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June 13, 2021
MTB World Cup 2021 – 3 – XCO – Leogang
The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a multi-round mountain bike racing series that is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale.
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June 13, 2021
MTB World Cup 2021 – 3 – XCO – Leogang
The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a multi-round mountain bike racing series that is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The first World Cup series – which was composed of cross-country events – was held in 1989. The Downhill World Cup was inaugurated two years later, and the Dual Slalom World Cup was launched in 1998. The dual-slalom format – which involved knock-out heats with two riders on the parallel courses in each heat – evolved into four-cross (with four riders on a single course per heat) in 2002 before being dropped after the 2011 season. Riders win points according to their placing in each event. The reigning series leaders in each class are identified by a special jersey.
Mathias Flueckiger (Thomus RN Swiss Bike) won a battle of climbers over Ondrej Cink (Kross Orlen) to take the third round of the XCO World Cup in Leogang, Austria, on Sunday. With his win, Flueckiger moves into the overall World Cup lead, taking the leader’s jersey from the absent Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). Anton Cooper (Trek Factory) finished third on the day.
Leogang has been a stop on the Downhill circuit for many years, but this is the first time the XCO World Cup has come place here. Last Fall, it hosted the World Championships, so riders weren’t completely unprepared, but the long, steep climbs in the Austrian Alps quickly tore apart the fields.
The six lap (plus start loop) race was wide open, given the absence of the top two riders in the World Cup standings – van der Poel, who is focussing on the road, and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), who is recovering from injury. The race quickly came down to three contenders – Flueckiger, Cink and Anton Cooper (Trek Factory).
Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM), looking to tie Julien Absalon’s World Cup record of 33 wins, was never a factor after a poor showing in the Short Track relegated him to a fourth row start position; he would eventually manage to work his way up to tenth by the finish.
By the end of the start loop, Cink, Flueckiger and Cooper had a gap, with Cink powering the move on the long climbs. On Lap 2, Cooper had to back off, unable to match the pace Cink was setting, but Flueckiger was sitting comfortably on his rival’s wheel. Cooper rode alone for the rest of the race to finish third.
Cink continue to set the tempo until the fifth lap, when Flueckiger, the winner of the Short Track on Friday, finally surged. After opening a small gap on the climb, the Swiss champion extended it on the descent, setting the fastest lap of the day and starting the final lap with a 14 second lead. He held the lead to the finish line for the fourth World Cup win of his career. His wins in both the XCC and XCO puts him 140 points ahead of Cink in the overall standings, with Round 1 winner Victor Koretzky (KMC-Orbea) holding onto third and former leader van der Poel dropping to fourth.
“I was still a bit tired [from the Short Track] in the early laps,” admitted Flueckiger, “but more and more as the race went on my legs got better, and in the second last lap I was able to make a gap. On the long climbs he was maybe a bit stronger and I knew that I had to make an attack; in the early laps I was struggling to just stay on the wheel of Ondrej. But when I had the gap I was pretty confident I could go to the finish in the lead. I’m really happy with this win.”
Cink agreed, saying, “It was a very hard race. I knew that this was a good course for me and I could do a good result here. I did my best, but in the end Mathias was a little bit stronger. He is faster in the downhill than me, so when he made a gap and pushed [on the descent] I couldn’t catch him. He was better today and congrats to him.”
