UCI XC World Cup: Tom Pidcock claims final XCO World Cup win of 2023
World champion takes win in Mont-Sainte-Anne final as Nino Schurter and Puck Pieterse celebrate overall titles.
World champion Tom Pidcock closed out the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country season with victory in the mud at Mont-Sainte-Anne, while Nino Schurter and Puck Pieterse celebrated securing the overall XCO World Cup titles at the Canadian venue.
Racing only a part-time World Cup schedule around his road cycling commitments, Ineos Grenadiers rider Pidcock had secured victory at the opening round of the series in Nové Město, Czech Republic, and book-ended his year with another victory.
The British racer missed the podium in Friday’s XCC short track race by just one second, where victory was taken by Victor Koretzky for the second successive race and Germany’s Luca Schwarzbauer secured the XCC overall title.
Rain turned the course into a physical and technical challenge for Sunday’s race and Pidcock engaged in a back and forth battle with Swiss rider Mathias Flückiger for the victory.
Flückiger led the race on the opening lap, but suffered a flat tyre that forced him to pit for a wheel change and allowed Pidcock through into the lead. However, he closed down a 16-second deficit and had passed Pidcock back when a second puncture with just over a lap remaining handed Pidcock an advantage that he wouldn’t relinquish, riding home to victory over Flückiger by 26 seconds.
Such was the dominant pace of Pidcock and Flückiger that third place finisher, Swiss Marcel Guerrini, finished 1m 31s behind winner Pidcock.
Further down the field, record-breaking cross-country champion Nino Schurter suffered both a puncture and a dropped chain during the race, but fought back to finish 12th, which was enough to secure him the overall World Cup title for the ninth time.
In the women’s field, France’s Loana Lecomte overcame a puncture to win her second World Cup race of the season by 15 seconds over Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds.
Meanwhile, third place was enough to hand Puck Pieterse the overall XCO World Cup title for the first time ahead of Lecomte and Austrian rider Mona Mitterwallner.
The Dutch rider, a first-season Elite competitor, completed the Women’s cross-country World Cup double after also securing the XCC short track crown with a fifth place finish in the race won by Austria’s Laura Stigger.
Women’s XCO result
1. Loana Lecomte FRA 1h 28m 9s
2. Jenny Rissveds SWE +15s
3. Puck Pieterse NED +1m 3s
4. Jolanda Neff SUI +1m 18s
5. Martina Berta ITA +2m 29s
Men’s XCO result
1. Tom Pidcock GBR 1h 26m 27s
2. Mathias Flückiger SUI +26s
3. Marcel Guerrini SUI +1m 31s
4. Titouan Carod FRA +1m 55s
5. Thomas Litscher SUI +2m 17s
2023 Women’s XCO final standings
1. Puck Pieterse NED 1939 points
2. Loana Lecomte FRA 1526
3. Mona Mitterwallner AUT 1445
4. Laura Stigger AUT 1394
5. Alessandra Keller SUI 1327
2023 Men’s XCO final standings
1. Nino Schuter SUI 1549 points
2. Jordan Sarrou FRA 1509
3. Mathias Flückiger SUI 1499
4. Luca Schwarzbauer GER 1344
5. Thomas Girot FRA 1196
