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7 talking points from the Nové Město cross-country World Cup
Nové Město is a wrap for another year on the UCI MTB World Cup. Review the race here as we bring you the outstanding moments from the Czech Republic.
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The iconic Czech venue of Nové Město is a race that everyone in the Mercedes-Benz UCI Cross-country Mountain Bike World Cup field looks forward to, and, as ever, racing at the venue lived up to everyone's expectations. If you missed any of the action, you can watch it all again here as video on demand:
12 min
XCO finals highlights – Nové Město
Enjoy a look back at the best of the action from the cross-country finals of the UCI World Cup at Nové Město.
Get the 2022 XCO results from Nové Město and the latest World Cup overall standings here, and scroll down for things you might have missed from the racing weekend.
01
Sprint finishes still rule despite a new XCC course
The athletes arriving in Nové Město earlier in the week were in for a surprise after the race organizers revealed a significantly different cross-country short track (XCC) course from previous years. This 1.1km new course is now less technical and is essentially an all-out speed fest. A new long grassy climb leading into the start/finish area would test the legs.
7 min
XC short track recap – Nové Město
Get a recap of all the action from round three of the cross-country short track UCI World Cup at Nové Město.
XCC races at Nové Město often end in sprint finishes. Who can forget the epic sprint finish between Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel in the men's races? Would this new course give us different endings? Well, the short answer is no!
Pack riding was evident throughout both men's and women's races
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
The XCC races were very tactical as a result
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Both the men's and women's races ended in showdowns on the tarmac leading to the finish line. For the women, Australian Rebecca McConnell and Switzerland's Jolanda Neff battled it out in a sprint to the line. Neff took the victory on the line, with McConnell unable to reel her in, and Sweden's Jenny Rissveds finished third. Germany's Luca Schwarzbauer took his first-ever World Cup win in the men's race. An explosive burst of speed while leading the race in the finishing straight saw him distance a big group of chasers. British rider Tom Pidcock won the sprint finish of a group behind Schwarzbauer, pipping Switzerland's Filippo Colombo to the line to finish second.
McConnell and Neff battle it out in the women's sprint
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
The sprint effort left Schwarzbauer completely spent
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto.
More from the Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup
02
Pidcock wins again but this time it was no walk in the park
Tom Pidcock prevailed in a sprint finish dual with Vlad Dascălu in the men’s XCO race to take his third World Cup win. But this wasn’t like his previous two wins in Albstadt last week and Nové Město a year ago. Those race wins were comfortable, with Pidcock riding solo for the win after leaving the field behind mid-race. This time in Nové Město, Pidcock had to grind out the win.
2 min
XCO men's winning run – Nové Město
It all came down to a sprint finish in Nové Město at the men's cross-country race.
Pidcock never managed to get away from the lead group in this race. It emerged after the race that he had a suspension issue. While this probably did play on his mind during the race, it’s fair to say Pidcock wasn't at his best physically. He admitted as in his post-race interview with Red Bull TV.
Pidcock and Dascălu before the race started
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto.
Pidcock never went into the red and rode tempo
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Pidcock didn’t quite have the oomph on the climbs and struggled to stay on the wheel of Dascălu when the Romanian attacked on the last lap. But Pidcock didn’t panic, riding his own tempo and battling to stay in touch with Dascălu. Pidcock's superior sprinting skill got him the win in the end as he came from behind to overhaul Dascălu. In a fledgling mountain bike career, winning races in different scenarios will hold Pidcock in good stead.
Dascălu couldn't match Pidcock's sprint
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Post-race reflection for Pidcock with his team helper
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto.
We'll see Pidcock later on in the season at the World Championships
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
03
Can anyone beat Rebecca McConnell?
Rebecca McConnell continued her XCO dominance to take her third World Cup win on a hot and dusty track in Nové Město. She beat last year’s winner Loana Lecomte by 40 seconds. Taking three out of three XCO World Cup wins in a season has only been done by four women, Alison Sydor, Juliana Furtado, Gunn-Rita Dahle and Loana Lecomte, McConnell now becoming the fifth ever to do so.
