The 2018 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup moved to Vallnord, Andorra, site of the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, for round 5 of both the downhill and cross-country series, and round 4 of the new cross-country short track (XCC).
The competition opened Friday with the XCC, the fourth event in this new series of 20 minute short course races for the top-40 Elite Women and Men. Annika Langvad (Specialized), after three wins, was finally beaten in the women's category, by Alessandra Keller (Thomus-RN Racing), while Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory) won the men's, the first Brazilian rider to win a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in any discipline.
On Saturday, it was the turn of the Gravity racers, and Tahnée Seagrave (Transition Bikes MUC-Off) won her third event of the in the women's series, ahead of UCI World Cup leader Rachel Atherton (Trek Factory) and Australian champion Tracey Hannah (Polygon UR).
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Atherton continues to hold onto the overall lead, but Seagrave has pulled to within 80 points. On the men's side, UCI World Cup leader Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Vallnord) was finally beaten after three straight wins, by first time winner Loris Vergier (Santa Cruz Syndicate), with Brook MacDonald (MS Mondraker) taking third. Pierron still holds a commanding lead in the overall race with 933 points, while Vergier jumps from seventh to second, 280 points back. Laurie Greenland (MS Mondraker), who finished fourth, drops from second to third, a further seven points back.
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The weekend concluded with the cross-country Olympic (XCO), which proved to be a historic occasion, with Norway's Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Merida Gunn-Rita) showing once again why she is the best female mountain biker in the history of cross-country by taking her 30th UCI World Cup victory. Dahle Flesjaa joins retired men's leader Julien Absalon of France as one of only two riders to break the 30 World Cup win mark in XCO. UCI World Cup leader Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing) finished second to solidify her lead in the women's standings, now 117 points ahead of Langvad.
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In the men's race, Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Torpado Garbogas) became only the second rider in two years to beat UCI World Cup Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM), as he took the first Elite World Cup win of his career ahead of Schurter. The second place finish has no effect on Schurter's overall lead, and he now has a commanding 1405 points; 325 more than Mathieu Van der Poel (Corendon-Circus). Schurter could wrap up the UCI World Cup title at the next round in Mont-Ste-Anne, Canada, with another strong performance - where he could join the '30 Club' with a win.
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Mont-Ste-Anne (CAN), XCO World Cup #6 / DHI World Cup #6 > August 10-12
Emily Batty (Trek Factory) is one of the most popular riders on the World Cup circuit, with a social media following in the tens of thousands. The current Canadian Women's XCO Champion is getting stronger through the season, with top-3 finishes in each of the past two World Cups, and is looking towards her first UCI World Cup victory. In addition to finishing second three times in World Cups, Batty is a three-time Canadian Champion, won a bronze medal at the 2016 UCI World Championships, and finished fourth at the 2016 Olympic Games.
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[TWITTER ID="https://twitter.com/UCI_MTB/status/1018490467313504257"]