Results :
1 Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) 1:15:50
2 Ondřej Cink (Cze) 0:00:14
3 Anton Cooper (NZl) 0:00:45
4 Thomas Griot (Fra) 0:01:26
5 Vlad Dascalu (Rom) 0:01:27
6 Thomas Litscher (Swi) 0:01:28
7 Maxime Marotte (Fra) 0:01:44
8 Simon Andreassen (Den) 0:01:49
9 Victor Koretzky (Fra) 0:01:54
10 Nino Schurter (Swi) 0:01:59
11 Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den) 0:02:11
12 Nadir Colledani (Ita) 0:02:24
13 Jordan Sarrou (Fra) 0:02:38
14 Milan Vader (Ned) 0:02:47
15 Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita) 0:03:03
16 Lars Forster (Swi) 0:03:11
17 David Valero Serrano (Spa) 0:03:17
18 Daniele Braidot (Ita) 0:03:24
19 Anton Sintsov (Rus) 0:03:30
20 Reto Indergand (Swi) 0:03:44
21 Christopher Blevins (USA) 0:04:14
22 Antoine Philipp (Fra) 0:04:18
23 Titouan Carod (Fra) 0:04:26
24 Alan Hatherly (RSA) 0:04:33
25 Jens Schuermans (Bel) 0:04:40
26 Erik Hægstad (Nor)
27 Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) 0:04:44
28 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) 0:04:45
29 Marcel Guerrini (Swi) 0:04:46
30 Maximilian Brandl (Ger) 0:04:48
31 Peter Disera (Can)
32 Andri Frischknecht (Swi) 0:04:53
33 Vital Albin (Swi) 0:05:07
34 Karl Markt (Aut) 0:05:16
35 Luca Schwarzbauer (Ger) 0:05:25
36 Georg Egger (Ger) 0:05:48
37 Pierre De Froidmont (Bel) 0:05:57
38 Maximilian Foidl (Aut) 0:06:09
39 Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo (Mex) 0:06:15
40 Manuel Fumic (Ger) 0:06:28
41 Maxime Loret (Fra) 0:06:33
42 Joshua Dubau (Fra) 0:06:37
43 Luca Braidot (Ita) 0:06:41
44 Krzysztof Lukasik (Pol) 0:06:43
45 Basile Allard (Fra) 0:06:44
46 Gregor Raggl (Aut)
47 Jofre Cullell Estape (Spa) 0:06:49
48 Jan Škarnitzl (Cze) 0:06:54
49 Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) 0:06:56
50 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) 0:07:05
51 Sean Fincham (Can) 0:07:13
52 Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spa) 0:07:15
53 Martins Blums (Lat) 0:07:16
54 Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) 0:07:43
55 Bruno Vitali (Swi)
56 Gioele Bertolini (Ita) 0:07:48
57 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) 0:07:51
58 Niklas Schehl (Ger) 0:08:08
59 Mirko Tabacchi (Ita) 0:08:27
60 Jan Vastl (Cze) 0:08:30
61 Andrew L’Esperance (Can)
62 Frazer Clacherty (GBr) 0:08:41
63 Leandre Bouchard (Can) 0:08:57
64 Nicholas Pettina’ (Ita) 0:09:20
65 Simon Vitzthum (Swi) 0:09:25
66 Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) 0:09:27
67 Quinton Disera (Can)
68 Filip Helta (Pol) 0:09:37
69 Ivan Filatov (Rus) 0:09:42
70 Matej Ulik (Svk) 0:09:43
71 Lukáš Kobes (Cze)
72 Emil Lindgren (Swe) 0:09:55
73 Julian Schelb (Ger) 0:10:05
74 Moritz Bscherer (Aut) 0:10:10
75 Sebastian Miranda Maldonado (Chi) 0:10:29
76 Josef Jelínek (Cze) 0:10:39
77 Hugo Drechou (Fra) 0:11:55
78 Andrin Beeli (Swi)
79 Thibault Daniel (Fra)
80 Ursin Spescha (Swi)
81 András Parti (Hun)
82 Sven Strähle (Ger)
83 Luis Neff (Ger)
84 Tyler Orschel (Can)
85 Nick Burki (Swi)
86 Alessio Agostinelli (Ita)
87 Alexandre Vialle (Can)
88 Dario Thoma (Swi)
89 Fabian Giger (Swi)
90 Amando Martinez Galvan (Mex)
91 Tim Feinauer (Ger)
92 Clément Auvin (Fra)
93 Rob Vanden Haesevelde (Bel)
94 Marc Andre Fortier (Can)
95 Patricio Farias Diaz (Chi)
96 Michal Topor (Pol)
97 Armin Embacher (Aut)
98 Raphael Auclair (Can)
99 Pau Romero Barcelo (Spa)
100 Matej Baco (Svk)
101 Zdeněk Vobecký (Cze)
102 Lucas Thilly (Fra)
103 Maël Desrieux (Fra)
104 Anthony Bergeron (Can)
105 Vincent Jonatan Beckmann (Ger)
106 Joris Ryf (Swi)
DNF Jakub Zamrozniak (Pol)
DNF Remy Duquesne (Fra)
DNS Gioele De Cosmo (Ita)
 in 2002 before being dropped after the 2011 season. Riders win points according to their placing in each event. The reigning series leaders in each class are identified by a special jersey.
