After a week of wild weather, we were saved the best for last with a glorious day of sunshine for an action-packed day of racing in the Austrian Alps. The U23 women kicked off proceedings with all eyes on Line Burquier after her electric start to the season but in the end it was Puck Pieterse who managed to scramble a couple of seconds clear of her in the dying moments of the race. Olivia Onesti took the final spot on the box. In the U23 men it was once again that man Martin Vidaurre Kossmann who did the business, not quite as dominant as rounds past but still a healthy 19 seconds over Simone Avandetto in second and then Filippo Fontana in third.
Loana Lecomte laid down an ominous marker in Friday night's XCC and it didn't take long for the writing to be on the wall for her competitors. Jenny Rissveds tried to go with her initially but she proved far too strong for the Swede who ended up well over a minute back in second. Laura Stigger and Sina Frei, the two Specialized teammates, would battle for most of the race before the Austrian ultimately came out on top with Anne Terpstra in 5th. Early on the in men's race, there was a fairly big group at the front but after a few laps and it was just the two Swiss rivals Mathias Flückiger and Nino Schurter once again embroiled in battle. It was brutal. Both taking turns to test the other's legs and lungs. Ultimately Flückiger proved too strong and got his 2022 season back on track with Nino's wait for that record-breaking 34th win to go onto his home race in Switzerland in a few weeks' time.
That new version of the "Captain" tire is back again. Rear tire on Sina's bike, with a Renegade up front.
Traction must have been pretty good to be running that tire up front. I'm wondering when, if ever, we're going to see the new Captain for sale???