Vera Looser and 2023 series winner Lejla Njemčević took the women’s UCI Mountain Bike Marathon (XCM) World Cup title to the last 5km of a nail-biting series, while Fabian Rabensteiner led the defense of his XCM crown with a round one win and didn’t look back.
Cross-country Marathon is a different beast from its Olympic and Short-track cousins. Distances clock 100km, the terrain can be more rugged and wild than the groomed terrain found in the shorter formats, and riders must be self-sufficient for long stretches with significant distances between tech and feed zones.
Staying consistent across a season requires experience, skill, near-endless reserves of energy, and a bit of luck – a mid-race mechanical likely to end a rider’s shot at victory. And with three XCM races in the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, there was not a lot of room for error.
Two riders with all the necessary attributes in the 2024 series were Vera Looser and Fabian Rabensteiner. While Looser only made her UCI XCM World Cup debut in 2023, the Namibian has been a tour de force and is yet to finish outside the top three. Rabensteiner meanwhile entered the season as the defending champion and once again managed to be the most consistent rider from all three rounds.
LOOSER OVERTHROWS NJEMČEVIĆ IN TIGHT TITLE BATTLE
With a total of 750 points up for grabs over the whole season, riders needed to maximise any chance they could to score big. Looser did just that in the opening round in Nové Město na Moravě, breaking clear on the second lap of the Czech course to beat the reigning series winner Lejla Njemčević. The Namibian scored an early advantage to lead the standings by 50 points – a gap that would ultimately prove crucial.
In Megève, Haute-Savoie (France), the Bosnian got her revenge – putting more than 13 minutes into second-placed Rae Hannah Otto, with Looser a further three minutes behind in third. The overall was tightly poised – Njemčević overtaking Looser to lead by 40 points with one round remaining. It would be a straight shoot-out in Mt Van Hoevenberg – Lake Placid, USA: if either won, they’d be guaranteed the title; if Looser beat Njemčević but someone else finished first, the marginal difference in points would decide it.
In the end, the series went down to the last of three 33km loops at the New York State venue – the pair inseparable for the first three-plus hours. Njemčević was the first to falter, dropping from the lead group including Looser and Rosa Van Doorn (Buff Megamo Team). But Looser’s title wasn’t guaranteed yet; if the Namibian had finished second, she would have been tied on points with Njemčević. With more than the race on the line, the 31-year-old found an extra burst of speed to outsprint Van Doorn, claiming her second UCI World Cup win of the season and her first overall title.
RABENSTEINER RALLIES TO BACK-TO-BACK SERIES WINS
Like Looser, Fabian Rabensteiner got his title tilt off to the best possible start in Nové Město na Moravě, rallying from 11th at the end of the first lap to build a seven-second lead by the race’s conclusion – Alex Miller and Samuele Porro completing the podium.
In Megève, Haute-Savoie, the Italian was unable to hold the pace of the veteran Colombian Héctor Leonardo Páez Leon, finishing more than seven minutes behind in fifth place. With Miller not racing in France, Rabensteiner’s lead in the standings was safe, but Páez Leon had emerged as his closest challenger – only 60 points separating them with one round remaining.
While not as close as the women’s series, the Italian needed to finish ahead of Páez Leon to ensure a second title. And this wasn’t guaranteed until the final few metres. Entering the arena, a group of nine featuring Rabensteiner and Páez Leon were still battling it out for the podium spots. Simon Schneller (Team Bulls) had the edge after almost four hours of racing, while Rabensteiner clinched third. With Páez Leon settling for ninth, the Italian’s title was confirmed.
