UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country Short Track World Cup men’s race live – Jordan Sarrou claims win

REPORT – SARROU CLAIMS VICTORY IN STYLE

17:37 – JORDAN SARROU WINS IN LEOGANG

What an incredible final attack from Sarrou who doubles up the French wins on the night in short track. Schwarzbauer celebrates a strong second place finish with Blums taking an impressive third.

17:37 – SARROU WITH A WHIP TO CELEBRATE

The French rider gives the fans some entertainment with whip over one of the jumps towards the end of the course.

17:36 – BIG GAP FOR SARROU

He is shredding his way to the top of the climb and now just has the descent in his way of victory with a big gap. Can Schwarzbauer come back?

17:35 – SARROU ON THE CHARGE

The French rider attacks for Team BMC and he hits the front with Schuermans the only rider still close to him. Schwarzbauer is chasing behind!

17:34 – FINAL LAP!

The group was heavily stretched out by the Belgian’s attack but all the usual suspects are still close to his back wheel as we approach the final climb.

17:33 – SCHUERMANS TO THE LEAD

It’s the first time the Belgian has shown his face all race and he has gone to the front ahead of Sarrou. Has he shot out for glory too early or can he hold this lead?

17:32 – SARROU HITS THE FRONT

The Frenchman takes the lead on the early part of the climb.

17:31 – ONTO LAP FIVE NOW

We’re getting into the business end of the race now and it’s still all together in the main group at the front with Schwarzbauer leading.

17:30 – SCHWARZBAUER STILL THERE

The big German has still been able to survive at the front despite the difficulty of the climb. He’s the current overall leader in this discipline and is more than showing why.

17:27 – FLUCKIGER PUSHING ON THE DESCENT

He has found a bit of a gap on the downhill portion and is taking full advantage. With not much of a chance in the final corner, he would love to repeat that move on the final gap and to lead the final descent before the line.

17:25 – SARROU LOOKING GOOD

The Frenchman is staying close to Fluckiger towards the front with Schwarzbauer pushing a huge gear to stay up towrds the front.

17:23 – FLUCKIGER TO THE FORE

The Swiss rider is looking for the triple double of victories in Leogang, but is coming into this race with a thumb injury that he sustained before round two in Lenzerheide.

He has been forced to rearrange his handlebar setup due to the injury but does believe he is in strong form legs-wise.

17:21 – LAP 2 COMPLETE

We’re onto the third lap now with that dreaded climb ready to be hit once again with no chance to recover. It’s been a brutal start in the first six minutes.

17:19 – GAP CLOSED

Schwarzbauer and Sarrou are closest to the leader with the German even moving into first position. Schurter is of course not too far behind in fourth.

17:18 – LAP 1 DONE

Blums still has the lead as the second lap starts with the big bunch in pursuit.

17:16 – BLUMS TO THE FRONT

Martins Blums (KMC MTB Racing Team) takes an early lead and flies into an early solo lead on the firs ascent of the climb. He’s not looking back and can now choose the line he desires on the big descent.

Schwarzbauer is chasing him down hard in the Short-Track World Cup leader’s jersey.

17:15 – WE’RE AWAY!

The riders have shot off the line to start the race and start the climbing. We should have a thrilling battle in store for tonight’s race.

Hatherly takes the early lead with an explosive start on the grass!

17:10 – RIDERS ON THE START

We are closing in on the start of round three of the Cross-Country Short Track World Cup. It’s stopped raining again for now, but Schurter didn’t appear to be too phased by the possibility of a wet course in his pre-race interview.

WOMEN’S RACE

We’ve just seen a thrilling women’s short track race won by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers) as she was the strongest on the climb and rode solo to the line for her first win of the year.

Will we also see a solo winner in the men’s race?

ONES TO WATCH

The last round of the Short Track World Cup saw German National Champion, Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLTV), take a thrilling win with an explosive attack on the final lap, so be right in the mix again.

It’s not as technical a course here and will benefit the stronger climbers with long ascents up the ski slopes. Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon) has dominated and won the short-track and Olympic disciplines in Leogang for the past two seasons so expect him to be fighting for victory.

History maker from last weekend’s Cross-Country Olympic race, Nino Scurter (Scott-Sram MTB Racing Team) will of course like the tough climbing, but will be hoping to stay rubber side down after crashing during the short track in Lenzerheide last Friday.

Also look out for Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) and Jordan Sarrou (BMC Racing) as they’ve performed well here in the past.

CROSS-COUNTRY SHORT TRACK – EXPLAINER

Today’s race is made up of laps around one of the hardest short tracks of the season, a 1.2km loop on a condensed version of the Cross-country Olympic track with lots of climbing.

The riders will be on the course for around 20 minutes and with a 39-rider field taking the start, it will be hectic all the way to the line. We’ve also had rain throughout the day’s early races which may affect the surface significantly, especially in the corners.

results this evening will determine the starting grid for the longer event, the Olympic cross-country race on Sunday, so expect a frantic fight to ensue with those grid positions holding huge value. It’s also more similar to a Cross-Country Olympic race due the elevation gain so it should be a solid sign of who will ride well on Sunday.

WELCOME

Hello and welcome to Eurosport’s LIVE text commentary of the third round of the Men’s UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Short Track World Cup. We’re set for around 20 minutes of non-stop racing in Leogang, Austria, with tonight’s XCC race kicking off another thrilling weekend of MTB racing.

ATHERTON AND WILLIAMS SUCCESS REALLY COOL TO SEE – SCHURTER

Nino Schurter said it was “really cool” to see British riders Rachel Atherton and Jordan Williams claim stunning UCI Mountain Bike World Cup wins.

Schurter created history last weekend with his 34th UCI MTB Cross-country Olympic World Cup victory, going past Julien Absalon’s record that he had equalled last year.

At the same event, Atherton, 35, won in only her second race since 2019, having given birth to her daughter Arna in 2021.

And 18-year-old Williams claimed victory on his debut in the men’s elite competition.

“It’s really cool to see who can win a World Cup,” said Schurter. “You can be a kid coming up from juniors, or a mum, or a 37-year-old old guy like me.

“Or [Greg] Minnaar, he is four years older than me and he is doing a sport that is all about explosivity. To see him still at the sharp end gives me a lot of motivation.

“That’s mountain biking, you can bring in a young kid with explosivity, going all in, and the older ones can also play their cards in different ways and that’s pretty cool to see.”