Final Results: Albstadt XC World Cup 2021

May 9, 2021
by Ed Spratt  
The men head off into 20 minutes of all-out racing.


The results are in from a flat out first 2021 XC World Cup race in Albstadt. In the U23 racing, Carter Woods managed to cross the line with a six-second lead on David List in the men's race. Mona Mitterwallner was dominant in the U23 Women category as she won with over two and a half minutes back to Caroline Bohe.

Loana Lecomte also dominated her category as she led from the very start of the Elite Women's race and finished the day almost a minute ahead of the current World Champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot. Haley Batten had an incredible performance today as she just beat out Kate Courtney for a top-three finish and strengthened her chances of making the US Olympic team.

For the Elite Men, it looked like we were going to see a repeat of Mathieu van der Poel's Short Track performance but he would drop back during the third lap leaving the group of Victor Koretzky, Nino Schurter, Mathias Flückiger and Ondrej Cink to lead for most of the race. On the last lap, an issue with his dropper post would knock Mathias Flückiger out of contention for the top spot. A sprint to the line would allow Victor Koretzky to take his first Elite World Cup win as he beat Nino Schurter in a flat out sprint. It's also worth recognising the incredible performance of Thomas Pidcock, who started on the 11th row of the grid and managed to fight his way to the front and finish in 5th place. Thomas will now be eligible for next week's Short Track race and a better start position for the main race in Nove Mesto.

Check out the full results and updates from the race as it happened below.



Results:


Elite Women (5 Laps)


1st. Loana Lecomte: 1:21:38
2nd. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +53
3rd. Haley Batten: +1:15
4th. Kate Courtney: +1:20
5th. Yana Belomoina: +1:30


Elite Men (6 Laps)


1st. Victor Koretzky: 1:20:23
2nd. Nino Schurter: +2
3rd. Mathias Flückiger: +23
4th. Ondrej Cink: +25
5th. Thomas Pidcock: +29





U23 Women (4 Laps)


1st. Mona Mitterwallner: 1:08.02
2nd. Caroline Bohe: +2:38
3rd. Kata Blanka Vas: +3:49
4th. Leonie Daubermann: +4:04
5th. Giada Specia: +4:44


U23 Men (5 Laps)


1st. Carter Woods: 1:11.49
2nd. David List: +6
3rd. Simone Avondetto: +17
4th. Joel Roth: +25
5th. Riley Amos: +34




Full Results:

Elite Women:

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Elite Men:

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Live Race Updates:


1:30 am PDT:

The 2021 World Cup XC racing kicks off with the first round in Albstadt, Germany.

The Women's racing kicks off on Red Bull TV at: PST 02:00 / EST 05:00 / BST 10:00 / CEST 11:00

The Men will start on Red Bull TV at: PST 05:15 / EST 08:15 / BST 13:15 / CEST 14:15





2:20 am PDT:

The race is now underway with Linda Indergand leading as they head into the start lap before taking on 5 full laps. A big crash at the back of the grid as riders left the start line.





2:30 am PDT:

After the short start lap, it is Loana Lecomte leading the race.





2:30 am PDT:

Top five Elite Women after the start lap:

1st. Loana Lecomte: 9:58
2nd. Kate Courtney: +18
3rd. Anne Terpstra: +18
4th. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +20
5th. Sina Frei: +20





2:37 am PDT:

At split one on the first lap, Loana Lecomte is still leading with a gap of 18 seconds to the chasing group led by Pauline Ferrand Prevot.





2:45 am PDT:

Top five Elite Women after the first lap:

1st. Loana Lecomte: 23:46
2nd. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +35
3rd. Kate Courtney: +40
4th. Rebecca McConnell: +47
5th. Jolanda Neff: +47





2:51 am PDT:

Loana Lecomte is starting to build a huge lead as she reaches the top of the big climb on the first half of the lap. Pauline Ferrand Prevot is 44 seconds back.





