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Leogang XCO world championships course looks wild!

Mud, roots, steep mud and then more mud covering a very technical cross country course in Austria

October 8, 2020
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World championships are here and riders are stoked. The course, though, is a little different than usual. Racing high up in the Alps in mid-October means unpredictable weather. That has made an already challenging world championships cross country course look very hard to ride, let alone race.

So far in Leogang, there’s been plenty of cold rain, making the XC Relay and eMTB races muddy epics. Thursday saw sun for the junior XCO events, but not enough sun to dry the course. And, there’s more rain, if not snow in the forecast.

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From what we’ve seen of the XCO course in practice, Saturday’s world championships cross country races should be very exciting to watch!

To start with, there’s this incredibly steep, rock-strewn chute. Peter Disera makes it look smooth, with Andrew L’Esperance following. But, more riders on course are going to expose those rocks hiding under the mud, making this section more tricky as the weeks go on.

Then there’s this section. After a very narrow traverse, the XC course drops into another steep portion. This one is covered in thick roots. World champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot cleans it smoothly. Doing the same at race pace in a group will be more challenging.

Emily Batty also found some steep roots and very B.C. winter-vibes on course in Leogang.

While the hard parts of the course look very hard, the mud has made even the simple sections of the course difficult to ride. Despite warmer weather and sun, the course was still greasy for Thursday’s junior men’s XCO race. Here, the top riders have trouble holding lines on a straight grass traverse:

While the downhill course also looks very difficult in this week’s conditions, it has only seen track walk. The XC course has had a few races on it already and looks treacherous.

One more from the Pivot Cycles-OTE team, who look to be having a great time on course!