Photo Epic: Les Gets XC World Champs 2022
The biggest race of the 2022 cross country season took place in front of a bumper crowd here yesterday in Les Gets, France. The day got off to the best possible start for the home supporters as Line Burquier put down a dominant performance to take home the rainbow jersey in front of Puck Pieterse and Sofie Pedersen. In the U23 men it was the Italian Simone Avondetto who had the ride of his career so far to take gold with Mathis Azzaro in second and Luca Schatti in third. By the time the elites took to the start every inch of the course was packed with fans and to their delight Pauline Ferrand Prevot took off and was never seen again, one hell of way to clinch yet another World Champs title. Jolanda Neff fought back to silver in front of Haley Batten who had a great ride into bronze. In the men's the writing was on the wall very early on with none other than that man Nino Schurter leading the pack. He commanded the front of the race and when push came to shove he broke free from David Valero Serrano in the final moments to add another gold medal to his collection. Valero crossed nine seconds later for silver with Luca Braidot hanging onto the bronze.
The biggest race of the year might be done but we still have the small matter of World Cup finals in Val di Sole this week.
Fair skies forecasted for XC Sunday.
Line Burquier was the firm favourite coming into the race.
The U23 women kick off the day's action.
Line Burquier leads Puck Pieterse down the first techy descent.
Puck Pieterse couldn't match Line Burquier today but would take home the silver medal.
Sofie Pedersen left it late in the race to claim her medal.
Line Burquier overjoyed to take her first U23 World Champs title.
A tough one for Giada Specia who lost out on a medal in the closing moments of the race.
Line Burquier takes home the gold medal, Puck Pieterse the silver and Sofie Pedersen bronze.
The French crowd let their feelings known when Line Burquier arrived on the podium.
The U23 men are off.
Big day out for Mathis Azzaro staying with the lead pack throughout and taking silver.
Bronze for Luca Schatti making his way up the pack.
Simone Avondetto ramped up the pace eventually cracking Vidaurre by lap 3.
Avondetto takes the well-earned stripes.
Avondetto will get to wear his new jersey next week in his home country for the last round.
U23 men's podium - Simone Avondetto, Mathis Azzaro, and Luca Schatti
Champagne showers for the champs.
What a day for Haley Batten.
One of two crowd favourites takes her place on the starting line.
Evie Richards suffered an unfortunate mechanical mid-race but is back and on form.
Loana Lecomte was a firm favourite for the win but didn't quite have the legs to stick at the very front.
The women are off in Les Gets.
Jolanda Neff started off fast and was smart enough to realise the pace was a little too high. She dropped back and came back strong into second.
A great showing by Malene Degn in 8th.
What a ride by Haley Batten to take the bronze medal.
Pauline, like a bat out of hell, increased her gap with every passing lap.
This was Pauline Ferrand Prevot's race to lose and that became immediately clear from lap one.
A top ten finish for Caroline Bohe.
Loana Lecomte just off the podium in fourth.
In the mix as always, Anne Terpstra settling into sixth.
Alessandra Keller leads Haley Batten up the climb just before Batten made her move and overtook her on the inside of the following corner.
Mona Mitterwallner climbed her way back into 7th.
Top five finish for Alessandra Keller.
Haley Batten fought her way out of the pack and chased hard for a podium spot.
Annie Last had a great ride into the top 10.
Vive la France. Pauline Ferrand Prevot takes yet another World Championship title.
Jolanda Neff was super happy with her ride into silver.
Loana Lecomte crosses the line into 4th.
What a ride today by Malene Degn.
Lecomte congratulating Pauline on her incredible ride.
Pauline Ferrand Prevot adds another gold medal to her collection as Jolanda Neff picks up silver and Haley Batten the bronze.
Pauline Ferrand Prevot back in the World Champs stripes. once again.
Tom Pidcock had to battle hard through the pack to get in contention at the front.
Nino Schurter tries his best to keep cool before the start.
David Valero Serrano ready for battle.
The men charging off the start.
Filippo Colombo couldn't quite match his XCO medal performance but 9th is still a great ride.
Tom Pidcock with some work to do early in the race to reach the front of the pack.
