Van der Poel and Ferrand-Prevot take Lenzerheide short track wins

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) proved once again that he is untouchable in the World Cup short track event, taking his fifth win in six races at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on Friday. The only one he hasn't won this year was at Andorra, a race he didn't attend.

Held on a tight, twisty circuit at 1500 metres of altitude, a large group was still in contention with four laps to, before world champion and World Cup leader Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) accelerated. Only van der Poel and Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory) were able to go with him, and van der Poel took over the pace setting for the final two laps. In the final lap, Avancini attacked on a climb and van der Poel immediately countered, pulling away from the Brazilian to cruise across the finish line. Schurter took third.

"It is a good feeling [to win so many short tracks], but every one has been pretty hard to win," said van der Poel. "Nino was really strong today, and he did a different tactic than what I am used to from him; pulling all during the race and making it really hard. I'm really satisfied with my season; I've made the step up to be with the top guys. Winning two [XCO] World Cups so far and the European XCO championship; it's been a fantastic season for me on the mountain bike."

With his win, van der Poel has pulled to within 71 points of Schurter, with Avancini maintaining his third place in the standings. 

Ferrand-Prevot adds first short track win

One week after winning her first cross-country World Cup since 2015, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Canyon Factory) showed that it was not a fluke by winning Round 6 of the Short Track in Lenzerheide, Switzerland; her first win in the new discipline.

Held on a tight, twisty circuit at 1500 metres of altitude, the race saw a group of ten riders still in contention with three laps to go in the 20 minute race. Ferrand-Prevot had sat in the middle of the group, rejoining the leaders after crashing on the first lap. She began to to accelerate the pace, and the only riders able to go with her in the final lap were World Cup leader Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory) and Swedish champion Jenny Rissveds. Ferrand-Prevot got the inside line on the sweeping curve into the finish, crossing the line half a bike length ahead of Neff.

"It was incredible to win because I crashed on the first lap and was back in 12th position," said Ferrand-Prevot. "I came back, but it was so hard. I knew that I could not give up so I went full gas. For the sprint, since I won [the XCO World Cup] last week against Jolanda, I had some confidence, and I just gave it everything."

With her second place, Neff padded her lead in the overall rankings ahead of former leader Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM), while Ferrand-Prevot moved up one spot to third overall.

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