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All the talking points from the MTB XC World Cup racing at Petrópolis
Racing at the Mercedes-Benz UCI MTB Cross-Country World Cup opening round in Brazil is a wrap – find out what caught our attention in Petrópolis here.
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The cross-country elite began their Mercedes-Benz UCI Cross-Country Mountain Bike World Cup campaign in the exotic surroundings of a new venue in Petrópolis, Brazil. Catch up on all the racing here and if you missed the action, the full replay of the races can be watched via the links below.
12 min
XCO final highlights – Petrópolis
Here’s what went down on the hillside of Petrópolis for the start of the UCI XCO season 2022.
Get the 2022 XCO results from Petrópolis and latest World Cup overall standings here and scroll down for things you might have missed from the opening round.
01
The World Cup loves Brazil and the feeling is mutual
Much was expected of this first visit of the World Cup to Brazil in 17 years and it has to be said that Petrópolis very much delivered. The city is the heartland of mountain biking in Brazil and it showed by the droves of fans who descended to the São José Bike Club from the practice days before racing started on Friday with the XCC and then again on the race days (35,000 tickets were sold for the racing over the weekend). The enthusiasm and fervor of the Brazilian mountain bike fans was clear to see, and the athletes and teams noticed it, too.
WHAT A ATMOSPHERE HERE IN BRAZIL 🇧🇷🙌🏻 what fans ❤️ Thank you all for loving our sport !!!
The perfect arena to cheer the atheltes
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Spectators were packed in watching the racing throughout the weekend
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Everyone wanted to see home favourite Henrique Avancini
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
The athletes absolutely loved being in Brazil and of course more importantly the XCO course here. Set in and out of rainforest, the 4.5km track is a visual treat. It’s also no easy walk in the park either. With some steep climbs, huge jumps and drops this is a course that tested athletes' technical and handling skills. Ondrej Cink summed it up for most when he commented: "What a track here in Brazil. That’s real MTB".
A beautiful place to go mountain bike racing
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Rainforest brings its own peculiar vegetation
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Athletes would have to deal with performing in high heat and humidity
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
If rain got onto the track it takes some time to dry in a rainforest
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
02
XCC racing is now more intense than ever
With XCC now having its own World Cup standing, we expected short track racing to get spicy, especially with it being the first cross-country World Cup of the season. We weren't disappointed. Friday’s XCC race was a perfect equation of win-hungry racers wanting to impress and a wide, flat-out course resulting in some incredibly tight racing. Both in the men’s and the women’s, the race went down to sprint finishes after 20 minutes of all-out racing.
6 min
XC short track recap – Petrópolis
Watch highlights from the first XCC race of the new UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season in Petrópolis.
The star of the day was, of course, local hero Henrique Avancini, who took the lead in the men’s race from the get-go and, to the fans' delight, stayed in front of the pack for most of the race. However, he was constantly challenged by a big group of riders hot on his wheels and in the end it would be Avancini’s team-mate Alan Hatherly from South Africa who grabbed his first XCC World Cup win after sprinting past Thomas Litscher just meters before the finish line.
The top seven riders were separated by a mere five seconds, which is pretty telling of how intense a season we’re in for. With another eight rounds to go, and an overall XCC World Cup winner to be crowned at the end, it’s only going to get more exciting.
To the locals' delight, Avancini was up front for most of the men's race
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
South African rider Alan Hatherly with his first XCC World Cup win
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
03
A happy Pauline Ferrand-Prévot could spell danger for her rivals
Coming into the World Cup season with renewed energy and motivation, Ferrand-Prévot showed that she's back, sprinting past British rider Evie Richards on the very last climb of Friday’s XCC race to claim the first World Cup win of the season.
The women’s race saw just as tight a battle as the men’s, with racing going down to the line. Just a second after Ferrand-Prévot crossed the line, Richards and young Austrian rider Laura Stigger battled it out in a sprint finish, where Stigger came out on top.
