Final Results from the Albstadt XC World Cup 2022
The second XC World Cup of the year is now underway in Albstadt. After an incredible performance in Brazil and the Short Track win on Friday Rebecca McConnell has taken her second World Cup win after a dominant performance. Leading from the start loop Rebecca McConnell controlled the front of the race for all of the five laps with Jenny Rissveds offering the only risk to the top spot of the podium. It was the fourth lap that marked the end of Rissveds' chances as McConnell blew apart the two riders putting in a huge gap after the first big climb of the lap. Rissveds still managed a great second place at her first World Cup of 2022 with the young talent of Mona Mitterwallner crossing the line in third.
As if the racing couldn't get any better we saw some incredible performances in the Elite Men's race. Thomas Pidcock proved why he is the Olympic champion as he effortlessly rode away from the likes of Schurter, Avancini and Flückiger to take the lead on lap three and never saw any challenge for the rest of the race. Nino Schurter looked like he could make history today with a strong start but it would be second place for the Swiss rider at the end of the race. Vlad Dascalu secured another third place this year after having to pull into the pits mid-race with a broken saddle.
Check out the full results below.
The U23 riders took on the tough climbs of this weekend's course yesterday, you can check out the results here.
Results:
Elite Women (5 Laps)
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 1:19:39
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +48
3rd. Mona Mitterwallner: +1:00
4th. Loana Lecomte: +1:45
5th. Alessandra Keller: +2:33
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 1:19:39
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +48
3rd. Mona Mitterwallner: +1:00
4th. Loana Lecomte: +1:45
5th. Alessandra Keller: +2:33
Elite Men (6 Laps)
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 1:18:42
2nd. Nino Schurter: +20
3rd. Vlad Dascalu: +21
4th. Titouan Carod: +36
5th. David Valero Serrano: +54
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 1:18:42
2nd. Nino Schurter: +20
3rd. Vlad Dascalu: +21
4th. Titouan Carod: +36
5th. David Valero Serrano: +54
Full Results:
Elite Women
Elite Men
Live Race Updates:
The 2022 World Cup XC racing continues with the second round in Albstadt.
The Women's racing kicks off on Red Bull TV at: 11:00am CEST (2:00am PDT, 5:00am EDT, 10:00am BST, 9:00pm NZST)
The Men will start on Red Bull TV at: 14:15pm CEST (5:15am PDT, 8:15am EDT, 13:15pm BST, 12:15am +day NZST)
2:20 am PDT
The Elite Women are off with Jolanda Neff leading the race into the start loop.
2:23 am PDT
Rebecca McConnell now takes the lead up the first climb.
2:30 am PDT
After the start loop the top five Elite Women are:
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 9:59
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +6
3rd. Anne Terpstra: +7
4th. Loana Lecomte: +15
5th. Jolanda Neff: +16
2:33 am PDT
Jenny Rissveds is closing in on Rebecca McConnell at the front of the race with the chasing group led by Loana Lecomte sitting at around 25 seconds back.
2:37 am PDT
At split one on the first lap, Jenny Rissveds is eight seconds off the lead with the chasing group 31 seconds off the pace of Rebecca McConnell.
2:43 am PDT
Jenny Rissveds has caught Rebecca McConnell after pulling back over seven seconds on a climb. The chasing group has fallen further back with a 44-second gap to the top two racers.
2:44 am PDT
After the lap one the top five Elite Women are:
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 23:47
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +1
3rd. Loana Lecomte: +46
4th. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +47
5th. Alessandra Keller: +47
2:49 am PDT
Currently, it is looking like the chasing group is catching the leaders with the gap already having dropped by 10 seconds.
2:51 am PDT
At the first split the gap from the leaders to Mona Mitterwallner and the chasing group is 35 seconds.
2:57 am PDT
Impressively Mona Mitterwallner was able to take almost 10 seconds out of the leading group on the big climb in the second half of the lap. We could see the chasing group come back to the front if this continues,
2:58 am PDT
After the lap two the top five Elite Women are:
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 37:48
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +3
3rd. Mona Mitterwallner: +37
4th. Loana Lecomte: +38
5th. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +38
3:03 am PDT
Jenny Rissveds is pushing hard and starting to pull away from Rebecca McConnell.
3:06 am PDT
Mona Mitterwallner and Loana Lecomte have pulled away from the chasing group but a mistake on the boardwalk for both riders has cost them a lot of time.
3:12 am PDT
Alessandra Keller is now putting the power down and has pulled ahead of the chasing group. there aren't many laps left so it is looking hard for the gap to be closed to the leaders.
