC race on Friday, Treudler manages the perfect weekend in Andorra. "I feel really strong today and I'm super happy about the win, especially after my disappointing race in Val di Sole," says Treudler. "The double victory here means a lot to me. I'm just concentrating on myself and trying to be the best version of myself, which is working very well at the moment. Now my focus is on defending my title at the European Championships, followed by a short break before I fully prepare for the World Championships at home."

Rankings U23 women

Rankings U23 men