Mathias Flueckiger (Thomus RN Swiss Bike) won a battle of climbers over Ondrej Cink (Kross Orlen) to take the third round of the XCO World Cup in Leogang, Austria, on Sunday. With his win, Flueckiger moves into the overall World Cup lead, taking the leader's jersey from the absent Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). Anton Cooper (Trek Factory) finished third on the day.
Leogang has been a stop on the Downhill circuit for many years, but this is the first time the XCO World Cup has come place here. Last Fall, it hosted the World Championships, so riders weren't completely unprepared, but the long, steep climbs in the Austrian Alps quickly tore apart the fields.
The six lap (plus start loop) race was wide open, given the absence of the top two riders in the World Cup standings - van der Poel, who is focussing on the road, and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), who is recovering from injury. The race quickly came down to three contenders - Flueckiger, Cink and Anton Cooper (Trek Factory).
Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM), looking to tie Julien Absalon's World Cup record of 33 wins, was never a factor after a poor showing in the Short Track relegated him to a fourth row start position; he would eventually manage to work his way up to tenth by the finish.
By the end of the start loop, Cink, Flueckiger and Cooper had a gap, with Cink powering the move on the long climbs. On Lap 2, Cooper had to back off, unable to match the pace Cink was setting, but Flueckiger was sitting comfortably on his rival's wheel. Cooper rode alone for the rest of the race to finish third.
Cink continue to set the tempo until the fifth lap, when Flueckiger, the winner of the Short Track on Friday, finally surged. After opening a small gap on the climb, the Swiss champion extended it on the descent, setting the fastest lap of the day and starting the final lap with a 14 second lead. He held the lead to the finish line for the fourth World Cup win of his career. His wins in both the XCC and XCO puts him 140 points ahead of Cink in the overall standings, with Round 1 winner Victor Koretzky (KMC-Orbea) holding onto third and former leader van der Poel dropping to fourth.
"I was still a bit tired [from the Short Track] in the early laps," admitted Flueckiger, "but more and more as the race went on my legs got better, and in the second last lap I was able to make a gap. On the long climbs he was maybe a bit stronger and I knew that I had to make an attack; in the early laps I was struggling to just stay on the wheel of Ondrej. But when I had the gap I was pretty confident I could go to the finish in the lead. I'm really happy with this win."
Cink agreed, saying, "It was a very hard race. I knew that this was a good course for me and I could do a good result here. I did my best, but in the end Mathias was a little bit stronger. He is faster in the downhill than me, so when he made a gap and pushed [on the descent] I couldn't catch him. He was better today and congrats to him."
