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Here's what we know halfway through the cross-country World Cup season
We've now passed the midpoint of the 2021 Mercedes-Benz UCI XCO World Cup season, so let's take stock and work out what's going on in the world of cross-country racing.
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Cross-country mountain bike racing has thankfully returned to a normal schedule in a year that's anything but normal. It's a season of two halves effectively, with a break in the World Cup schedule for that big race that happens every four years. As ever, racing has brought some new names to the fore and proving their mettle against the established elite. Here's how things have gone down so far.
01
Tom Pidcock is a racing machine
Tom Pidcock is a cycling polymath; an established cyclo-cross racer and road rider with many race wins on his palmares. For 2021, he's added racing elite cross-country to his extensive repertoire.
Whatever terrain Tom Pidcock takes on he's up there with the best
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
As a relative newcomer, the Brit started the first round in Albstadt way back in the 11th row and from there commenced on an incredible ride where he fought through the pack to take an astonishing fifth place. Then, in Nové Město and with a better start position, he fought a hard back-and-forth battle with fellow multidisciplinary rider Mathieu Van der Poel and overcame the Dutch star to take the win. Just to emphasise this, that's a World Cup cross-country win in his second ever elite race.
12 min
Born to mountain bike – Tom Pidcock
Tom Pidcock has his sights on the UCI MTB Cross-Country World Cup. Join him on his journey in Albstadt.
Pidcock didn't race round three in Leogang, but was at Les Gets just weeks after breaking his collarbone when hit by a car while training. We expect to see further podiums and pitched battles from the Pidcock in the future if he continues his mountain biking journey. Who knows, we may even see him racing downhill.
02
Domination from Loana Lecomte
Loana Lecomte made the step-up from the U23 category to the elite ranks this season and what an impression she's made. In that first race at Albstadt, the French rider sped away from the field early on to take the win in dominant fashion, and she's done pretty much the same thing at every race since.
1 min
Women's XCO highlights from Albstadt
Watch short highlights of the women's cross-country race in Albstadt, Germany.
Lecomte has now won the first four cross-country races of this 2021 season and added a short track to her victory list in Leogang, where the course that favoured her skill set as a strong climber. Can anyone challenge her in the second half of the season? That remains to be seen.
This celebration has become a common occurrence for Lecomte
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
03
Mathias Flückiger steps out of Nino Schurter's shadow
Swiss rider Mathias Flückiger has had some great performances in the past, but has always suffered from being a little in the shadow of his compatriot Nino Schurter. After all, Schurter is a legend in the sport – but that's all changed in 2021.
Schurter has been following Flückiger's wheel this season
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
Flückiger is an exciting racer to watch; strong on the climbs, he goes all-in on technical descents and puts everything on the line.
He started round one in Albstadt with a third-place finish and repeated that at round two in Nové Město. Then, at Leogang, Flückiger battled closely with the Czech racer Odrej Cink until making a decisive break that he held until the end. It was a XCC and XCO double win for him at Leogang and the Flückiger versus Cink battle was repeated at Les Gets, with the Swiss rider's handling skills, especially in the mud, giving him the edge and his second win of the season. He also won the short track race there.
A season to remember for Flückiger so far
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
04
Evie Richards is getting better and better
British racer Evie Richards has had an incredible season so far. She fought hard to stay in contention at the first race in Albstadt, while at Nové Město she kept pace to clinch a career-best fifth place. She then improved on this significantly with a composed performance in slick, muddy conditions at Les Gets to take third. She's looking strong and maybe a World Cup win will come in the second half of the season.
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XCO highlights – Les Gets
The weather made for a slick ride that some riders thrived on, while others struggled not to wipe out.
Richards' development this season has been driven by an improvement in her technical skills, honed by training with former four-cross world champion and ex-downhiller Katy Curd. Richards has looked at ease on the increasingly technical tracks, even when the conditions have been significantly less than perfect.
05
Crash fest at Nové Město
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XCO highlights – Nové Město
Enjoy a look back at the best of the action from one of the biggest cross-country races of the year.
Crashes and technical issues were a feature of the Nové Město race weekend, with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot taking a nasty spill and suffering a facial injury that saw her stretchered off the course during the XCC short track race. Then Kate Courtney sustained a broken brake lever in one crash, only to suffer a puncture on her return to the track in the main race. It later turned out that she'd also suffered a broken wrist, though she fought through to complete the race. Nino Schurter also crashed mid-finals, leaving him outside of the podium position, an unusual situation for this legendary athlete.
06
How do things currently stand in the standings?
Elite Women
Rider
Points
1. Leona Lecomte
1330 points
2. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
955
3. Jenny Rissveds
780
4. Haley Batten
755
5. Rebecca McConnell
710
Elite Men
Rider
Points
1. Mathias Flückiger
1169 points
2. Ondrej Cink
934
3. Jordan Sarrou
790
4. Victor Koretzky
745
5. Nino Schurter
734
Unsurprisingly, Lecomte leads the Elite Women's rankings by quite some margin. Ferrand-Prévot is in second thanks to some consistent top five places over the first half of the season, in addition to a short track win at Albstadt. Also notable is Haley Batten, making her elite debut in 2021 and placing on the podium in both Albstadt and Nové Město. She's one to keep your eye on.
Victor Koretzky took his first World Cup win in Albstadt, crossing the line in an emotional finish that clearly meant a lot to the French rider. While Schurter isn't having his best season so far, he's still up there in the points race and we're sure there's more wins to come from this legendary rider.
This is what a first World Cup win felt like for Victor Koretzky
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
Who's going to win the World Cup overalls?
Well, there are four races left (two XCCs and two XCOs), so in theory everything is still possible in the points. Lenzerheide in Switzerland comes first on September 3-5 and then the final stop takes place in Snowshoe, USA on September 15-19. Before those races there's the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships from August 24-29 in Val di Sole, Italy.
There's still all to play for in this 2021 World Cup season
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
It would take some kind of severe misfortune for Lecomte not to win the Elite Women's World Cup title. Realistically Ferrand-Prévot is her only challenger and we'd probably have to see the defending world champion winning all four remaining races to provide a challenge given the current points gap between her and Lecomte.
In the Elite Men's ranks, it's currently a two-way battle between Flückiger and Cink. If Flückiger holds his form into the latter part of the season, the title is his. Don't rule out Jordan Sarrou and Koretzky, though, as well as Schurter. If any of those riders can win the next World Cup in Lenzerheide, it will make the last race in Snowshoe interesting.
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