It all comes down to the final lap. The three French riders—Adrien Boichis, Luca Martin, and Mathis Azzaro—are locked in a thrilling battle for the win. On the final pass through the Tech & Feed Zone, Azzaro veers into the parallel channel of the Tech Zone—without having his bike serviced—and continues the race in the lead. The video shows the decisive moment on the final lap.
 

The UCI regulations state: “If a pit lane is established, riders are prohibited from riding it to gain an advantage in the race. Should riders ride the pit lane without a valid reason, the commissaires may disqualify them.” (Translated by Deepl).

So Mathis Azzaro took a risk when he veered off course. However, it’s not clear what advantage he gained from this maneuver. He was in the lead beforehand and remained so when he rejoined the main line. His explanation—that he swerved to avoid a bottle lying on the ground—is not supported by the TV footage, either. At best, he was hallucinating while pedaling in the red zone.

Jenny Rissveds gets off scot-free

What infuriated the online community and also raised eyebrows among cross-country journalists was what had happened a few hours earlier in the women’s race: There, on the first muddy descent, Jenny Rissveds collided with Savilia Blunk, who was ahead of her; Blunk crashed, the Swedish rider briefly veered off the course, rolled back onto the course a few meters further down—thus crossing the course boundary twice at two different points—and rode to the finish line five laps later as the clear winner. The video shows the crash on the opening lap. The commentators also place the blame on Jenny Rissveds.
 

The TV footage clearly shows that Rissveds is trying to squeeze past Blunk—who is ahead of her and holding her line—on the inside of the turn. In doing so, she causes the American to fall. This can certainly be seen as a rule violation. Immediately afterward, the world champion and Olympic gold medalist commits another violation by failing to return to the racecourse exactly at the point where she left it, as required by the rules, but instead several meters further down the course. The race jury classified the incident as a “race incident” that fell within the acceptable tolerance.

The top comment on Pinkbike notes: “Rissveds breaks the rules twice within a second (she causes a crash and leaves the course) and gets off scot-free … The other rider merely served an incorrect ‘drive-through’ penalty without any advantage and was disqualified.” (Translation by Deepl).

Azzaro only learns of his disqualification immediately before the award ceremony 

This isn’t the first time the UCI has come under suspicion of favoring the big names. Notable is the last-minute decision before the 2023 World Championships allowing road pros Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel to start further up the grid than their world ranking points would have warranted. As an Olympic champion and reigning world champion, Jenny Rissveds also has a different standing than Mathis Azzaro, even though he has already won several short-track races and secured multiple cross-country podium finishes in his young career.

Savilia Blunk, who fell back to last place in the race after a crash and having to adjust her handlebars, managed the feat of fighting her way back up to 5th place. Azzaro, on the other hand, only found out on his way to the podium ceremony that he had been disqualified. He left Leogang without any points in the XCO World Cup, but with a lot of anger and disappointment in his heart.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mathis Azzaro (@mathis_azzaro)