Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) and Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) add to Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) and Koretzky’s victories in the XCC to make it a clean sweep for Specialized at the team’s home race.
On the final day of Mt Van Hoevenberg – Lake Placid’s WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, there was a carnival atmosphere as the Elite riders took to the full course for the UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup.
In warm and dry conditions, both the Men’s and Women’s Elite XCO races were red hot from the off. But the fast and wide course had the opposite effect of what went down in the U23 races 24 hours before, with big groups of riders staying together until the very end.
Both would conclude in sprint finishes, with Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) and Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) coming out on top to make it a clean sweep for Specialized in the Elites at Mt Van Hoevenberg – Lake Placid.
STIGGER OUTSPRINTS TEAM-MATE FREI TO WIN ATTRITIONAL CONTEST
Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) overcame what looked like a mid-race blow-up to outsprint team-mate Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) on the line to claim the American team’s third Elite win of the weekend.
In what was an attritional race from the off, Candice Lill set the early pace with a lead group including Loane Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV XCO), Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) and Stigger, while series leader Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) and Frei weren’t far behind.
On the long, drawn-out climb at the start of each loop, Lill would always be at the front, stretching her lead, but the group would soon bunch up again as the riders entered the descents and rock gardens that littered the second half.
The lead group was getting smaller with each lap though. First it was Keller who was dropped, while on lap four, home favourite Blunk went out the back after Stigger and Lecomte went on the offensive.
And then on the penultimate lap, it appeared that Stigger’s race was run – the Austrian unable to hold the pace of Lill and Lecomte as they powered their way up the lactic acid-inducing incline.
The Frenchwoman and 10-time UCI XCO World Cup winner appeared to have created a significant gap between her and Lill, and as she crossed the start-finish straight for the final time, her seven-second lead looked like it was only going to get bigger.
The chasing group of Rebecca Henderson (Primaflor Mondraker Racing Team), Stigger and Frei weren’t done yet though. Although the Australian was soon dropped, Stigger and Frei were soon bunched up with Lecomte and Lill, and it looked like it could end up being a four-up sprint for the line.
Stigger had other ideas. Mirroring Frei’s winning attack from the day before, the Austrian exploded out of the pits with Frei close behind – Lecomte unable to respond. In a two-way sprint, Stigger did enough to stay ahead of Frei, denying the Swiss rider of an XCC-XCO double, although the team-mates didn’t seem to mind as they celebrated with each other after crossing the line.
Lill pipped Lecomte on the line, while Henderson soloed her way to fifth to complete the podium.
Speaking after the race, Stigger said: “It’s amazing. Racing here in America must be a lucky place for me. The brand is from here, Specialized is just giving me wings. It’s amazing. With a double win and Sina [Frei] smashing it yesterday. It must be a super good place for Specialized riders. I tried to give it all from the feed zone until the end, I saw tactics from Sina from yesterday and thought I needed to try the same. Sina and I are such good friends. It’s amazing to have such a teammate.”
In the overall, Keller has one hand on the series title – the Swiss rider already crowned the XCC overall winner yesterday with one round still to go.
The 2022 overall series winner currently has a 322-point lead over second place Blunk, and with 330 points up for grabs, she effectively only needs to finish the in 35th place to achieve the series double.
KORETZKY DOES THE DOUBLE
After a frenetic and close-fought battle for the Women’s XCO, fans were treated to more of the same in the Men’s final.
Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) and Victor Koretzky were dictating the early tempo but as the field crossed the start-finish straight for the first time, the lead group was still numbering 20-plus riders. The first flash point was a big crash by Martín Vidaurre (Specialized Factory Racing) – the Chilean hitting the deck in the first rock garden on lap two, and his bike narrowly missing team-mate Kortezky as it flew through the air. Despite getting back on his bike, he soon pulled over and appeared to be suffering from a broken collarbone.
On each climb, another rider took up the mantel – Mathis Azzaro (Decathlon Ford Racing Team), Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team), Marcel Guerrini (BIXS Performance Race Team) – but no one could make the attacks stick.
And then disaster struck for Hatherly. In the middle of lap four, the new UCI XCO World Champion suffered a rear flat. Fortunately for the South African, he was near to the tech zone. But it wasn’t ideal. With a gap of 41 seconds and 30-plus places to the lead, it was now advantage Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) in the overall.
By the end of lap four, he’d made it back to 26th, but on such a fast course, it would take some serious racing to get back into contention.
The following lap, it was the turn of Schurter to suffer misfortune in the same spot – a flat front seeing the Swiss and South African leapfrog on the road and in the overall series.
At the front, the group looked like it been whittled down to five during lap six, but with two to go, it had swelled to 11 again – including Hatherly.
Eleven became nine by the start of the final lap, and on the last long drag, it was Colombo who injected the pace. Koretzky was stuck firmly on his wheel, but the pace was too high for three riders including local favourite Chris Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing).
Just like in the women’s race, the sprints started in the final tech zone, and it was Colombo who looked strong and in control. But Koretzky showed why he’s the UCI XCC World Champion, laying down the hammer and outsprinting everyone on the line to take the double – his first since Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) in 2023.
Amazing, Hatherly recovered to take second, while Colombo settled for third. Guerrini finished fourth with Mathias Flückiger fifth.
Speaking after the race, Victor Koretzky said: “The last time I did the double win was in Les Gets in France one year ago, so it’s amazing. Doing a double win on one weekend is always difficult because you need to stay motivated and to keep going. Today the weather was a bit high, and it was almost impossible to know who was the strongest. I rode super patient all race because it was super-fast and on the wheel it was a bit more easier but I couldn’t ride on the front. The race was too high. I’m proud of me, I’m proud of the team. It’s crazy – four wins on one weekend, it’s amazing for Specialized. We want to do the same thing next week and then we can party all together.”
The result means that the men’s overall goes to the final round in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, but like Keller, Hatherly has an almost unassailable lead.
The UCI XCO World Champion currently has a 259-point lead over second place Koretzky, with Colombo (1085 points) the only other rider in striking distance.
HOLMGREN AND PUNCHARD MAKE IT A CANADIAN ONE-TWO IN THE U23
Just 24-hours earlier, it was a completely different story as Isabella Holmgren and Cole Punchard (Pivot Cycles – OTE) laid down dominant solo performances to win. In the Women’s U23, Holmgren pulled away from the pack by the end of lap two and continued to extend her lead right to the end. Punchard displayed almost repeat tactics in the proceeding Men’s U23, breaking away with XCC winner Dario Lillo (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) before the Swiss rider suffered a puncture at the midway point, leaving the Canadian to solo to the line.
The final round of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series heads to Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, next weekend with action kicking off on Thursday, October 3rd with the U23 Short Track (XCC) from 16:30 (EDT).
