In the Elite women’s race it was European Champion Loana Lecomte (CANYON CLLCTV) who showed she had the most skill and power to beat Dutch National Champion Anne Terpstra (GHOST FACTORY RACING) into second place by an incredible 18 seconds. Swiss National Champion Alessandra Keller (THÖMUS MAXON) would leave Lenzerheide with the bronze medal.
Loana Lecomte had this to say about her Swiss victory:
To be honest, I don't know how I did it today. The last few weeks I have had a lot of questions, and it was hard for me. After the short track I had a lot of bad feelings, but Jolanda Neff helped me with this a lot.
Today, I just wanted to have fun on my bike, and I won the race, I can't believe it.
The biggest goal of the year for me is World Championships so my training is geared towards that. We'll continue to work on this. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be in the same shape or better.
Second place Anne Terpstra, said:
The whole race went so quick. When you're racing in a group it's so different to when you're riding alone, there's so much going on.
I definitely had fun and I prefer races like this when it's hectic. I really enjoyed it.
I didn't really try to find anything extra on the last lap. I tried to recover where I could and stay as close as possible to the rider in front of me. I didn't expect to overtake Pauline on that climb, but I think she was having a hard time. It was a long way to the finish from that point and I was struggling for sure.
Third place Alessandra Keller said:
The crowd was there for sure and until the last corner I was in fourth. I tried to give it everything I had and managed to get past Pauline eventually. To finish third after a sprint finish is great. Thanks to everyone that was cheering. It was great.
Results XCO Women Top 5:
1. Loana Lecomte (FRA | CANYON CLLCTV) 1:24:41
2. Anne Tauber (NED | GHOST FACTORY RACING) 1:24:59
3. Alessandra Keller (SUI | THÖMUS MAXON) 1:25:13
4. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA | INEOS GRENADIERS) 1:25:20
5. Puck Pieterse (NED | ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK) 1:25:35
Overall World Cup Standings:
1. Puck Pieterse (NED | ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK) 466 Points
2. Loana Lecomte (FRA | CANYON CLLCTV) 457 Points
3. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA | INEOS GRENADIERS) 440 Points
4. Alessandra Keller (SUI | THÖMUS MAXON) 430 Points
5. Anne Terpstra (NED | (GHOST FACTORY RACING) 394 Points
Reigning World Champion Nino Schurter (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) would attack early, extending his lead throughout and in the process taking his record-breaking 34th World Cup win on home soil and cementing his place in the sport’s history books. He would take the overall leader’s jersey in the process.
South Africa’s Alan Hatherly (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) would be the fastest of the chasing pack in a finish line sprint, 15 seconds behind Schurter in second with France’s Jordan Sarrou (TEAM BMC) in third.
Schurter said this about his record-breaking win:
There's definitely no better place to do this than here. It's taken me a long time to get to 34 wins. I was really looking forward to this race, to race one last time in Lenzerheide. It was already emotional knowing that we might not race here again.
I wanted to give it all and hopefully get the win here. The crowd was insane.
They definitely pushed me on today. Feeling the people, the energy, definitely gave me so much. I really enjoy these moments. I need to say a big thank you to everyone who came out to cheer for me, to all the fans, to Lenzerheide. It's insane.
Second place Alan Hatherly spoke after the race, saying:
I have done this race many times and I won World Championships here as a U23 so I know how to race this course well.
I could see the pace was high from the start, but I knew it would slow eventually. I just paced myself and tried to keep the front of the race in sight. I just clawed my way back to the front. I was suffering with cramps towards the end but still had legs for the sprint to take second.
I'm feeling good about Leogang off the back of today. It was a tough week for me. I had a fall earlier in the week that left my knee super swollen, then had a stupid fall in the short track that damaged some ribs. To turn that around is unbelievable.
Jordan Sarrou said:
It was a tough race, World Cups are always full gas all the way. It was a really hectic sprint. On the last few laps, I was struggling a bit, but I could sprint for third so I'm happy. Fourth in Nove Mesto, second on Friday and third today. Hopefully I can go better in Austria.
