XCO Photo Epic: Les Gets XC World Cup 2024 – Pinkbike

After the downpour the day before making things slick for the downhill races, the weather on Sunday was far brighter as the track continued to dry out through the day with the U23 men closing out the weekend with the best conditions.

Isabella Holmgren was the first to have a perfect weekend in Les Gets as she remains undefeated in 2024. Ahead of taking on the Olympics next month, Holmgren laid down an impressive performance as she was unrivalled on the steep climbs in Les Gets. Olivia Onesti gave Holmgren a hard battle for the win but she couldn’t match the climbing pace of the race winner ending the race 25 seconds back. Series overall leader Kira Böhm rode back to the front of the race after a slower start to take the final podium spot in third.

Bjorn Riley also achieved the prestigious perfect weekend and his debut World Cup victory. After a battle with Luca Martin in the early stages of the racing, Riley was able to begin building a gap as he kept the speed high through seven laps to end up with a lead of over a minute. Finn Treudler rode a lonely race as he crossed the line 1:54 back in third place.

Puck Pieterse secured her first XCO race win in 2024 as she heads towards the Olympic Games with a dominant performance in France. Pieterse was in the lead from the top of the first climb as she was unrivalled on the ascents and could speed through the muddy off-cambers. Candice Lill had another career-best result as she crossed the line in second place, 2:37 back. Overall series leader Alessandra Keller held onto third place, a little over three minutes off the winning pace.

Alan Hatherly made it three perfect weekends in Les Gets as he had his first elite World Cup XCO win. Hatherly was strong from the start as he fought off multiple challenges to the lead to cross the line with a one-and-a-half-minute gap to Mathias Flückiger. Flückiger has a great ride as he is building fitness ahead of this month’s Olympic games. Simon Andreassen made it two Cannondale riders in the top five, besting Luca Braidot to the finish in a sprint.

The next race in the sights of many of the world’s best will be another big event in France as the Paris Olympics will test a select few riders for the chance of a gold medal at the end of the month.

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