2:54 am PDT:

Pauline Ferrand Prevot has pulled back two seconds as she starts the second big climb on lap two.





3:00 am PDT:

Top five Elite Women after the second lap:

1st. Loana Lecomte: 37:57
2nd. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +46
3rd. Rebecca McConnell: +1:06
4th. Kate Courtney: +1:19
5th. Jolanda Neff: +1:19





3:06 am PDT:

The gap from Pauline Ferrand Prevot to Loana Lecomte has shrunk slightly to 41 seconds at split one. There are another 40 seconds to the chasing group led by Kate Courtney.





3:09 am PDT:

Pauline Ferrand Prevot has lost the time gained at the start of the lap as she begins the second big climb. With just two more laps to go, she will need to launch an attack soon if she is going to catch Loana Lecomte.





3:11 am PDT:

Haley Batten is having an incredible ride today as she passes Kate Courtney into the climb. With spaces up for grabs on the US Olympic team, she will be wanting top results over the next two weekends.





3:14 am PDT:

Top five Elite Women after the third lap:

1st. Loana Lecomte: 52:24
2nd. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +48
3rd. Haley Batten: +1:21
4th. Kate Courtney: +1:23
5th. Linda Indergand: +1:41





3:21 am PDT:

Loana Lecomte pushes the gap to 52 seconds back to Pauline Ferrand Prevot at split one.





3:29 am PDT:

Top five Elite Women going into the final lap:

1st. Loana Lecomte: 1:06:53
2nd. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +1:03
3rd. Haley Batten: +1:23
4th. Kate Courtney: +1:30
5th. Anne Terpstra: +2:00





3:42 am PDT:

Loana Lecomte kicks off the 2021 XC World Cup with an incredible win in Albstadt after leading from the start lap.





3:43 am PDT:

Top five Elite Women:

1st. Loana Lecomte: 1:21:38
2nd. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +53
3rd. Haley Batten: +1:15
4th. Kate Courtney: +1:20
5th. Yana Belomoina: +1:30





5:35 am PDT:

The Elite Men are off with Henrique Avancini leading the race as they head out on the short start lap.





5:44 am PDT:

After the short start lap, it is Mathieu van der Poel leading the race.





5:44 am PDT:

Top five Elite Men after the start lap:

1st. Mathieu van der Poel: 8:38
2nd. Henrique Avancini: +0
3rd. Victor Koretzky: +8
4th. Milan Vader: +8
5th. Jordan Sarrou: +8





5:46 am PDT:

Thomas Pidcock has managed to make it to 25th place at the end of the start lap after he started on the 11th row of the grid.





5:49 am PDT:

At the first split on lap one, Mathieu van der Poel is four seconds ahead of Henrique Avancini. Thomas Pidcock has jumped five more places and sits in 20th position.





5:53 am PDT:

The chasing group has caught up to Mathieu van der Poel and Henrique Avancini.





5:56 am PDT:

Top five Elite Men after the first lap:

1st. Henrique Avancini: 20:47
2nd. Mathieu van der Poel: +0
3rd. Milan Vader: +0
4th. Nino Schurter: +0
5th. Victor Koretzky: +0





6:01 am PDT:

Ondrej Cink now leads the race at the first split of lap two. Thomas Pidcock has made it all the way to 6th place while Mathieu van der Poel has dropped back to 14th position after leading the start loop and most of the first lap.





6:07 am PDT:

Top five Elite Men after the second lap:

1st. Ondrej Cink: 32:41
2nd. Nino Schurter: +0
3rd. Victor Koretzky: +0
4th. Mathias Flückiger: +1
5th. Thomas Pidcock: +2





6:09 am PDT:

After starting on the 11th row of the grid Thomas Pidcock has incredibly made it all the way to the front of the race!





6:13 am PDT:

Mathias Flückiger is starting to pull away as he builds a five-second lead on Nino Schurter.





