Leogang MTB World Cup: Ferrand-Prevot, Sarrou win short track titles in Austria

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) used a last-lap pass of Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to win the women’s short track race at World Cup Leogang, Austria. Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) held off Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLLCTV) to win the men’s short track title on Friday.

The 1.2km course was unpredictable at the start for XCC races as heavy rains had fallen throughout the afternoon at Leogang-Salzburgerland. The World Cup cross-country Olympic races follow on Sunday. 

Along with competitions for downhill, enduro and E-enduro, this was the first time in mountain bike history for all the disciplines to be held in a single event, a total of 18 individual UCI World Cup titles handed out by the end of the weekend. 

Women's XCC

Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) led the group off the line to begin the first ascent on the open terrain, the wide track allowing for riders to position themselves headed to the first technical, slippery turns. Martina Berta (Santa Cruz RockShox Pro Team) then moved quickly past Pieterse for the lead on the second lap.

Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing) led the charge midway through the second lap, only xx able to match the downhill acceleration on the slippery surface. Jenny Rissveds (Team 31 IBIS Cycles) was riding in third place but slipped and seemed to have a mechanical and dropped well back in the chase. Pieterse regained the lead on the big climb on the second lap, Richards and World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) on her back wheel.

The threesome worked together on lap 3 for a solid lead over the field. Pieterse gained a little separation on the fourth climb, but it was Ferrand-Prevot who surged to the front on the final climb on the fifth lap, sliding a little sideways on the descent with Pieterse trying to close the distance, but the French rider winning by 

Ferrand-Prevot took her first XCC victory of the season with a xx gap over Pieterse. Richards made a big push on the final descent to hold off Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory Racing) for third.

“I won today so of course I am very happy. I tried to be smart, don’t push too much at the start and just try to follow. I knew I had to attack with like two laps to go, and it worked,” the World Champion said.

“When I saw Puck and Evie together at the front, I said ‘OK, I have to close the gap’. After that I tried to recover for one or two laps [before an attack].” That attack took place just before the final climb and she held the momentum to the end.

Men's XCC

Martins Blums (KMC MTB Racing) surged to the front of the pack to take the lead on the opening climb. He held a three-second margin after the first lap, Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLLCTV), Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) and Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) trailing just behind in a long line of riders.

Across the second ascent, Schwarzbauer set the pace on the climb, but Blums went back to the front on the twisting, slippery descent. A long line of riders continued for the third lap, Flickinger pushing the pace on the descent, but no major moves were allowed to go. 

As the second half of the contest began, Sarrou, Schwarzbauer, Mathias Flückiger (Thömas Maxon), Joshua Dubau (Rockrider Ford Racing) and Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) lined out as the top five. The pace picked up with Hatherly dropping back and Jens Schuermans (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) moved back into the mix. Then on the penultimate climb Schuermans stole to the front and began to stretch out the field.

On the final lap, Sarrou attacked with a massive pass of Schuermans just before hitting the climb. The Frenchman opened a big gap on the twisting descent, having time to whip his back wheel on a closing jump to celebrate. Schwarzbauer rode in fourth across the descent and finished second, ahead of Martins Blum (KMC MTB Racing) in third and Schuermans in fourth. 1st WC win of season

“I wanted it [the win] so much. I managed the race really well. I waited ‘til the last lap. And I enjoyed the last downhill because I had a gap. It’s really cool,” Sarrou said. “Here it is so physical. During the race I managed my skills and I tried to save energy as much as possible for Sunday.”

Results

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