There were multiple leaders throughout the women's race
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Ferrand-Prévot looking back to her happy, strong self
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Your first XCC podium of the season: Stigger, Ferrand-Prévot and Richards
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
04
The biggest winner this weekend was Henrique Avancini
Henrique Avancini unfortunately was unable to win his home World Cup, finishing 11th in the main race, but in many ways just racing in Brazil in front of a partisan crowd was almost as good as winning. Having spectators pulling for him in a World Cup race in his home town must have been a proud and emotional moment. The World Cup being in Brazil is a fitting tribute to him, as no one has done more than him to build cross-country mountain biking’s popularity in Brazil.
When Avancini's name was announced over the PA there's was no bigger roar
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Brazilian-themed custom paint job for Avancini's Cannondale Scalpel
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Avancini racing at Friday's XCC race where he finished fourth
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
There’s no doubt this World Cup in Brazil has been a huge success, and that will bring much joy to Avancini. He wants to create a legacy for the sport in Brazil and this course in Petrópolis has his handprints all over it, having started building the track with his father in 2015. He wants to give back to the sport also, which is why he's raffling off the special Brazilian-themed custom-painted Cannondale Scalpel he used during racing to fund the training of 23 new bike mechanics in Brazil.
Avancini was very emotional at the end of the race
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Henrique Avancini thanks the Brazilian fans for their support
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
05
He's done it, Nino Schurter equals Julien Absalon’s World Cup wins record
Nino Schurter will have fond memories of Brazil when he ends his career. He became Olympic Champion in the country and now by winning the men's race in Petrópolis he's finally equalled Julien Absalon’s World Cup win record of 33 victories. It’s taken him nearly three years since his last win in Les Gets back in July 2019 to get there, which shows how hard it is to win one of these races.
Dascălu, Schurter and Marotte battle it out in front
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Marotte and Schurter neck-and-neck but the Swiss had it on the line
© Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool
Schurter managed to just out sprint Maxime Marotte in a dramatic finish that saw Schurter overhaul the Frenchman. Marotte looked to have the advantage coming down the last descent to the finish, but was pipped on the line by Schurter.
An eventful for weekend of racing for Vlad Dascălu
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Now that Schurter has equalled the World Cup wins record, all the talk in every race to come will inevitably turn to whether Schurter can break the wins record and stand alone as the greatest World Cup cross-country rider there's ever been. Having just signed a new two-year contract with his Scott-Sram team to continue racing, he’s certainly given himself a fighting chance.
Schurter was jubilant at the end of the race as you'd expect
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
06
A World Cup win for Rebecca McConnell... finally
There was some unexpected drama in the women’s first XCO World Cup of 2022. Even before the race started, two of the race favorites Jolanda Neff and Evie Richards had to pull out due to illness. As for the race itself, things warmed up nicely for the last couple of laps.
A sweet-tasting victory for McConnell
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
At first, it looked like the 2021 World Cup winner Loana Lecomte was set to her dominance from last season, settling in a comfortable lead during the first lap. However, Australia’s Rebecca McConnell and Dutch rider Anne Terpstra had other plans. The duo, despite being more than half a minute behind at one point, stepped on the pedals and manage to reduce the gap to Lecomte completely by the penultimate lap.
Lecomte closely followed by McConnell in the tech rock garden
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Anne Terpstra rode solidly into second place
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Mona Mitterwallner and fellow Austrian youngster Stigger battled for fourth
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
With a longer-than-usual race, the riders were out on track sweating under the scorching Brazilian sun for an hour-and-a-half. Tough conditions for some, but not McConnell who's used to racing in hot temperatures back home in Australia. Spotting her chance, she found a small gap and crossed the finish line in first. With three second-place finishes in the past, this first-ever World Cup victory must have tasted very sweet for McConnell.
07
Laura Stigger is beginning to step it up
Off to a good start here at the Brazilian round of the World Cup is young gun Laura Stigger. Riding consistently throughout the weekend, she grabbed a career-best in XCC, coming in second, and followed it up with a fourth place in Sunday’s XCO final. With two full World Cup seasons behind her, one in U23 and one in elite, the 22-year old seems to have transformed that experience into a newfound maturity out on the race track. Keeping it up will see her become a strong podium contender this season.
Laura Stigger looked comfortable on the technical course
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Laura Stigger happy with her weekend's work
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
08
Martin Vidaurre is one to watch
A man on a mission
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
When you're winning you can put on the style
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
A South American winning in Brazil proved popular
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
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