Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Nino Schurter (Scott SRAM MTB Racing Team) have been crowned overall UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Olympic World Cup series champions in Canada.
In a super-challenging finale, on a track left soft and slick by persistent rain, Pieterse - who had already secured the title last weekend in Snowshoe, USA - dug in to grind out a third-place finish in the final elite women’s race while the battle for the minor podium places played out around her.
But it was France’s Leona Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV) whose incredible technical skills helped her to overcome a rear flat and a crash to take the win in Mont-Sainte-Anne. That victory saw the French national champion leapfrog Mona Mitterwallner (Cannondale Factory Racing) in the overall standings to give her second place in the series relegating the young Austrian - who finished back in 19th - to third.
In a race that saw riders running many of the soft, rutted climbs as well as the super-slippery rock descents, Swede Jenny Rissveds (Team 31 Ibis Cycles Continental) managed to stick closest to Lecomte and take second place just 15 seconds behind.
In the men’s elite race, Nino Schurter did enough to claim his ninth overall title by crossing the line in 14th after a slow start to the last race of the season. The Swiss veteran fought his way back from 31st place to clinch the title in a race where he also dropped his chain.
The man who went into the race in second place in the overall, Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC), managed to just hang on to his second spot on the podium by finishing in ninth despite a strong challenge from a flying Matthias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon).
The Swiss rider led for much of a six-lap race which was muddy enough to see riders dismounting the bikes continually to run cyclocross-style. Flückiger used all his speed on and off the bike to finish in second despite two punctures, a result which was good enough for third in the overall.
But the win on the day went to the Olympic and UCI World Champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) who rode an intelligent and trademark technical race to cross the line some 26 seconds ahead of Flückiger. It was the Briton’s second Olympic cross-country World Cup win of the season.
Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory Racing) took the U23 women’s win in Mont-Sainte-Anne and clinched the overall series title with a dominant ride. The Swiss short-track overall champion led from the start loop and throughout the sapping, tricky four-lap race.
Sofie Heby Pedersen (Wilier-Pirelli Factory Team XCO) managed to hang on to her second place on the overall podium with an 11th-placed finish despite a strong challenge from Kiwi Samara Maxwell (Rockrider Ford Racing Team) who finished in fifth leaving her third in the overall.
Swiss rider Noëlle Buri (Bixs Performance Race Team) came across the line in second - some 31 secs behind Blöchlinger - after a back and forth battle with the USA’s Munro Madigan (Trek Factory Racing XC) who finished third.
In the U23 men’s Adrien Boichis (Trinity Racing MTB) claimed the UCI Cross-country Olympic overall series title with the points from his stunning Friday evening win in the short track. But the battle for the remaining spots on the overall podium was intense with places changing hands on the slick and technical course as the race played out.
The U23 men were the first to go after the overnight rain had soaked the track and it was the USA’s Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing - XC) who capitalised on the conditions, securing second place in the overall with a skilful ride to take the win in Mont-Sainte-Anne. The man who came into the weekend second in the standings, Carter Woods (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - XC), was forced to retire from the race after a heavy crash on lap four of five. The Canadian still ended up third in the overall.
On the day, France’s Boichis - who is also the overall short-track champion - crossed the line in second place some 16s behind Amos with the USA’s Bjorn Riley (Trek Future Racing) clearly relishing the conditions and coming in third.
Full results are here
And that’s a wrap. Thanks for joining us for our coverage of the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Series. It’s been a stellar season of racing and we look forward to bringing you details of the 2024 season’s venues and dates later this month. Until then, best wishes from all of the team over here in Canada.
