Tom Pidcock May Miss Out on the Olympics & 4 Other Things We Learned From the Albstadt XC World Cup 2021
Albstadt's brutal climbs and soaring temperatures proved to be a rude awakening for riders at the opening round of the 2021 XC World Cup series. Their suffering provided one hell of a show for us at home though as four thrilling races unfurled through the weekend. Here are our five key takeaways:
Tom Pidcock Delivered on the Hype but Still May Not Make it to Tokyo
As a British cycling journalist, of course I'm going to concentrate mainly on the Ineos Grendaiers rider and ignore all the others in the race. I'm kidding, sort of, but this time I'll have to indulge myself as there's no denying that the story of this weekend was the debut of Tom Pidcock. The 21-year-old cyclocross phenom entered the elite level of the sport along with the world's richest cycling team on a wave of hype, but I doubt many truly believed he would be able to deliver quite in the remarkable fashion he did.
Coming into the race weekend with a low ranking, he started on the 11th row of the grid but found himself leading the race by the start of the third lap. His fight to the front definitely included some hairy moments and he won't have made many friends as he at times wall-rode past competitors on the climbs, but it was thrilling stuff watching him battle forwards. In the end, a combination of his furious start and a slow rear puncture, which led to him losing a few places on the penultimate lap as he stopped in the tech zone to re-inflate it, meant he settled for fifth and one of the most incredible elite debuts in the sport's history.
Pidock will be looking to go even better next week in Nove Mesto with a much-improved grid position and the benefit of having won there twice as an Under 23 last year. However, despite all his heroics, his chance at an Olympics position remains precarious. Unfortunately, Great Britain doesn't currently have a spot due to its low UCI ranking of 32nd but there's a possibility it could still snatch a spot when the rankings are updated thanks to Fraser Clacherty's 14th place at the 2019 Under 23 World Championships. Basically, it's complicated, and Pidcock is relying on other riders' results to ensure his place despite clearly being one of the strongest riders on the planet.
A New Wave of Young Women are Coming for the Top Spots
Pidcock is just one of a huge wave of young riders who continued to prove themselves at the races in Albstadt. Loana Lecomte, another 21-year-old, delivered a totally dominant performance in the Elite women's race and won by nearly a minute over Pauline Ferrand Prevot. From the first full lap, it was clear the Lecomte was the pick of the field as she rode away from the pack with one of the only two sub-14 minute laps in the women's race. From there, she managed her lead successfully to the end and gave herself enough of a buffer to cruise the last lap home to take victory over Pauline Ferrand Prevot.
Looking slightly further down the results sheet, Haley Batten moved up a year early from the Under 23 category and took third in her first elite XCO race. It was clearly a hugely emotional moment for the young American as she crossed the line cheering like she had won and it's testament to the strong base of racers being developed in the USA thanks to the NICA program.
Finally, it's worth looking at the U23 results and Mona Mitterwallner. Despite beating a field of elite racers at the Swiss Bike Cup last weekend, she chose to race in the U23 category at the Albstadt World Cup. However, based on the timesheets, it looks like she will have no problem stepping up to the elite ranks if she chooses to do so, as her best lap time of 14:08.7 was beaten by only three women (Lecomte, Neff, Prevot, McConnell) in the elite race. It's worth saying her total race distance was less than those in the elite category, but she still put in some impressively consistent times throughout her race.
Dropper Posts Are Getting More Popular but There Were Some High Profile Issues
Dropper posts aren't ubiquitous in cross country yet, but they are definitely becoming increasingly popular. On a track like Albstadt, where the focus is on prolonged climbs with short, sharp descents, there was a mix of riders opting between the lightweight simplicity of a traditional rigid post and confidence-inspiring droppers.
In terms of wins, it was an even split with riders using droppers winning the men's short track and women's XCO, but rigid seatposts taking the women's short track and men's XCO. However, there were also a couple of very prominent issues for riders using dropper posts that will no doubt continue the debate as to whether they are the best choice for XC riders. Firstly, we saw Linda Indergand leading the women's short track by 18 seconds at the end of lap four, but having to reach between her legs to operate her dropper. Then, Mathias Fluckieger, who looked to be one of the strongest riders in the men's XCO race, had to pedal the last one and a half laps stood up after he broke the cable on his dropper. Both riders still finished on the podium, but will no doubt be wondering what might have been were they not running droppers.
Ultimately, these failures are the exception rather than the rule, but when a dropper does malfunction its consequences are arguably more serious in cross country than any other discipline.
