Pinkbike Primer - Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the Vallnord World Cup XC
For the third round of the 2019 World Cup XC season, we return to Vallnord. This venue always throws up some of the best racing because of its unique challenge, riding at altitude. The track which sits 1900m above sea level puts a strain on the riders as they push the red line throughout the race. Some opt to stay at altitude for the week before the race to acclimatise and others arrive as close to the race as possible to limit the effects. Either way, you can expect some of the best racing and some very tired riders at the end of the weekend.
The track
We aren't expecting many changes to the course in Vallnord but so far this year the course designers have liked to throw in a few changes like the pump track section in Nove Mesto or the controversial wooden sections at Albstadt. For those that prefer a more traditional course with both challenging ascents and descents then Vallnord has it all with plenty of rock features and some of the toughest climbs riders will face all year.
Previous winners
Vallnord has been featured on the World Cup circuit since 2013 with it missing a year in 2014 before hosting the World Championships. Since 2015 it has been in every World Cup season with Nino Schurter being the only rider to appear dominant at the venue.
2013:
Elite Men: Nino Schurter
Elite Women: Sabine Spitz
2016:
Elite Men: Julien Absalon
Elite Women: Jolanda Neff
2017:
Elite Men: Nino Schurter
Elite Women: Yana Belomoina
2018:
Elite Men: Gerhard Kerschbaumer
Elite Women: Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa
2015 World Championships:
Elite Men: Nino Schurter
Elite Women: Pauline Ferrand Prevot
Last round recap
Weather forecast
The forecast for this weekend is mixed and it's looking quite likely that we might see some wet conditions on the track.
Friday, July 5 - Short Track
Sunny // 25°C // 1% precipitation // wind 6km/h // 9km/h gusts
Saturday, July 6 - Practice
Sunny // 22°C // 25% precipitation // wind 11km/h // 18km/h gusts
Sunday, July 7 - Under 23 Men, Under 23 Women, Elite Men, Elite Women
A thunderstorm in the area // 20°C // 55% precipitation // wind 11km/h // 26km/h gusts
Weather forecast as of Tuesday, July 2. Live updates from Accuweather.
Sunny // 25°C // 1% precipitation // wind 6km/h // 9km/h gusts
Saturday, July 6 - Practice
Sunny // 22°C // 25% precipitation // wind 11km/h // 18km/h gusts
Sunday, July 7 - Under 23 Men, Under 23 Women, Elite Men, Elite Women
A thunderstorm in the area // 20°C // 55% precipitation // wind 11km/h // 26km/h gusts
Weather forecast as of Tuesday, July 2. Live updates from Accuweather.
Schedule
All times CEST
Thursday July 4
• 12:00-14:00 // Official XCO Training - Women Under 23 and Elite
• 14:00-16:00 // Official XCO Training - Men Under 23 and Elite
Friday July 5
• 09:30-11:00 // Official XCO Training - Women Under 23 and Elite
• 11:00-12:30 // Official XCO Training - Men Under 23 and Elite
• 12:30-14:30 // Official XCO Training - All riders
• 15:45-16:30 // Official XCC Training - Women
• 16:300-17:15 // Official XCC Training - Men
• 17:30 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Women
• 18:15 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Men
Saturday July 6
• 09:30-11:30 // Official XCO Training - Women
• 11:00-13:30 // Official XCO Training - Men
• 13:30-14:30 // Official XCO Training - All riders
Sunday July 7
• 08:30 // World Cup Cross-country Olympic - Women Under 23
• 10:15 // World Cup Cross-country Olympic - Men Under 23
• 12:20 // World Cup Cross-country Olympic - Women Elite - Followed by Awards
• 14:50 // 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 Andorra 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 in CEST, replay available immediately following the races)
- Vallnord XCC Women and Men: Friday, July 5 - 5:20pm (7:20am PDT, 10:20am EDT, 4:20pm GMT, 02:20am NZST)
- Vallnord XCO Women: Sunday, May 26 - 11:00am (2:00am PDT, 5:00am EDT, 10:00am GMT, 9:00pm NZST)
- Vallnord XCO Men: Sunday, May 26 - 1:30pm (4:30am PDT, 7:30am EDT, 12:30pm GMT, 11:30pm NZST)
Note: These times are subject to change. Please check with your local provider.
Pinkbike Predictions
“Nino Schurter will be back with a vengeance after losing out to MVDP at the last round, after a few weeks off from racing he will be looking to secure the win in Andorra. Gerhard Kerschbaumer put in an amazing performance in Vallnord last year and even managed to beat Schurter, he will be looking to repeat his win and prove his speed after a tough start to the season. Henrique Avancini is always at the top of the field and I predict he will complete the top three in Andorra, he came fourth behind MVDP here last year and with the Dutch rider sitting out the next few World Cups Avancini will want to prove himself once again.
Jolanda Neff hasn't had the start to the season she would have wanted but she has a history of doing well on the Andorran course so expect to see her at the front of the race from the very beginning. After two back to back wins you have to include Kate Courtney but I think Neff's greater experience on the course and dealing with the altitude will give her the edge come race day. It will be great to see which of these fast women will take the win because it really could be either of them. For the third pick, you can't rule out Yana Belomoina who has won here multiple times as an Elite and Junior rider. She has had a great start to the season so far and I expect her to back it up with another top finish in Vallnord."
ELITE MEN
1 // Nino SCHURTER
2 // Gerhard KERSCHBAUMER
3 // Henrique AVANCINI
1 // Nino SCHURTER
2 // Gerhard KERSCHBAUMER
3 // Henrique AVANCINI
ELITE WOMEN
1 // Jolanda NEFF
2 // Kate COURTNEY
3 // Yana BELOMOINA
1 // Jolanda NEFF
2 // Kate COURTNEY
3 // Yana BELOMOINA
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 last round's results for Short Track and Olympic for some idea as to who's going fast.
MENTIONS: @trek / @SramMedia
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It was in good humor
Weather a full suspension is a larger advantage for a smaller rider in tough terrain is a bit more of a toss up. Larger unsprung to sprung mass would make the suspension less active but that's probably a small effect. It can probably be argued that a smaller rider has less momentum and will be "thrown around" more, thus making it more important to have good suspension.
Uphill pace: Definitely more affected more for a lighter rider. Riding gnar: It's complicated.
You can also see this in the reluctantly slow uptake of 29"by some riders, even though for pro's these (milli)seconds are so important.
On the weight discussion:ct. The impact of weightloss of 1kg is overrated (that's not opinion, that's math). For a 50kg woman this changes a bit due to percentages, but even there weight difference of 1kg alludes to less than 2% more system weight. It matters, but it's very small... and that's the reason why when we have head-to-head tests we see things like suss, tires etc have much more impact.
1. XCO is a loop, not just a descent. Generally, you spend about four times longer going up a hill as down it, so if your FS bike isn't getting you 4 times the gap as your HT gets on the climbs, it's a no brainer. 2. The Short Track race determines your starting place for the XCO. You choose the bike that can sprint that last lap and get you on row 1 for the XCO. Bec Henderson had a terrible ST two races ago and spent the whole XCO fighting for overtakes (see her Instagram). Compare that to the last round where she had a good ST and medals in the XCO. Mass start races are almost always about the start.