Podium XCO Men Top 5:
1. Nino Schurter (SUI | SCOTT SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) 1:24:04
2. Alan Hatherly (RSA | CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) 1:24:19
3. Jordan Sarrou (FRA | TEAM BMC) 1:24:20
4. Thomas Griot (FRA | CANYON CLLCTV) 1:24:20
5. David Valero Serrano (ESP | BH COLOMA TEAM) 1:24:24
Overall World Cup Standings:
1. Nino Schurter (SUI | SCOTT SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) 475 Points
2. Jordan Sarrou (FRA | TEAM BMC) 410 Points
3. Thomas Griot (FRA | CANYON CLLCTV) 336 Points
4. Thomas Pidcock (GBR | INEOS GRENADIERS) 330 Points
5. Alan Hatherly (RSA | CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) 328 Points
Heby Sofie Pedersen and Dario Lillo take home the U23 Cross-country wins
In the U23 women’s race, Denmark’s Heby Sofie Pedersen (WILIER – PIRELLI FACTORY TEAM XCO) had the speed when it mattered to lead from start to finish, beating Switzerland’s Ronja Blöchlinger (LIV FACTORY RACING) to second place by an incredible 11 seconds. The final step on the podium would go to Italy’s Sara Cortinovis (SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM).
Swiss National Champion Dario Lillo (SCOTT DAVOS MTB PROJECT) made good his final lap attack in the U23 men’s race to win at home, getting the better of Canadian Carter Woods (GIANT FACTORY RACING - XC) in second and France’s Adrien Boichis (TRINITY RACING MTB) in third.
Speaking about her victory after the race, Heby Sofie Pedersen said:
It's super important for me to ride alone on this course so I can ride the descents at my own pace and ride the lines I want to ride. I know I'm strong, so this gives me a lot of confidence going into Leogang.
Dario Lillo said:
It's unbelievable. I had goosebumps before the race, to race in front of a home crowd is so special, especially in the Swiss champs jersey. My expectations were high after the short track, but I just tried to enjoy the race. I felt good from the beginning but the leading group was big so I knew it would be an all-out sprint. It was hard to see where the riders were behind me, the crowd was so big, they really pushed me to the finish. It's unbelievable to do the double here at my home World Cup.
Results U23 XCO Women Top 5:
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Heby Sofie Petersen (DEN | WILIER – PIRELLI FACTORY TEAM XCO) 1:12:42
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Ronja Blöchlinger (SUI | LIV FACTORY RACING) 1:12:53
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Sara Cortinovis (ITA | SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM) 1:13:31
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Ginia Caluori (SUI | THÖMUS AKROS – YOUNGSTARS) 1:13:49
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Zoe Cuthbert (NZL) 1:14:49
Results U23 XCO Men Top 5:
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Dario Lillo (SUI | SCOTT DAVOS MTB PROJECT) 1:28:58
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Carter Woods (CAN | GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM – XC) 1:13:00
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Adrien Boichis (FRA | TRINITY RACING MTB) 1:13:10
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Brayden Johnson (USA) 1:13:16
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Luca Martin (FRA | ORBEA FACTORY TEAM) 1:13:30
LOC president Christoph Müller is happy about a successful World Cup in Lenzerheide:
We had a great World Cup weekend with really thrilling races. We saw Rachel Atherton secure her 40th World Cup victory and today we were able to celebrate Nino Schurter as the sole record winner. In total, we were able to welcome over 32,000 visitors over the four days of the World Cup. We are very proud of that because it shows that we have once again put together a great event.
The full results from today’s races can be found here.
The UCI Mountain Bike World Series will continue in Saalfelden Leogang in Austria with the formats of Cross-country, Downhill and Enduro. Click here for the full event calendar.
Missed any of the action? Full replays from this weekend’s race are available globally on GCN+ here.
More information on where to watch which race is available here.
