Two Races, Two Sprint Finishes at 2018 Nove Mesto XCO UCI World Cup – Results

Mountain bike XCO UCI World Cup action returned again over the weekend at Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic. The race followed last weekend’s race in Albstadt, Germany and marked the third stop of the 2018 XCO World Cup series.

After a muddy slog at Albstadt, the conditions at Nove Mesto were ripe for ripping and both the Women’s and Men’s races had finishes to remember.

Langvad, Neff Have Cat and Mouse Game for the Ages

So far this season, the front of the Women’s field has had a very familiar feel for cyclocross fans who followed the 2017/18 Cyclocross World Cup circuit. 2016 mountain bike world champion Annika Langvad (Specialized) and defending world champion Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing) dipped their toes in the cyclocross waters last season and found frequent success, and former cyclocross and mountain bike world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Canyon-SRAM) is back on championship form.

Not surprisingly, an impressive haul of rainbow jerseys makes for great racing.

Langvad took top honors in South Africa during her hot start to the season and Neff countered by winning in the sloppy German conditions last weekend. Langvad had an uncharacteristic bad outing last weekend, so she was looking to bounce back this weekend in the Czech Republic.

This season, the XCO UCI World Cups feature a short track race on Friday with the front two rows of call-ups on the line. In Nove Mesto, Langvad, Ferrand-Prevot and Neff went 1-2-3 to earn the three top call-up spots on Sunday.

To put it plainly, Sunday’s Women’s XCO was a 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 five-alarm situation between Langvad and Neff. The two went to the front during the first lap and stayed together the next hour-plus of racing. With one to go, the two were still together with barely a tire knob of distance between them. The two swapped lead after lead in the last lap, angling for the best position heading into the finishing paved sprint.

Neff led heading into the last turn before the duo slowed to size each other up before the finishing sprint. Langvad sensed Neff’s hesitation and seized the opportunity to unleash her powerful sprint. Langvad’s initial move was too much for the World Champion, and Langvad took home her second World Cup win of the season in a thrilling finish worthy of the thrilling race between the two women.

Despite trailing by only a few seconds early on, Ferrand-Prevot was never able to bridge the gap to the two leaders. However, she did break free during the last lap to take home third place. Canadian Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) took fourth and American Kate Courtney (Specialized) took ninth in an another impresive performance from the young star racing her first year at the Elite level. Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing) continued her first World Cup campaign with a 39th-place finish after starting on the last row.

Full XCO race results are below. See redbull.tv for the tl;dr race highlights and full race replay.

Schurter Faces Down Another Kiwi Challenge

From the perspective of cyclocross fans, the 2018 XCO UCI World Cup mountain bike series has been of interest because of Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus). The Dutch cyclocross star is racing a full mountain bike schedule this season as he targets the 2020 Olympics. His efforts have gone quite well, with a fourth at Stellenbosch and a third at Albstadt. He also, perhaps not surprisingly, won the short track race at Albstadt.

The larger-scale story from the Men’s World Cup series is the efforts of Van der Poel and others’ efforts to knock Nino Schurter off his World Champion pedestal. Kiwi Sam Gaze (Specialized) beat Schurter in a thrilling sprint finish in South Africa, but Schurter bounced back to complete the double rainbow in the mud at Albstadt.

On Friday, Gaze won the short track race, with Van der Poel finishing second. Schurter took third to set the stage for an impressive front row for Sunday’s XCO main event.

Schurter did not mess around early in the XCO race, pushing the pace and drawing out the riders who could go with him. As he has done in the first two races, Van der Poel matched Schurter’s pace early on and joined Lars Forster (BMC MTB Racing Team) and Titouan Carod (BMC MTB Racing Team) in the lead group of four. On Sunday, Van der Poel’s ride at the front was short-lived. During the third lap, he crashed and then abandoned the race.

After Van der Poel’s crash, Schurter still struggled to get separation from the riders looking to knock him off, and with one to go, it was Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory Racing XC), Anton Cooper (Trek Factory Racing) and him at the front. Both Marotte and Cooper showed the hearts of champions after trailing the leaders by 30 seconds early in the race before battling back to get to the front.

In the last lap, Marotte fell off the pace on the climbs, and as the meters ticked down, Schurter faced another tough finish against a New Zealander in Cooper. Wheel to wheel with 100 meters to go, both Schurter and Cooper wasted no time turning on the afterburners. Schurter got the early jump, but Cooper countered and looked destined for the win. Perhaps fueled by the memory of his close loss to Gaze in South Africa, Schurter dug deep and found one last bit of effort to put his wheel across the line first in a photo finish.

Marotte finished eight seconds back to round out the podium.

Full race results are below. See redbull.tv for the highlights and full replay.

The mountain bike-sters take a break from the World Cup action before returning on July 8 at Val di Sole in Italy.

