Women: Tonso on top
France’s Justine Tonso leads the way with 211 points from the German pair of Sofia Wiedenroth (184) and Antonia Daubermann (110). Following them in the rankings are two highly talented Swiss riders, neither of whom have raced in the most recent events: Nathalie Schneitter, the 37-year-old 2023 UCI World Champion and 20-year-old Nicole Göldi. The 2022 overall winner (and UCI World Champion in 2021 and 2022), Göldi was the early 2023 campaign leader, but after illness she has had time away from competition, and is not expected to return to this series.
23-year-old Tonso has won five of the 10 UCI World Cup races so far this campaign, including four of the last five.
“I had a very good start today, better than I’m used to,” said Tonso after taking the first of her two victories at the latest weekend of UCI World Cup racing in Bielstein, Germany, at the beginning of the month. “I was feeling good and had a very tough battle with Sofia (Wiedenroth) from the very first lap... I managed to handle a very technical uphill section well, creating a great gap.”
Tonso’s form may look like the winning formula, but Wiedenroth has other ideas – she finished on the podium at all of the last six races, won in San Paolo d'Argon, Bergamo, (Italy) in July and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium in August - and takes confidence from her German National Champion’s jersey. Following her example is her compatriot Daubermann; since the 26-year-old took her first UCI World Cup podium in Belgium she has repeated that feat in every race! It would take quite a swing for her to finish higher than third but the momentum is with her.
Men: Intrigue all the way
The Frenchman Jérôme Gilloux leads with 217 points. He’s followed by Switzerland’s Joris Ryf (190), with Théo Charmes of France third (120). Rico Libesch and Heiko Hog follow with 91 and 78 points respectively; the German duo having swapped positions after their recent rounds on home soil, in Bielstein (2 and 3 September).
Like Tonso, Gilloux has already amassed five UCI World Cup wins this season. In the first three double-headers, the 29-year-old won the first race of each but none of the second races. After a second and third place in Spa-Francorchamps, he finally pulled off the double victory, in Bielstein.
“It was all about power and race management,” said Gilloux in Germany. “Joris (Ryf) had a very, very fast start, it was a great battle! It was decided starting from lap 5 I think, when I managed to overtake and take the lead. It was tight until the end.”
It was in the middle part of the season that Ryf converted his form into victories, winning the 2nd UCI World Cup round in San Paolo d'Argon in July, and both rounds in Spa-Francorchamps. Sandwiched between them he was crowned 2023 UCI World Champion in Scotland’s Glentress Forest. It’s a potential psychological edge for the 26-year-old.
Looking up the table, mathematically, Charmes could win the overall, but that would require both great form and good fortune, so realistically the battle is between the top two for the third successive year.
Gilloux –UCI World Champion and UCI World Cup overall winner in 2021 and 2022 – might clinch the overall in France; he’d love to repeat or exceed last year’s record of a 48-point winning margin over Ryf.
Or might the pendulum swing back the Swiss rider’s way, just like in late 2022 when he won the final two races? Unlike last year, he’s not playing catch-up after missing the first two races, and now he also has that important added element of wearing the rainbow stripes.
The three remaining rounds are a double-header in Costa Brava–Girona, Spain (22-23 September) then a single round in Barcelona, Spain, on 21 October, when the 2023 winners will be crowned.