Van der Poel and Woodruff win MTB World Cup short track races in Czech Republic

By published

Second round of UCI series underway in Nove Mesto

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Podium: l to r - Maxime Marotte, Mathieu van der Poel, Henrique Avancini(Image credit: Rob Jones)

Women

The fast track at Nove Mesto led to a race of attrition, with a few riders getting shed every lap due to the high intensity. Woodruff stole off the front of the women's race and nobody was willing to take up the chase, allowing her to roll in for the best World Cup result of her career. Annie Last (KMC-Ekoi-Orbea) won the field sprint ahead of Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory) and World Cup leader Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM). Courtney continues to lead the women's standings, with Neff second and Woodruff moving up one spot to third.

"I was inspired by Kate [Courtney, Round 1 winner] last week," said Woodruff, "so this means a lot. I race short track all the time and I love it. I knew my best bet was to go early, but I didn't know how big a gap I had until the last corner."

Men

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon Circus) proved once again that he is the best XCC (short track) racer on the Mountain Bike World Cup circuit with his second win in a row, in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, on Friday night.

The men's race saw multiple riders take a turn at the front, with van der Poel biding his time until four laps to go, when he accelerated away. He quickly opened a nine second lead, with Peter Disera (Norco Factory Team) leading the chase at the front of the field. The Dutchman eased up at the line, crossing just ahead of the field sprint, led by Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory) and Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory). Van der Poel padded his lead in the overall standings over Mathis Flueckiger (Thomus RN Swiss Bike), with Marotte moving up to third from fourth.

"Last year, this was a really nervous race," explained van der Poel, "so I didn't really want to take a chance with a sprint. It was really painful, but eventually I got a gap and just went full gas to the finish."

Brief Results

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Elite Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Chloe Woodruff (USA)0:22:08
2Annie Last (GBr)0:00:08
3Jolanda Neff (Sui)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Kate Courtney (USA)0:00:09
5Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra)Row 4 - Cell 2
6Linda Indergand (Sui)Row 5 - Cell 2
7Nadine Rieder (Ger)0:00:11
8Anne Tauber (Ned)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Rebecca Ellen McConnell (Aus)Row 8 - Cell 2
10Yana Belomoina (Ukr)Row 9 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mathieu van der Poel (Ned)0:20:49
2Maxime Marotte (Fra)Row 1 - Cell 2
3Henrique Aavncini (Bra)0:00:01
4Nino Schurter (Sui)Row 3 - Cell 2
5Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa)Row 4 - Cell 2
6ordan Sarrou (Fra)0:00:02
7eter Disera (Can)0:00:04
8Alan Hatherly (RSA)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Anton Cooper (NZl)Row 8 - Cell 2
10Reto Indergand (Sui)Row 9 - Cell 2

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