On and away

In the women's race, the French and Swiss riders set the pace after the start. But Pauline Ferrand-Prévot doesn't seem to want to stay in the leading group any longer and breaks away from the competition on the main climb. Because of this long climb, the longest of the current racing season, she is the only rider to choose the hardtail, even if it means accepting possible risks such as crashes, defects or premature fatigue.

Jolanda Neff, who tried to keep up at the start, bursts a little and falls back. She meets Alessandra Keller, who is on the move in the chasing group. Loana Lecomte (FRA) also loses ground on the second lap and is soon caught by the American Haley Batten and Alessandra Keller, who are now in second and third place. The two make their way into the fourth lap, where Alessandra Keller pulls away from Haley Batten. However, the gap to the front is too big - Ferrand-Prevot already has a lead of over 1:30 minutes. Jolanda Neff is also getting back into the swing of things, catching up again and is now not far behind Batten. Keller loses again due to a small problem, Batten overtakes and Neff catches up. She doesn't hesitate for long and immediately pulls away, leaving Batten and Keller struggling.

The leading Frenchwoman can no longer be caught without a major mishap on her part. In the meantime, she leads by almost two minutes and only has to manage - the hardtail was not a mistake for Ferrand-Prévot. She rides to her fourth world title and draws level with Norway's Gunn Rita Dahle-Flesjaa, who has also won the elite world title four times. "Despite the risk, my choice of material paid off today and I managed to ensure that the disadvantages of the hardtail didn't become my disadvantages. It's just incredible to win in front of all the fans, but above all in front of my friends and family," commented the visibly exhausted world champion.

Jolanda Neff also successfully managed her lead over Haley Batten and rode to silver. Incidentally, this is the tenth world championship medal for a Swiss elite cross-country rider. Neff's technical skills on the downhills were an important piece of the puzzle for the success she is now celebrating. "I'm incredibly happy, I tried everything! At the beginning I tried to keep up, but it was too fast, I got left behind, but then I was able to find a great rhythm and catch up again. I never thought about the outcome of the race, I just gave it everything I had - I'm super happy that I was able to deliver my performance here," said Neff, delighted with her silver award.

Behind her, Alessandra Keller had to fend off Loana Lecomte, who was a little stronger in the end. "Fifth place is good, even if I had hoped for a bit more in the meantime - I gave it my all," said Keller, adding: "I was probably still a bit shaken up from the crash on the short track, but that shouldn't be an excuse - the other riders were just brutally strong."

Results XCO

All against Pidcock

British rider Tom Pidcock is the big enemy of all the favorites. So at the start of the men's race, there is a lot of pressure to ensure that the Olympic champion cannot catch up so quickly from his less than ideal starting position. It is Nino Schurter, among others, who sets the pace. And this takes its toll early on. On lap two, short track world champion Samuel Gaze falls after one of the jumps. Stabilizing his arm, the New Zealander leaves the race. Lars Forster also drops out. After a training fall on his already ailing knee, he is unable to get anywhere near his performance.

The fast pace did not prevent Tom Pidcock from narrowing the gap to the leaders and closing the gap on lap three. He soon took the lead and set the pace. Then Nino Schurter has a mishap that many consider to be decisive for the race. The nine-time world champion slipped in an unfortunate place - he was riding on very finely profiled tires - and briefly lost touch with the leaders.

Schurter rides back into the hole, but no stone is left unturned: Spaniard David Valero Serrano presses the gas at the front and suddenly Tom Pidcock falls back a little. Not for very long, as the Brit recovered and gradually caught up with the leading group again. They ride together into the sixth of seven laps and now Schurter attacks and pulls Valero Serrano with him. Pidcock, on the other hand, is unable to keep up the pace, complaining of a loss of air in his tire. Meanwhile, another Swiss rider is also on the move: Marcel Guerrini shows the race of his life and fights his way up to fifth position, even challenging Pidcock for a while, but the latter tries to catch up again.

The last main climb begins and so does the attack by Valero Serrano - once, twice, but Schurter holds out and denies him any gap. The Spaniard then chooses a bad line and Schurter seizes the opportunity, which turns into a small gap. He manages this to the finish and rewrites his own record - the tenth Elite World Championship title.
"It was very tough from the start. I tried to put pressure on Pidcock so that he couldn't catch me, which he managed to do anyway, and then my stupid slip threw me off my rhythm a bit," said Schurter, describing the first few laps and the turnaround afterwards: "I thought I had to put pressure on him and try everything to provoke mistakes from the other guy. When Valero and I were in front, I actually settled for silver. Towards the end, however, I tried everything and closed every gap. Suddenly he made the decisive mistake and I had a small lead - it's incredible. World champion for the tenth time - I still can't believe it!"

After an unspectacular race from his side, the Italian Luca Braidot wins the bronze medal. Thomas Pidcock rode in just one minute after Braidot and Marcel Guerrini shortly afterwards. "My starting position of 44th and my start were anything but ideal. But I quickly realized that my legs were good, which meant I was able to overtake a lot of riders on the climbs and keep moving forward. It's my best career result so far and it shows me that I have the potential to be right at the front. This is also mentally valuable for the coming years," analyzes Guerrini.

Although beyond his capabilities, Filippo Colombo put in a solid race, finishing in ninth place. Vital Albin and Joel Roth rounded off the good team result with 15th and 18th place respectively.Results XCO men

Favorite beaten

In the U23 race, Chile's Martin Vidaurre Kossman is the big favorite and defending champion at the start. He is initially part of a front four with Mathis Azzaro (FRA) and the Italians Filippo Fontana and Simone Avondetto. Swiss rider Luca Schätti is still in sixth place, but has caught up.

In round three, Vidaurre tries to bring about a preliminary decision and soon has a gap. But this time the Chilean was unable to keep up the pace, was passed by Azzaro and Avondetto and then collapsed. While the Italian also breaks away from the Frenchman, Schätti is now also able to pass Vidaurre.

Simone Avondetto rides to the finish as the new U23 World Champion, Mathis Azzaro takes silver and Luca Schätti manages his lead and wins bronze ahead of the defending champion. "I didn't have the perfect start, but then I was able to work my way forward step by step. When I caught up with Martin, I immediately attacked to get away from him. After that, it got really tough again. The fact that I've finally made it onto the world championship podium in my last U23 year makes me incredibly happy," says Schätti.

Results XCO U23 Men

Ferrand-Prévots template

Giada Specia makes the fast start in the U23 women's race. The Italian rides a few seconds clear and pulls Ronja Blöchlinger with her. But then it was France's Line Bourquier who took over and set off on a solo ride, impressively extending her lead on lap three with a lap time in elite territory.

The positions remain unchanged, Bourquier becomes U23 World Champion ahead of Dutch rider Puck Pieterse and Sofie Pedersen from Denmark. For once, the Frenchwoman is the role model for Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. Switzerland's Ronja Blöchlinger was able to stay in the chasing group until lap three, but then fell back a little and finished fifth. "I was able to ride well at the start, hid a bit on the climbs and worked my way forward before the descents to ride at my own pace. At the end of the third lap, I was already mentally in the final lap, but we still had two more to ride. That threw me for a moment. I'm happy with fifth place, even though I know that I could have done better," summarized Blöchlinger.

Results XCO U23 Women