Laura Stigger and Victor Koretzky added to Sina Frei and Koretzky’s XCC wins to deliver a strong showing for Specialized Factory Racing in the team’s XCO race. It was in a carnival atmosphere that the Elite riders set off on the full course of the UCI Olympic Cross-country World Cup (XCO).
In hot and dry conditions, the Men’s and Women’s Elite XCO races were hot from the start. But the fast and wide course had the opposite effect of the U23 race held the day before, with a large peloton of runners who stayed together until the very end.
STIGGER SURPASSES HIS TEAMMATE FREI
Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) overcame what appeared to be a mid-race explosion to pass teammate Sina Frei at the line and claim the third Elite victory of the weekend for the American team.
In what was a scoring race from the start, Candice Lill set the early pace with a lead group including Loane Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV XCO), Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) and Stigger, while the leader from the series Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) and Frei were not far behind. On the long climb at the start of each loop, Lill was always at the front to widen the gap, but the group quickly closed in on the descents and stone gardens of the second half of the stage.
The lead group ended up shrinking with each lap; First it was Keller who dropped, followed by Blunk, the local favorite, in the fourth round. By the time of the penultimate lap, it seemed that Stigger’s race was over, the Austrian not being able to keep up with the pace of Lill and Lecomte, who had gone on the attack.
The Frenchwoman, a ten-time winner of the UCI can only increase.
The chasing group made up of Rebecca Henderson (Primaflor Mondraker Racing Team), Stigger and Frei were not yet at the end of their troubles. Although the Australian was quickly dropped, Stigger and Frei eventually found themselves with Lecomte and Lill, and it looked like the sprint for victory could be a four-way race.
Stigger had other ideas. Repeating Frei’s victorious attack the day before, the Austrian exploded out of the pits, with Frei following closely behind, leaving Lecomte unable to react. In a two-man sprint, Stigger did enough to stay ahead of Frei, denying the Swiss rider an XCC-XCO double, although the teammates didn’t seem to mind as they celebrated with each other afterwards. having crossed the line.
Speaking after the race, Stigger said: “It’s incredible. To race here in America must be lucky for me. The brand is from here, Specialized gives me wings. It’s incredible, with a double victory and Sina [Frei] who tore everything apart yesterday. I tried to give it my all from the feed zone until the end, I saw Sina’s tactics yesterday and thought I should try the same. Sina and I are very good friends. It’s incredible to have such a teammate.”
In the general classification, Keller has the cards in hand – the Swiss driver was already crowned winner of the XCC general classification yesterday, with one round still to go. The 2022 overall winner currently sits 322 points ahead of second-place Blunk, and with 330 points on the line, she only needs to finish the final race in 35th place to complete the series double.
Koretzky’s double
For the men, it was worth the detour too. Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) and Victor Koretzky dictated the tempo early in the race, but when the peloton crossed the start-finish straight for the first time, the lead group still numbered more than 20 riders. The first highlight was Martin Vidaurre’s (Specialized Factory Racing) big crash – the Chilean hit the ground in the first rock garden on lap two, and his bike narrowly missed teammate Koretzky as it flew into the air . Although he got back on his bike, he quickly stopped and appeared to suffer a broken collarbone.
At each climb, another rider took over – Mathis Azzaro (Decathlon Ford Racing Team), Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team), Marcel Guerrini (BIXS Performance Race Team) – but no one managed to make the attacks last. It was then that disaster struck Hatherly: midway through the fourth lap, the new UCI XCO World Champion suffered a rear puncture. With a gap of 41 seconds and more than 30 places ahead, Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) takes the advantage in the general classification.
At the start of the final lap, nine riders were in contention and in the final long straight, Colombo gave the race a boost. Koretzky held on tightly to his wheel, but the pace was too high for three riders, including local favorite Chris Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing). Just like in the women’s race, the sprints began in the final technical area, and it is Colombo who looked strong and in control.
But Koretzky showed why he is the UCI XCC World Champion, revving up the turbo and passing everyone on the line to take the double – his first since Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) in 2023. Surprising, Hatherly recovered to take second place, while Colombo settled for third. Guerrini finished fourth and Mathias Flückiger fifth.
Koretzky said after the race: “The last time I did the double was in Les Gets, France, a year ago, so it’s incredible. To do a double in one weekend is always difficult because you have to stay motivated and keep moving forward Today the time was a bit high and it was almost impossible to know who was the strongest. I was very patient throughout the race because it was. was very fast and on the wheel it was a little easier, but I couldn’t ride at the front The race was too high I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of the team. crazy – four wins in one weekend is incredible for Specialized. We want to do the same thing next week and then we can all celebrate together.
The result means the men’s overall standings will advance to the final round in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, but like Keller, Hatherly has an almost unassailable lead. The UCI XCO World Champion is currently 259 points ahead of second-placed Koretzky, with Colombo (1085 points) the only other rider within distance.
