After the fireworks of last week’s opening round, the second UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup in Araxá, Minas Gerais in as many weeks had a lot to live up to but live up to it did as Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) and Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli) produced stunning individual performances to claim consecutive wins.
Richards had threatened throughout but was unable to shake Nicole Koller (Ghost Factory Racing) and Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) until the very last, going long in a sprint for the line that the other podium finishers couldn’t handle.
The win was the reigning UCI XCC World Champion’s seventh in the format, which saw her overtake Pauline Ferrand-Prévot as the most successful elite women in XCC ever.
In the men’s elite, Blevins recovered from a slow start to find himself in the four-strong lead group as the race entered its final stages. The American launched a searing attack on the course’s calf-shredding climb, blowing everyone including team-mate Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) away to cross the line with enough time to drink in the adulation of the vibrant Brazilian crowd. Koretkzy would once again finish second, outgunning the G.O.A.T Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) at the last.
Before the elites, it was the turn of the U23s on Araxá’s red clay course, and it was almost a complete repeat of round one’s results – Isabella Holmgren claiming her second XCC win in Brazil, while Elian Paccagnella (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) recorded his first UCI U23 win.
RICHARDS MAKES IT TWO FROM TWO IN ARAXÁ
Evie Richards might not have been targeting the win last week, but even when the reigning UCI XCC World Champion isn’t in peak form, she can’t stop coming first – taking her second victory in as many weeks.
It wasn’t as clear cut for the Brit as last Saturday’s race though, and Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) set the early pace as a lead group of 16 formed. One of those who appeared to be out of contention before the race had properly got going was Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) – the UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup series leader forced to unclip on the Araxá XCC course’s twisting ascent and leaving herself with a lot of catching up to do.
Richards flexed her muscles for the first time on lap three, leading the pack up the climb and over the rock garden with Jenny Rissveds and Jennifer Jackson (Orbea Fox Factory Team) for company, but the group would soon reform and rebunch as riders took their feet off the gas entering the start-finish straight.
This became a theme for the next few laps – the lead constantly shuffling but no one appearing willing to stake a claim. That was until Jackson launched a move on lap six that only Richards and Rissveds appeared to be able to handle.
Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) attempted to bridge the gap as the race entered its final lap, but it was too little too late for the reigning UCI XCC World Cup overall winner and as Richards started to turn the screw, it was Koller who appeared to be the most likely to be able to prevent the Brit from consecutive wins.
The Swiss rider overtook Richards on the climb, entering the rock garden and jump line in a commanding position. But the Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli rider isn’t sporting the rainbow bands for nothing and glided past Koller to leave South America with maximum points.
“I think when you’re world champion and you’re leading the series, there’s a lot of pressure, so I was really nervous before,” said Richards at the line. “We had a bit of a rough plan, but nothing changes too much. You’ve just got to [think] on your feet and depending on how the race goes, you can’t really have a plan.”
BLEVINS BLOWS AWAY COMPETITION WITH LAST LAP SURGE
Last week’s win was Christopher Blevins’ first UCI XCC World Cup triumph since 2022, but the American only had to wait six days to get that first-place feeling again as he threw down the gauntlet in Araxá.
Blevins’ race hadn’t got off to the greatest start, and it was his team-mate Martín Vidaurre (Specialized Factory Racing) who set the early tempo, leading a sizeable group of riders around the fairly unchanged XCC course for the first lap.
As the race hotted up like the baking Brazilian climate, Schurter took charge of proceedings, showing some style on the jump line, while the rainbow stripes of Koretkzy also came to the fore.
Blevins finally found his spot at the head of the pack by lap three, when a resurgent Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) looked back to his 2023 best and upped the ante at the front.
The German set the pace until the halfway point of lap six, when the Specialized Factory Racing pair of Koretzky and Blevins went on the attack on the climb – the latter leading into the technical rock garden. Only Carter Woods (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - XC) and Schurter could stay in contact, and it was clear that the podium would come from this quartet.
