Puck Pieterse and Lars Forster thrived under tough conditions to steal the elite World Cup XCO wins on Sunday in Leogang. While the results match, the paths to victory could not have been more different.
Elite Women
Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) launched her attack early in the elite women’s race. After putting the field on notice when she won the opening World Cup round in Nove Mesto, the Dutch racer showed she’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Riding solo through the scorching Austrian heat, Pieterse soloed to a solid win.
Austrian duo Mona Mitterwallner (Cannondale Factory) and Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory) would close to within a minute of Pieterse, but could not challenge for the win on home turf.
“It’s amazing to race at home here in Leogang. Amazing people, amazing organization, family and friends’ support, even sponsors came to cheer me on. It’s so special for me. A big, big thank you to everyone who supports me, over the years and in every situation, good or bad,” Stigger said after the race. “The start was super fast, Puck went full gas from the start to finish, we couldn’t do anything about it. Big congratulations to her. I took it easy at the start to not overcook, I can be proud of the result, it’s amazing. It shows you how much the home crowd gives you.”
Elite Men
In contrast to Pieterse solo win, Lars Forster took over his Thomas Maxon teammate Mathias Fluckiger’s position on the front of the race when the injured Fluckiger has a rear flat tire. Forster joined Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon Cllctv) and World Cup veteran Ondrej Cink (Primaflor Mondraker) on the front before launching his winning attack. Forster takes his second career elite World Cup win. Schwarzbauer claims second while Cink fended off Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory) for third.
“I told myself to be patient, reminded myself about the heat and how long the race was. I just took my time and started to gain places and started to think I might be able to get a top 5,” Forster said of his race strategy in the soaring temperatures. “When I overtook Mathias, I knew that a win might be possible. I knew I would be the strongest climber on the penultimate lap, so I pushed on from there. I had goosebumps on the last 500m on that last lap, I’m so happy.”
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