Will There be Carnage on the Boardwalks? - The Albstadt XC World Cup Primer
After some incredible and historic racing at the opening round of the XC World Cup in Brazil, the second race heads to Albstadt in Germany. The Albstadt course is pretty heavy on the climbs and will provide a very different challenge to the last race. Check out everything you need to know ahead of this week's race below.
The Track
The Albstadt course hasn't changed too much since the massive changes in 2019 that saw the course made quite a bit easier to ensure that it provided safer racing in wetter conditions. Last year there were a few small new additions to the German venue with some parts were widened and a few extra lines. We expect everything to stay mostly the same this year with plenty of climbing and some short fast descents.
Last Time in Albstadt
Last year Albstadt opened the 2021 season with a bang as Loana Lecomte dominated the Elite Women's race from the very start and finished the day almost a minute ahead of the then World Champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot. Haley Batten had an incredible performance just beating Kate Courtney for a top-three finish.
For the Elite Men, it looked like we were going to see a repeat of Mathieu van der Poel's Short Track performance but he would drop back during the third lap leaving the group of Victor Koretzky, Nino Schurter, Mathias Flückiger and Ondrej Cink to lead for most of the race. On the last lap, an issue with his dropper post would knock Mathias Flückiger out of contention for the top spot. A sprint to the line would allow Victor Koretzky to take his first Elite World Cup win as he beat Nino Schurter in a flat out sprint. Thomas Pidcock started on the 11th row of the grid and managed to fight his way to the front and finish in 5th place in an incredible spectacle.
Previous Winners
Since Albstadt first appeared on the World Cup circuit, we have seen some pretty varied racing but for the Elite Men, the wins have been dominated by Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon. For the Women, only Jolanda Neff has won more than once but with Loana Lecomte showing some good form on the climbs at this year's first-round in Brazil she could match this record after her win last year.
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
2019:
Elite Men: Mathias Flückiger
Elite Women: Kate Courtney
2021:
Elite Men: Victor Koretzky
Elite Women: Loana Lecomte
What Happened at the Last Race?
In the Elite Women's race, it would have been easy to write it off as another dominant performance from the young French rider Loana Lecomte in the early stages but the hard work of Rebecca McConnell and Anne Terpstra flipped things on its head in the later laps. A tough battle the whole race for Rebecca McConnell saw her finally take an Elite World Cup win with a 17-second gap back to Anne Terpstra. Loana Lecomte had to settle for third place today and fourth and fifth went to Austrian riders Laura Stigger and Mona Mitterwallner.
XC Racing doesn't get much better than the Elite Men's event with a tense battle between Nino Schurter, Maxime Marotte and Vlad Dascalu coming down to a very tight sprint finish. The race couldn't have been closer as Nino Schurter beat Maxime Marotte by the smallest of margins to equal Julien Absalon's all-time record of 33 World Cup wins. Vlad Dascalu ended the race in third only three seconds behind Nino.
Current Overall Standings
Following the first round of the season, we currently have Rebecca McConnell and Nino Schurter leading the overall standings with some decent gaps back to second place. But with Albstadt offering a completely different challenge to the technical Brazilian course we could see this list completely shaken up by the end of the weekend.
Elite Women
Elite Men
Weather Forecast
We were treated to some amazing weather and conditions at the opening round in Brazil but it currently looks like we are in for a wet one again at Albstadt. Past rainy Albstadt races have led to some serious carnage on slippery boardwalks so we could be in for some tough racing this weekend.
Friday, May 6 - Short Track
A thick cloud cover with a couple of showers in the afternoon // 12°C // 80% precipitation // wind 15km/h
Saturday, May 7 - Junior and U23 races
Considerable cloudiness; a morning shower in spots followed by a little rain in the afternoon // 14°C // 61% precipitation // wind 15km/h
Sunday, May 8 - Elite races
Mostly cloudy with a couple of showers in the afternoon // 14°C // 69% precipitation // wind 15km/h
Weather forecast as of Saturday, April 30. Live updates from Accuweather.
A thick cloud cover with a couple of showers in the afternoon // 12°C // 80% precipitation // wind 15km/h
Saturday, May 7 - Junior and U23 races
Considerable cloudiness; a morning shower in spots followed by a little rain in the afternoon // 14°C // 61% precipitation // wind 15km/h
Sunday, May 8 - Elite races
Mostly cloudy with a couple of showers in the afternoon // 14°C // 69% precipitation // wind 15km/h
Weather forecast as of Saturday, April 30. Live updates from Accuweather.
Schedule
All times CEST
Thursday, May 1
• 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 7
• 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
• 15:45-16:30 // 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, May 8
• 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
• 13:00-14:00 // Official XCO Training - Men Under 23 and Elite
• 14:00-15:00 // Official XCO Training - Women Under 23 and Elite
• 15:30 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Men Under 23
• 17:00 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Women Under 23, all U23 awards to follow
Sunday, May 9
• 09:00-10:30 // Official XCO Training - Men and Women Elite
• 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 organizer.
How to Watch
Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the Albstadt 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)
- Albstadt XCC Women and Men: Friday, May 6 - 5:20pm (8:20am PDT, 11:20am EDT, 4:20pm BST, 03:20am +day NZST)
- Albstadt XCO Women: Sunday, May 8 - 11:00am (2:00am PDT, 5:00am EDT, 10:00am BST, 9:00pm NZST)
- Albstadt XCO Men: Sunday, May 8 - 1:15pm (4:15am PDT, 7:15am EDT, 12:15pm BST, 11:15am +day NZST)
Note: These times are subject to change. Please check with your local provider.
53 Comments
the actual link still works:
www.pinkbike.com/contest/fantasy/xc
I doubt the majority of players would care if there are no prizes this year, if the lack of a sponsor is what's holding it back.
For the fact that so many of the "articles" these days are a landing page for a YouTube video, what are your proof readers up to? Now if you answered, "running the XC Fantasy League", then one might give you a pass, however....
XC is the most watched World Cup discipline and thousands played in the league. And PB can’t be bothered to even put in the minimal effort to reboot it for 2022.
Most of us knew we had no chance at prizes and played anyway. I think very few people would stop playing just because of a lack of prizes. Fantasy sports, whether it's football, basketball, or bike racing, just help to generate higher engagement in the sport. I'm hooked now and will continue watching, but certainly the fantasy XC league played a part in getting me to bring up redbull tv on sunday mornings and watch the races.
I also feel like a lot of the development work should be transferrable from the downhill fantasy league? Seems like all you'd need to do is come up with a different money table for the XC roster and plug it in.
Oh well, maybe next year. Sucks especially how they touted that the outside takeover would give them more resources. I guess these extra resources are not to be allotted to existing programs.
On instagram, and on their website, Trek have hinted they maybe using the Hardtail Procaliber.....
ou’ll likely see it in action this weekend, as well as at every other XC World Cup race this year. But in Albstadt, we may see a few riders opt for the Procaliber, a purebred hardtail that will be well-suited for a track that is relatively smooth and a lot climbier compared to the rest of the racing slate.
That extra pedaling efficiency will come in handy on a course that features roughly 900 feet of climbing on each 2.5-mile lap. The race will be defined by two major climbs that hit gradients as high as 22 percent. The corresponding downhills are fast and windy, potentially rewarding supreme bike handlers like Neff.
Weather will be the X factor. If the course stays dry, expect a fast race that favors the snappiest climbers. If the course becomes muddy — and Albstadt is no stranger to rain — riders with pure power and downhill proficiency will benefit, widening the field of contenders. The forecast currently shows moist conditions for Sunday, setting up a potential free-for-all.
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