Puck Pieterse and Tom Pidcock win Nove Mesto XCO World Cup

Nove Mesto Na Morave has truly got the cross-country World Cup party started, and it was a perfect day for Puck Pieterse and Tom Pidcock in the Czech Republic. 

Puck Pieterse leaves with the leader’s jersey

While Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing XC) took the early lead in the Elite Women’s race, she was stymied by a flat tyre on lap four, and then dropping a chain, which saw the competition blown wide open.

Puck Pieterse, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Loana Lecomte were all over the opportunity, and it looked to be Ferrand-Prevot's race. Bec Henderson was riding around 4th to 8th, in a tight battle for places.

A final lap attack from Dutch rider Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) saw her edge ahead of Ferrand-Prevot, and build this to a few seconds of handy advantage. The first year elite racer took the win in Nové Město at her first ever Elite UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Olympic World Cup. World Champion, France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers), would have to settle for silver, with European Champion, France’s Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV) completing the podium in third.

“I don’t know what happened," said Puck Pieterse post race. "Normally my start is really good, but everyone was going so fast I thought I’d blown up. It looked like the others did too though. Pauline and I kept swapping places, then after a few laps Evie had a flat or something. All of a sudden, I was racing at the front and I didn’t know what to do so I just tried to keep calm and it worked out.”

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot also remarked:

“I just wanted to give my best today. I trained really hard this winter. My goal is for later in the year but I knew I was strong so I just wanted to start the season well. I did a long off-season of training, so I knew I had good endurance, but I didn’t know about my explosivity. I tried to build into a good position in the race. When I saw Evie had her mechanical, I knew it was time to go full gas and not wait. On the last lap I had a mechanical so Puck came back and I tried to finish as strong as I could.”

Loana Lecomte spoke after the race, saying:

“After the short track, I wasn’t necessarily confident, so this result is reassuring. It’s not necessarily the best feeling I’ve ever had so I am very happy with this third place. It’s a good omen for the future and we will continue this way. It was an interesting race. I really enjoyed myself. It’s one of my favourite courses here. So, it’s really cool to come back here, every year for this World Cup."

Bec Henderson finished 8th, in a very tight finish for the top 10. Full results are online. Did you see the U23 XCO racing? Our report is here.

Podium XCO Women:

1.    Puck Pieterse (NED | Alpecin-Deceuninck) 1:23:01
2.    Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA | Ineos Grenadiers) 1:23:06
3.    Loana Lecomte (FRA | Canyon CLLCTV) 1:23:12
4.    Evie Richards (GBR | Trek Factory Racing XC) 1:23:17
5.    Alessandra Keller (SUI | Thömus Maxon) 1:23:39

Tom Pidcock takes the first win of the year

Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) said he had never lost a race in Nové Město na Moravě and he still hasn’t.

While France’s Joshua Dubau (Rockrider Ford Racing Team) led out the race, when Tom Pidcock attacked on the final lap no one could do anything to prevent him emerging victorious. Swiss rider and reigning World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott SRAM MTB Racing Team) took third. The rain was lashing down, a cruel twist of fate after the dry conditions for the women's race. The roots and rocks at Nove Mesto were ready to claim some victims.

 “Today was a hard race honestly. The conditions were super tricky, we hadn’t ridden that at all in the rain," said Pidcock. "We had the short track but there’s no roots in that race. I think my tyres were a bit hard so I was a struggling a bit on the roots. It’s nice to win in the end. 

“When a crash like that happens, I think it’s important to take a minute, don’t panic and reset. I had a dead leg, so I just came to the pits, got a bottle, had a drink, got a gel and then focused on trying to get back to the front. I didn’t do any whips all race so I had to do some at the finish.”

Joshua Dubau finished in 2nd, his best ever World Cup result – alas maybe not what we wanted.

“I was so close to the win so it's a bit of a bummer. After all it is a race, you need a first and a second. Tom was strong in the final. It didn't come down to much. I’m really happy. My best place in the World Cup so far was 10th. I can only be satisfied with a second place. I knew I was well prepared. My form was good and improving since the beginning of the season. I came with the goal of at least beating my best World Cup finish."

"In the corner of my mind I knew I could get on the podium. I knew where I wanted to go. I worked well and everything went well in the preparation. Everything was optimal. It's a good omen. It's also great for the team for all the work that has been done since the beginning. First World Cup race of the year, second year of existence of the team. Incredible for everyone.”

Australian National Champion Sam Fox finished in 67th in his first Elite World Cup – full results are online.

Podium XCO Men:

1.    Tom Pidcock (GBR | Ineos Grenadiers) 1:22:46
2.    Joshua Dubau (FRA | Rockrider Ford Racing Team) 1:22:51
3.    Nino Schurter (SUI | Scott SRAM MTB Racing Team) 1:23:09
4.    Jordan Sarrou (FRA | Team BMC) 1:23:09
5.    Thomas Griot (FRA | Canyon CLLCTV) 1:24:07