Belomoina and Schurter on a roll in Andorra
Cross-country and downhill were back-to-back in Andorra this weekend, and going back-to-back is exactly what Belomoina and Schurter did!
Yana Belomoina and Nino Schurter stormed to impressive victories at the third round of the UCI XCO World Cup in Vallnord with both leaving Andorra leading overall handsomely.
In the women’s race, Belomoina channelled the confidence gleaned from her maiden victory in Albstadt and promptly set about disappearing into the distance. The tiny 24-year-old seemed to get faster with every lap and soon had a sizeable lead, leaving reigning world champion Annika Langvad in pursuit alongside seasoned veteran Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå.
Langvad, who had triumphed at the recent XC Marathon World Champs, was in good form and happy with her performance at a track which traditionally hasn’t been kind to her. Langvad was also aboard the new Specialized Epic, trading out her now discontinued Era for the super-light new model.
It was Belomoina, however, who would secure another win by 97 seconds on a day when she truly decimated the field and showed the kind of electrifying form she’s in. She put time onto the rest of the field on every lap, and was clearly in her element on the Red Zone climb which pointed almost skywards.
She said, “It was a great race. It’s unbelievable. After my win in Albstadt, I had so much motivation for this. Now I have a lot of points and I hope I can retain my leader’s jersey.”
All the action for the men's start
In the men’s race there was drama at the start when Germany’s Manuel Fumic broke his chain right from the gun. But before it had even sounded, the field was rocked by the news that Jaroslav Kulhavy would not be starting due to illness.
All eyes were on the big Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel as he seemed set about his continued harassing of series leader, Schurter.
The reigning world champion, though, was in no mood to wait around for any attacks and went full gas from the start forming a league of one all day.
A group of three formed behind him consisting of Mathias Flückiger, Sam Gaze and Jordan Sarrou.
It was the canny Flückiger who made a sprint for the line to clinch second place from Sarrou with the series moving on to Lenzerheide in Switzerland on July 9.
Schurter said, “I am super happy. Love this course. Super tactical. I feel at home here. Amazing to win here. Here at altitude you need to pace the race and have a gap. I was able to go hard where I wanted."
Flückiger added, “The track was pretty awesome. I am pretty happy. I waited until the finish to sprint because, with the altitude, you pay for it otherwise.”
Australians in Andorra
Racing at over 1800m altitude is never going to suit many riders from Australia (ok, it worked for Troy Brosnan!). The high altitude and low oxygen saturation means that riders who frequently train or race up high have an advantage. In the middle of June, the Swiss Cycling Federation sent the whole Swiss Team to St Moritz to train. There are over 400km of trails, and the valley is about 1800m high so it would be a perfect setting. Notably, the Swiss had 3 in the men's top 5, and one in the women's.
In the men's U23, Reece Tucknott came home in 50th on the lead lap, Callum Carson was a lap down in 74th, as was Tasman Nankervis in 80th. In the women's U23 Holly Harris finished a lap down in 43rd.
While Bec Henderson had s stomping start, she faded to finish 20th – possibly feeling the high altitude. Kathryn McInerney was a lap down in 58th.
In the men's, Dan McConnell continues to improve and finished 17th – a great result at altitude and after moving down the grid a little after his crash in Nove Mesto. Cam Ivory was a lap down in 72nd and Russ Nankervis the same in 87th.
Women’s results:
1. Yana Belomoina Ukraine 1hr26ms04s
2. Annika Langvad Denmark +1m37s
3. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa Norway +1m56s
4. Linda Indergand Switzerland +2m25s
5. Emily Batty Canada +2m44s
Men’s results:
1. Nino Schurter Switzerland 1hr23m28s
2. Mathias Flückiger Switzerland +0.18s
3. Jordan Sarrou France +0.19s
4. Samuel Gaze New Zealand +0.33s
5. Florian Vogel Switzerland +0.51s