6:19 am PDT:

Top five Elite Men after the third lap:

1st. Mathias Flückiger: 44:33
2nd. Nino Schurter: +0
3rd. Victor Koretzky: +0
4th. Ondrej Cink: +4
5th. Thomas Pidcock: +8





6:32 am PDT:

Top five Elite Men after the fourth lap:

1st. Nino Schurter: 56:37
2nd. Mathias Flückiger: +1
3rd. Victor Koretzky: +1
4th. Ondrej Cink: +1
5th. Anton Cooper: +15





6:44 am PDT:

Top five Elite Men as they head into the final lap.

1st. Mathias Flückiger: 1:08:45
2nd. Victor Koretzky: +1
3rd. Nino Schurter: +1
4th. Ondrej Cink: +1
5th. Anton Cooper: +17





6:49 am PDT:

Nino Schurter has taken the lead, it looks like there may be something wrong with Mathias Flückiger's bike.





6:52 am PDT:

Nino Schurter and Victor Koretzky head into the final climb together, it is looking like it will come down to a sprint finish.





6:54 am PDT:

Nino Schurter goes huge off one of the drops on the final downhill.





6:55 am PDT:

Victor Koretzky takes his first Elite World Cup win!





6:57 am PDT:

Top five Elite Men:

1st. Victor Koretzky: 1:20:23
2nd. Nino Schurter: +2
3rd. Mathias Flückiger: +23
4th. Ondrej Cink: +25
5th. Thomas Pidcock: +29





Author Info:
edspratt avatar

Member since Mar 16, 2017
3,021 articles

102 Comments
  • 46 0
 Very impressive from Lecomte - just rode away and left them behind. On a course with long climbs, she'll be almost unbeatable; lightweight, with excellent power/weight, there isn't a lot you can do to beat her.
Strong rides from PF-P, Courtney and Belomoina. And what a result for Haley Batten - first Elite race, and a podium with 3rd place!!
  • 7 0
 Yeah, blown away how she dominated that race from the get go. No one could keep terms with her. Definitely going to shake things up.
  • 10 14
flag ridingandwrenching (May 9, 2021 at 8:09) (Below Threshold)
 Lecomte also had a faster time than Nino.
  • 1 1
 @ridingandwrenching: Now we're talking :-D
  • 12 1
 Or wait I'm wrong actually. Just looked at the times again
  • 8 1
 @ridingandwrenching: The men do 6 laps and women do 5 laps.
  • 3 0
 @tacklingdummy: Yes they do. Plus her time was actually still slower.
  • 40 5
 How hard can it be to figure out, that the dropper is broken, if someone rides half a lap with the seat down and everything else seems to be fine. "Might be the gears!" "He has a rear flat!" "He tried to lock the suspension" "He tried to use a lever on his bike!"
Drove me nuts
  • 41 1
 Obviously, they’re in the pocket of Big Dropper.
  • 8 0
 My thoughts exactly. That "suspension lockout" comment from Warner came at an exact moment where you could very prominently see Flückigers fork working just fine.
  • 3 0
 Haha same. Ya makes sense that the gears would work while standing but not sitting..
  • 8 0
 @chrisjosephbenson: they probably thought his bike was stuck in a high gear and that’s why he was standing pushing hard, which he was.
  • 3 0
 Yup, quality stuff from Mr. "OMG this isn't an e-bike!"
  • 8 0
 (obligatory post that Koretzky wasn't on a dropper post and won the race)
  • 4 1
 easy there armchair Red Bull TV announcer. go pet a puppy
  • 37 0
 Schurter deserved the win after doubling the drop on the last lap!
  • 4 0
 Nino got robbed ?
  • 31 0
 Can we make a rule?