Women's Results: 2018 Nove Mesto XCO World Cup

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Country	Result
1	2	LANGVAD	Annika	DEN	1:20:37
2	1	NEFF	Jolanda	SUI	1:20:38
3	4	FERRAND PREVOT	Pauline	FRA	1:21:24
4	13	BATTY	Emily	CAN	1:21:41
5	6	WLOSZCZOWSKA	Maja	POL	1:23:03
6	14	DAHLE FLESJAA	Gunn-Rita	NOR	1:23:21
7	31	MICHIELS	Githa	BEL	1:23:36
8	5	KELLER	Alessandra	SUI	1:23:45
9	11	COURTNEY	Kate	USA	1:23:49
10	3	TAUBER	Anne	NED	1:23:53
11	8	BRANDAU	Elisabeth	GER	1:23:56
12	30	TERPSTRA	Anne	NED	1:24:26
13	15	WOODRUFF	Chloe	USA	1:24:55
14	35	SMITH	Haley	CAN	1:24:57
15	10	BELOMOINA	Yana	UKR	1:25:05
16	41	FORCHINI	Ramona	SUI	1:25:18
17	32	CAMPUZANO CHAVEZ PEON	Daniela	MEX	1:25:19
18	21	DAVISON	Lea	USA	1:25:30
19	16	ŽAKELJ	Tanja	SLO	1:25:45
20	9	LAST	Annie	GBR	1:25:47
21	7	INDERGAND	Linda	SUI	1:25:57
22	12	PENDREL	Catharine	CAN	1:26:17
23	43	WALTER	Sandra	CAN	1:26:22
24	25	BENKÓ	Barbara	HUN	1:26:48
25	26	SOLUS-MISKOWICZ	Katarzyna	POL	1:27:07
26	20	MCCONNELL	Rebecca	AUS	1:27:24
27	33	ŠTĚPÁNOVÁ	Karla	CZE	1:27:37
28	29	ŠKARNITZLOVÁ	Jitka	CZE	1:27:40
29	23	STIRNEMANN	Kathrin	SUI	1:28:05
30	18	KALENTYEVA	Irina	RUS	1:28:21
31	44	CALVETTI	Serena	ITA	1:28:31
32	61	WALDIS	Andrea	SUI	1:28:55
33	60	MONTAMBAULT	Cindy	CAN	1:29:07
34	48	POPOVA	Iryna	UKR	1:29:15
35	46	REDECKER	Cherie	RSA	1:29:20
36	34	LECHNER	Eva	ITA	1:29:21
37	53	BRESSET	Julie	FRA	1:29:31
38	40	CRNOGORAC	Jovana	SRB	1:29:32
39	77	NOBLE	Ellen	USA	1:30:18
40	42	ANOSHINA	Ekaterina	RUS	1:30:33
41	17	GOULAO HENRIQUE	Raiza	BRA	1:30:38
42	51	SVEUM	Elisabeth	NOR	1:30:38
43	45	GALICIA CORTINA	Claudia	ESP	1:30:43
44	65	BAUMANN	Chrystelle	SUI	1:30:59
45	28	OSL	Elisabeth	AUT	1:31:16
46	56	GORYCKA	Paula	POL	1:31:32
47	59	LÕIV	Janika	EST	1:31:40
48	57	PODGORSKA	Aleksandra	POL	1:31:58
49	52	MACPHEE	Kerry	GBR	1:32:18
50	38	SHEPPARD	Samara	NZL	1:32:20
51	36	LEUMANN	Katrin	SUI	1:32:40
52	64	TERENTYEVA	Olga	RUS	1:33:21
53	71	JEŽKOVÁ	Hana	CZE	1:33:52
54	62	KOOPMANS	Lotte	NED	1:33:52
55	37	STRAUSS	Mariske	RSA	1:34:49
56	66	GROCCIA	Marine	SUI	1:35:56
57	76	PICHLÍKOVÁ	Jana	CZE	LAP
58	50	ROLAND	Luciana	ARG	LAP
59	70	WORST	Annemarie	NED	LAP
60	55	MITTERBAUER	Lisa	AUT	LAP
61	75	SCHWENK	Theresia	GER	LAP
62	49	MONTEIRO	Joana	POR	LAP
63	72	VESELÁ	Lucie	CZE	LAP
64	54	LLORET LLINARES	Elena	ESP	LAP
65	69	SOUPEL	Tatsiana	BLR	LAP
66	47	KESEG STEVKOVA	Janka	SVK	LAP
67	67	FLEURY	Catherine	CAN	LAP
68	68	RILEY	Sarah	AUS	LAP
69	74	CASIOPPO	Alaina	USA	LAP
DNF	19	SPITZ	Sabine	GER	LAP
DNF	63	FLUKER	Kate	NZL	LAP
DNF	22	ENAUX	Sabrina	FRA	LAP

