MTB World Cup 2022 – 10 – Mont-Sainte-Anne [FULL RACE – XCC]

August 5, 2022

MTB World Cup 2022 – 10 – Mont-Sainte-Anne – XCO

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.

Filippo Colombo (BMC) took his second win of the season in the XCC World Cup on Friday in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, to keep his overall title hopes alive.

Jose Ulloa (Massi-Beaumes de Venise) was second and Sebastian Carstensen (KMC-Orbea) third. Series leader Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory) had a chance to lock up the title with one round remaining if he had won, but could only manage fifth.

The men took a much more measured approach to their nine lap race than the women, with the entire field all still within 15 seconds of the leader with three laps to go.

Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV), winner of Round 3, did much of the pacemaking for the first seven laps, with the rest of the contenders happy to let him lead up the climbs and recover on the descents.

It wasn’t until Lap 8 that Colombo started to shake things up on the climb, stringing out the field. On the last lap, he attacked even harder, opening a gap on a chase group of eight and holding it through the descent and up the final steep climb to the finish line.

“I knew I was in good shape coming here,” said Colombo.

“I just tried to stay at the front for the whole race, and on the second last lap I knew I still had quite good legs and I just went full gas on the uphill, and luckily I could make a small gap that I could hold to the finish.

“I wasn’t thinking too much about it [keeping the battle for the overall title open], but I knew that it could be super nice to [still have the possibility].”

Colombo moved ahead of absent Mathias Flueckiger (Thomus Maxon) into second in the standings, 62 points behind Hatherly, setting up a showdown for the final round in Val di Sole, Italy, in early September.

Results :