Sam Gaze won the XCC and had his sights aimed at the XCO title, too. A slight mistake with big consequences attached had him out on the opening laps.
Seventh for Alan Hatherly.
Jordan Sarrou was battling hard at the front of the pack.
Nino Schurter laid down the marker early on and commanded how the race was going to play out.
Jordan Sarrou leads the pack up the main climb which was lined with crowds top to bottom.
Marcel Guerrini rode consistently through the race to claw his way up to 5th.
Nino pulling ahead. Can he make it 10 titles?
Victor Koretzky had a good day out staying in the top 10 for most of the race.
David Valero Leading out the group up the climb. He was a marked man as the attacks came and went.
Luca Braidot battled tooth and nail for his bronze.
Ondrej Cink with a stronger on his way to the top 10.
The World Champs stripes would look strange on anyone else other than Nino Schurter.
That's 10 World Championship titles for Schurter.
Nino greeting Valero after the finish.
Ondrej Cink left it all out there.
Hatherly spent in the Les Gets heat.
Schurter, Valero, and Braidot. What a line up.
That's World Champs sorted for Schurter. Now on the VDS for the final round of the year.
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54 Comments
I guess you just dont like him, cocky to say it though perhaps.
Most skilled riders have some kind of complementary background. Road, BMX, or cross riding-maybe some time on dirt bikes or ski racing. Even sports like hockey or surfing provide a lot of good foundational skills to riding a mountain bike well.
Also probably worth keeping in mind Pidcock had a great TdF, and training for a month of super long road stages with brutal climbs probably doesn't do him any big favors in an explosive 90 minute race.
Yesterday, the other guy was DVS. Well earned 2nd!
Probably a giant confidence booster.
And all those roadie comments? Wtf its bike riding.
In any given week I probably ride 3 different types of bike including commuting. Get over yourselves.
- Is Sam Gaze's head okay? That dude had a long road back, so I sure hope it was just a body shot he took off that jump.
- Speaking of crashes, how did Chris Blevins feel after kissing a rock on Friday? He seemed to have a solid race, if not the results he was hoping for from the weekend.
- Was Jolanda Neff the highest finish for the new SRAM super-direct RDs?
- How many pull ups can Avondetto do? That finish line shot - nice post-up.
- Staying with U23, was Burquier only squinting as the popped champagne because she heard about Biniam Girmay?
- Who had the most surprising no-show for Trek - Dascalu or Cooper?
- If the Canyon bikes weren't painted to save weight (as Bart repeated), how were they silver?
- Why was Sina Frei helping Gita Michiels put her chain back on? That made for an incredible image!
- How much does PFP's hardtail weigh, and how did she ever figure out her perfect training build-up in such a repeatable way?
- Finally, what are the odds of getting a Kona-style bike check? It would be really cool to know how many Maxxis athletes went for Aspens (though maybe Schwalbe athletes have more variability in choice) or how many Fox athletes go 34 vs 32, SIDs vs SLs, etc.
Anyone out there have answers?
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I would also love to see that bike check!
Dude poor Girmay... apparently those corks almost took out Van Der Poel too. Why on earth would someone pre-loosen the corks??? I'd definitely point the bottle away and squint too lol.
Dascalu had most surprising no-show - Anton had Covid a few weeks prior and still in recovery (didn't get the mild variety)
Sina Frei was just being cool and rides with the spirit of enduro
The Canyon bikes were black, but a form of TV magic was used to turn them silver. It's the only not paint but is painted answer?!?
That makes sense about Blevins - he seemed reasonably 'in the race' until he wasn't, though it raises questions about the effectiveness of the concussion protocol.
I didn't know about Cooper's covid, but was looking for shots on whether or not Nino was running the new SRAM - because really, if you're going to have it on anyone's bike going into worlds... right? PFP's hardtail uses a different derailleur hanger if memory serves, so the other obvious athlete to include isn't an option.
Also notice Colombo on a new full suspension BMC, not the current Fourstroke.
Also what was up with PFP's fork? - SRAM didn't have the new mech and cassette on her bike but the uppers on her SID look slightly scalloped at the crown where stanchions insert. Didn't see any others done that way all weekend.
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