One week after the XCO series of the 2018 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup resumed in Albstadt, Germany, racing moved to Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, site of the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
Racing began on Friday with the second round of the new Short Track (XCC) for the top Elite women and men. Round 1 winner of the XCO, Annika Langvad (Specialized), took her second consecutive victory in the XCC, while Sam Gaze (Specialized) won the men's race. Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus), by finishing second, took the lead in the overall standings from UCI World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM).
Saturday saw the Under-23 riders take to the XCO track, with World Cup leader, Round 2 winner and UCI World Champion Sina Frei (Ghost Factory) taking her second win to extend her lead in the standings, while in the men's race, Vlad Dascalu (Brujula Bike) became the first ever World Cup winner from Romania. Petter Fagerhaug of Norway retained the overall lead by finishing fourth.
The Elite races on Sunday saw Langvad retake the lead in the women's standings with her second victory of the season after outsprinting UCI World Champion and Round 2 winner Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing). In the men's competition, Schurter regained the overall lead in the series with his second win in a row, after a photo finish sprint against Anton Cooper (Trek Factory).
[YOUTUBE ID="ntDFZOZtHFQ"]
[YOUTUBE ID="kZbrQLROosY"]
Fort William (GBR), DHI World Cup #2 > June 2-3
Sam Gaze of New Zealand has made a strong transition from the Under-23 ranks, where he was twice UCI World Champion. This year, he became the first man since 2016 to beat Olympic Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) in World Cup competition, winning the opening round in Stellenbosch, South Africa. He also became the first rider from New Zealand to win at Elite level. A month later, Gaze was crowned Commonwealth Champion, and this month won the second round of the new XCC - Short Track - in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Watch the 2018 UCI Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup free of charge, live and on demand, at redbull.tv/uci. And get the latest on everything bike-related at the Red Bull Bike Channel: redbull.tv/bike.
Red Bull TV is distributed digitally at www.redbull.tv and as an app across mobile phones, tablets, consoles, OTT devices and Smart TVs.