Men's results: 2018 Nove Mesto XCO World Cup

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Country	Result
1	1	SCHURTER	Nino	SUI	1:21:31
2	11	COOPER	Anton	NZL	1:21:31
3	3	MAROTTE	Maxime	FRA	1:21:39
4	12	FORSTER	Lars	SUI	1:22:15
5	14	FUMIC	Manuel	GER	1:22:20
6	9	AVANCINI	Henrique	BRA	1:22:27
7	13	VOGEL	Florian	SUI	1:22:33
8	78	PETERSONS	Arnis	LAT	1:22:35
9	17	KULHAVÝ	Jaroslav	CZE	1:22:35
10	31	COLOMA NICOLAS	Carlos	ESP	1:22:58
11	38	DRECHOU	Hugo	FRA	1:23:13
12	51	FRISCHKNECHT	Andri	SUI	1:23:14
13	33	LOO	Martin	EST	1:23:14
14	8	CAROD	Titouan	FRA	1:23:25
15	44	TIBERI	Andrea	ITA	1:23:26
16	15	FONTANA	Marco Aurelio	ITA	1:23:41
17	46	SCHUERMANS	Jens	BEL	1:23:42
18	72	CINK	Ondrej	CZE	1:23:48
19	18	MARKT	Karl	AUT	1:23:49
20	19	KERSCHBAUMER	Gerhard	ITA	1:23:50
21	10	INDERGAND	Reto	SUI	1:23:55
22	61	EGGER	Georg	GER	1:24:02
23	37	ROSA	David	POR	1:24:10
24	40	BLUMS	Martins	LAT	1:24:12
25	16	ROHRBACH	Nicola	SUI	1:24:15
26	27	FLUECKIGER	Lukas	SUI	1:24:18
27	53	KONWA	Marek	POL	1:24:23
28	25	LITSCHER	Thomas	SUI	1:24:27
29	80	GLUTH	Martin	GER	1:24:27
30	65	GIGER	Fabian	SUI	1:24:28
31	36	KORETZKY	Victor	FRA	1:24:49
32	21	ŠKARNITZL	Jan	CZE	1:24:57
33	20	VALERO SERRANO	David	ESP	1:25:05
34	32	RODRIGUEZ GUEDE	Pablo	ESP	1:25:06
35	58	SCHULTE-LÜNZUM	Markus	GER	1:25:09
36	54	BRAIDOT	Daniele	ITA	1:25:15
37	67	PFÄFFLE	Christian	GER	1:25:17
38	7	SARROU	Jordan	FRA	1:25:29
39	50	STIRNEMANN	Matthias	SUI	1:25:43
40	66	PARTI	András	HUN	1:25:58
41	83	GAY	Raphael	FRA	1:26:07
42	68	HAIMY	Shlomi	ISR	1:26:12
43	24	RAGGL	Gregor	AUT	1:26:17
44	60	BOTERO VILLEGAS	Jhonatan	COL	1:26:18
45	48	DISERA	Peter	CAN	1:26:22
46	70	SCHEIRE	Ruben	BEL	1:26:23
47	76	GAGNE	Raphael	CAN	1:26:28
48	22	MCCONNELL	Daniel	AUS	1:26:43
49	112	FASNACHT	Manuel	SUI	1:26:47
50	75	DONIZETE VALERIANO	Rubens	BRA	1:26:49
51	43	BERTOLINI	Gioele	ITA	1:26:49
52	102	PETTINA'	Nicholas	ITA	1:26:51
53	28	SOTO	Catriel	ARG	1:26:51
54	69	IVANOV	Timofei	RUS	1:26:57
55	77	VROUWENVELDER	Luke	USA	1:27:15
56	105	TRIGO	Florian	FRA	1:27:32
57	30	COLLEDANI	Nadir	ITA	1:27:35
58	45	WAWAK	Bartlomiej	POL	1:27:38
59	116	BAUM	Lukas	GER	1:27:47
60	94	JEANNIARD	Benoît	FRA	1:27:54
61	89	LORET	Maxime	FRA	1:27:55
62	85	RAUCHFUSS	Marek	CZE	1:27:55
63	91	BEEMER	Frank	NED	1:27:55
64	49	VAN DER HEIJDEN	Michiel	NED	1:28:13
65	41	FERGUSON	Grant	GBR	1:28:14
66	52	COSTA	Mário	POR	1:28:19
67	39	GUERRINI	Marcel	SUI	1:28:26
68	42	BOUCHARD	Leandre	CAN	1:28:35
69	56	YAMAMOTO	Kohei	JPN	1:28:40
70	57	L'ESPERANCE	Andrew	CAN	1:28:40
