Pinkbike Primer: Albstadt World Cup XC 2019
The first XC World Cup of 2019 is finally here. It has been a long time since Nino Schurter and Kate Courtney took the rainbow jerseys in Lenzerheide last September. There have been plenty of team changes and some exciting announcements during the off-season like Kate Courtney moving to Scott, Jolanda Neff joining Trek and Julien Absalon and Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja both calling time on their legendary careers, so we're looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. For the opening round of the 2019 season, the World Cup will be returning to Germany and Albstadt. Now a regular on the circuit, it should be a great test of riders' fitness to kick off the season. Let's get you primed and ready for the weekend.
The track
We're not expecting too many changes from the 4km route in 2018, however, social media posts have suggested that the track has been sanitised after the torrential rain last year. The storm turned the track to a bog last year and devolved the race into a bit of a lottery with lots of top riders being caught out. The photos we've seen seem to show some tech sections smoothed out and the rest of the track covered in gravel but we've been asked to wait until we see the finished article before making judgement.
Previous winners
Albstadt is now well established on the circuit and has been a regular feature since 2013. Schurter and Absalon have traditionally dominated the men's races here but the women's field has seen a variety of winners with only Jolanda Neff ever winning here more than once.
2013:
Elite Men: Dan McConnell
Elite Women: Eva Lechner
2014:
Elite Men: Julien Absalon
Elite Women: Pauline Ferrand Prevot
2015:
Elite Men: Julien Absalon
Elite Women: Jolanda Neff
2016:
Elite Men: Julien Absalon
Elite Women: Annika Langvad
2017:
Elite Men: Nino Schurter
Elite Women: Yana Belomoina
2018:
Elite Men: Nino Schurter
Elite Women: Jolanda Neff
2018 Season Recap
Weather forecast
The forecast for this weekend is mixed and it's looking quite likely that we will see wet conditions on track again.
Friday, May 17 - Short Track
Intervals of clouds and sunshine, a shower or thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon // 17°C // 40% precipitation // wind 6km/h // 13km/h gusts
Saturday, May 18 - Under 23 Men
Times of clouds and sun, a couple of showers // 16°C // 63% precipitation // wind 6km/h // 11km/h gusts
Sunday, May 19 - Under 23 Women, Elite Men, Elite Women
Times of clouds and sun, a couple of showers and a thunderstorm // 14°C // 64% precipitation // wind 7km/h // 13km/h gusts
Weather forecast as of Wednesday 15 May. Live updates from Accuweather.
Intervals of clouds and sunshine, a shower or thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon // 17°C // 40% precipitation // wind 6km/h // 13km/h gusts
Saturday, May 18 - Under 23 Men
Times of clouds and sun, a couple of showers // 16°C // 63% precipitation // wind 6km/h // 11km/h gusts
Sunday, May 19 - Under 23 Women, Elite Men, Elite Women
Times of clouds and sun, a couple of showers and a thunderstorm // 14°C // 64% precipitation // wind 7km/h // 13km/h gusts
Weather forecast as of Wednesday 15 May. Live updates from Accuweather.
Schedule
All times CEST
Thursday 16 May
• 12:00-13:30 // Official XCO Training - Women Under 23 and Elite
• 13:30-15:00 // Official XCO Training - Men Under 23 and Elite
• 15:00-17:00 // Official XCO Training - All riders including Juniors Series
Friday 17 May
• 09:30-11:00 // Official XCO Training - Women Under 23 and Elite
• 11:00-12:30 // Official XCO Training - Men Under 23 and Elite
• 12:30-14:00 // Official XCO Training - Women Juniors
• 14:00-15:30 // Official XCO Training - Men Juniors
• 15:45-16:30 // Official XCC Training - Women
• 16:30-17:15 // Official XCC Training - Men
• 17:30 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Women
• 18:15 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Men
Saturday 18 May
• 08:00-09:00 // Official XCO Training - Juniors
• 09:15 // XCO Juniors Series - Men
• 10:45 // XCO Juniors Series - Women - Followed by Awards MJ and WJ
• 12:15-13:15 // Official XCO Training - Men Under 23 and Elite
• 13:15-14:15 // Official XCO - Women Under 23 and Elite
• 14:30 // World Cup Cross-country Olympic - Men Under 23 - Followed by Awards
Sunday 19 May
• 09:00 // World Cup Cross-country Olympic - Women Under 23 - Followed by Awards
• 11:20 // World Cup Cross-country Olympic - Women Elite - Followed by Awards
• 14:35 // World Cup Cross-country Olympic - Men Elite - Followed by Awards
Note: All times are local and subject to change by the UCI/event organiser.