Entering the last lap, it was Koretkzy who played his hand first, going deep with an audacious move off the front that saw Woods wilt in the heat. Blevins held the Frenchman’s wheel though, launching his own attack on the climb that saw the bungee cord finally break. His lead was suddenly five seconds, and there was no coming back.
Crossing the finish line arms aloft, he became only the second elite man after Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to win the first two XCC races of the season. Koretzky would have to settle for second, with Schurter third.
“I still feel like I’m trying to find my consistency. It’s such a hard sport. There are so many guys who can win. I don’t take it for granted. I’m really happy to start as I have here,” said Blevins at the line, before adding that his winning move was pre-meditated.
“Everybody knows that’s where you’ve got to go, and you have to be leading there. Deja vu again. It’s been three times where Victor [Koretzky] was leading going into that. That gives me confidence, knowing that he’s got a kick that I’ve got to go really hard to match. Three times in a row 1-2 is really amazing for the team.”
HOLMGREN CONTINUES 100% RECORD AND PACCAGNELLA ANNOUNCES HIMSELF ON WORLD STAGE
Isabella Holmgren made it two U23 UCI XCC World Cup wins from two in Brazil – the Canadian maintaining a 100% record in Araxá having also won last weekend’s U23 UCI XCO World Cup.
It wasn’t a carbon copy of last Saturday’s short track win though, and the reigning U23 XCC World Champion had to bide her time before winning in a sprint finish for the line.
It was last week’s second-place finisher Katharina Sadnik (KTM Factory MTB Team) who had led the race from the first lap – the Austrian setting a ferocious early pace that slowly whittled away the lead group to five riders by the sixth and final lap.
As well as Holmgren, she had fellow first-round podium finisher Ella Maclean-Howell (Cube Factory Racing), while Valentina Corvi (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) and Marin Lowe (Liv Factory Racing) completed the quintet.
But the race-leading efforts soon caught up with the KTM Factory MTB Team rider, and when Holmgren kicked with the line in sight, she didn’t have enough in the tank to respond. Corvi also managed to out-lunge the Austrian in a photo finish, with Maclean-Howell and Lowe having to settle for fourth and fifth respectively.
"I’m feeling really good. It’s super hot out today so that definitely made the race really hard. It was so much fun, super tactical. It’s almost like road racing, so I enjoyed it a lot,” said Holmgren, who is also competing on the road for Women’s UCI WorldTour team Lidl-Trek during the 2025 season.
“It definitely gives me a bit of confidence, but I know that all the girls are super strong and any weekend anyone can be on the top, so there are still a lot of nerves when I go on the start line.”
The Men U23 UCI XCC World Cup race wasn’t as close as the women’s, with Elian Paccagnella (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) winning the contest at a canter. Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing) was the only other rider to finish within three seconds of the Italian, with his team-mate and last week’s third-place finisher Heby Gustav Pedersen (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) rounding out the podium spots.
William Handley and round one’s second-place finisher Sondre Rokke had led a 14-strong pack on lap one of an enthralling contest, and the large group stayed together deep into the race. The penultimate lap saw Brayden Johnson launch an attack, splintering the field with only eight riders able to stay within striking distance.
Last week’s eighth-placed finisher Paccagnella was perfectly poised, and he threw down a move that only Treudler could follow. First and second decided, it became a battle for the final podium spot, with Johnson not having enough in the tank to hold off Pedersen’s late surge.
"It’s an amazing feeling. I can’t believe it until now. Last time I came eighth. I didn’t think at all I could win today, but I was in the end one lap remaining and I thought ‘all out’. I won and it’s unbelievable,” said an overjoyed Paccagnella.
It’s just so amazing to win. Tomorrow’s another race. We’ll see how I recover from today, and I hope it’s going well like this.”
The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series action concludes in Brazil tomorrow as riders return to the tropical terrain for the second UCI XCO World Cup of the season.
