Pinkbike Primer: Will We See a Fourth Win from McConnell at the Fourth Round? - Leogang XC World Cup 2022
We are back for round four of the 2022 XC World Cup with a stacked weekend of racing as both the DH and XC return to Leogang. We are set for some great weather and even better racing as we see if Rebecca McConnell can make it four wins in a row. Check out all the details you need to know below.
The Track
As a new venue for XC, we haven't seen too much racing on this course, but it is one with plenty of climbing and plenty of tech in the woods. When it's wet, these can be very treacherous with a lot of roots to take riders out. Luckily, things are looking dryer for racing this week.
Last Time in Leogang
Last time we visited Leogang, we saw Loana Lecomte continue her dominance with a massive win of almost two minutes ahead of Jenny Rissveds. In the Elite Men's race, we saw a great battle between Mathias Flückiger and Ondrej Cink.
Elite Women (5 Laps)
1st: Loana Lecomte: 1:17:03
2nd: Jenny Rissveds: +1:48
3rd: Laura Stigger: +1:50
4th: Jolanda Neff: +2:02
5th: Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +2:30
Elite Men (6 Laps)
1st: Mathias Flückiger: 1:15:50
2nd: Ondrej Cink: +14
3rd: Anton Cooper: +45
4th: Thomas Griot: +1:26
5th: Vlad Dascalu: +1:27
U23 Women (4 Laps)
1st. Mona Mitterwallner: 1:06:30
2nd. Kata Blanka Vas: 1:07:31
3rd. Caroline Bohe: 1:07:56
4th. Puck Pieterse: 1:08:34
5th. Leonie Daubermann: 1:09:05
U23 Men (5 Laps)
1st. Riley Amos: 1:08:26
2nd. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:08:38
3rd. Joel Roth: 1:09:15
4th. Simone Avondetto: 1:09:20
5th. Carter Woods: 1:09:24
Previous Winners
Elite Men
2012//Worlds: Nino Schurter
2020//Worlds: Jordan Sarrou
2021: Mathias Flückiger
Elite Women
2012//Worlds: Julie Bresset
2020//Worlds: Pauline Ferrand Prevot
2021: Loana Lecomte
What Happened at the Last Race?
The third XC World Cup of 2022 provided the goods with some amazing moments and massive wins. The Elite Women's race saw another dominant performance from Rebecca McConnell who proved again that she is unstoppable this season. Nove Mesto wouldn't be an easy win with Loana Lecomte and Jenny Rissveds staying in sight for most of the race. The last two laps would knock both chasing riders out of contention with Loana Lecomte the only rider coming within one minute of the hard-charging Australian.
In the Elite Men's race, it was an incredibly close race with no rider really launching an attack until the last lap of the race. In the end, it was a sprint between Vlad Dascalu and Thomas Pidcock but it was the Olympic champion who got to the line fastest and won another World Cup in 2022. The performance of the day goes to Nino Schurter who did the impossible and fought back over a minute of time after a rear flat tire. Despite the massive disadvantage, Nino Schurter rode back to the front of the race and crossed the line in third place.
Elite Women
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 1:21:17
2nd. Loana Lecomte: +40
3rd. Jenny Rissveds: +1:17
4th. Jolanda Neff: +2:22
5th. Caroline Bohé: +2:22
1st. Rebecca McConnell: 1:21:17
2nd. Loana Lecomte: +40
3rd. Jenny Rissveds: +1:17
4th. Jolanda Neff: +2:22
5th. Caroline Bohé: +2:22
Elite Men
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 1:21:19
2nd. Vlad Dascalu: +1
3rd. Nino Schurter: +30
4th. Anton Cooper: +33
5th. Alan Hatherly: +33
1st. Thomas Pidcock: 1:21:19
2nd. Vlad Dascalu: +1
3rd. Nino Schurter: +30
4th. Anton Cooper: +33
5th. Alan Hatherly: +33
U23 Women (6 Laps)
1st. Line Burquier: 1:07:58
2nd. Puck Pieterse: +45
3rd. Giada Specia: +2:05
4th. Sofie Pedersen: +2:20
5th. Noëlle Buri: +2:54
U23 Men (7 Laps)
1st. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:08:41
2nd. Simone Avondetto: +1:10
3rd. Dario Lillo: +1:23
4th. Gustavo Xavier De Oliveira Pereira: +1:23
5th. Adrien Boichis: +1:25
Current Overall Standings
Elite Women
Elite Men
U23 Women
U23 Men
Weather Forecast
A wet start to the week leads to some amazing conditions from racing on Friday and Saturday. It should be a hot one for riders so heat management and water intake will be very important for finals on Sunday.
Thursday, June 9 - Training
Periods of clouds and sun with a couple of showers // 14° // 91% Chance of Precipitation // 9 km/h Wind
Friday, June 10 - Short Track
Partly sunny // 16° // 25% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Saturday, June 11 - Training
Mostly sunny, pleasant and warmer // 24° // 3% Chance of Precipitation // 2 km/h Wind
Sunday, June 12 - Finals
Mostly sunny // 22° // 1% Chance of Precipitation // 9 km/h Wind
Weather forecast as of Monday, June 6 from Accuweather.
Periods of clouds and sun with a couple of showers // 14° // 91% Chance of Precipitation // 9 km/h Wind
Friday, June 10 - Short Track
Partly sunny // 16° // 25% Chance of Precipitation // 7 km/h Wind
Saturday, June 11 - Training
Mostly sunny, pleasant and warmer // 24° // 3% Chance of Precipitation // 2 km/h Wind
Sunday, June 12 - Finals
Mostly sunny // 22° // 1% Chance of Precipitation // 9 km/h Wind
Weather forecast as of Monday, June 6 from Accuweather.
Schedule
All times CEST
Thursday, June 9
• 12:00-14:00 // Official XCO Training - Women
• 14:00-16:00 // Official XCO Training - Men
Friday, June 10
• 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
• 17:30 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Women
• 18:15 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track - Men
Saturday, June 11
• 09:30-11:30 // Official XCO Training - Women
• 11:30-13:30 // Official XCO Training - Men
• 13:30-14:30 // Official XCO Training - All Riders
• 15:00 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic - Men Under 23
Sunday, June 12
• 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 organizer.
How to Watch
Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the Leogang 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)
Leogang XCC Short Track: June 10 Live on Red Bull TV 17:20 CEST
Leogang XCO Women: June 12 Live on Red Bull TV 12:00 CEST
Leogang XCO Men: June 12 Live on Red Bull TV 14:30 CEST
Note: These times are subject to change. Please check with your local provider.
Author Info:
Member since Mar 16, 2017
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Booo.
I would have been down with 50/50 style. Everyone throws in a toonie ( or equivalent) and PB takes half and winner takes half.
In Nove Mesto she fell back to around 50th after 1st lap, and I remember Rob say to Bart something like "Surely, she has no chance of coming back from that! Her race is done". I thought at the time - I bet she'll be top 10. She worked her way back to 6th.
That said, here are some guesses:
Since Bec came into the season extremely hot, I'd expect her to fade a bit from here on out, although if she times it perfectly, she might nail the elusive "double peak" and contend for the late-season races.
Look for Jolanda to be on fire. She came in with incredible form this season per the Petropolis test event, but had forced time off due to illness. Bodes well for the later season.
Loana is also likely to be racing into form, so also dangerous.
Kate is the ultimate wildcard here. To me, it seems really likely that she has been struggling from overtraining for the last couple of years. But there's a chance she intentionally came into this season better-rested and is training into shape. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a late-season resurgence from her. If not, she's gotta go back to the drawing board.