Round 2 of the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano (XCO) took place in Albstadt, Germany, which will host the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. This was the fifth time Albstadt has hosted the UCI World Cup.
The Elite Women's race saw multiple lead changes, with Round 1 winner Annika Langvad (Specialized) crashing heavily and finishing a distant 16th. Yana Belomoina (CST Sandd American Eagle), Maja Wloszczowska (Kross Racing) and Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing) battled for the top spot, with Belomoina passing Wloszczowska in the final lap to take her first Elite World Cup win, and move into the overall leader's jersey. Wloszczowska was second and Neff third.
In the Elite Men's race, it quickly became a battle between Round 1 winner and UCI World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) and Dutch cyclo-cross star Mathieu Van der Poel. In the early laps the pair were joined at the front by Matthias Fluckiger (Radon Factory) until he crashed and had to abandon the race. Van der Poel also crashed but was able to catch up to Schurter temporarily, until the Swiss rider attacked on the fourth lap and steadily pulled away to record his 22nd UCI World Cup win. Anton Cooper (Trek Factory) finished third. Schurter leads the Men's standings with a perfect 500 points, followed by David Valero (MMR Factory) at 350 and Van der Poel at 310 points.
In the Under-23 races, Evie Richards (Great Britain) won the Women's race, with round 1 winner Kate Courtney (Specialized) second. The two riders are tied at 160 points. The Men's competition saw Nadir Colledani (Torpado Gabogas) win, with Georg Egger of Germany taking second and Canadian National Champion Peter Disera (Norco Factory) third. Round 1 winner Petter Fagerhaug (Team Norway) continues to lead the overall standings with 112 points despite flatting with a lap to go and finishing 10th.
Fort William, GBR, DHI World Cup #2 > June 3-4
Despite being in only his second year of competition at the Junior Men's level, Canada's Finnley Iles has an impressive resume. Iles, who rides for the Specialized team, comes by his mountain skills honestly - born in Banff, Alberta, before moving to the downhill mecca of Whistler, British Columbia, when he was 10 years old. He won his first event at Crankworx at the age of 14 after talking organizers into letting him race and, in 2016 when he became old enough to compete in UCI events, immediately won the Junior World Cup series and became Junior UCI World Champion. This season he continues to win, taking the Junior Men's title at World Cup #1 in Lourdes, France.
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