We are back with another packed weekend of World Cup racing in 2023 as the XC series continues in Lenzerheide. This week we will see U23 and Elite riders go head to head in the XCC Short Track World Cup and the XCO World Cup. Here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 XC World Cup’s second round in Switzerland.
The first round of the 2023 XC World Cup series saw Puck Pieterse take her first Elite win during her first Elite race after battling with World Champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot. Puck Pieterse managed to shut down the gap to the French rider on the final lap and with an attack through the tech zone she was able to secure the lead and take the win by five seconds. Following closely behind 2nd-placed Pauline Ferrand Prevot was Loana Lecomte who came from behind in the early stages of the race to a point in the last lap where it looked like she may have been in contention for the win. Loana would eventually cross the line 3rd, 11 seconds off the pace. In an incredible achievement, Evie Richards fought back from a flat rear tire that destroyed her chance at securing the win to end the day with an impressive fourth place.
With rain making the course even more challenging for the Elite Men all eyes were on XCC winner Tom Pidcock and whether he could secure a third consecutive win at Nove Mesto. Despite joining the front of the race in the first lap and looking like it would be an easy ride Joshua Dubau would make sure that a win was not a guarantee for the Olympic champion. A mid-race crash would make things even harder for Tom Pidcock but battered and bruised he fought back and managed to get into a position where an attack on the last lap would create a gap big enough to stay ahead into the finish and secure the win. Joshua Dubau fought hard and was more than happy with a 2nd place, just five seconds back.
Elite Women:
1st. Puck Pieterse: 1:23:01
2nd. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +5
3rd. Loana Lecomte: +11
4th. Evie Richards: +16
5th. Alessandra Keller: +38
Elite Men:
1st. Tom Pidcock: 1:22:46
2nd. Joshua Dubau: +5
3rd. Nino Schurter: +23
4th. Jordan Sarrou: +23
5th. Thomas Griot: +48
You can view the full results here.
After the first round of the 2023 season, it is Puck Pieterse and Tom Pidcock leading the Elite overall standings. Although with Tom Pidcock skipping the next few rounds it is all to play for in the Elite Men’s racing.
Elite Women:
Elite Men:
Set in the Bike Kingdom Lenzerheide alpine resort racers are challenged to one of the high-altitude races of the season as they race at 1400m above sea level. Since 2015 the venue has offered some incredible racing with no race more dramatic or memorable as last year’s Elite Men’s final lap where a collision between Nino Schurter and Mathias Flückiger ended both Swiss riders’ chance at the win. Just like last year this will be another big race for Nino Schurter as he still hunts the elusive record-breaking 34th World Cup win. There would be no better place for him to do it than during his home World Cup.
Luca Schwarzbauer takes a lap of the 2022 course.
The course in Lenzerheide throws up plenty of challenges with some decent climbs as well as some tricky descents. There’s plenty to catch riders out as they go head to head, and we normally get some flat-out action with a big sprint to the line if the top riders are close. Sometimes we are even given some bar-to-bar action that didn’t go too well last year.
XCO Course Map:
XCC Course Map:
With XCC and XC World Cup events all in one weekend it is a pretty stacked schedule, here is what you can expect to find happening this weekend.
All times CEST
Thursday, June 8
• 10:00-12:00 // Official XCO Training – Women
• 12:00-14:00 // Official XCO Training – All Riders
• 14:00-15:30 // Official XCO Training – Men
• 16:15-17:15 // Official XCC Training – U23
• 17:30-18:15 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track – U23 Women
• 18:15-19:00 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track – U23 Men
Friday, June 9
• 09:00-11:00 // Official XCO Training – Women
• 11:00-13:00 // Official XCO Training – Men
• 16:00-17:00 // Official XCC Training – Elite
• 17:15-18:00 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track – Women
• 18:00-19:00 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track – Men
Saturday, June 10
• 09:00-12:00 // Official XCO Training – All Riders
Sunday, June 11
• 08:30 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic – U23 Women
• 10:30 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic – U23 Men
• 13:00 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic – Women Elite
• 15:30 // World Cup Cross-Country Olympic – Men Elite
Note: All times are local and subject to change by the UCI/event organizer.
It looks like we are in for a difficult week of weather as rain and thunderstorms are expected throughout the week.
Thursday, June 8
Partly sunny with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm // 18°C // 48% probability of precipitation // 35% probability of thunderstorms // wind 6km/h
Friday, June 9
Periods of clouds and sun with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm // 20°C // 88% probability of precipitation // 35% probability of thunderstorms // wind 7km/h
Saturday, June 10
Periods of clouds and sun with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm; warm // 21°C // 60% probability of precipitation // 24% probability of thunderstorms // wind 7km/h
Sunday, June 11
Partly sunny with a thundershower in spots // 20°C // 40% probability of precipitation // 12% probability of thunderstorms // wind 4km/h
Weather forecast as of Monday, June 5 from Accuweather.
The fifth XC World Cup of 2022 in Lenzerheide provided dramatic racing with a huge upset in the Elite Men’s racing.
Kicking off racing was the U23 Women where Sofie Pedersen just beat Line Burquier in a sprint finish. Puck Pieterse completed the top three just over a minute back. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann made it five wins in a row as he went 26 seconds up on Canadian Carter Woods. Charlie Aldridge rounded out the top three, 56 seconds back.
Loana Lecomte secured back-to-back wins after a strong race saw her take eight seconds on Jenny Rissveds. Alessandra Keller fought hard for a win on home soil but settled for an amazing third place, 24 seconds back.
Racing could not have been closer in the Elite men’s race with Nino Schurter and Mathias Flückiger battling hard across all six laps. Both riders were purely focused on the win and they crashed before the finish handing the win to Luca Braidot who also had an incredible race hanging onto the Swiss riders across the six laps.
1st. Loana Lecomte: 1:17:31
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +8
3rd. Alessandra Keller: +24
4th. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: +2:06
5th. Anne Terpstra: +2:06
1st. Luca Braidot: 1:17.32
2nd. Alan Hatherly: +0
3rd. Mathias Flückiger: +4
4th. Nino Schurter: +12
5th. Filippo Colombo: +32
1st. Sofie Pedersen: 1:06:00
2nd. Line Burquier: 1:06:00
3rd. Puck Pieterse: 1:07:12
4th. Noëlle Buri: 1:08:19
5th. Ronja Blöchlinger: 1:08:35
1st. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:08:08
2nd. Carter Woods: 1:08:34
3rd. Charlie Aldridge: 1:09:04
4th. Mathis Guay: 1:09:28
5th. Simone Avondetto: 1:09:54
Despite Switzerland having some of the fastest riders on the world circuit Nino Schurter is the only Swiss rider who has made it work on home soil taking the win in 2016,17 and 18. Other than Nino it’s only Jenny Rissveds who has managed to secure multiple victories here as every year it continues to produce some unpredictable results.
Elite Men
2015: Jaroslav Kulhavy
2016: Nino Schurter
2017: Nino Schurter
2018//Worlds: Nino Schurter
2019: Mathieu Van Der Poel
2021: Victor Koretzky
2022: Luca Braidot
Elite Women
2015: Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa
2016: Jenny Rissveds
2017: Annie Last
2018//Worlds: Kate Courtney
2019: Jenny Rissveds
2021: Evie Richards
2022: Loana Lecomte
Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the Lenzerheide coverage throughout the week with results, photo epics, bike checks, race analysis and more.