No one could match McConnell who had a 20-second gap most of the race
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Bluebird day and big crowds made for a fantastic day in Nové Město
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Lecomte and Rissveds were on the chase, finishing in second and third
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Jolanda Neff had a solid race and finished fourth
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
After winning her first-ever XCO World Cup in Brazil and ticking off a perfect weekend in Albstadt, winning both the XCC and XCO races, the Australian’s confidence is definitely growing. While her big attack in the previous two World Cups have come in the last and second-to-last laps, this time, McConnell didn’t hang around and put in an attack on the very first lap. By the end of the second lap, she’d already created a significant gap to the rest of the field. She kept a gap throughout the race, only to extend on the last lap, showing that she is currently very much in a league of her own.
McConnell rode a lonely but strong race at the front from start to finish
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
She was pushing hard on the ups as well as the downs
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
04
Is Pauline Ferrand-Prévot saving her best for later?
So far, 2022 hasn’t been one of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s best seasons. Apart from winning the first XCC race of the season in Brazil, she’s had neither luck nor world-cup-winning form on her side. A stomach bug saw her pull out of the main XCO race in Brazil, she lost the XCC finish line sprint and the leader's jersey to McConnell in Albstadt and a snapped chain during the XCC in Nové Město added another DNF to her season. With a seventh-place finish in the XCO in Albstadt and a 20th place in the Czech Republic, Ferrand-Prévot is slightly further down the result list than we’re used to.
Looking happy, Ferrand-Prévot knows exactly how to turn a season around
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Her main goal this season has never been the World Cup but rather the World Championship held in Les Gets in late August. Her training plan will see her peaking just in time for the big race, where she aims to take her fourth World Championship title in front of a home crowd. With that goal in mind, her current results might not be anything more than a small blip on the radar. If there is one thing that Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has shown us in the past, she is more than capable of coming back from some tough times to take a huge win.
Ferrand-Prévot onboard a custom-painted bike designed by herself
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
05
A first World Cup win for Vlad Dascălu can't be far away
A first elite World Cup win for Vlad Dascălu was so close. The Romanian has been in good form for the first two races, with his two third places in the opening two World Cup races so far. He did everything right in this race, knowing when to attack and when to conserve energy and on the final lap showed maturity in trying to outpace Pidcock on the final lap. Ultimately, he couldn’t quite eke out a few more seconds when he attacked Pidcock, and that lack of gap allowed the Brit to overhaul him in the sprint finish to the line. A first World Cup win for Dascălu is undoubtedly coming in this form, and with no Pidcock, in the next race in Leogang, the odds on that will increase.
Dascălu is in a rich vein of form currently
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Dascălu had the jump on Pidcock as the race reached its finale
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto.
06
No win for Schurter in the XCO but this was one of his greatest rides
Nino Schurter finished third in this race, but given how his race unfolded, the Swiss cross-country great is probably more than happy to come away from the Czech Republic with that position. Schurter looked to be the strongest of a lead group that contained Pidcock, Dascălu, Mathias Fluckiger and Alan Hatherly. But then Schurter suffered a rear puncture on lap five and dropped back. By the time he visited the pits to make a wheel change, he was one minute behind the lead group. Race over, you would have thought?
Schurter suffered his puncture at the Rock 'N' Roll section
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto.
Not for Schurter. He was like a man possessed as he moved past groups of riders over the next few laps. This was committed full gas riding. Nothing else in his mind mattered other than the challenge of seeing if he could recover race position. Incredibly, he joined the lead group again as the final lap started. Schurter’s ride was one of the best shows of mental and physical strength that we’ve seen at a World Cup race for many years.
An amazing effort from Schurter today
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
07
Caroline Bohé is stepping out from Mona Mitterwallner’s shadow
Last season’s U23 category was very much dominated by Mona Mitterwallner. But she wasn’t unchallenged to the wins. Every World Cup race, danish rider Caroline Bohé was putting up a fight, coming second to Mitterwallner at four out of six World Cups. It was on this course in Nové Město that Bohé came closest to beating Mitterwallner, losing out on the win by a mere two seconds. So, it seems only fitting that it is on the same course that she finally manages to beat her opponent and grab fifth place, three seconds ahead of Mitterwallner.
Racing her first year in elite, Bohé has managed some impressive results
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Shocked and happy after taking her first elite podium
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
As a first-year elite, Bohé has quietly been going about her own business, putting in some very impressive results, especially in the XCO. Finishing sixth, just outside the podium, in Brazil and 12th last week in Albstadt, she is very much one to keep an eye on during the rest of the season.
Mitterwallner's goal for this season is to take her first elite win
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Next weekend the UCI MTB World Cup heads to Fort William the United Kingdom. Tune in to Red Bull TV for live coverage on May 21-22, 2022.
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