UCI MTB World Cup Petropolis: Ferrand-Prévot, Hatherly win short track openers

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The 2022 Mountain Bike World Cup opened on Friday in the new venue of Petropolis, Brazil; the first time that the World Cup has visited Brazil since 2005 with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (BMC MTB Racing) and Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory) winning the opening short track events.

The racing began with the first XCC - short track - of the new stand alone World Cup series for this discipline.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot became the first rider to don the new leader's jersey with a last-lap attack in the women's six-lap race. Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory) outsprinted XCO world champion Evie Richards (Trek Factory) for second.

The 1.4-kilometre circuit did not offer any technical or climbing features to separate the field, so it was a high-paced race of attrition.

Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV), the 2021 World Cup overall champion moved to the front on the first lap, setting a fast pace that left others content to follow for the first half of the race. Richards challenged her a few times, but always slid back on the climbs as the front group shrunk to 15 riders.

Rebecca McConnell (Primaflora Mondraker Genuins) launched the first serious attack on lap 5, opening a small gap before Richards, Ferrand-Prévot, Stigger and Lecomte pulled her back. Richards then opened the throttle on the final lap and looked to be in control until the final short climb, when Ferrand-Prévot surged and no one could answer.

"I'm very happy and I was not expecting it," said Ferrand-Prévot. "It is my first short track of the season, and I have been doing Cape Epic so more longer distance races. But I have I worked hard over the winter on my weaknesses.

"I missed a pedal at the start but I was able to come back after an effort. Then I tried to sit in a bit and recover. Coming from road racing, I am used to tactics and I just waited for the right moment."

Late-race attack nets Hatherly the victory

Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory) took the first short track win of his career with an attack just before the final descent to the finish line to overtake Thomas Litscher (Kross Orlen) in the final 50 metres. Maxime Marotte (Santa Cruz FSA) took third.

All eyes were on Brazilian star Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory), racing in his home town on a course that he and his father designed. Avancini did not disappoint the huge crowd in the early laps, taking control at the front of the race for the first two laps and always staying in the top three.

Litscher and XCO world champion Nino Schurter (Scott SRAM) both tested the front of the race before 2021 World Cup champion Mathias Flueckiger (Thomus Maxon) attacked hard at the start of Lap 5. The top contenders all responded immediately, with Marotte moving to the front for the penultimate sixth lap. 

Things seemed to settle down a bit for this lap, with no one willing to make a long attack. Schurter jumped at the beginning of the final lap, but neither he nor Avancini could respond when Litscher surged on the final climb. The Swiss rider looked to have it won on the descent into the finish, but Hatherly attacked hard in the final flat run-in to the finish line to come by for the win.

"It's incredible," admitted Hatherly, the first-ever South African short track winner. "This is unbelievable, the crowd is insane. Super happy to take the win for the team. It was a really crazy race. A few efforts were going with three laps to go, but nothing was sticking, so I sat back a bit and waited, using some road tactics."