Tom Pidcock (Ineos-Grenadiers) made it two wins from two in Crans Montana, in his last UCI Cross-country World Cup appearance before next weekend’s Tour de France Grand Départ. A strong but not perfect ride saw him out in front on lap two, and that was where he stayed for the duration. In the Women’s UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup race Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV) made all the right moves with a dominant performance on a tough course in difficult conditions.

LECOMTE BARELY PUTS A FOOT WRONG IN CHALLENGING CRANS-MONTANA CONDITIONS

“It’s a proper course. Not a cyclocross course.” Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV) said at the start of the week, revealing her taste for the more challenging, technical Crans-Montana circuit. The French national champion went on to prove it, leading the Women’s Elite UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup race from start to finish, with only a few short spells off the front.

The absence of the overall XCO leader Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) and third place Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) had presented possibilities for swings in the overall standings on a treacherous day. Several riders were looking to move up.

Lecomte and Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) shot off the start line, as Allessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) went bar to bar with Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck.) Saturday’s UCI XCC World Cup winner leading around the corner and onto the start loop’s tight asphalt climb.

Keller pushed on into the woods, but it was Kate Courtney (Scott-Sram MTB Racing Team) who took over ahead of a short off-camber downward dip. Onto the longer wooded descent Loana Lecomte went full send to take a sizable 15 second lead over the startline. Keller, who struggled on the downhill, led the charge behind, with Courtney and Gwen Gibson (Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli) in her wake.

Puck Pieterse left to the front of the chase group on the course proper. Everyone was obliged to walk through the next forested section as the field thinned out on the technical uphill. The race was all over the track, but Pieterse was able to gain a bit of ground on Lecomte, while distancing the rest. The Frenchwoman was not hanging about.

As Lecomte opted for the challenging constructed timber garden centre, Pieterse took the wide line, costing her a couple of seconds, while Keller in third place also played it safe.

After fifteen minutes racing, Lecomte was going from strength to strength, 17 seconds to the good over Pieterse. Into the rock garden, Lecomte went for the middle, balanced line and was followed by Pieterse.

Onto the second lap where Pieterse at least had Lecomte in her sights - just - with the Dutch rider in Keller’s. Already a minute further back a battle for fourth place was unfolding between Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) and Jen Jackson (Liv Factory Racing.)

On the steep muddy climb Pieterse was practically back to the front of the race, her cyclocross dismount and remount skills working to her advantage.

Pieterse took the lead a minute later, as she pieced together the different parts of the course slightly better than Lecomte, with Keller seemingly coming back herself. On the next climb, Lecomte was able to stay on her bike as Pieterse had to run it. Lecomte immediately stomped onto the pedals while Pieterse’s struggled to clip back in cost her several seconds and forced her to relinquish second to Keller.

Through the second tech zone, Lecomte spun the gear and pressed forward. Keller was able to find a great rhythm and comfort as Pieterse looked increasingly labored. After half an hour of racing and onto lap three Pieterse seemed to be slipping out of contention for the win. The battle for top spot looked more and more like it would be fought out between Keller and Lecomte. More than two and a half minutes separated 1st on the course from 10th.

A slip for Lecomte over a root, her first meaningful mistake, allowed Keller to close the gap; the Swiss rider made a great line choice moments later to put her right on the Frenchwoman’s wheel. Lecomte shook it off and continued to ride her own race. She was particularly confident and competent on the descents, gaining a few metres here and there. Pieterse, meanwhile, was unable to find any parts of the course to favour her.

Deeper into the race, Lecomte was able to increase her advantage over Keller to the double digits. Sixty seconds behind Pieterse, Laura Stigger looked like she had 4th place sewn up, as another minute back Evie Richards was looking the better of those battling it out for 5th.

Loana Lecomte had her head held high over the start-finish, for an impressive 14’30 lap while Keller began to bob, still able to see Lecomte but barely as she completed her own third circuit in 14’50.

