Having Their Cake - Practice and Women's U23 at XCO Albstadt
Heading into the second round of the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup XCO, mixed emotions wander the venue at Albstadt. Nove Mesto proved a dream for some yet crushed dreams for others. Albstadt's steep course might just shuffle things up a bit more. Today, riders had their final chance for practice. As for the Women's U23 field, the battle was on. Who would prove a threat to Rissveds' freshly conquered leader jersey? Let the games begin.
Irmo Keizer • Age: 36 • Years Shooting: 10 Irmo Keizer has been mountain biking since high school. Irmo loves nature, technical trails and landscapes and dislikes too many race lines and fire roads. Irmo has a strong passion for all sorts of mountain bike disciplines ranging from cross country, to enduro and downhill. Combining his passion of mountain biking and photography ten years ago, Irmo has been working as a photographer/editor in mountain biking ever since.
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 Do not expect loads of thrilling, sick action on an XC practice day. Many riders opt to rest, although some might go for a spin. The pits looked deserted most of the day. |
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| Have a walk in any pits and you will find a huge selection of food readily available for riders. Soigneurs and staff work hard providing riders with some mouthwatering foods. Don't expect loads of sugar-loaden goodness though as lean and mean are and always will be key. |
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| Emily Batty, getting it all worked out during the final practice. |
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| Sven Nys is here at Albstadt to tear people's legs off. Last year, he started near the back row and finished 15th. He has an even better gearing set up this year. Some of the elite men should be very worried this weekend as the Belgium cyclocross star will be hammering up the field. |
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| Kate Courtney gets warmed up before the race. |
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| Puddles of sweat from a young rider's warmup. |
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| Each start is a bee's nest of staff, videographers and press. Jenny Rissveds gets swarmed at the women's U23 start. |
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| Kate Courtney took off with a vengeance, leading the race in the first lap. |
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| A long descent into the valley, then it's up to the top of Devil's Choice. |
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| Slicker than snot on a door knob. There were quite a few offs in the steeps today. |
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| There were decent crowds in the valley today to watch U23 women. Will tomorrow's finals bring out the likes of the masses like in Nove Mesto? |
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| Steep singletracks cause congested traffic halfway down the women's field. |
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| Belgium's national coach (r) Rudy de Bie checking out the women's U23 race. |
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| The new Ghost Lector is now the lightest XC hardtail you can buy. |
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| This is Germany. Live bands play, beer awaits. Tomorrow this place will be packed. For your information, this tent is right next to the start/finish area. |
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| Heading towards lap 4, Jenny Rissveds is starting to move away from Alessandra Keller. |
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| Margot Moschetti was poised on a good result after last week's disappointment due to an infection in Nove Mesto. A slow start meant the French rider had to work hard to fight her way back up the field, resulting in a fifth place. |
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| Alessandra Keller showed great form today but did not have the strength to keep up with an unleashed Rissveds. |
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| Long gone. Fellow countrymen cheer for Jenny Rissveds, heading towards her final lap. |
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| Malene Degn rode to a solid fourth place today. |
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| Two out of two. Jenny Rissveds leaves no doubt as to who is the strongest in the women's U23 field. |
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| Rissveds left nothing out on the track today. She finished forty nine seconds up on Keller. |
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| Kate Courtney's strong performance has paid off with a third place in Albstadt. Plus a fine sample of Germany's draught. Cheers Kate! |
About the Photographers
Matthew Delorme • Age: 40 • Years Shooting: 8 Matthew DeLorme is just one of Pinkbike’s motley crew of World Cup photographers. He currently lives out of a Ogio bag, and calls the road his home. Delorme works for Trek Bicycle, covering their MTB racing programs. He can usually be found laying in the dirt trackside, cracking jokes and saying things that make little to no sense. He enjoys capturing accessory moments and the journey every bit as much as catching the action shot.
Author Info:
Member since Jun 4, 2009
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But yes, Sven is an amazing bike racer. Multiple time junior BMX national champ, multiple world cup/world champ in CX, top 20 in the world in XCO when he shows up.