Pinkbike Primer: Can Nino Schurter Break Records at his Home Race in Lenzerheide?
We're back for round five of the 2022 XC World Cup with a stacked weekend of racing in Lenzerheide. Check out all the details you need to know below.
The Track
The course in Lenzerheide throws up plenty of challenges with some decent climbs as well as some tricky descents. There's plenty to catch riders out as they go head to head, and we normally get some flat-out action with a big sprint to the line if the top riders are close.
Last Time in Lenzerheide
After an amazing day of flat-out racing, the results are in from Lenzerheide. In the U23 category, there were two dominant riders. Mona Mitterwallner and Martin Vidaurre Kossmann took big wins and the top steps of their podiums.
The Elite Women's race saw some very close racing for the first few laps, but a big attack on lap four saw the newly crowned World Champion Evie Richards win in Lenzerheide. Rebecca McConnell crossed the line in 2nd, 19 seconds back. Jenny Rissveds completed the top three riders after a last-lap puncture for Sina Frei. Loana Lecomte couldn't win today, but she does walk away with the 2021 World Cup overall title.
After a close battle for the Elite Men's win, it was a late attack by Victor Koretzky that took him over the line two seconds up on Nino Schurter. Mathias Flueckiger once again was passed by Nino Schurter on a wild inside line seeing him take third place today and missing out on closing the overall World Cup title before heading off to Snowshoe for the final race.
Check out the results below.
Elite Women (5 Laps)
1st. Evie Richards: 1:19:16
2nd. Rebecca McConnell: +0:19
3rd. Jenny Rissveds: +0:58
4th. Loana Lecomte: +1:12
5th. Sina Frei: +1:20
Elite Men (6 Laps)
1st. Victor Koretzky: 1:18:23
2nd. Nino Schurter: +0:02
3rd. Mathias Flueckiger: +0:09
4th. Alan Hatherly: +0:18
5th. Titouan Carod: +0:31
U23 Women (4 Laps)
1st. Mona Mitterwallner: 1:08:35
2nd. Caroline Bohe: 1:10:22
3rd. Savilia Blunk: 1:10:56
4th. Leonie Daubermann: 1:11:25
5th. Gwendalyn Gibson: 1:11:28
U23 Men (5 Laps)
1st. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:09:24
2nd. Juri Zanotti: 1:09:40
3rd. Joel Roth: 1:09:59
4th. Mathis Azzaro: 1:09:59
5th. Charlie Aldridge: 1:10:00
Previous Winners
Elite Men
2015: Jaroslav Kulhavy
2016: Nino Schurter
2017: Nino Schurter
2018//Worlds: Nino Schurter
2019: Mathieu Van Der Poel
2021: Victor Koretzky
Elite Women
2015: Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa
2016: Jenny Rissveds
2017: Annie Last
2018//Worlds: Kate Courtney
2019: Jenny Rissveds
2021: Evie Richards
What Happened at the Last Race?
The fourth XC World Cup of the year provided some incredible racing in Leogang. Kicking off a packed day was the U23s with Puck Pieterse just pulling ahead of Line Burquier by only two seconds. For the U23 Men, Martin Vidaurre Kossmann secured another win with a nearly twenty-second advantage over Simone Avondetto.
In a repeat of the 2021 results, Loana Lecomte took the win in the Elite Women's race with Jenny Rissveds and Laura Stigger once again taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. Loana looks to be back on her unstoppable 2021 form with a commanding win with control of the race from the very start. Series leader Rebecca McConnell didn't have the race she would have wanted, crossing the line over three minutes back in 7th. Massive respect goes out to Mona Mitterwallner who was involved in a crash right out of the start and went from dead last to an impressive 15th place at the finish.
For the Elite Men, we saw Mathias Flückiger join Loana Lecomte with a perfect weekend in Austria. Nino Schurter tried his best to stick with Mathias on the last lap but an attack up the second big climb was just too much for the World Champion and a small gap formed that couldn't be closed before the finish line. Alan Hatherly ran an amazing race to hold onto third and stuck within touching distance of the top two for nearly all of the six laps.
Check out the results below.
