Pinkbike Primer: Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the Leogang XC World Cup 2023

Round one winner Sofie Pedersen once again took control of the race and led from the start loop. Sofia did have some tough competition as Swiss rider Ronja Blöchlinger remained a constant threat through the four full laps, although she was never able to fully close the gap to this year’s dominant force.

After a short break, it was U23 Men’s turn to tackle the roots and rocks of Lenzerheide. From the off, a group of six controlled the front of the race across the first four laps. The fifth of six laps saw the leading group shrink slightly to five riders before a massive increase in pace for the final lap saw Friday’s XCC winner Dario Lillo build a gap to the other riders. Canadian Carter Woods tried his best to close the gap. Despite a sprint to catch the leader into the finish area it was not enough to get on the rear wheel of Lillo.

The Elite Women were up next with Loana Lecomte providing a masterclass in race craft as she showed her strength from all one. Lecomte managed her pace throughout the laps ensuring she had plenty left in the tank for a final lap attack that caused Pauline Ferrand Prevot to blow up on the first climb of the lap. From here on Loana held a lead of around 18 seconds all the way to the line. Pauline Ferrand Prevot felt the effects of trying to keep with Loana Lecomte as she fell back to fourth place being passed by Anne Terpstra and Alessandra Keller in the final lap.

Straight from the start Nino Schurter showed he meant business in the Elite Men’s race as he quickly recovered from his lower start ranking after a crash during the short track to join the leading riders at the front. Schurter spent the first few laps testing those around him as he planned his race tactics for the later laps. As the riders headed off road for the first time on lap four a small mistake from a rider in the leading group saw Nino Schurter take his chance. Schurter was joined by Swiss rival Mathias Flückiger as a leading pair at the front. Flückiger couldn’t hold onto the World Champs pace for long as it quickly became a solitary race at the front for Schurter building his lead to around 30 seconds going into the final lap. With a large lead into the last lap, Nino could take things steady as he soaked in the wild Swiss crowd on his way to his record-smashing 34th win.

You can view the full Elite results here.

Who is Leading the Overall?

After the second round of the 2023 season, it is Puck Pieterse and Nino Schurter leading the Elite overall standings.

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Elite Women

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Elite Men

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Where is the Third Round?

Over the past 12 years, the Austrian race venue of Leogang has hosted some of the sports’ biggest moments. While XC racing here has been a more recent addition with rounds here in 2020, 21 and 22 it did host a World Champs all the way back in 2012 with Nino Schurter and Julie Bresset taking the rainbow jerseys. The course used since 2020 has some rooty tech buried in the trees while the parts of the course laid out in the open feature some brutal climbs to test even the best rider’s climbing prowess.

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What’s the Track Like?

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Laurie Arsenault takes a lap of the 2021 course.

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XCO Course Map:

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XCC Course Map:

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When and What Racing is Happening this Weekend?

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 15
• 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
• 16:00-17:00 // 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 16
• 09:00-11:00 // Official XCO Training – Women
• 11:00-13:00 // Official XCO Training – Men
• 16:00-17:00 // Official XCC Training – Elite
• 17:30-18:15 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track – Women
• 18:15-19:00 // World Cup Cross-country Short Track – Men

Saturday, June 17
• 09:00-12:00 // Official XCO Training – All Riders

Sunday, June 18
• 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.

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What’s the Weather Expected to be?

It looks like we are in for a decent week of weather for racing this week although there is a threat of thunderstorms upsetting XCO race day on Sunday.

Thursday, June 15

Sunshine and some clouds // 20°C // 25% probability of precipitation // wind 7km/h

Friday, June 16

Periods of clouds and sun // 18°C // 25% probability of precipitation // wind 6km/h

Saturday, June 17

Partly sunny // 20°C // 25% probability of precipitation // wind 7km/h

Sunday, June 18

Sunny to partly cloudy with a thunderstorm in spots from late morning on // 26°C // 40% probability of precipitation // 24% probability of thunderstorms // wind 6km/h

Weather forecast as of Monday, June 12 from Accuweather.

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What Happened Last Time in Leogang?

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The fourth XC World Cup of 2022 provided some incredible racing in Leogang. Kicking off a packed day of racing were the U23s with Puck Pieterse just pulling ahead of Line Burquier by only two seconds. For the U23 Men, Martin Vidaurre Kossmann secured another win with a nearly twenty-second advantage over Simone Avondetto.

In a repeat of the 2021 results, Loana Lecomte took the win in the Elite Women’s race with Jenny Rissveds and Laura Stigger once again taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

For the Elite Men, we saw Mathias Flückiger join Loana Lecomte with a perfect weekend in Austria. Nino Schurter tried his best to stick with Mathias on the last lap but an attack up the second big climb was just too much and a small gap formed that couldn’t be closed before the finish line. Alan Hatherly ran an amazing race to hold onto third and stuck within touching distance of the top two for nearly all of the six laps.

Elite Women (5 Laps)

1st. Loana Lecomte: 1:15:42
2nd. Jenny Rissveds: +1:13
3rd. Laura Stiger: +1:28
4th. Sina Frei: +1:41
5th. Anne Terpstra: +2:10

Elite Men (6 Laps)

1st. Mathias Flückiger: 1:15:31
2nd. Nino Schurter: +6
3rd. Alan Hatherly: +39
4th. Vlad Dascalu: +45
5th. Maxime Marotte: +1:09

U23 Women (4 Laps)

1st. Puck Pieterse: 1:04:41
2nd. Line Burquier: 1:04:43
3rd. Olivia Onesti: 1:06:11
4th. Sofie Pedersen: 1:06:39
5th. Luisa Daubermann: 1:07:31

U23 Men (5 Laps)

1st. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:06:54
2nd. Simone Avondetto: 1:07:13
3rd. Filippo Fontana: 1:07:28
4th. Luca Schätti: 1:08:23
5th. Janis Baumann: 1:08:42

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Who has Won here Before?

Leogang is still a fairly new venue for XC racing with only four past events. Despite the short history as a World Cup venue, two names have dominated here with both Loana Lecomte and Mathias Flückiger winning here for the past two years.

Elite Men

2012//Worlds: Nino Schurter
2020//Worlds: Jordan Sarrou
2021: Mathias Flückiger
2022: Mathias Flückiger

Elite Women
2012//Worlds: Julie Bresset
2020//Worlds: Pauline Ferrand Prevot
2021: Loana Lecomte
2022: Loana Lecomte

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How to Follow the Racing?

Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the Leogang coverage throughout the week with results, photo epics, bike checks, race analysis and more.

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