MTB – XCC – World Cup 2023 – 4 – Val di Sole [FULL RACE]

June 30, 2023

MTB – XCC – World Cup 2023 – 4 – Val di Sole, Italy

As the name suggests, these races take place on shorter versions of the XCO tracks, and are usually around 20 minutes in length. It’ll have fewer big features than the main XCO course, and is an all-out race from start to finish. The XCC kicks off the weekend of racing, taking place on the Friday evening. Short track was initially introduced to the World Cup series in 2018, when it was used to determine the start grid for the XCO race, and fed into the overall points. From 2022, the short track still determines Sunday’s start and there are points available for the XCO overall, but it also has its own overall competition.

Once the men hit the 1.1km track, the field of 40 riders battled each other and the rain. Each lap saw a bottleneck form at the rock garden feature, then the wide meadow area allowed for attacks and passes. By the last lap, 15 riders remained together at the front

Schwarzbauer had room to spare as the German crossed the line ahead of Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) for his second victory in four outings. Joshua Dubau (RockRider Ford Racing) outsprinted Pierre de Froidmont (Orbea Factory Team) for third place.

Schwarzbauer has a solid 200-point lead in the men’s XCC standings, with Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) in second and Dubau in third.

Results :