Photo Epic: XC Elite Men & Women - World Championships 2018
What an incredible day of racing. It seemed like the whole nation of Switzerland came out to support Jolanda Neff and Nino Schurter. Throngs of spectators filled the woods and the pit row here in Lenzerheide. They came for a show and they got one. Unfortunately for Jolanda Neff, a win here in Lenzerheide was not in the cards today. Annika Langvad seemed she would take an easy win until the final laps with Kate Courtney nipping at her rear wheel. When Langvad slipped on the root-strewn Motorex climb, Courtney pounced and rode away to take the win. Nino Schurter had another epic battle with Gerhard Kerschbaumer going back and forth lap after lap until Nino made his move and took off for the finish line. Schurter had the crowd at a deafening roar when he crossed the line.
Swiss guns.
Kate Courtney had already shown herself up front with the worlds' fastest ladies, but today she became the world's fastest.
The Swiss were out in force today.
With moments to go, Jolanda Neff is relaxed and ready.
Hop Hop. Isn't that what rabbits do?
Always the fastest starter. Neff took off.
Emily Batty left nothing out on course. The Canadian had a stellar ride to third today.
Annika Langvad had the power, but when it came down to it the technical riding got the best of her.
Jolanda Neff, the crowd favorite, had to settle for fourth today. She was not capable to fight for that top spot today, but it will only fuel her hunger for more titles.
It might have been a sign, that bright red sparkle in the middle.
Maja Wloszczowska is always a strong contender at World Champs. She wanted more, but still rode to an impressive 5th.
Clearly, tacos and sparkle watts are key ingredients to a winning World's recipe. Kate Courtney had what it took when it counted.
Kate Courtney played her hand perfectly and pounced when the time was right.
Gunn Rita leads Pendrel on lap five. Gunn Rita had a win in Andorra and was a dark horse here in Lenzerheide.
Annika Lanvad leads before Courtney.
Kate Courtney brought a little shock and awe to this race.
What a ride for Kate Courtney.
The air is thin here in Lenzerheide and Batty was gasping at the end of that effort.
So close to another title.
Proud mom & dad.
Your women elite podium- Courtney, Langvad, Batty.
Sweet victory.
Pre-race chill as per usual.
Lars Forster prior to the start.
Giving high fives to the crowd whilst you should be in the startbox; Schurter was relaxed and enjoying the atmosphere before the start.
This guy got the "more cowbell" memo.
The men's field is off.
Gerhard Kerschbaumer has had a hell of a season, and had a hell of a ride today. But Nino had the advantage today.
Henrique Avancini finishes out a stellar season with a fourth place here in Lenzerheide.
Schurter blazes ahead.
Crowds everywhere in Lenzerheide. Those who were late got stuck in a three hour traffic jam up the mountain.
Mathieu van der Poel had a solid ride from the second row. He took third today.
Florian Vogel is one the most consistent riders out there. A 5th in the worlds.
The champ on home soil. Practically his home town. There was no other outcome really. This crowd carried him.
One of many back and forths between Nino and Gerhard.
Gerhard Kerschbaumer might be the man to watch for the coming year. Silver for the Italian.
And the crowd roared with him.
Nino Schurter - world title number seven.
Kerschbaumer congratulates Nino at the end of a well fought battle.
Your men elite podium- Schurter, Kerschbaumer, van der Poel. Looks like Bart was right on this one.
Van der Poel, Kerschbaumer and Schurter.
That concluded the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships XCO in Lenzerheide. We've witnessed racing at its best in the midst of tens of thousands of spectators. Tomorrow, we will return for the downhill World Championships. Hop Suisse!
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This kid is a legend.
Watch the full video, the first quarter is 'easy' but the rest looks pretty gnarly for me
There are a couple of good drops and jumps on the course. The single track is nice and techy, old school BC single track (unlike the super over buffed, bench cut highways we have now).
In both the men's and women's race the winning move was made through a combination of technical skills and power.
There is about 20m of steep decent. Everything else had a ride-around. None of the climbs were very steep which is why high power/lower cadence riders did well. I'm not a Batty fan but if the race was on a newer style course with tech descents and steep climbs I think she would have won.
I think Batty had a great ride. I think she got most out of her current form. Although she has been on the podium at the last three big races, I don't think she has quite same form that she had in Val de Sole and Andorra. It looks like she has tried going super lean this year, and has been successful with that. The challenge is the time span of being really lean and having good power is limited. Watching her race yesterday it looked like she was missing a couple of watts.
Yep Nino can win on any course, but I think he's the exception to any rule. The guy is probably the best athlete I've ever seen relative to his competitors.
Any of the riders with more than 10 world cup wins, could in their day, win on any course. You look at Pendrel at her peak, she won on everything. The Champery course was very similar to this course.
The camera's missed a lot of course. And to be honest this is one of few WC course I haven't been to. However, I had 1/2 dozen athletes racing and looking at their GPS files there is a lot more climbing/descending then you think. In addition to the main climb I count 4 climbs of 30 to 40 seconds and two descents of 2-3 minutes. The descents pretty low grade, which is why they were so long. But they did burn a lot of elevation really quickly on that first descent. Looks like they lost 1/2 their total elevation gain in about 30s.
Hello, below threshold. How you been?