71	133	SAMPARISI	Lorenzo	ITA	1:28:57
72	95	GOGOLEV	Maxim	RUS	1:29:06
73	150	VITZTHUM	Simon	SUI	1:29:10
74	114	KURSCHAT	Wolfram	GER	1:29:26
75	111	MCCRAE	Erno Jacob	BEL	1:29:26
76	93	MARINHEIRO	Ricardo	POR	1:29:54
77	92	DIAZ BUJ	Ivan	ESP	1:30:07
78	106	FUMAROLA	Denis	ITA	1:30:11
79	71	GOTARDELO MULLER	Guilherme	BRA	1:30:15
80	62	SWENSON	Keegan	USA	1:30:21
81	100	KRAJNC	Gregor	SLO	1:30:23
82	129	PELLEGRINI	Lorenzo	ITA	1:30:24
83	26	CARSTENSEN	Sebastian Fini	DEN	1:30:26
84	135	NIKOLAEV	Sergey	RUS	1:30:57
85	115	BEELI	Andrin	SUI	1:31:10
86	120	VOBECKÝ	Zdenek	CZE	1:31:14
87	109	GROEN	Erik	NED	1:31:22
88	99	OCKELOEN	Jasper	NED	1:31:23
89	90	MICHALEK	Mariusz	POL	1:31:26
90	144	ROTERMUND	Tobias Dominik	GER	1:31:52
91	119	HARTMANN	Jakob	GER	1:31:57
92	47	FOIDL	Maximilian	AUT	1:32:02
93	74	CHENAUX	Florian	SUI	1:32:08
94	143	FLANDRE	Harold	FRA	1:32:21
95	127	BONETTO	Edoardo	ITA	1:32:27
96	84	PAPRSTKA	Tomáš	CZE	1:32:32
97	81	STÜNZI	Michael	SUI	1:32:36
98	87	SESSLER	Guy	ISR	1:32:39
99	88	DE POORTERE EMELIEN	Joseph	FRA	1:32:46
100	82	GASCO	Dario	ARG	1:33:00
101	96	TITARENKO	Dmytro	UKR	1:33:01
102	126	BOREDSKIY	Ruslan	RUS	1:33:17
103	101	STRÄHLE	Sven	GER	1:33:30
104	137	SETTI	Mattia	ITA	1:33:41
105	108	STOŠEK	Martin	CZE	Lap
106	139	SIBILLE	Vincent	FRA	Lap
107	132	LEHTINEN	Sakari	FIN	Lap
108	107	WETZELBERGER	Philipp	AUT	Lap
109	103	BESAHA	Mikhail	BLR	Lap
110	55	KELLECI	Abdulkadir	TUR	Lap
111	59	SHOKRI	Faraz	IRI	Lap
112	121	STAFILOV	Aleksander	RUS	Lap
113	145	GLAJZA	Ondrej	SVK	Lap
114	73	WITHAAR	Jan	RSA	Lap
115	118	SELLES PARDO	Victor	ESP	Lap
116	35	COCUZZI	Luiz Henrique	BRA	Lap
117	110	BOUTTELL	Jason	GBR	Lap
118	146	SCHWENK	Robert	GER	Lap
119	97	OMARSSON	Ingvar	ISL	Lap
120	134	SANCHEZ ALDEGUER	Manuel	ESP	Lap
121	138	ZÖGER	Manfred	AUT	Lap
122	149	PLUCINSKI	Oskar	POL	Lap
123	140	MIRANDA JAIME	Jaime	MEX	Lap
124	148	ZHIRNOV	Dmitry	RUS	Lap
125	142	SINDLINGER	Tobias	GER	Lap
126	117	SHEVTSOV	Artem	UKR	Lap
127	131	SABAU	George-Vlad	ROU	Lap
128	141	DÖHL	Ludwig	GER	Lap
129	124	TROPARDY	Arthur	FRA	Lap
130	98	CAKAS	Ali	TUR	Lap
131	113	HERNANDEZ DE JESUS	José Aurelio	MEX	Lap
	128	ESTEBAN AGUERO	Ismael	ESP	DNF
	23	SINTSOV	Anton	RUS	DNF
	123	MEEUSEN	Tom	BEL	DNF
	34	MANTECON GUTIERREZ	Sergio	ESP	DNF
	2	VAN DER POEL	Mathieu	NED	DNF
	5	FLUECKIGER	Mathias	SUI	DNF
	29	BRAIDOT	Luca	ITA	DNF
	6	TEMPIER	Stephane	FRA	DNF
	125	VALERIO	Domenico	ITA	DNF
	4	GAZE	Samuel	NZL	DNF
	104	JAYNE	Sebastian	AUS	DNF
	79	VASTL	Jan	CZE	DNF
	86	HOLZ	Maximilian	GER	DNF