3:13 am PDT
After the lap three the top five Elite Women are:
1st. Jenny Rissveds: 52:01
2nd. Rebecca McConnell: +0
3rd. Alessandra Keller: +36
4th. Mona Mitterwallner: +41
5th. Loana Lecomte: +41
3:18 am PDT
Rebecca McConnell is starting her attack at the front of the race and has put almost nine seconds on Jenny Rissveds at the top of the first big climb of the lap.
3:21 am PDT
Rebecca McConnell has created a massive 22-second gap, can she have her first-ever perfect weekend after winning the Short Track race?
3:27 am PDT
Going into the final lap the top five Elite Women are:
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 1:05:44
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +38
3rd. Mona Mitterwallner: +1:05
4th. Loana Lecomte: +1:08
5th. Alessandra Keller: +1:46
3:34 am PDT
Mona Mitterwallner is closing in on Jenny Rissveds in second place, with half a lap and a massive climb the gap could be closed down for a sprint to the finish line.
3:39 am PDT
Rebecca McConnell wins in Albstadt!
3:41 am PDT
The top five Elite Women are:
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 1:19:39
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +48
3rd. Mona Mitterwallner: +1:00
4th. Loana Lecomte: +1:45
5th. Alessandra Keller: +2:33
5:35 am PDT
The Elite Men's race is now underway as Luca Schwarzbauer leads the pack into the short start loop.
5:41 am PDT
Nino Schurter takes the lead on the big start loop climb.
5:44 am PDT
After the start loop the top five Elite Men are:
1st. Nino Schurter: 8:32
2nd. Henrique Avancini: +0
3rd. Titouan Carod: +0
4th. Jordan Sarrou: +1
5th. Luca Schwarzbauer:+3
5:48 am PDT
Henrique Avancini pushes past Nino Schurter to take the lead. The front riders are so close together right now and everyone is fighting for the top position.
5:49 am PDT
Nino Schurter has now sprinted past Henrique Avancini and has really upped the pace. But soon after Avancini sprints past Schurter. The pace is incredibly high right now.
5:50 am PDT
Nino Schurter tasks the B Line instead of the boardwalk section and gains a significant amount of time over Henrique Avancini. It is apparently just starting to rain and with the amount of rock on the course we could be in for some carnage if we get a heavy downpour.
5:51 am PDT
Nino Schurter and Vlad Dascalu are starting to pull away at the front and currently have a seven-second gap to the chasing group.
5:55 am PDT
After the first lap the top five Elite Men are:
1st. Nino Schurter: 20:17
2nd. Vlad Dascalu: +0
3rd. Thomas Pidcock: +0
4th. Titouan Carod: +1
5th. Mathias Flückiger: +1
5:58 am PDT
The chasing group has caught back up and now Alan Hatherly leads the race.
6:00 am PDT
Mathias Flückiger has taken the lead for the first time today. The front riders are so tightly packed it will be interesting to see if anyone launches an early attack to try and break things up.
6:02 am PDT
The leading four riders of Mathias Flückiger, Nino Schurter, Alan Hatherly and Thomas Pidcock have really picked up the pace and there is an 11-second gap back to the chasing group.
6:03 am PDT
After a rapid start Vlad Dascalu is in the pits after breaking a saddle.
6:06 am PDT
After lap two the top five Elite Men are:
1st. Mathias Flückiger 31:50
2nd. Nino Schurter: +0
3rd. Thomas Pidcock: +0
4th. Alan Hatherly: +0
5th. Titouan Carod: +9
6:10 am PDT
Thomas Pidcock now leads as the top three riders start to pull further away from the rest of the field.
6:11 am PDT
Pidcock has launched a massive attack, Shurter and Flückiger are trying to go with him but so far there is a seven-second gap.
6:12 am PDT
At split one Thomas Pidcock has a 10 second lead with Nino Schurter in 2nd and Mathias Flückiger in 3rd.
6:15 am PDT
The gap has extended to 15 seconds at split two, Pidcock is pushing very hard and there are still over three laps left.
6:19 am PDT
After lap three the top five Elite Men are:
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 43:17
2nd. Nino Schurter: +20
3rd. Mathias Flückiger: +20
4th. Alan Hatherly: +20
5th. Titouan Carod: +21
6:24 am PDT
At split one on lap four the gap from the chasing group to Thomas Pidcock has grown even more to 32 seconds.
6:30 am PDT
It looks like a rear flat tire for Mathias Flückiger!
