Rissveds and Schwarzbauer sprint for short track glory in Lenzerheide
Jenny Rissveds and Luca Schwarzbauer started their World Cup weekend in with wins in Lenzerheide. The Swede and German took top honours in the fast and dramatic short track cross country race.
Since the 40-rider start list is determined by a combination of World Cup and UCI standings, no Canadians were on the start list for Friday’s elite XCC events.
Elite men: Schwarzbauer soars, Schurter slides
The elite men’s XCC was more sensational than expected, with local hero Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) being crashed out late in the race by reigning XCCÂ world champion Sam Gaze (Alpecin Deceuninck) . Schurter saw his opportunity to win a historic 34th XCO World Cup at home dashed by a clash of bars last year. Hopefully, he will be able to recover well enough from his crash on Friday to take another swing at setting the all-time World Cup win record at home on Sunday in the XCO.
With Schurter and Gaze out, Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) had a clear run to take the elite men’s XCC win. The powerful German followed a move by France’s Jordan Sarrou (BMC) to get some separation from the field on the final lap. Schwarzbauer was able to outsprint Sarrou to take the win.
Sarrou held on for silver while Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Lapierre Mavic Unity) won the sprint for the final podium position.
Elite women: Rissveds reigns in Lenzerheide
In the elite women’s race, Swedish Olympic champion Jenny Rissveds (Team 31 Ibis) rode through steadily through the field to take a win in Lenzerheide.
“It’s always interesting when you start from behind and work your way to the front. You get a feeling of how the others are riding, the lines they are taking and how strong they are,” Rissveds said of her winning strategy. “I love this course and this place. The terrain is similar to Sweden, a lot of roots and pretty intense. The difference is the altitude, it’s really hard but I like it. I’m going to enjoy Sunday’s race as well. I don’t have any specific season goals, I just want to be consistent through the season and feel strong at every race.”
Of course, the riders Rissveds was working her way past included world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos), Swiss favourite Alessandra Keller (Thomus Maxon) and winner of the first World Cup this year, Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Keller would win the sprint for second with Ferrand-Prevot rounding out the podium in third.
Downhill takes over in Lenzerheide on Saturday before cross country riders return for the under-23 and elite XCO on Sunday to wrap up the World Cup weekend.
