UCI Mountain Bike World Cup: Flueckiger and Lecomte win in Leogang

France’s Loana Lecomte once again rode off the front of the race to take a solo win, her third World Cup XCO victory in as many races this season. 

“I’m very happy to have this shape this year,” Lecomte said after crossing the finish line. 

In the men’s race, Flueckiger joined an elite group of three leaders along with Ondrej Cink and Anton Cooper. Cooper was the first to crack, and then rode into a solitary third-place finish. Flueckiger eventually was able to open a gap to Cink and held on to take the win by 14-seconds. 

“I'm really, really happy with this win,” Flueckiger said, noting that it was a mental battle to find his rhythm during the race. 

A number of riders were not at the race, including Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel. Pidock is recovering form a broken collarbone, while van der Poel was racing at the Tour de Suisse. In the women’s field, Kate Courtney also stayed home because of a broken arm sustained in a crash at the Nove Mesto World Cup. 

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How it unfolded: men’s cross-country 

On the start loop, New Zealander Anton Cooper took the lead, looking to have good legs. The Trek Factory Racing rider was joined by Ondrej Cink, who set a fast pace on the first couple of laps. Flueckiger joined them to create a dominant group of three leaders. 

Cooper was the first to crack, however, but he held on, riding solo through the rest of the race to take third. 

Cink and Flueckiger looked to have about the same pace on the climbs, with Flueckiger a bit more skilled on the technical descents. Each rider pushed hard in the closing miles, and it was Flueckiger who finally was able to open a gap on Cink during the final lap. 

The Swiss rider crossed the line 11-seconds ahead of the Czech Cink. The second-place finish for Cink is an improvement on two fourth-place finishes in the previous World Cup rounds this season. 

“When I had the gap, I was pretty much confident I could go to the finish with this lead,” Flueckiger said. 

Winner of the first World Cup in Germany, Victor Koretzy, came in ninth. Jordan Sarrou won the World Championships in Leogang last year, but didn’t have the same legs on Sunday and instead crossed the line in 13th. 

Nino Schurter had a tough weekend as well. A slipped pedal at the start of Friday’s short track race quickly put him out of contention. In the XCO, he placed tenth, far off from his ambitions. 

The next World Cup in Les Gets, France, and the following Olympic mountain bike race in Tokyo will be a battle between mountain bikers like Flueckiger and multi-discipline stars Pidock and van der Poel, who both have ambitions on the road this year as well.

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How it unfolded: women’s cross-country 

Because of Lecomte’s dominance, the hottest battle on Sunday was for second place. 

The race opened with Jolanda Neff leading on the start loop, but Lecomte quickly took to the front and opened up a gap on the field. Neff would later crash off-camera and announced after the race that she broke her hand, although she still was able to take fourth place. 

Neff was part of the chase group that also included Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Austrian Laura Stigger, but Lecomte extended the gap to over two minutes heading into the final lap. 

After sitting in fifth place earlier in the race, Jenny Rissveds was able to claw back time and finish in second, two seconds ahead of Stigger. 

Despite a hard-fought battle from the chasers, Lecomte crossed the line with a minute and 48 seconds to spare. 

Lecomte is in great form this year heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games next month. The next World Cup test is in her home country of France, but riders like Ferrand-Prevot and America’s Haley Batten will certainly be hoping to break her streak.