If you pass the lead moto, you win.
  • 28 1
 Immense result from Pidcock--starting 76th and finishing 5th. Imagine what he can do with a front-row (or even a second-row) start...
  • 6 0
 Sounded like he also had a pitstop to pump up his rear tire. Not that much climbing next week, but definitely a Fantasy-contender.
  • 2 21
flag BenTheSwabian (May 9, 2021 at 8:12) (Below Threshold)
 His riding was immensely impressive, but I'm not convinced just yet. During the race it seemed like he still lacks experience at the high pace of Men's Elite. XC racing is way less tactical than road racing, but you still can't just rely on fitness alone. Also the rythm of XC is very different to road or CX, so his experience there doesn't mean all too much.
  • 2 0
 @magnusc: he’s my favourite for next week. His power to weight is incredible on short punchy climb as well as long ones.
  • 1 0
 He got a flat too!
  • 2 0
 Such a well rounded cyclist!
  • 1 0
 @MBroady: and made two errors around 36:30. Youth
  • 25 0
 Wow Haley Batten Salute
  • 20 3
 We haven’t even seen bi-weekly training videos from Batten, how is this even possible
  • 12 1
 @twozerosix: haha it’s crazy how much training you can do if you stop swiping and posting on the internet.
  • 4 0
 @twozerosix @magnusc: bad or good, that's part of the job these days, which increased exponentially with the pandemic, unless you're Mathieu van der Poel, who rarely posts on Instagram/Twitter, he does all the marketing attacking, winning or holding a peloton with a broken handlebar, among other crazy things.
  • 4 0
 She has mad skills too. Impressive result.
  • 5 0
 Stoked to see this result for her. On top of being a beast on the bike, she's a great person and role model. She volunteered her time as a mentor with the Little Bellas clinics for a few years out here in UT and really helped our daughter with her confidence and riding.
  • 3 0
 @dolores: yeah. All Mvdp do on Instagram is more or less reposting ads he gets from Canyon Big Grin
  • 3 0
 @magnusc: instead of posting on Instagram or writing in the Pinkbike comment section, he plays Fortnite Razz

Mathieu has the Wi-Fi in the room all to himself and he can play Fortnite in the evening — Jonas Rickaert at Tirreno-Adriatico 2021

