It was already clear last year that Loana Lecomte was growing into a great athlete when she celebrated her first World Cup victory in the elite, still at U23 age. In spring 2021, the petite Frenchwoman has matured further. "It's about qualifying for the Olympics, so I have to give it my all," she explains at the finish line. As the strength ratios currently stand, Loana Lecomte is on her own pretty quickly if she rides at 100 percent. At the end of the start lap, she has a few seconds' lead. She continuously increases this lead by adding one fastest lap to the next. The race for the other podium places is just a little more varied. The most active pursuer, Kate Courtney, has a defect on the first full lap, which results in a longer stay in the tech zone. From then on, she had nothing more to do with the outcome of the race. Haley Batten (USA) and Rebecca McConnell (AUS) duel for second place; on the last lap, the American is able to pull away slightly and reaches the finish line 1 minute 39 seconds after Loana Lecomte. McConnell holds on to third place, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot loses more than two minutes in fourth place. Enough time to rub your eyes in disbelief at the fact that her 21-year-old compatriot has led every lap of both races so far in the 2021 season. And she has done so with an almost routine matter-of-factness that must be terrifying for her rivals. Lecomte's youth only shines through in the winner's interview, where she chortles and kicks like a teenager and is naturally unable to explain her superiority herself. "My coaches obviously did a good job," she says on the record.

The Swiss show a solid race without shining. Linda Indergand is once again the best at keeping up with the leaders and finishes sixth despite a fall. Directly behind her, Sina Frei rides regularly, but without influencing the action at the front, to 7th place. Jolanda Neff gets caught up in the traffic jam that forms at the beginning of the barely rideable climbs and finds herself in 26th place at the end of the start lap. She then worked her way forward with some very fast laps and finished the race in 8th place. Nicole Koller (11th) and Alessandra Keller (12th) rounded off the good team result.

Results women

The revenge of the roadies
After the mountain bike specialists in Albstadt rejoiced at having once again shown the cheating road pros, above all Mathieu van der Poel, they struck back on the technically demanding course in Nove Mesto of all places. Mathieu van der Poel pushes the pace right from the start and the 21-year-old Briton Thomas Pidcock copes best with this. He earns his living with Ineso Grenadiers, one of the strongest road teams in the world. Nino Schurter sets the pace at the start, but then has to let the front run away. This puts him in good company, because when Thomas Pidcock attacks on lap 3, no one can keep up, not even Wattmonster von der Poel. Physically, the two road pros and all-rounders couldn't be more different. Pidcock is a head shorter than the Dutchman and a full 25 kilos lighter, which is of course a big advantage on the steep climbs. "I think I was born for mountain biking, it's what I've enjoyed most since I was a child," he confesses at the finish line. A few hints of whips show that there is no shortage of fun on this muddy afternoon in the Czech Republic.

The British rider covers the second half of the race alone and gains a minute or more on his rivals by the finish. Van der Poel, on the other hand, pays the price for his speed forcing and is joined by Mathias Flückiger, who once again makes a strong impression. He attacked several times, but was unable to distance himself from the Dutch uber-cyclist. "I went over the limit a few times to get away. But then I always made small mistakes in the technical sections," explains the Bernese rider at the finish. In the end, "MvP" made the decisive attack and rolled into the finish line in second place with no signs of joy. There, Pidcock struggles to explain how he can leave the world's best so far behind in his second race in the elite. "Insane", sick, is what happened today, he himself marvels. He also became the first Briton in 27 years to win a cross-country World Cup race. How long it takes until the next one will probably depend primarily on which mountain bike races the road pro is granted by his management.

Mathias Flückiger secures his third place and explains at the finish: "I didn't feel particularly strong in the morning, and I also made a few riding mistakes, but that was probably the case for everyone in these conditions. I'm surprised how well it went and I'm very happy." He should also be happy with his fifth place in the overall World Cup, just behind Nino Schurter, which means that Flückiger can also expect to be selected for Tokyo. Local hero Ondrej Cink (CZE), world champion Jordan Sarrou (FRA), Alan Hatherly (RSA) and Nino Schurter finished behind the best Swiss rider. A small crash certainly didn't help, but it wasn't the main reason for the 3-minute gap to the winner. It then takes a while for another Swiss to reach the finish. Thomas Litscher is the third best Swiss Cycling athlete in 22nd place, Lukas Flückiger (26th), Vital Albin (27th) and Lars Forster (28th) are next in line.

Results men