How to watch
Pinkbike will be providing you with the best daily coverage from our team of photographers in Germany this week. Tune in to Pinkbike to catch photo epics, results, news and tech.
All the elite races can be streamed live on redbull.tv.
Schedule:
(all times CEST, replay available immediately following the races)
- Albstadt XCC Women and Men: Friday, May 17 - 5:20pm (8:20am PDT, 11:20am EDT, 4:20pm GMT, 03:20am NZST)
- Albstadt XCO Women: Sunday, May 19 - 11:00am (2:00am PDT, 5am EDT, 10am GMT, 21:00NZST)
- Albstadt XCO Men: Sunday, May 19 - 2:15pm (5:15am PDT, 8:15am EDT, 1:15pm GMT, 0:15am NZST)
Note: These times are subject to change. Please check with your local provider.
Pinkbike Predictions
“Annika Langvad won the season opener in 2016 and in 2017. She has also shown winning form on this track as she took the top spot by more than a minute in 2016. Emily Batty hasn't shown her cards at many races through the offseason, but her form at the end of last year showed she's likely to be a podium regular in 2019. Always a threat, I think Jolanda Neff will start the season strong with a third place.
Nino Schurter will be hard to beat in Albstadt, after all, he's won the last two races here. I think Mathieu Van Der Poel will be close and could beat Schurter this season, but even his stunning road form of late won't be enough to catch the World Champion at round one. I'm backing Stephane Tempier for third since he finished second here last year. He hasn't been on the podium since, but I think he can regain his 2017 form."
Nino Schurter will be hard to beat in Albstadt, after all, he's won the last two races here. I think Mathieu Van Der Poel will be close and could beat Schurter this season, but even his stunning road form of late won't be enough to catch the World Champion at round one. I'm backing Stephane Tempier for third since he finished second here last year. He hasn't been on the podium since, but I think he can regain his 2017 form."
Pinkbike's World Cup Predictor - Sarah Moore
ELITE MEN
1 // Nino SCHURTER
2 // Mathieu VAN DER POEL
3 // Stephane TEMPIER
1 // Nino SCHURTER
2 // Mathieu VAN DER POEL
3 // Stephane TEMPIER
ELITE WOMEN
1 // Annika LANGVAD
2 // Emily BATTY
3 // Jolanda NEFF
1 // Annika LANGVAD
2 // Emily BATTY
3 // Jolanda NEFF
Fantasy League
Don't forget to complete your XC Fantasy team before racing kicks off. If you don't know who to pick, check out our 2018 season breakdown and our Form Guide that takes a look at who is looking good coming into the season.
MENTIONS: @trek / @SramMedia
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Please write about stuff for those of us that don't buy bikes that are "long and slack"
Would be awesome if they were able to get more people doing race diaries (like the ones Kabush has done).
XC content doesn't do quite as well as EWS or DH on Pinkbike (yet), but it's the fastest-growing discipline in terms of audience on PB.
@SangamonTaylor you're in luck. Geoff will be doing some more race diaries for us this year.
So I get the complaint but I do think PB is doing a great job already and they'll probably do an even better job in the future. I love the coverage Irmo Keizer always does with his wide aperture shots and I hope he'll be back again this year!
I love the womens racing, seems to be lots more exciting than the mens.
Is that dumb kiwi still racing? The angry one? He was pretty strong. Fun to root against.
Also, I had the previledge to watch live (on TV) the last kms of the Amstel Gold Race, and it was one of the most thriling finishes of any bike race ever. Go watch it if you haven't already.
So expect to see many internal battles - on track - among Swiss, French, and Italians.
www.mtb-news.de/news/2019/05/16/streckencheck-worldcup-albstadt
As far as I see: some of the photos shown by A. Cooper on Insta are actually footpaths for the audience ("Zuschauerwege"), but overall the track still seems to have been simplified quite a bit, with lots of added gravel (e.g., Mitas Abbys) and wood elements / bridges.
Might be a reasonable thing, if it's raining (as predicted), but overall it's a bit strange
...although wet wood bridges could deliver some carnage...
sticking with Jolanda!
You guys switched the letters around