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Here are the moments from the Snowshoe XCO World Cup you need to know about
The Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Cup in Snowshoe, USA, was full of action despite being rain-affected. See the replays and catch up on the racing here.
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The Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Cup headed to Snowshoe in West Virginia, USA, for the first of two events in North American. Get recaps of all the action from the races at Snowshoe at the replay links below.
- Snowshoe Short Track (XCC) replay
- Snowshoe Women's Cross-Country replay
- Snowshoe Men's Cross-Country replay
You can view the results from the cross-country race in Snowshoe and the overall standings for the World Cup here and scroll down for things you might have missed from the weekend in the USA.
01
Martin Vidaurre wrapped up the U23 World Cup series title
Martin Vidaurre took his sixth XCO World Cup win in seven races in the men’s U23 race, and by doing so wrapped up the overall in the men’s U23 World Cup with two World Cup races still to take place. The Chilean rider has 805 points, while his nearest challenger, Canada’s Carter Woods, has 500 points.
Vidaurre has dominated the U23 series
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
The winner of an U23 World Cup race is awarded a maximum of 125 points. Even if Woods won the last two races, a haul of 250 points would not be enough to overcome Vidaurre. We’re sure Vidaurre won’t be losing focus after already achieving a season goal. There’s still two more World Cup events to win in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, and Val di Sole, Italy, as well as the U23 World Championship in Les Gets, France.
A job well done
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
02
The American spectators had plenty to celebrate in the XCC racing
A partisan home crowd were treated to American winners in both the women's and men's XCC races on Friday evening. Gwendalyn Gibson won the women's race, while reigning XCC world champion Christopher Blevins was victorious in the men's event.
7 min
XC short track recap – Snowshoe
Watch the women’s and men’s XC short track races, where riders battled for a place at the front of the grid.
Gibson, who's previous highest XCC finish was 7th in Vallnord this year, took the lead late on the sixth and final lap from a tiring Jenny Rissveds. The Swedish rider launched an attack on the fourth lap and created a big gap to a chasing pack of Alessandra Keller, Anne Terpstra, Gibson, Kate Courtney and Caroline Bohé, but paid for that effort on that last lap as Keller, Gibson and Terpstra reeled her in. Gibson was the strongest of the three and overtook Rissveds in the final metres. Rissveds held on for second with Terpstra in third.
Rissveds almost got her tactics right
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Disbelief was Gibson's overwhelming emotion at the finish
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
The stars and stripes inevitably made an appearance
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
The men's race finished in similar fashion, with Blevins managing to pass Vlad Dascălu in the finishing straight. The Romanian rider was leading the race on the final lap but couldn't react when Blevins passed him. Luca Braidot carried on his recent good form to finish third. The other talking point from the men's race was a big crash involving Nino Schurter, who crashed while descending a footbridge and had to abandon the race.
Blevins begins his celebrations
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Dascălu animated the race throughout
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Schurter's shoulder took much of the impact when he crashed
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
03
It was all drama on the final lap for the women elite
In an event that saw a deluge of rain come down mid-race, Jenny Rissveds and Alessandra Keller found themselves leading during the final stages. Rissveds was the main driving force in the singletracks and descents with Keller pulling back time in the climbs. A moment of lapsed focus coming into an off-camber corner in the final lap saw Rissveds lose traction, crash and slide down, and it was then that Keller took the opportunity to power away. Rissveds tried to close the gap, but Keller seized the moment and was full-gas to the end, whereas the Swedish rider dropped back and took second place.
The weather turned for the worse midway through the women's race
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
04
Alessandra Keller took her first XCO win against the elements
Keller stuck close to Jenny Rissveds
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Alessandra Keller can often be seen tussling among the leaders during cross-country races, but she never quite managed to score herself a win. In the short-track racing she's taken two and is the series leader, but in the cross-country it's been podiums but never the top spot – until today. In a magnificent display of skill and perseverance, Keller kept pushing when the torrential rain and fog descended.
Keller made her move on the final lap
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Powering to the win
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
She put in a perfect ride, which was hard to manage as the track and conditions deteriorated quickly. Making her decisive move on the final lap, she pulled away from Jenny Rissveds and powered to the finish line.
Well deserved victory for Keller
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
A well fought battle between first and second place
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
“I managed to not crash and to ride smooth…when I saw her [Rissveds] crash on the last lap I just took the opportunity and went all in,” she said in her post race interview. "I knew there was still a bit of energy in my body for the uphills so I tried to push as much as possible."
05
All change in the women's overall as Anne Terpstra takes top spot
Dutch rider Anne Terpstra has walked away from Snowshoe with the Overall Leaders jersey, taking it from Australian Rebecca Mcconnell by a mere eight points. Mcconnell had an unlucky start, with a slipped pedal sending her instantly to the back of the pack. On the other hand Terpstra spent her race with the lead trio, eventually to get dropped by Keller and Rissveds but holding a comfortable and unchallenged third place right to the finish.
Terpstra held third place for the majority of the race
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Terpstra took the overall jersey after her Snowshoe performance
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
After the race she talked about how muddy conditions weren't usually her strong point. "Usually I'm not the best rider in the mud, so I'm super happy to see in this race that I think I stepped up my game," she said. "I was competitive today and to be rewarded with the leaders jersey is the best thing ever.”
06
The downpour didn’t dampen the spirits of David Valero-Serrano
David Valero-Serrano emerged as the strongest man in an attritional men’s race on a very sodden Snowshoe track. Valero-Serrano was involved in a final lap shoot-out for the win after catching a lead group of Titouan Carod, Christopher Blevins and Luca Braidot on the penultimate lap (lap 7). Blevins attacked first on the final lap, but Carod and Valero-Serrano managed to get back on his wheel. With a sprint finish looming, Valero-Serrano took the lead of the group and attacked. The Spaniard broke the will of Blevins first, and then distanced Carod with the finish straight looming, to take his first World Cup win. Carod finished second with Braidot passing Blevins on the finish line for third place.
Snowshoe was decidedly misty and gloomy by the time the men raced
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Blevins attacked several times in the later stages but was reeled in
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Carod and Braidot were ever present up front with Blevins
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Valero-Serrano had pretty much come from nowhere in the race to take the victory. At the end of lap 1 he was back in 21st place. On lap 3 he was 52 seconds behind the then leader Blevins. How was he able to make back so much time and work his way up the field? Valero-Serrano was routinely the fastest man on the climbs on this course.
Valero Serrano was super slick in the wet conditions
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Capturing the moment!
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
07
Nino Schurter is still leader of the men’s overall despite not racing
It was no surprise that Nino Schurter opted out of racing the main XCO race given his spectacular crash during the XCC race. Initial fears that the Swiss legend had separated his right shoulder were eased after X-rays revealed no broken bones. With Schurter not racing, Vlad Dascălu and Alan Hatherly had a chance of taking lead of the overall World Cup series. Dascălu needed to finish second or better to take the lead, while Hatherly needed a win to take the lead.
An enforced weekend off for Schurter
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
But their races didn’t go to plan. Hatherly led the race early on but crashed on lap 3. He did recover from that crash eventually and worked his way back to an 8th-place finish. Dascălu had a rotten start and never really recovered his position. The weather and course conditions didn’t suit him, and he clearly wasn’t enjoying his time in Snowshoe. He eventually finished 13th.
Hatherly leading the race early on
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
A tough race for Dascălu
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
A late crash added to Dascălu's woes
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
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