<strong>Results : </strong>
1 Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) 1:15:50
2 Ondřej Cink (Cze) 0:00:14
3 Anton Cooper (NZl) 0:00:45
4 Thomas Griot (Fra) 0:01:26
5 Vlad Dascalu (Rom) 0:01:27
6 Thomas Litscher (Swi) 0:01:28
7 Maxime Marotte (Fra) 0:01:44
8 Simon Andreassen (Den) 0:01:49
9 Victor Koretzky (Fra) 0:01:54
10 Nino Schurter (Swi) 0:01:59
11 Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den) 0:02:11
12 Nadir Colledani (Ita) 0:02:24
13 Jordan Sarrou (Fra) 0:02:38
14 Milan Vader (Ned) 0:02:47
15 Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita) 0:03:03
16 Lars Forster (Swi) 0:03:11
17 David Valero Serrano (Spa) 0:03:17
18 Daniele Braidot (Ita) 0:03:24
19 Anton Sintsov (Rus) 0:03:30
20 Reto Indergand (Swi) 0:03:44
21 Christopher Blevins (USA) 0:04:14
22 Antoine Philipp (Fra) 0:04:18
23 Titouan Carod (Fra) 0:04:26
24 Alan Hatherly (RSA) 0:04:33
25 Jens Schuermans (Bel) 0:04:40
26 Erik Hægstad (Nor)
27 Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) 0:04:44
28 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) 0:04:45
29 Marcel Guerrini (Swi) 0:04:46
30 Maximilian Brandl (Ger) 0:04:48
31 Peter Disera (Can)
32 Andri Frischknecht (Swi) 0:04:53
33 Vital Albin (Swi) 0:05:07
34 Karl Markt (Aut) 0:05:16
35 Luca Schwarzbauer (Ger) 0:05:25
36 Georg Egger (Ger) 0:05:48
37 Pierre De Froidmont (Bel) 0:05:57
38 Maximilian Foidl (Aut) 0:06:09
39 Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo (Mex) 0:06:15
40 Manuel Fumic (Ger) 0:06:28
41 Maxime Loret (Fra) 0:06:33
42 Joshua Dubau (Fra) 0:06:37
43 Luca Braidot (Ita) 0:06:41
44 Krzysztof Lukasik (Pol) 0:06:43
45 Basile Allard (Fra) 0:06:44
46 Gregor Raggl (Aut)
47 Jofre Cullell Estape (Spa) 0:06:49
48 Jan Škarnitzl (Cze) 0:06:54
49 Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) 0:06:56
50 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) 0:07:05
51 Sean Fincham (Can) 0:07:13
52 Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spa) 0:07:15
53 Martins Blums (Lat) 0:07:16
54 Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) 0:07:43
55 Bruno Vitali (Swi)
56 Gioele Bertolini (Ita) 0:07:48
57 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) 0:07:51
58 Niklas Schehl (Ger) 0:08:08
59 Mirko Tabacchi (Ita) 0:08:27
60 Jan Vastl (Cze) 0:08:30
61 Andrew L'Esperance (Can)
62 Frazer Clacherty (GBr) 0:08:41
63 Leandre Bouchard (Can) 0:08:57
64 Nicholas Pettina' (Ita) 0:09:20
65 Simon Vitzthum (Swi) 0:09:25
66 Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) 0:09:27
67 Quinton Disera (Can)
68 Filip Helta (Pol) 0:09:37
69 Ivan Filatov (Rus) 0:09:42
70 Matej Ulik (Svk) 0:09:43
71 Lukáš Kobes (Cze)
72 Emil Lindgren (Swe) 0:09:55
73 Julian Schelb (Ger) 0:10:05
74 Moritz Bscherer (Aut) 0:10:10
75 Sebastian Miranda Maldonado (Chi) 0:10:29
76 Josef Jelínek (Cze) 0:10:39
77 Hugo Drechou (Fra) 0:11:55
78 Andrin Beeli (Swi)
79 Thibault Daniel (Fra)
80 Ursin Spescha (Swi)
81 András Parti (Hun)
82 Sven Strähle (Ger)
83 Luis Neff (Ger)
84 Tyler Orschel (Can)
85 Nick Burki (Swi)
86 Alessio Agostinelli (Ita)
87 Alexandre Vialle (Can)
88 Dario Thoma (Swi)
89 Fabian Giger (Swi)
90 Amando Martinez Galvan (Mex)
91 Tim Feinauer (Ger)
92 Clément Auvin (Fra)
93 Rob Vanden Haesevelde (Bel)
94 Marc Andre Fortier (Can)
95 Patricio Farias Diaz (Chi)
96 Michal Topor (Pol)
97 Armin Embacher (Aut)
98 Raphael Auclair (Can)
99 Pau Romero Barcelo (Spa)
100 Matej Baco (Svk)
101 Zdeněk Vobecký (Cze)
102 Lucas Thilly (Fra)
103 Maël Desrieux (Fra)
104 Anthony Bergeron (Can)
105 Vincent Jonatan Beckmann (Ger)
106 Joris Ryf (Swi)
DNF Jakub Zamrozniak (Pol)
DNF Remy Duquesne (Fra)
DNS Gioele De Cosmo (Ita))