6:31 am PDT
After lap four the top five Elite Men are:
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 54:57
2nd. Nino Schurter: +39
3rd. Titouan Carod: +39
4th. Alan Hatherly: +39
5th. Mathias Flückiger: +48
6:39 am PDT
Despite his mechanical earlier in the race Vlad Dascalu is right on the heels of the chasing group.
6:42 am PDT
Going into the last lap the top five Elite Men are:
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 1:06:48
2nd. Titouan Carod: +38
3rd. Nino Schurter: +38
4th. Vlad Dascalu: +46
5th. Alan Hatherly: +46
6:46 am PDT
With no chance of Pidcock being caught it now comes down to Titouan Carod, Nino Schurter and Vlad Dascalu to fight for second place.
6:51 am PDT
Nino Schurter and Vlad Dascalu are attacking up the last climb, can Titouan Carod go with them?
6:53 am PDT
Thomas Pidcock wins in Albstadt!
6:54 am PDT
The top five Elite Men are:
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 1:18:42
2nd. Nino Schurter: +20
3rd. Vlad Dascalu: +21
4th. Titouan Carod: +36
5th. David Valero Serrano: +54
Author Info:
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[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Mairiporã XC World Cup 2024
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Regardless, an amazing performance by Vlad to get back to the leaders.
My guess is that one of the mechanic put the remote in pairing mode and vlad put the seat post in pairng mode while riding.
@Artikay13 I don't think shimano being a sponser matters, they talk about Rockshox/sram all the time
Presumably Vlad was using the Bontrager Verse Pro saddle with carbon rails? Carbon is great if you're only loading it exactly how the designers intended. Or you can take the 50g weight penalty for a nice isotropic rail material and maybe stay out of the pits.
(this is speculation, admittedly)
This is exactly what I was wondering. Like did they have the foresight to pair this ahead of the race. I was so curious about this, that I asked my buddy that works at a shop to see if you can pair 2x different AXS post to one shifter. He said he didn't think you could because for some reason AXS is picky about 1type of device per shifter. He said what others said here. They probably had one mechanic put the dropper lever in pairing mode upon VD's arrival, while the other was swapping out the post. Pairing takes less than 5 seconds.
Bec's classic roadie climber's extended standing takes tremendous energy; even next to the pure climbers she looked exceptional in form.
Jenny, fed leading questions: "No.." you never know what's going to come out but you know it's going to be good. Love her economy of motion on the bike. A "Look at the peas on my dinner plate" style.
After her big crash Friday Loana didn't seem to be super mentally into it but pulled out a great result nevertheless. She hasn't indicated she has goals later in the season but her spring so far has been a sort of enforced "let's not burn out like last year".
PFP: I ave good strength for the short track but must lose excess fat for my ultimate goal of worlds. Last year she cut too much and imploded. Totally motivated by the individual races and not the overall.
Stigger had a very tough weekend - Sina essentially sat on her head on Friday and she had an early mishap today. Regardless she pulled out another great ride, never want to make excuses. Has a great attitude each start, dapping up other riders.
Jolo was off the bike for nearly 3 weeks and still finish 9th on a brutal course. Never ceases to amaze me.
Mona could win the overall this year but I doubt it.. she gives up too much on the downs and flats. Excellent technically but her lightness going up hurts in other ways.
Gwinnie with another super solid ride, especially after her practice header.
Savilia was off but had a rocket ship of a first lap, going from 47th to top 20. She'll be back.
But idk, the blacked-out BMC seems to be working pretty well. Maybe Pinarello should just slap some new decals on a Fourstroke and call it a product development cycle.
He's been doing a lot of long hard races and it's caught up with him from what was been said.
Adam and I also tried a few new things and potentially overreached. We kind of lost sight of what works for me and got overwhelmed with the political side of it. Once we came back to our normal and Adam was able to travel with me, I started to come around and I started to show signs of myself again.
The loneliness of just being on your own… Where I live, we pretty much have to be away all season long because the training environment isn’t quite up to par for what it takes to race World Cups. So I have to be gone for nine months of the year. And being on my own, that really affected me. There’s a lot to it but those are the main things that made the season a little bit harder than it needed to be."
That's a pretty tactful way to say her mental health is shit. There's a lot of mental health issues that the bike racing scene kind of glosses over. As someone who was more or less a "professional athlete" and spent 6-9 months of the year on the road, I know exactly the feeling.
These world tour road pros that come into mtb are a different breed. Bit of a bummer that they seem to be able to just show up and crush the whole XC field, but it's cool to see them out there.
Also shout out to Pidcock for *THE WORST* post-race interview I've ever seen. At least try to act like you give a shit.
Races on track with long climbs tend to be like that, next week should be better; more technical and less steep climbs.