The final cross-country (cross-country Olympic – XCO – and cross-country short track – XXC) and downhill rounds of the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup were held in Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada) from 6 to 8 October, against a beautiful autumn setting.
Women’s XCC: Stigger goes all out
On Friday evening, Austria’s Laura Stigger took her third UCI World Cup victory of the season, winning the Women Elite short track race 5 seconds ahead of Loana Lecomte (FRA) and Rebecca Henderson (AUS). With 5th place, Puck Pieterse (NED) secured the overall classification with 1,420 points, 142 points clear of Alessandra Keller (SUI) and 42 points ahead of Evie Richards (GBR).
In the Women U23, Ronja Blöchlinger (SUI) finished ahead of Samara Maxwell (NZL), with Noëlle Buri (SUI) third. The top three were identical in the overall standing. Blöchlinger has won all eight rounds of the UCI World Cup in the XCC and a total of 1,000 points gives her an impressive margin of 370 points over the runner-up.
Men’s XCC: Koretzky takes his third consecutive victory
In the dust on the Canadian track, Frenchman Victor Koretzky took his third consecutive victory, finishing ahead of his countryman Jordan Sarrou and Christopher Blevins (USA) in the Men Elite race. His 7th place was enough for Luca Schwarzbauer (GER) to keep his number one position with 1,550 points, against Sarrou’s 1,440 and Joshua Dubau’s (FRA) 926 points.
“Now I’m in good shape and I enjoy riding at the front; three in a row, it’s just perfect for me”, said Victor Koretzky.
The Men U23saw Adrien Boichis (FRA) win ahead of Canadian Carter Woods and Riley Amos (USA). The podium also reflected the overall standings. Boichis’s four wins give him a total of 855 points,170 more than his nearest rival.
Women’s XCO: Pieterse’s amazing double
Loana Lecomte won the Women Elite race in style. Relentless on both climbs and descents, the French rider dominated in Quebec, with only Jenny Rissveds (SWE) able to stay close. With her third place, Puck Pieterse (NED) could already celebrate having secured the overall victory of the UCI World Cup, with 1,939 points. Lecomte’s second win of the year moved her into second overall (1,526 points), ahead of Keller (1,445). 21-year-old Pieterse won three UCI World Cup races in 2023, never finishing lower than 7th place.
“It’s crazy to have been able to wear the leader’s jersey from start to finish. It’s been a dream season and I’m just really happy”, said Puck Pieterse.
Ronja Blöchlinger built on her victory in the XCC by winning the U23 XCO – and also taking the overall. Noëlle Buri finished second, ahead of Madigan Munro (USA). With 1,033 points, Blöchlinger is ahead of Sofie Heby Pedersen (DEN) on 896 points and Samara Maxwell (NZL) on 893 points.
Men's XCO: Schurter takes his ninth title
Nino Schurter (SUI) headed to Canada with a 62-point lead over Jordan Sarrou (FRA), and four riders could potentially claim the title. As the Frenchman struggled in the mud, the 37-year-old Swiss rider suffered a dropped chain and had to settle for 14th place. After winning the first UCI XCO World Cup round of the year, UCI World Champion Thomas Pidcock (GBR) won the final race, ahead of Mathias Flückiger (SUI), who suffered two punctures. Marcel Guerrini (SUI) finished third.
Schurter won the overall classification with 1,549 points, ahead of Sarrou (1,509) and Flückiger (1,499).
“It was a really close call… I had a very bad start, got back into 31st place and chased back. It was emotional” said Schurter, “But I’m really happy about the whole season.”
In the Men U23, Riley Amos won ahead of Frenchman Adrien Boichis and American Bjorn Riley. Boichis secured the overall classification with 1,044 points, ahead of Amos (819) and Carter Woods (774).
Women’s DHI: the relentless Höll
UCI World Champion in downhill, Valentina Höll, confirmed her domination with a stunning final run, winning by 13 seconds ahead of Germany’s Nina Hoffmann and Italy’s Veronika Widmann. The Austrian had already secured the overall title and enjoyed riding “without pressure” as she claimed her third UCI World Cup victory this year.
Höll’s 2,422 points saw her clear of Hoffmann (1,913) and France’s Marine Cabirou (1,734), who was on great pace in Canada but crashed on the slippery track.
In the Women U23, Valentina Roa Sanchez (COL) beat Sacha Earnest (NZL) by 3 seconds and, more importantly, passed her in the overall rankings. Lisa Bouladou (FRA) finished third. The “other Valentina” therefore claimed the overall classification with 390 points, 30 more than Bouladou.
Men’s DHI: big day for Goldstone
Canada’s 19-year-old star Jackson Goldstone delivered an amazing final run on “his” track and won the event by 4 seconds ahead of Britain’s surprise Ethan Craik. Third place for Loïc Bruni (FRA) ensured him the overall title. By winning the first and last rounds of the year (in his first season in the Elite category), Goldstone is the only rider with two victories this season. The fact that there were almost eight different winners in eight rounds reflects the suspense that prevailed throughout the season.
In the overall classification, Bruni won with 1,698 points, ahead of Goldstone (1,616) and France’s Loris Vergier (1,533).
In the Men’s Junior, it was a French 1-2-3 in Quebec. Nathan Pontvianne won 3.7 seconds ahead of Mylann Falquet and Kimi Viardot. Ryan Pinkerton’s (USA) four successive victories had already given him the overall victory before the final round of the series. He finished on top with 343 points, ahead of Pontvianne (225) and Canadian Bodhi Kuhn (213).
Find all the results and rankings for the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup here