After some tactical skirmishes and battles for position on lap one, the men's field splits up. A group of ten formed with all the favorites, including Vlad Dascalu, Henrique Avancini, Nino Schurter and three more Swiss riders, Filippo Colombo, Mathias Flückiger and Thomas Litscher. The leading group split up again during the second lap. Without Dascalu, however, as the Romanian had to go to the tech zone due to a saddle defect and set about catching up, which ended in the chasing group for the time being.

The calm at the front doesn't last long. Olympic champion Thomas Pidcock launched a crisp attack on lap three and managed to distance Mathias Flückiger and Nino Schurter by ten seconds within a short space of time. This soon becomes 20 seconds, while the world and Swiss champions are joined by Alan Hatherly and Titouan Carod. Shortly before the end of the fourth lap, Flückiger's podium hopes evaporate. He also had to let the second chasing group go until he reached the tech zone with a flat rear tire.

In the chasing group, however, the pace is stepped up again. And while the South African Hatherly was no longer able to maintain it, the Romanian Vlad Dascalu joined the duo with Carod/Schurter. But the great race to catch up has probably left its mark. Because in the final climb, Nino Schurter is looking for the decision for second place, and successfully so. "I couldn't really keep up with Tom Pidcock's attack, he was just too strong today. It soon became clear to me that it was "only" about second place. But I was able to ride a good rhythm and finish second in the end, which also earned me important points for the overall," recapped Schurter, who already leads the overall standings with 174 points.

Titouan Carod was the first to lose contact with Schurter's attack, then Dascalu also had to let go, finishing third again as in Brazil. Spaniard David Valero Serrano takes the last podium place.

With Filippo Colombo in eighth place, another Swiss rider rides into the top 10. Mathias Flückiger follows in 13th place, Marcel Guerrini surprises in 14th place, just ahead of Thomas Litscher and Andri Frischknecht in 15th and 16th place. Vital Albin finishes his best World Cup race to date in 19th place, having already finished twelfth in the short track race.

Short track winner Sam Gaze (NZL) was unable to produce the same performance in cross country and finished 41st, as did German Luca Schwarbauer: fourth in short track but still 25th in cross country.

Results

In the U23 men's race, Chile's Martin Vidaurre-Kossmann once again demonstrated his strength and won ahead of the surprising Brazilian Gustavo Xavier De Oliveira Pereira. Third place goes to Swiss rider Dario Lillo, who has just taken part in the Tour de Romandie with the Swiss Cycling Team.

Results

Winning sip from the slightly different drinking vessel

Australian Rebecca McConnell showed her dazzling form right from the start and, together with Jenny Rissveds (SWE), pulled away from the competition. The two teamed up until the short track winner pulled away from Rissveds. McConnell gradually increased her lead and won the race ahead of the 2016 Olympic champion by almost 50 seconds. She celebrates her renewed victory on the podium in enduro style: she pours the beer into her bike shoe and treats herself to a "strong" victory sip.

Mona Mitterwallner, on the other hand, got off to a bad start and had to work her way to the front. The young Austrian managed this very well and soon formed the chasing group with Alessandra Keller and Loana Lecomte. Keller is no longer able to keep up two laps before the end, but Mitterwallner leaves Lecomte behind on the last lap and celebrates her first podium finish. Alessandra Keller also has reason to celebrate. After her fourth place in the short track, she also rides to her best World Cup result with fifth place.

Somewhat behind them, the other Swiss women put in a solid performance: Jolanda Neff, Sina Frei and Linda Indergand finished ninth to eleventh, with Ramona Forchini riding to 14th place.

As at the World Cup opener in Petropolis, France's Line Burquier also rode to victory in Albstadt. Puck Pieterse from Holland and Sofie Pedersen from Denmark complete the podium. Noëlle Buri from Switzerland rode to sixth place.

Results