Riders Struggled With Hot Conditions for a Change
At Albstadt in years gone by, wet conditions have turned this largely tame track into a limestone slip and slide with bodies and bikes strewn around its slick slopes. This year, it seemed to be business as usual in the short track, with a rainy morning and temperatures below 10°C, but that totally reverted by the time Sunday's XCO rolled around with the sun shining and riders suffering through 27°C heat.
There was no time to acclimatize to the severe spike in temperature and we saw some riders, such as Van der Poel, go off too fast and then fall off as they attempted to get their heart rates and core temperatures down.
There was no time to acclimatize to the severe spike in temperature and we saw some riders, such as Van der Poel, go off too fast and then fall off as they attempted to get their heart rates and core temperatures down.
But it wasn't just the heat that was an issue, the conditions heralded super-high pollen counts for the area, and riders with Hay Fever struggled with respiratory issues. Jolanda Neff, for example, set the second-fastest opening lap time but was apparently struggling to fill up her lungs properly as the race went on. Other racers, including Erin Huck, apparently suffered from allergies too and will be hoping for a cooler, wetter race in Nove Mesto next weekend.
Nino is Back at Challenging for Wins But Lost his Fourth Sprint of the Year
It's a sign of the greatness of Nino Schurter that his 2020 season, which included two podiums from two World Cup races and a top 10 at the World Championships, is considered not very good. The truth is, Nino did look out of sorts last year in the late-season conditions, but he showed he has managed to turn that around in the offseason and leaves Albstadt second in the overall standings with two podiums under his belt.
However, Nino will no doubt be frustrated by his string of second-place finishes this year. So far, he has finished within seconds of the win at rounds 2 and 3 of the Internazionali D'Italia series, the Ötztaler Mountain Bike Festival and on Sunday's race. Nino has always been a prolific sprinter, but he hasn't yet won one in 2021. No doubt this is an area he'll be building up for the Olympics and we've no doubt we'll see him back at the top and equalling Julien Absalon's all-time World Cup win record soon.
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I don't know how the etiquette works in top level XC but if you have a problem with being overtaken, surely you just press harder on the pedals?
I once broke a reverb button remote in a crash, which meant I was stuck with a dropped post for the back half of my ride. That was a few years ago and I haven't had an issue since.
on you while out riding? I certainly have and I’ve seen many a riding buddy experience the same thing... In fairness, I don’t have my own mechanic preparing my bike before every ride, but I bet most mechanics aren’t bleeding and thoroughly checking the droppers either as they are generally pretty low maintenance.
Also there's 150 racers, the probability that a few of them will have mechanicals is pretty high.
Just thoughts
I find it odd to question a dropper because of a couple mechanicals. Nobody is seriously questioning pneumatic tires despite regular failures in races. Derailleurs sheer off but I don't think there are any single speeders on the circuit...
Why was Indergand raising and lowering her dropper it the remote was broken? Just leave it up. Unless she ran one of the under-the-seat-level posts and nothing was broken, that was just normal operation, which means someone left out some details in order to make droppers seem bad.
That's what I think is most likely, perhaps some xc mechanics are like the Colin Chapman of cycling
Someone can't add to four
It was kind of a revenge on the pass Nino did on carod at the European champs !
As more roadies train or use MTB for fun over the winter and XC racing is about the climbs, especially the non-technical climbs, the lower ranked roadies may see this an an opportunity to raise their profile a little.
... the real statistic is in the pay of a roadie/Cx rider compared to a top MTB rider, some road riders may use MTB XC to help their CV, but they know if they want a high paying career that Road then CX is where the wages are if you are not the very top dog for a long time.
Nino - Net worth $5M
Peter Sagen - Net worth $30M
Tom Pidcock - Net worth could be as high as $5M (Already worth the same as Nino and he is just a young lad) - peopleai.com/fame/identities/tom-pidcock
www.brujulabike.com/riders-earn-more-money
Peter earns the same in a year as Nino is worth!!!
So what is the point of this post?
The up and coming roadies/Cx who do all sports can mix it at the top end of MTB, show the top riders how powerfully they can climb on an XC track, make it technical and that may not change that much as these youngsters can out shred 99.9% of the PB faithful. But I dont think these riders will be here to stay, XC will be the have a go, training, CV bolstering part of their riding, they are mainly interested in where the big money is, Instagram, Youtube and the Tours with the big teams.
I would bet that Toms life goal is the Tour, that is where you immortalise yourself on a bike to the masses. Good luck to him in everything he does. Would love to see him win the tour in a few years time and play on the XC scene too.
I'd love to see a time when a talented MTB rider isn't tempted by the road, because the money in MTB is just as good; I maybe waiting a long time.
There are lots of road clubs around where the people riding like the latest kit.