Results:
Elite Women (5 Laps)
1st. Loana Lecomte: 1:15:42
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +1:13
3rd. Laura Stiger: +1:28
4th. Sina Frei: +1:41
5th. Anne Terpstra: +2:10
1st. Loana Lecomte: 1:15:42
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +1:13
3rd. Laura Stiger: +1:28
4th. Sina Frei: +1:41
5th. Anne Terpstra: +2:10
Elite Men (6 Laps)
1st. Mathias Flückiger: 1:15:31
2nd. Nino Schurter: +6
3rd. Alan Hatherly: +39
4th. Vlad Dascalu: +45
5th. Maxime Marotte: +1:09
1st. Mathias Flückiger: 1:15:31
2nd. Nino Schurter: +6
3rd. Alan Hatherly: +39
4th. Vlad Dascalu: +45
5th. Maxime Marotte: +1:09
U23 Women (4 Laps)
1st. Puck Pieterse: 1:04:41
2nd. Line Burquier: 1:04:43
3rd. Olivia Onesti: 1:06:11
4th. Sofie Pedersen: 1:06:39
5th. Luisa Daubermann: 1:07:31
1st. Puck Pieterse: 1:04:41
2nd. Line Burquier: 1:04:43
3rd. Olivia Onesti: 1:06:11
4th. Sofie Pedersen: 1:06:39
5th. Luisa Daubermann: 1:07:31
U23 Men (5 Laps)
1st. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:06:54
2nd. Simone Avondetto: 1:07:13
3rd. Filippo Fontana: 1:07:28
4th. Luca Schätti: 1:08:23
5th. Janis Baumann: 1:08:42
1st. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:06:54
2nd. Simone Avondetto: 1:07:13
3rd. Filippo Fontana: 1:07:28
4th. Luca Schätti: 1:08:23
5th. Janis Baumann: 1:08:42
Current Overall Standings
Elite Women
Elite Men
U23 Women
U23 Men
Weather Forecast
The week starts a little wet, but by race day we should have a bit of sun and there's minimal chance of rain.
Thursday, July 7 - Training
Variable clouds with a thunderstorm // 16° // 80% Chance of Precipitation // 9 km/h Wind
Friday, July 8 - Qualifying
Mostly cloudy with a touch of rain in the afternoon // 15° // 59% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Saturday, July 9 - Training
Mostly cloudy with a touch of rain in the afternoon // 18° // 65% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Sunday, July 10 - Finals
Periods of clouds and sun // 18° // 11% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Weather forecast as of Sunday, July 3 from Accuweather.
Variable clouds with a thunderstorm // 16° // 80% Chance of Precipitation // 9 km/h Wind
Friday, July 8 - Qualifying
Mostly cloudy with a touch of rain in the afternoon // 15° // 59% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Saturday, July 9 - Training
Mostly cloudy with a touch of rain in the afternoon // 18° // 65% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Sunday, July 10 - Finals
Periods of clouds and sun // 18° // 11% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Weather forecast as of Sunday, July 3 from Accuweather.
Schedule
All times CEST
Thursday, July 7
• 12:00-14:00 // Official XCO Training - Women
• 14:00-16:00 // Official XCO Training - Men
Friday, July 8
• 09:30-11:00 // Official XCO Training - Women
• 11:00-12:30 // Official XCO Training - Men
• 12:30-14:30 // Official XCO Training - All Riders
• 15:45-16:30 // Official XCC Training - Women
• 16:30-17:15 // Official XCC Training - Men
• 17:45 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Women
• 18:30 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Men
Saturday, July 9
• 09:30-11:30 // Official XCO Training - Women
• 11:30-13:30 // Official XCO Training - Men
Sunday, July 10
• 08:45 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Women Under 23, followed by awards
• 11:05 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Women Elite, followed by awards
• 13:20 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Men Elite, followed by awards
• 15:45 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Men Under 23, followed by awards
Note: All times are local and subject to change by the UCI/event organizer.
How to Watch
Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the Lenzerheide coverage throughout the week.
All the Elite races can be streamed live on redbull.tv.
Schedule:
(All times in CEST, replay available immediately following the races)
Lenzerheide XCC Short Track: July 8 Live on Red Bull TV 17:35 CEST
Lenzerheide XCO Women: July 10 Live on Red Bull TV 10:45 CEST
Lenzerheide XCO Men: July 10 Live on Red Bull TV 13:00 CEST
Note: These times are subject to change. Please check with your local provider.
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15 Comments
I agree about Neff though.