MTB – XCC – World Cup 2024 – 6 – Haute-Savoie [FULL RACE]

July 5, 2024

MTB – XCC – World Cup 2024 – 6 – – Les Gets, Haute-Savoie, France 🇫🇷

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.

Les Gets has been hosting international competitions for over 30 years and is a leading venue for both competitive and recreational mountain biking (MTB). The resort, which was chosen as the departure town for one of the stages of the 2023 Tour de France, is also a very popular destination for cyclists. Les Gets is bike!

In the men’s XCC contest, Hatherly made his second podium in the series count with his first victory. Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) surprised the field with his best finish of the season, sprinting to the line to take second place ahead of new XCC series leader Samuel Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO), who is fourth in the XCC standings, finished fourth in Les Gets.

Gaze made the biggest charge on the day, slipping in the wet grass on the first lap and taking a fall. The UCI World Champion worked his way from the back of the field into the top 20 by the mid-point of the race, while Schwarzbauer set the pace with Litscher, Hatherly, Aldridge and Martín Vidaurre (Specialized Factory Racing). Filippo Colombo (Scott-Sram MTB Racing Team) and Chris Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) soon made it seven riders at the front.

By the ninth lap, Aldridge rode on Schwarzbauer’s back wheel and Gaze was now in sixth position, and Aldridge hit the gas when the bell rang for the final circuit. Only Hatherly could go with him.

“It’s been a long time coming and I’m super happy that it paid off today,” said Hatherly after the race. His last short-track victory came in Brazil in 2022.

“I had the confidence to make it hard before the last lap to take the edge off the guys. I kept something in the tank to give it that final squeeze.”

The cross-country Olympic races will be held in Les Gets on Sunday. Then, the UCI MTB World Series for cross-country events take a break until August 28-September 1 in Andorra, with a pause for the Paris Olympic Games.

Results :