June 17/24 14:54 pm - Isabella Holmgren Takes 2nd World Cup Victory

Posted by Editoress on 06/17/24
 

Round 4 of the XCO Mountain Bike World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy, saw some familiar faces on the top step of the podium, with Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) taking the Elite women's win and Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) winning for the seventh time in Elite men. Canada's Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) took her second consecutive win in the Under-23 women's race.

Val di Sole is known for tough climbs and technically difficult, rooty descents. Rain prior to the main races made the track even more treacherous.

Under-23
Holmgren, just as she had done at the previous round, rode away from the rest of the Under-23 field to win by nearly a minute and a half, after finishing second in the XCC earlier in the week. Emilly Johnston (Trek Future) was eighth (third in the XCC), Ella MacPhee (Pivot Cycles-OTE) 13th, Ava Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) 16th, Marin Lowe (Pittstop Racing) 31st and Ophelie Grandmont 72nd. Johnston remains second in the overall standings, while Holmgren has jumped to seventh, despite having competed in only two of four races. Johnston is also second in the XCC series, while Holmgren is fifth (after competing in two of four races).

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"It was a super tough race today with a lot of strong girls," said Holmgren, "so I'm really happy to come away with the win. I didn't come in with any expectations. It was a bit more slippery than the rest of the week, so I just really tried to stay focused on the descents, take my time, and stay safe while smashing the climbs."

In Under-23 men, Riley Amos (Trek Factory-Pirelli) took his fourth straight win. Cole Punchard (Pivot Cycles-OTE) was sixth, Owen Clark 22nd, Zorak Paille (Pivot Cycles-OTE) 59th, Noah Ramsay 65th and Mika Comaniuk (Pittstop Racing) 81st. Punchard moved up to 21st in the overall standings from 28th.

Elite
World champion Ferrand Prevot wasted no time distancing herself from her rivals. Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was the only rider to stay close, and by Lap 2 she was dropped by 14 seconds, which increased to 30 seconds a lap later and 50 seconds by the finish. South Africa's Candice Lill had the ride of her career to finish third, overtaking Loana Lecomte (Canyon Collective) on Lap 2. Canadian national champion Jenn Jackson (Liv Factory) was 30th, Sandra Walter 45th, Roxanne Vermette 62nd and Lea Bouchard 67th. Jackson dropped one spot in the overall standings, to 18th.







"It was not an easy one," said Ferrand-Prévot. "Today I was a bit tired, but I was able to take the front and stay in the lead so I'm quite happy with that. It was just about focusing on my own pace and my own tempo and go as fast as possible."

In the men's race, Schurter went to the front on the start loop, stringing out the field. Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory) managed to stay with him for the first four laps before slowly losing ground. Hatherly was 18 seconds back entering the final lap, but was able to pull back to within seven seconds by the finish line. There was a three-way sprint for third, with Mathis Azzaro (Decathlon Ford) beating Luca Braidot (Santa Cruz Rockshox) and Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM). Raphael Auclair (Pivot Cycles-OTE) was the top Canadian, in 55th place. Tyler Orschel (Pan-American Union) was 62nd, Gunnar Holmgren (KMC Ridley) 63rd, Victor Verreault (Foresco Holding Proco RL) 78th, William Maltais-Pilote 87th and Dylan Kerr 90th. Holmgren dropped to 30th from 24th in the overall standings.

"I'm super happy about this victory," Schurter said. "It's a really cool course - tactical but also physical ... It's nice to still be able to win at 38, great to still be at the top. It's a track where riding in the group doesn't help you very much so my plan was to make it hard from the start."

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