Clean Sweep: Elite XC Races Were Fights to the Finish Line - Val Di Sole World Cup 2017
It's been a hot weekend in Val di Sole and Sunday had some intense action to throw on the fire. With the season locked up, Nino Schurter could play it safe today, but he was also one ride away from a clean sweep. An early crash gave Stéphane Tempier the chance to slip past Nino and give him a run for his money and it wasn't until the last moments of the race when Nino managed to push back into the lead and cross the line to finish out a perfect season. Jolanda Neff took the win for the women after a fierce back and forth with Yana Belamoina. Belamoina would take the overall in what has been a season of stellar performances from the Ukrainian.
Alessandra Keller keeping it cool.
Jenny Rissveds is getting back to action after a challenging year.
Emily Batty warms up in a little patch of shade.
A custom brace helped Maja Wloszczowska through and into third place.
Front lineup.
Yana Belamoina just needed to ride consistently, but she did much better than consistent.
Jolanda Neff, out front on lap number one.
Maja knew she could do well here and indeed she did.
Belamoina leads Neff mid race.
Annika Langvad has been strong this season, but it wasn't meant to be today. She finished fifth.
Belamoina was putting the pressure on.
Jolanda Neff charged to the front. This time, she would not fade. A short battle with Yana Belomoina followed, but Neff proved to be too strong.
Maja Wloszczowska rode a very strong race, with a wrist brace for her injury. Back on the podium for the cheerful Polish rider.
Belomoina chasing Neff.
Neff brings it home through the four cross.
A return to her winning ways? Lets hope so. It will only make things more interesting.
Credit where credit is due. These two women staged an epic battle today.
It was hot out there, to say the least.
The men's start is always a matter of going flat out to secure the best possible position before funneling into the trails.
Conga line off the start.
Julien Absalon was on fire on this power course. He would take third.
Good crowds on a fine Sunday in VDS.
Nino Schurter and Stephane Tempier rode like this for over half the race.
Four seconds seperated Schurter from Tempier.
Third place for Absalon. More then enough reason to smile.
Schurter flying high. The man remains out of reach for now.
Jaroslav Kulhavy is once again a force to keep an eye on.
Kulhavy finished the season strong with a fourth place today.
Tempier has had a stellar season. It will be interesting to see how he does at Worlds after his second-place finish.
The native son. Marco Fontana on the move.
Less than one lap to go and Nino was still chasing Tempier.
Tempier kept pushing, but Schurter had no trouble following.
Maxime Marotte has had a strong season, but today was not his.
Julien Absalon was back in business, charging towards the race leaders in the last lap. The Worlds in Cairns will be interesting.
Tempier gave it all trying to lose Schurter. Nino would not budge.
The clean sweep in sight....
..... so Nino ran across the line out of pure excitement.
Sergio Mantecon and Anton Cooper rode the race together when the going got tough.
Marco was hurting at the finish.
Marotte looked shell shocked.
Nino is running out of room on that top tube.
Awaiting yet another podium.
Young Belomoina has stepped up her game big-time this season. Will she take it all the way in Cairns?
Jolanda Neff takes in the moment.
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Congrats by the way on your Whistler win! Well-deserved. More power to you next year. Cheers!
Thanks! Very happy to get that one done. Going to try and keep it rolling!
I'd love to see him have a go at a few CX races; he's got the engine & technical skills....
One final point; how can the sport grow when there are only 6 rounds in an elite sport? And in what is basically a 3 month window? Are the UCI/ RedBull asking too much in hosting fees? Something needs to change. I won't hold my breath.
- That's pretty inaccurate and misleading description, for those who haven't watched the race.
Nino got right back up and chased down Tempier in what seemed like less than a minute and it looked like he did it with ease. Also, he didn't "manage" to retake the lead, he did it exactly when he wanted to. He had zero problems riding on Tempier's wheel and matching his pace, knowing full well that he'd be able to attack and gap him, which he did on the last climb. Perfectly executed plan.
He didn't even look gassed after crossing the finish line. Amazing.