UCI Mountain Bike World Series: Luca Schwarzbauer dominates Val di Sole short track, Laura Stigger edges Puck Pieterse

Luca Schwarzbauer continued his dominance in the UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup with an imperious victory at Val di Sole, while Laura Stigger pipped Puck Pieterse in a photo finish to win a thrilling women’s elite race.

Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) is the runaway leader in the Short Track rankings this season and put in a masterclass under the rain on the famously demanding Italian course.

A large group of contenders was bunched up for much of the race until a two-way battle between the German and Nino Schurter (Scott-Sram) emerged in the final lap.

But Schwarzbauer left the Swiss in his wake with an explosive late burst on the flat grassy section, leaving Schurter dropping all the way down to 10th as Alan Hatherly (Cannondale) and Joshua Dubau (Rockrider Ford) grabbed the remaining podium positions.

Schwarzbauer now has 860 points in the overall standings at the halfway stage of the season, 180 more than his closest rival Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC).

“I was pretty surprised I was so strong, I’m in good shape that’s for sure but I also felt pretty tired,” said Schwarzbauer .

“I did the Euros [European Championships] last week and it was [a lot of] travelling. I was just hoping I can conserve my legs one more time.

“Today I think tactically I did it perfect. Thank you to Nino who made a good lead-out for me, but I think in the end I was the strongest.

“This course really suits me, it has one really hard kick, but also some flat sections. So it’s crazy, I just catch my third World Cup win.”

As the rain poured down and the umbrellas came out in the crowd, Schwarzbauer immediately set the pace early on as he crossed the line in front for the opening few laps.

The course started to cut up a bit due to the weather but it didn’t put the German off his stride one bit as he responded to every challenge.

Jens Schuermans (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) and De Froidmont (Orbea Factory) got ahead at the start of the fourth lap, but Schwarzbauer was back in front by the end of the circuit – and stayed there until the penultimate lap.

The action exploded in the final lap when Schwarzbauer made his move to power through the rock garden and steep climb sections to create a gap to Schurter.

But the Swiss fought back to narrow the gap on the descent and raise the possibility of a sprint finish, only for Schwarzbauer to power far enough ahead to celebrate before crossing the finish line.

De Froidmont and Schuermans completed the top five in a close race where only seven seconds separated the top 10 riders.

Stigger pipped Pieterse to the line in a thrilling finale to the women’s elite race, edging the Dutch rider in a photo finish after an eventful final lap.

Six riders were in contention going into the last circuit, but the front two broke away towards the end and a desperate sprint to the line saw the Austrian make a dramatic last-gasp overtake.

“I had such good power on the bell at the climb that I just went all out to overtake Puck,” said Stigger.

“Then yeah, tried to recover it on the downhill. Puck overtook me on the grass and I know she’s really strong in sprinting but it worked out.

“It’s amazing sprinting against, I think I can say one of the best sprinters, it’s just crazy.”

Overall leader Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) took the final podium spot, followed by Alessandra Keller (Thomus Maxon) and Jenny Rissveds (Team 31 IBIS Cycles Continental).

Britain’s Evie Richards made a promising start but eventually fell to a disappointing 25th place finish.

Pieterse came into the women’s elite race as the big favourite following her superb victory at the European Championships, but she lost out on another victory by a matter of inches.

The Dutch rider got off to a strong start and was neck-and-neck with Britain’s Evie Richards at the head of a large group at the end of the final lap.

The bunch at the front dropped riders before swelling up again as they race went on, but it started to break up on the fifth lap when the rain started to fall as a group of six crossed the line going into the penultimate circuit.

The same six were still in the mix going into the final lap, with Keller, Ferrand Prevot, Rissveds and Henderson battling the eventual top two.

Pieterse led coming out of the technical rocky climb, but Stigger stormed past on the uphill climb and stretched her lead over the jump section.

However, she was reeled in by Pieterse as the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider made the overtake going into the final grassy section to leave her needing one last sprint to take victory.

She seemed to have done enough approaching the line, only for a final burst from Stigger to narrow the gap before the Austrian edged ahead for a photo finish at the line.

– – –