Who to watch: Epic battle brewing for World Cup XCO #2 in Nove Mesto

After a thrilling opening weekend in Albstadt, World Cup cross country isn’t slowing down. This weekend, the circus rolls into a crowd favourite, Nove Mest na Morave, Czech Republic. There won’t be any fans this year, of course, but if we learned anything last weekend in Germany, it’s that a quiet crowd doesn’t make the racing any less exciting.

Canadians are in the Czech Republic in full force. Here’s who to watch from Canada, and who they’ll be up against in Nove Mesto.

Racing starts Friday, May 14 with two elite Short Track XCC races. These fiercely contested 20-minute races not only earn points for the season overall, but determine all-important position on the start grid for Sunday’s race. Check our broadcast guide for this weekend’s full race schedule.

From Albstadt to Nove Mesto: Lessons learned

Elite Men: A changing of the guard?

If you missed racing in Albstadt, it was a thrilling weekend. Back for his first mountain bike race since 2019, Mathieu van der Poel sent a statement to the elite men’s field in Friday’s Short Track, only to falter on Sunday. The Dutch sensation’s back this weekend for what’s likely his final World Cup before the Tokyo Olympics. How he responds after last weekend will be interesting.

RELATED: How to Watch: World Cup XCO #2 in Nové Město

When van der Poel stuttered, Tom Pidcock spoke up. Ineos Grenadiers lone mountain biker rode through the field to take fifth in his first elite World Cup. This weekend, Pidcock won’t have to start from the back. What can he do with all that extra energy? Will the more technical Czech course still suit his skills?

Two riders were inexorably tied together in Albstadt. Victor Koretzky out-sprinted Nino Schurter. Twice. First for podium positions in Short Track. Then again on Sunday, where the French rider landed his career-first World Cup win. Can Schurter respond? Or does this signal the Swiss icon’s star is fading ever so slightly?

Elite Women: France to the front

Two French women dominated racing in Albstadt. First, world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot rode a brilliantly tactical Short Track to steal the win from Linda Indergand, who struggled with a malfunctioning dropper post. While claiming she is not yet fully on form, the multiple-time world champ was second again on Sunday in the XCO.

It was another French rider on the front Sunday, though. Loana Lecomte backed up her incredible results from 2020, again winning the opening World Cup XCO. Albstadt’s climbing-intensive course suited Lecomte perfectly. She soloed away from the field on the start loop and never looked back.

Ferrand-Prevot couldn’t catch Lecomte on the climbs, but Nove Mesto is a different course. Technical ability and power climbs replace pure ascending fitness. Of course, this is the venue where Lecomte landed her first World Cup win last fall. Will it be a duel between the two French riders? Or can any other nation join the fray?

Canadians in Czech

There’s a very strong group of Canucks in the Czech Republic. Leandré Bouchard found confidence in the Short Track here in 2019, going shoulder to shoulder with Brazilian heavyweight Henrique Avancini in the XCC #2 in 2020. In 2019, it was Peter Disera blasting out to a big short track result, which he repeated last weekend in Albstadt. There’s big changes to Friday’s XCC course, which should mix up results again.

For the men, Sean Fincham is the unknown factor. After a big early season race in Italy, he’ll be looking for more on Sunday than he found in Albstadt last weekend.

Emily Batty led the Canadian women in Albstadt, finishing 27th.  But Jenn Jackson, who arrived in Europe late in the week, wasn’t far behind. Jackson’s been getting faster every race, and is ready for (another) breakout result.

Catharine Pendrel rode to 50th in Albstadt, but that isn’t the whole story. She rode further up in the first half of the race, before a late arrival in Germany and the effects of a late return to training after the birth of her daughter slowed her down. The first race back is always a surprise, and it will be fascinating to see how the experienced Canadian bounces back in week 2. This weekend, Pendrel’s opting to sit out Friday’s Short Track XCC event. That means giving up the chance for a starting position in the first three rows for Sunday’s XCO for the possibility of being more rested on race day.

Nove Mesto is also where Haley Smith landed her first European podium, in 2019. The Norco Factory Team rider hasn’t had the best return to Europe, but the familiar location could give her confidence this weekend.

What is possibly the most exciting race for Canadians won’t, unfortunately, be televised. Carter Woods delivered a big win in Albstadt last weekend. With his B.C. roots, the technical Nove Mesto course should suit him just as well. While Woods stole headlines, Emilly Johnston and Gunnar Holmgren both had fantastic results last weekend, too. Sometimes local feeds of the U23 races pop up at the last minute, so stay tuned and keep fingers crossed we get to watch these young racers progress.

What happened last time in Nove Mesto?

In the rescheduled 2020 season, Nove Mesto was the only cross country World Cup venue. The Czech stadium hosted back to back weekends of racing. There was new winners and historic first over four soggy days of racing.

Mexico’s Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo and Brazil’s Henrique Avancini landed their home country’s first wins, in XCC#1 and XCO#2, respectively. Avancini also won XCC #2, in a eight-rider group sprint.

It was young riders, though, that were the headline story in Nove Mesto. Evie Richards won two sprint finishes against Ferrand Prevot in the Short Track races. Loana Lecomte and Simon Andreassen, for France and Denmark, won their first elite World Cup events.

Occasionally down, but never out, Pauline Ferrand Prevot responded at XCO#2. After several second places, the French racer cemented her return from a second leg surgery by taking the final World Cup win of 2020. She backed that up a week later, winning her second elite women’s world championship in a row in Leogang, Austria.