The course was drying out even as the more it was ridden increased the depth of the ruts. By the fourth attempt, Lecomte had the more technical sections all figured out and could make them count.

At the bell, Lecomte had 35 seconds in hand and was odds-on to become the second French winner of the day in Crans-Montana. Keller, roared on by the home supporters, hadn’t given up. Nor had Pieterse, but it had been a largely lonely race for the European champion.

As the course ran out, Lecomte just had to get round, so she took the final technical sections with care. All smiles, she stopped the clock in 1’17 to complete a demonstration. 46 seconds later, Keller crossed the line to become the new UCI XCO World Cup leader. The podium was competed by Pieterse, Stigger and Richards.

“It’s good to be back!” a jubilant Lecomte said afterwards. “I love this track,” she continued. “Even if we had a dry track, it’s a real mountain bike track, with a lot of technical sections, and very physical. I can’t wait to be back here for the World Championships next year. The secret is just to be happy and have fun on the bike.”

It was Lecomte’s 10th UCI World Cup at elite level.

ONE MORE WORLD CHAMPION WORTHY WIN FOR PIDCOCK

A week before he is set to line up at the Tour de France in Florence (Italy), Tom Pidcock had time for one last battle with his old nemesis Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team).          

The lights went from red to green and all hell broke loose. Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) got off to a great start, as did Marcel Guerrini (BIX Performance Race Team) and Luca Braidot (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team).                         

Pidcock was shuffled back a few rows behind the likes of Schurter and British champion Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing).

Down onto the Red Bull Roots & Rolls lead the Swiss Scott team-mates of Filippo Colombo and Schurter. Alridge took the prime position as the riders swung onto the track proper but the opening five minutes were tight and cagey.

Pidcock slid up to sixth place onto the narrow-wooded climb that had presented challenges in the Women’s Elite race. A few of the men had trouble too, including Pidcock, where Aldridge dug in and made his power advantage count.

Julian Schelb (Stop&Go Marderabwehr MTB Team) took the lead from Aldridge towards the top and opened a decent gap on the same short descent that worked so well for Loana Lecomte.

Schelb entered the timber garden with Pidcock five seconds back but in hot pursuit. Schurter wasn’t going to let Pidcock’s wheel go that early, wrestling his Scott to keep on the men’s UCI World Champion’s wheel.

Pidcock closed to Schelb and took over the lead by taking a trickier line before the rock garden. Schelb didn’t like that and shook his head, going back in front with a faster line of his own. Pidcock took a tumble in the tech zone while snatching a gel. That saw him drop into the Schurter group leaving Schelb to enjoy a bit of clear air.

The three were joined at the start of lap two by another Swiss rider, Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon) as Pidcock drove it on to regain contact with Schelb. Pidcock had more trouble in the mud than Schurter and Schelb, but the right line was often more a matter of luck than judgement. The lead changed hands and places were swapped several times across the next few minutes.

Pidcock sensed that the time was right and put in a muscular attack ahead of an early descent. He quickly turned that into a seven second advantage over Schurter and Flückiger, as Schelb slipped backwards. Flückiger seemed most capable of bringing back the leader and was just six seconds down, well within reach, at the start of lap 3.

Schurter and Schelb were on their own in third and fourth, with Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) and Maximilian Brandl (Leware Mountainbike Team) battling it out for the remaining podium place.

On the technical rooted section Pidcock kept on his bike while Flückiger had to hop off. It felt like one of the thousand cuts that could see Pidcock disappear into the distance. After half an hour of racing his lead was 19 seconds and growing.

A rare mistake on the lap’s early descent from Schurter sent him into a rut and over the barriers. It was a soft landing but cost him bags of time, 3rd place, and left him visibly rattled. Meanwhile, Pidcock held a 34 second lead with more than half the race to go. Another controlled off for Schurter on the rock garden effectively put him out of contention. A less controlled one from Max Brandl required medical attention and put him out completely.

Onto lap 4 and Schurter was struggling to hold his place on the podium, battling for it with Schwarzbauer and Luca Forster (Canyon CLLCTV.)

