USA's Makena Kellerman continued her World Cup winning streak at UCI Cross-country Short Track races, edging Lisa Kristine Jorde of Norway in the U23 women's sprint to the line on Friday at Nové Město Na Moravě. The US rider extended her lead in the XCC overall standings after opening with a World Cup win in South Korea three weeks ago.
Paul Schehl (Lexware Mountainbike Team) rode solo for the victory in the men's U23 XCC race, passed Thibaut Francois Baudry (Canyon XC Racing) at the top of the men’s leaderboard, the Spaniard finishing seventh.
A pack of 24 riders stayed together for the first half of the women's race, with USA's Bailey Cioppa setting the pace with Swiss rider Fiona Schibler. Kellerman rode near the front, matching the pace of Valentina Corvi (Canyon XC Racing) and biding her time.
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Jorde moved to the front of a reduced group on the final lap and then Kellerman reacted. The duo opened a gap and Kellerman sprinted for the win, with Covi going third three seconds back.
“I’m honestly feeling so pumped. We’ve never really waited, usually we girls go first and waiting all day was a first for me. I just practiced being patient with my teammate Bailey [Cioppa],” said Kellerman, who won the women's US U23 cyclo-cross national title in December.
"I didn’t know if I was going to get it in the end, but I’m so proud that I never gave up, this is unbelievable. I just realised ‘you won one, you can win another’. I’m so stoked to wear this jersey, it has my name on the back, number one. I’m so happy I get to wear it another weekend.”
Schehl led seven of the eight laps in the U23 men's race. When it counted, he blasted away from closest competitor USA's Ian Ackert and opened a seven-second gap for the lead. On the last lap riders closed in, but it was not enough as Nael Rouffiac (Origine Racing Division) trailed two seconds back for second and Alix Andre-Gallis (Decathlon Ford Racing) took third.
The cross-country course at Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ has held World Cups 16 times, dating back to 2011. Only the U23 XCC races were contested on Friday, with elite XCC and U23 XCO for men and women on tap for Saturday. Events conclude Sunday with the elite XCO races, headlined by Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Premier Tech) facing off against reigning UCI XCC World Cup overall winner Evie Richards (Trek-Unbroken XC).
Olympic champion Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), who has won in Czechia four times, is set to race this weekend. Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing), the reigning overall winner, is expected to return to action after fracturing a collarbone just a few weeks ago. UCI XCC World Champion Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) remains sidelined after breaking his arm in the pre-season, and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was not expected to compete, although he was on the provisional start list.
