Mona Mitterwallner and Victor Koretzky timed their attacks to perfection to triumph in the heat and dust of Les Gets.
In the women’s elite race, Mitterwallner (Cannondale Factory Racing) made it back-to-back World Cup Olympic wins riding everyone off her wheel on the slick, dirt-coated roots of Les Gets.
The Austrian national champion was imperious as she battled with series leader and fellow 21-year-old Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) during the closing laps of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Olympic World Cup.
Mitterwallner showed her confidence in the searing Haute Savoie heat attacking the Dutch rider on the descents as well as the climbs.
The two-time Cross-country Marathon World Champion carried an 18-second lead into the final of six laps and eventually crossed the line some 38 seconds up on Pieterse.
World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) - who missed Friday’s Short-Track race because of sickness - battled hard to take third-place in front of a passionate home crowd.
In the men’s race it was a hugely-popular home win for Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing). The Frenchman attacked at the halfway point of the race to drop a leading group containing countryman Joshua Dubau (Rockrider Ford Racing Team) and Swiss star Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team).
Koretzy, who won Friday’s Short-Track World Cup, thrilled the vocal home crowd by crossing the line some 17 seconds in front of the field after an inch-perfect ride on the slippery, technical course.
Schurter, who had missed the Short Track through sickness, managed to battle his way from 25th position on the grid to lead the race early on but a puncture lost him almost 30 seconds and he faced a huge fight to claw his way back into an impressive second place.
Romania’s Vlad Dascalu (Trek Factory Racing) overhauled Marcel Guerrini (Bixs Performance Race Team) and France’s Dubau on the final lap to take third place.
Schurter holds on to the series lead after the sixth of eight rounds.
The U23 racers were between the tapes in the morning with World Champion Samara Maxwell backing up the rainbow stripes she won in Scotland with a convincing victory.
The Kiwi broke away on lap one of five with Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory Racing) but the Swiss rider couldn’t hold on to Maxwell on the climbs. The World Champion finished some 24 seconds ahead of Blöchlinger despite a slide out in the final lap that cut into her lead. Switzerland’s Ginia Caluori (Thömus Akros Youngstars) was third.
Denmark’s Sofie Heby Pedersen (Wilier Pirelli Factory Team XCO) finished in fourth and retains the overall leader’s jersey.
In the men’s race it was another show of strength from France’s Adrien Boichis (Trinity Racing MTB) who led from the gun and dominated. Only the USA’s Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing XC) could live with the Frenchman’s pace on lap one but a crash saw the American forced to fight back through the field to regain his second spot some 23 seconds behind Boichis.
Canada’s Carter Woods (Giant Factory Off-Road Team XC) came in third mirroring Friday’s Short-Track podium. Boichis retains the lead in the overall with two rounds to go.
Next weekend the action transfers to Morzine-Avoriaz for the third round of the UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup and Châtel for the final round of the UCI Enduro World Cup.