I would guess that most shops make their money from roadies and not mountain bikers. I know that the 1 man band bike service providers make their money from roadies then normal bikers before mountain bikers. The mountain bikers they make money from are mostly.... roadies.
You can see large groups of roadies out all the time all over the place, but not the same volume of mountain bikers.
Racing for roadies is also more accessible than it is for mountain biking mainly due to the costs incurred to put on an Enduro or Dh race over a 10 mile time trial. Also that 10 mile time trial lasts for 2 hours or so for someone rather than all weekend away from the family.
The sponsorship available for the main stage races is also huge as the riders who follow the sport tend to have more disposable income than mountain bikers, not only for the bikes but for their cars etc that sponsor the main tours.
The general public attraction of the TDF etc is far greater than any MTB event or even the whole WC and Enduro season. The caravan that follows the tour is a big part of it too. MTB as a sport just does not fit that model by the nature of the sport. The TDF also comes to the people far more than Dh or Enduro comes to the people.
Basically... road is far more marketable than mountain biking.
Maybe Cx which attracts big crowds is more of a relevant model, but Cx and XC share some similarities, jus that Cx is more relatable to roadies than XC is!
Probably and incoherent ramble there, sorry.
I do hope he gets there as he'll clearly be worthwhile an entry... but don't forget, he's got to replace someone, who's been working equally as hard..
Designing a selection process that's fair on everyone is nigh on impossible - especially at the moment - but there's definitely something amiss if it's not possible for a top medal contending athlete to gain Olympic qualification during an Olympic year. Any which way - Nove Mesto is gonna be one hell of a battle this weekend!
Isn't the issue the small field sizes for the Olympic XCO races?? So instead of the usual field of 80-100, we get a tiny number of entrants. It's something the UCI should be addressing with the IOC....
PFP won the women's short track, and you can clearly see her sporting a dropper post during both the XCC and XCO races. Heck, you posted her "bike check" just yesterday showing it.
Regardless, XC racing is about power divided by weight and, these days, bike handling. MVdP has got the numerator in spades, so why not sacrifice 200 grams for a better handling bike?
You can’t wrap your mind around how an incredibly powerful acceleration out of a corner can be benefited by a stiffer front end?
I know these guys are strong, but they're not putting down max power with the bars turned hard over while the bike is still in the process of turning. Max power is going down "out of the corner", as you said, and the bars (and thus fork) are going to be relatively straight by that point. If they were turned in hard, those little XC knobs on the tires aren't going to hold on enough to really bring out major flex in the fork, anyway.
Yes, I said out of a corner.
One starts to accelerate as close to the apex as is possible, and that’s always before the bike is upright and in a straight line, just as it is in any other wheeled racing event, and just like every other event, that’s where time can be made.
What argument are you trying to make here? That a flimsy fork is an advantage?
Eat a burger, kid.
It’ll put some hair on your chest.
Well, the funny thing here is that you think you know more about setting one’s bike up for WC XCO than MVdP.
That’s your argument, right?
But that's not what I said. I never said that the specific fork was the wrong choice, just that your justification for it (do you know better than him?) maybe didn't hold water.
And if you think this is bad, you should look at road, where half the riders don't use aero frames or helmets even after study after study shows that they are faster.
Pros are great at riding bikes. Setting them up? Sometimes. But often not.
Japan announced that it would expand and extend a state of emergency in Tokyo through May 31 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This decision comes a little less than three months from when the Olympic Games are scheduled to begin.
What separates this decision from other previous times that states of emergency have been called in the area is that the restrictions in place are going to be toughened, as the Associated Press reports. However, there is a drawback to that as the people in Tokyo have reportedly grown impatient with repeated measures implemented that keep things closed, especially as some see it as a way for the country to host the Olympics by any means necessary.
The country is coming off of "Golden Week," a string of Japanese holidays in late April and early May, where Tokyo alone logged 907 new cases of coronavirus infections. By comparison, the city reported 635 new infections in all last month, right when another state of emergency began.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is hoping to keep this state of emergency to a little over two weeks, but experts argue that it would require much longer than that to curb rising infections, which is time the country that wants to host the most famous international sports competition simply does not have.
Oh wait ... you copied it from www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/tokyo-olympics-2021-japan-announces-state-of-emergency-in-tokyo-less-than-three-months-before-games-start
Well duh! Everyone knows I can barely put 2 sentences together -
I'm American, therefore I Google.
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Dude - pick an important battle. Nobody thought I typed all that, nor did I expect them to. Life has been nothing short of glorious so far.
Vote Baerbock
Who is in and not at the moment ?
Kind of interesting as the choice of BMC either means that he prefered it compared to other brand or that Pinarello may be replaced by BMC on the road next year.