Pinkbike Primer: The World Cup XC Season is Charging Ahead to Nove Mesto

With a second cross country World Cup race coming up just a week after the season opener, we're suddenly in the full swing of the 2021 race season. Last weekend was eventful, bringing new blood to the top of the podium in both the men's and women's elite races. Loana Lecomte took her second Elite World Cup win with a commanding lead over reigning World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, while on the men's side of things, Victor Koretzky beat out Nino Schurter in a sprint to the finish to take his first Elite win.

The standout performance, however, was Tom Pidcock's incredible ride from the 11th row of the start grid to the podium, even leading for a bit and eventually settling into fifth place despite a rear tire puncture that forced a stop through the tech zone.

This weekend promises to bring us a series of exciting races, with numerous strong podium contenders in each field.

The track

The course will look quite different from the smooth and fast Albstadt track last weekend, and it will favor a different skillset. The 3.9km course will be mostly unchanged from the 2019 course previewed above, and will include 117m of climbing each lap combined with relatively technical descents, which will demand more technical skill and focus but will also slow the racers down, giving them a bit more time between climbs. While many racers opted to ride hardtails in Albstadt, we can expect to see mostly full suspension race weapons this week.

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Previous winners

Nove Mesto has been a stop on the World Cup XC circuit since 2011. Nino Schurter has been quite dominant most years, though others have won the last three races to take place there in 2019 and 2020. In the women's field, Annika Langvad had a three-year winning streak, but the last three years have been a mixed bag. Loana Lecomte raced her first-ever Elite World Cup here last year and won it, so things are looking great for her after her impressive win in Albstadt last weekend.

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XC World Cup Standings After Round 1

Weather forecast

The racers will be looking forward to a break in the heat after a sweltering race weekend in Albstadt. Cooler weather will start mid-week and is forecasted to continue through the weekend.

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Schedule

All times CEST

Thursday, May 13
• 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 including Juniors

Friday, May 14
• 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 - Junior Women
• 14:00-15:30 // Official XCO Training - Junior Men
• 15:15-17:00 // Official XCC Training - Women
• 17:00-17:45 // Official XCC Training - Men
• 18:00 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Women
• 18:45 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Men

Saturday, May 15
• 08:00-09:00 // Official XCO Training - Juniors
• 09:30 // XCO Junior Series - Men
• 11:15 // XCO Junior Series - Women, all Juniors awards to follow
• 12:30-13:30 // Official XCO Training - Men Under 23 and Elite
• 13:30-14:30 // Official XCO Training - Women Under 23 and Elite
• 15:00 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Men Under 23
• 16:30 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Women Under 23, all U23 awards to follow

Sunday, May 16
• 09:00-10:30 // Official XCO Training - Men and Women Elite
• 11:20 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Women Elite, followed by awards
• 15:20 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Men Elite, followed by awards

Note: All times are local and subject to change by the UCI/event organizer.

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How to watch

Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the Nove Mesto 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)

- Nove Mesto XCC Women and Men: Friday, May 14 - 5:50pm (7:50am PDT, 10:50am EDT, 3:50pm GMT, 02:50am +day NZST)
- Nove Mesto XCO Women: Sunday, May 16 - 11:00am (2:00am PDT, 5:00am EDT, 9:00am GMT, 9:00pm NZST)
- Nove Mesto XCO Men: Sunday, May 16 - 3pm (6am PDT, 9am EDT, 1pm GMT, 1am +day NZST)

Note: These times are subject to change. Please check with your local provider.

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Pinkbike Predictions

Tom Pidcock's race last weekend was incredible. He had the fastest lap times of anyone for the second and third laps. His first lap was 33 seconds slower than the fastest first lap, putting him significantly behind the leaders, but he still charged ahead, passing aggressively on the climbs until he was leading the race. Then, despite having to pump up his tire, he snagged the fifth spot on the podium. That ride, his Swiss Bike Cup win two weeks ago in which he finished more than three minutes ahead of second-placed Titouan Carod, and the fact that he won here twice as a U23 last year all suggest that he has what it takes to win this weekend.

As for second place, Mathieu van der Poel is hard to beat when he's on. He hasn't been quite as consistent this season as Pidcock, but he showed in the XCC last week that the power is definitely there, and I think he'll continue to climb the results sheet as he gets back into the rhythm of mountain bike racing after a two-year break. Rounding out the podium, Nino Schurter is obviously strong and clearly has the technical skill to make this course work for him, but his sprints haven't quite been there this season, so I think he will be outridden by competitors who have demonstrated more power lately.

I'll also bet on young talent for the women's podium. Loana Lecomte gapped Pauline Ferrand-Prevot by almost a minute last weekend, and she took her first Elite win at this venue last season, so I think she can keep the momentum going for another win this week. Up next, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot has been strong so far this season, and like Loana, she has the advantage of also having won here last year. Her XCC win last week showed that she's in good form coming into the season with her new team. In third place, I think Anne Terpstra will pull through, as this is a course that has been good to her in the past, and she's shown in a couple of other races this season that she's ready to put down big results.

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Fantasy League

And since participating is way more fun than sitting on the sidelines, Fantasy XC is back for 2021. Don't forget to pick your teams!