MTB – XCC – World Cup 2024 – 8 – Mont-Sainte-Anne [FULL RACE]

October 4 13, 2024

MTB – XCC – World Cup 2024 ME – 8 – Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada 🇨🇦

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.

Unlike the women’s UCI XCC World Cup, the men’s title was still to play for going into the last round. The UCI XCC World Champion, Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing), was in cruise control, but a handful of riders – including Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck) could still mathematically pounce if the Frenchman didn’t have a strong race.

If the preceding race was fast, the men somehow found another gear – Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) setting a blistering pace from the very start to string the whole pack out from the off.

The South African had an underlying motive – he could clinch the UCI XCO World Cup overall by winning the XCC – but it seemed an audacious attempt to try and attack from the off.

When Hatherly eventually tired, Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) ramped things up even further, causing pained faces on the riders behind who were just trying to hold his wheel. The big German’s diesel engine sustained the pace for lap after lap, whittling the lead group down as he went.

Sam Gaze was one of the first to be dropped – the New Zealander eventually succumbing to some sort of off-screen issue to finish 32nd.

The German’s pure power didn’t appear to be letting up, and as the group continued to get shuffled behind – Mathis Azzaro (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) joining the fun; Chris Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) crashing out – the Canyon CLLCTV rider led entering the final lap. And then Koretzky went. His rainbow stripes were a blur as he pulled alongside Schwarzbauer and launched himself off the front on the first climb, creating a gap that made it look like his opponents were riding through thick mud.

Only Azzaro could go with him, with Hatherly picking up the pieces many meters back. As the race entered its final throws, it was clear that it was going to be contested by one of the Frenchmen, but would it be the UCI World Champion (Koretzky) or the up-and-coming French champion (Azzaro)?

Koretzky led his compatriot throughout, and when he threw the final hammer to blow up the last climb, Azzaro simply couldn’t respond.

Crossing the line, Koretzky had done it – winning back-to-back UCI XCC World Cups, the UCI XCC overall series, and breaking Mathieu van der Poel’s (Alpecin-Deceuninck) record for UCI XCC World Cup podiums in the process. Azzaro meanwhile finished second, with Hatherly third.

Speaking after the race, Koretzky said : “The pace was super high compared to a normal short track. I couldn’t ride on the front the whole race. But I think, compared to the others, I’m comfortable when it’s a change of pace. It was super-fast, and when you’re on a wheel like this [Azzaro] it’s way easier, it’s why I tried to make a gap on the feed zone. To win another UCI World Cup is crazy, and I secured the overall too. It’s amazing, and now I can’t wait for Sunday’s race because it’s the last race of the season and the last UCI World Cup. I’m really excited and I just want to race again.”

Results :