XCO Photo Epic: Nove Mesto XC World Cup 2024 – Pinkbike

Isabella Holmgren matched her XCC victory as she rode a faultless race to make it a perfect weekend. Holmgren joins a prestigious list of riders who secured their first wins at Nove Mesto as she was unmatched by the rest of the U23 women’s field, crossing the line over two minutes ahead of Madigan Munro. Munro may have had to settle for second place, but her performance will secure important series points against season leader Kira Böhm who finished sixth.

The winning streak continues for Riley Amos as he is unbeaten in 2024 with six wins across every U23 World Cup XCC and XCO race this season. A third perfect weekend wasn’t easy for Amos as Luca Martin applied pressure from second place for most of the race, but the unrelenting pace of the US racer forced errors from those trying to follow. After a big effort, Luca Martin ended the day 17 seconds back with Bjorn Riley 34 seconds back in third place.

Pauline Ferrand Prevot delivered a powerful performance as she opened her 2024 World Cup season with a big victory. Ferrand Prevot was unrivalled from the first lap as she took the lead into the first technical descent and kept the pace high. Puck Pieterse was the closest rider to put her lead in danger as she was within 20 seconds of the World Champ for the first two laps. A tough third lap saw Pieterse drop back into the chasing group as a four-way battle began for the remaining podium spots.

Of the four chasing riders, series leader Haley Batten found a burst of speed in the final lap allowing her to close the gap slightly to Ferrand Prevot as she crossed the line just over a minute back. XCC winner Alessandra Keller looked strong the whole race as she rode back from a slower start taking third place ahead of Puck Pieterse and Laura Stigger.

Tom Pidcock made it two wins for the Ineos Grenadiers making history in Nove Mesto with his fourth elite XCO win in a row here. The race was closely fought over the first three laps as the lead was swapped between several riders and the top ten all remained in touch with the leader. One of the deciding moves of the race came from Pidcock who launched a wild attack up the middle climb on lap three opening a huge lead as only Nino Schurter and Victory Koretzky could follow.

Koretzky would fall off the lead leaving a face-off between the XC powerhouses Schurter and Pidcock. The Swiss racer did his best to hang onto the rear wheel of Pidcock, but after repeated attacks, he fell back by 25 seconds. As the race entered its final lap Schurter had a resurgence looking to close the gap to Pidcock, but a final burst of speed from the World Champ saw any chance of a comeback denied. With a huge send clearing the bridge before the finish, Pidcock rode across the line 32 seconds ahead of Schurter. Marcel Guerrini rode a great race as he managed to pull away from the chasing pack on the last lap to secure third place, 44 seconds behind Pidcock.

The 2024 XC World Cup now takes another short break before it starts again in Italy at Val di Sole from June 14.