Results: PFP, MvdP the MVPs at Val di Sole XCO World Cup

The fifth of seven UCI XCO World Cups took place this weekend in Val di Sole, Italy. With 4 weeks to go until the 2019 World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, the world’s best XCO mountain bikers were looking to get on good form as they enter their final preparations to chase the rainbow jersey.

On Friday, Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing XC) and Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon – Circus) were tops in the Short Track race, and in Sunday’s XCO, they were looking to make it a perfect weekend.

Both the Elite Women and Elite Men’s races proved to be good ones, especially for fans of cyclocross.

Elite Women

Last week, we wrote about Pauline Ferrand-Prevot’s (Canyon Factory Downhill Team) return to racing after having surgery for iliac artery endofibrosis during the winter. Ferrand-Prevot continued her quick return to championship form with a third-place finish in Friday’s Short Track race.

On Sunday, the French National Champion brought strong legs again, starting fast and forcing the rest of the field to chase her. Three laps into the 5-lap race, she had a 40-second lead on Neff and Swede Jenny Rissveds (Team 31). Rissveds, the 2016 Olympic XCO Champion, is also making a comeback of her own after stepping away from racing in 2018.

In Lap 4, Neff dropped Rissveds and then took a big chunk out of Ferrand-Prevot’s lead, cutting it to 14 seconds at the bell. The last lap proved to be a banger.

Neff slowly erased Ferrand-Prevot’s lead and caught the Frenchwoman about midway through the 15-minute lap. The action heated up on the final big climb, with Neff attacking and Ferrand-Prevot putting everything into marking the move. Ferrand-Prevot then took the lead through the final rock gardens and downhill technical section.

After spilling out onto the flat finishing section, the two cross-discipline stars sprinted for the final 180-turn, with Ferrand-Prevot getting there first and leading the flat-bar sprint. Neff appeared to pull even with her rival, but Ferrand-Prevot turned on the afterburners right before the line to take the win and put an exclamation on her 2019 XCO World Cup campaign. It was the fourth second in five races for Neff. Rissveds took third.

Newly minted U.S. National Champ Chloe Woodruff (Stan’s – Pivot Pro Team) played the part in her new Stars-and-Stripes kit, finishing sixth. Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) finished 9th, Eva Lechner 10th, Kate Courtney (Scott -SRAM MTB Team) 17th, Elisabeth Brandau (EB Racing) 21st, Annemarie Worst 25th, Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing) 30th and Jenn Jackson (AWI Racing) 54th.

With her second, Neff opened up a 33-point lead on Courtney in the 2019 XCO World Cup overall.

Visit redbull.tv to watch the race replay

Full results are below.

Elite Men

Last time out in Les Gets, France, Mathieu van der Poel won the Short Track race but was a non-factor in the XCO race. Van der Poel again won the Short Track race in Italy on Friday, so he was looking to avoid a similar fate this time around.

Van der Poel, of course, was not just looking to have a good race, he was looking to win. The Euro Champ made an early group of 6, and then when Mathias Flueckiger (Thömus RN Swiss Bike Team) pushed the pace on the first big climb of Lap 2, only Van der Poel and Nino Schurter (Scott – SRAM MTB Team) followed. The trio of riders stayed together for a majority of the race, crossing the line as a triplet with one to go.

On Friday, Van der Poel attacked on the Short Track climb and utterly obliterated Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory Racing) in the bell lap. In Sunday’s race, he did the same to his two Swiss companions.

After a short Schurter burst on the first climb, Van der Poel countered. A brief respite on a flat, technical section kept the three riders together, but then Van der Poel attacked again when the slope pitched up. Schurter was cracked and Flueckiger could not follow. If they were watching at home, Wout van Aert and Toon Aerts quietly muttered, “Welcome to the club, Nino.”

Van der Poel was not challenged the rest of the way. The win was his second XCO World Cup gold of the season after he also won in Nove Mesto. Flueckiger finished second and Schurter third. Van der Poel now sits in second in the World Cup overall behind Schurter despite skipping the race in Vallnord.

Peter Disera (Norco Factory Team) finished 67th and Andrew L’Esperance (Norco Factory Team) 75th and Raphael Gagne (OMX Pro Bike Team) 105th.

Visit redbull.tv to watch the race replay

Full results are below.

U23 Women / Men

Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing XC) continued her own strong comeback with a silver in the U23 Women’s race.

2019 Short Track National Champion Christopher Blevins (Specialized Racing) had a strong result in the U23 Men’s race, finishing 4th. Caleb Swartz (Bear Pro Team) finished 74th with the Team USA contingent, and Canadian Gunnar Holmgren (Harwood Next Wave) finished 91st.

The next UCI XCO World Cup is this coming weekend in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, site of Kate Courtney’s big triumph at the 2018 World Championships.

Elite Women Results: 2019 Val di Sole XCO World Cup

Elite Men Results: 2019 Val di Sole XCO World Cup