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgvwua3BJLc
  • 1 1
 @magnusc: And get rid of your TV.
  • 25 1
 Pidcock is officially the future—if he wants to be
  • 5 0
 He's the future alright, but the question is, future of which sport(s)...
  • 16 0
 Really excited to see Blevins develop. Super young, and a 13th place finish is good. It’s weird how good the US women are whereas the men just don’t seem to be able to really compete for the podium.
  • 5 0
 I've always been curious about that, especially when contrasted with downhill results. Women's xc has been competitive at the sharp end, while men's xc hasn't. The flip is in downhill, where men's side is pretty strong, but women's is non-existent. This is interesting in that in the US, XC seems to be super healthy and almost over saturated with races, at least in my part of the country. And the depth of talent at the local and regional levels seems to be heavily male. Why this hasn't been producing WC podium contenders on the male side, I don't really know. Maybe Blevins, Swenson, and a new crop of young talent can change all of that?
  • 6 0
 Huge props to Blevins. And while we’re at it, the same for Riley Amos. Those 2 are amazing. Durango represent!!!
  • 5 0
 Top end male athletes in the USA typically end up in higher paying, more popular sports
  • 2 0
 @Mntneer: I've heard that before, but I'm not sure it scans. Our big money sports are mostly dominated by non white athletes of a certain build and body type. Your average world cup cyclist isn't NBA or NFL material, and I'm not really seeing Nino as a great sports ball player or hockey star. The US is highly competitive in a host of sports that aren't big money draws.
  • 18 0
 Nice work Carter - Woo hoo Crumberland!
  • 5 0
 Represent Van Isle. Many years ago 13 YO Carter would rip the legs off all the expert/elites in local races. Great to see him in to great things.
  • 2 0
 Emily Johnston ripping it up too !
  • 8 1
 For people wondering, the UK is ranked 32nd for the Olympics (men), yet only 21 countries can qualify. HERE you can see the current ranking for the Olympic Games (men) and HERE the number of athletes per nation.
  • 9 0
 9th place for Jenny Rissveds, good to see her still kicking some butts, and without a team apparently
  • 7 0
 Bummer, he couldn’t poel it off.
  • 5 0
 Emily Batty at nr. 27 and Annie Last at nr. 46. Did they have technical trouble or are have they just missed out on to many training sessions?
  • 2 2
 The production of Emily' next video project got in the way of her training schedule. You know that new video that's coming out on how she gets fueled by negative comments and using that to get fired up for the 2022 season. It's dropping shortly I recon.
  • 1 0
 At least Annie the privateer was doing good on the short track. Maybe they’ll strike back next week.
  • 4 0
 I gambled with Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado on my team. Not the best idea. DNF after first lap. What happened?
  • 1 0
 There was a crash in the start
  • 2 0
 I chose her as well. I don't think it's that big of a gamble considering her CX palmares. I am imagining bad luck with crash?
  • 1 0
 Worst part is with the DNF, she won't get an XCC starting spot in Nove Mesto, either... But to be fair Nove Mesto has a much better XCO starting loop than Albstadt, so maybe it's worth keeping her on a fantasy team if she is feeling good.
  • 5 0
 MVP is a human. Pidcock is for real. Great ride from Batten. Lecomte...wow
  • 5 0
 Haley Batten, wow what a showing. Looking forward to the future
  • 5 1
 Wow!! That woman's race was something unexpected! Great job to Loana!!!
  • 5 0
 Koretzky!
  • 5 0
 Cocorico weekend!
  • 3 0
 When you hit Koretzky the last wooden berm on your hardtail, it's looks like an advantage for Victor! Wink
  • 1 0
 Creaking BB waiting to happen Big Grin
  • 3 1
 Mona Mitterwallner won again yesterday by +2 minutes!
Caroline Bohé 2nd, +2: 38
Blanka Kata Vas 3rd, +3: 49
  • 1 0
 I think she would have been too 3 in elite women. And given her climbing at the last Swiss cup I think she could have gone with the leader.
  • 4 0
 That's a lot of riders
  • 1 0
 Why has it taken 43 years to become gripped by xc? Yesterday's racing was as exciting as any gravity based race I've ever seen.
  • 2 0
 Maybe because XC used to be really boring, with boring long gravel tracks without camera coverage. Albstadt is the most boring track on the circus so you have a lot to look forward to. Next week will be a lot more fun!
  • 1 0
 The courses changed for better spectator and camera positions. One camera can now cover more than one part of a course and if you noticed, they used wire suspended cameras as well. No more simple up into woods disappear for 30 mins for each lap. I also think it is thanks to RedBullTv. Coverage by big networks in the US was just absolutely horrible, with commentators that could care less about the sport.
  • 1 0
 @mrkkbb: Yes. RedBull have and still is done a tremendous job with XCO!
  • 1 0
 Why did Lena Gerault (French champion, 9th on UCI ranking) have to start P73 or something?
  • 1 0
 Start order was determined by the short track on Friday. Doesn't look like she did the ST? after them I'm not sure what the order is...but UCI points a kinda trash right now based on who got to race last year vs who didn't.
  • 2 0
 Is Mathias using the inverted dropper from DT Swiss?
  • 1 0
 Nope, he is using normal dropper. Idk what brand.
  • 2 0
 Lars Forster had a bad race.
Sam Gaze.... Did he get lost?
  • 1 0
 Gaze startet all the way back and passed a lot of guys. Taken some time for him to get back after his head injury in Cape Epic.
  • 2 0
 Glad to see Yana back on top level
  • 1 0
 How come Emily Batty is listed as 27th here and 17th everywhere else?
  • 2 0
 17th is the short track result
  • 1 0
 What bike is Pidcock riding?
  • 2 0
 BMC...
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