MTB Results: Rainbows Wild at Nove Mesto UCI XCO World Cup

Round 2 of the 2019 UCI XCO World Cup was at Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic. The weekend’s racing kicked off with Friday’s Short Track races, where American Chloe Woodruff (Team USA) and Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon – Circus) took home wins and the first call-ups for Sunday’s XCO races.

Rainbows—of different stripes—would prove to be wild on Sunday.

Elite Women

Athletes often say that winning an important jersey has magical powers, and for America’s Kate Courtney (Scott – SRAM MTB Team), that has certainly been the case since she won the rainbow stripes at XCO Worlds last September.

Thus far this year, Courtney has picked up wins in the U.S., climbed the MTB Heat Check Power Rankings and swept the weekend at World Cup Albstadt.

After finishing fourth in Friday’s Short Track race, the young U.S. star did it again, pulling off a comeback to win Sunday’s XCO race and staying perfect in the XCO World Cups. Courtney trailed in the race by over 30 seconds at one point and trailed by 11 seconds at the bell, but she pulled off the last-lap comeback thanks in part to a mechanical by Anne Tauber (CST Sandd Bafang MTB Racing Team), who had led nearly the entire race.

Australian Rebecca Ellen McConnell (Primafloor Mondraker Rotor) and Canadian Haley Smith (Norco Factory Team) rounded out the podium.

Notable cyclocross and North American finishes include: Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing XC) finished 8th, Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Canyon Factory Downhill Team) 9th, Lea Davison (Team USA) 12th, Chloe Woodruff (Team USA) 18th, Eva Lechner (Creafin TUV Sud) 20th, Sandra Walter (Liv Racing), Jenn Jackson (AWI Racing) 31st, Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing XC) 38th, Cindy Montambault (Norco Factory Team) 51st, Rebecca Beaumont (Peppermint) 60th and Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing XC) 61st.

Elite Men

Two years ago at the Albstadt World Cup when Mathieu van der Poel was an unknown cyclocross racer, he made a bit of a name for himself by giving Nino Schurter (Scott – SRAM MTB Team) a run for his money in a second-place finish.

A lot has changed since that race two years ago. Van der Poel finished second in the XCO World Cup overall and third at Worlds in 2018 and this year, took the spring classics by storm. One thing Van der Poel has yet to do during this incredible run is win an XCO World Cup.

You probably know what’s coming next at this point. On Sunday, Van der Poel and Schurter entered the last lap of the Elite Men’s race together before Van der Poel dropped the four-time defending World Champion with his patented blistering attack on a climb to get his first XCO World Cup victory.

Schurter finished second and Mathias Flueckiger (Thomus RN Swiss Bike Team) third.

Cyclocross and North American finishes include: Gioele Bertolini (Santa Cruz FSA Mountain Bike Team), Leandre Bouchard (Pivot Cycles – OTE) 39th, Andrew L’Esperance (Norco Factory Team), Peter Disera (Norco Factory Team), Keegan Swenson (Team USA) 66th, Luke Vrouwenvelder (Team USA) 90th, Marc Andre Fortier (Pivot Cycles – OTE) 94th and Raphael Gagne (OMX Pro Bike Team) 109th.

Full XCO results are below.

U23 Results

On Saturday, Haley Batten (Team USA) won the U23 Women’s race, and Christopher Blevins (Specialized) finished 7th in the U23 Men’s race.

Featured image: Balint Hamvas

Elite Women Results: 2019 Nove Mesto XCO World Cup

Elite Men Results: 2019 Nove Mesto XCO World Cup