Seemingly out of nowhere Pidcock was the next rider to take a hit, losing the front wheel on a root. Unlike others he had time to remount, relax and recover. Then Forster lost his own rear on the logged descent, going down hard and giving up fifth place to Schurter.

Pidcock continued to motor, eating up back markers. Such was his lead that he was able to take the cleanest safest lines, get round safely while making it count on the power sections of the course. He crossed the line with the sun coming out, having lost just a few seconds to Flückiger, who could take comfort from at least having stabilised the situation.

A minute back, Schelb seemed solid in third, as Luca Braidot (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) joined Schurter and Schwarzbauer in the squabble for 4th.

Despite earlier difficulties Schurter refused to give up, rediscovering his shape, form, and rhythm in the fifth lap. He homed in on Schelb, overtaking him dead on the hour.

Pidcock took the long asphalt climb out of the saddle and drew out a few more seconds over Flückiger. Schurter looked to make it hard for Schelb in the fight for 3rd. As the course dried out Braidot wasn’t prepared to allow it to be a two-rider affair.

Mid-way through the penultimate lap, with first and second places seemingly secured the interest was in the three riders chasing third. The local crowd knew which of the trio they wanted to take it.

At the bell the situation was poised, and course conditions were perfect. Schurter applied the pressure on the early difficult climb but couldn’t quite shake his foes. It looked to be going to the finish - at least between Schurter and Braidot, as Schelb’s light slowly dimmed.

On the last lap, Pidcock nudged his own lead over the minute for the first time as he calmly eased his way home, before sprinting to the line.

Flückiger cruised to second. With the line in sight, Schurter put in one last dig, but couldn’t do enough to stop Braidot from mugging him for 3rd. Schelb was safe in 4th as Nadir Colledani (Santa Cruz RockShox Pro Team) rounded out the podium.

Pidcock, who had not practised the course before the race, admitted to early difficulties:

“It was really tricky in the first few laps just to find my own rhythm,” he said afterwards. “We were just getting in each other’s way.”

He went onto suggest that, after gapping the field he may have relaxed a bit too much considering what’s in store in the coming weeks:

“I made a couple of mistakes after getting my gap. I’ve got big things coming up and I don’t think my team-mates would be too happy if I’d binned myself today.

New men’s overall UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup leader Schurter said he “struggled with the conditions - one lap I think I crashed three times.” All in all, he was “super happy with my 4th place.”

ONESTI HITS NEW SEASON HIGH IN U23 XCO

After finishing a season’s best second in Val di Sole last weekend, Olivia Onesti (Trinx Factory Team) went one better in Crans-Montana. The French rider got quicker and quicker over the four laps, to win the Women’s U23 Olympic Cross-country World Cup race by more than a minute from Madigan Munroe (Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli.) Emilly Johnston (Trek-Future Racing) the winner of Friday’s XCC, was a further 83 seconds down in third.

“It was a really hard race, with a lot of rain and mud,” said Onesti, afterwards. “I like it because it’s different, but it was difficult. I’m so happy because it’s been a lot of work.”

In the men’s U23 UCI Cross-Country Olympic World Cup on Saturday, Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) romped to his most dominant victory of the season to date. On lap three, Amos kicked clear of compatriot Bjorn Riley (Trek Factory Racing) and Rens Teunissen van Manen (KMC Ridley MTB Racing), quickly building a 16 second lead before going onto win by a comprehensive 37-seconds.

“I think that was the hardest, most difficult race of my entire career today,” Amos said afterwards. “Everyone knew it was going to be an absolute war, I went all out from the gun to try and get out front early, make the race my own and make as little mistakes as possible and just try and stay off your ass, it was one hell of a day out there.”

Next weekend, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series heads to Haute-Savoie, in the heart of the French Alps. The Alpine town of Combloux will host a new round of the UCI Enduro & E-enduro World Cups on June 28 and 30, respectively, while Megève will host Round 2 of the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Cup on June 29.