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With the European leg of this year's MTB World Cup complete, the attention of the cross-country world turned to Snowshoe, West Virginia, USA this past weekend. And when the racing concluded in the elite XCO races on Sunday, a couple of riders had won an elite World Cup for the first time in their career.
In the elite women's race, Austria's Laura Stigger started out hard and got to the front early, before riding clear on her own a few laps later. The 23-year-old went on to take her first elite XCO title, while Puck Pieterse locked up the overall series with sixth place, with one round still remaining.
In the elite men's race, Frenchman Jordan Sarrou also rode to his first World Cup XCO win. The former world champ was part of an early lead group and later found himself at the front alone when Luca Schwarzbauer punctured. He was challenged late by Nino Schurter but some wily positioning from Sarrou saw the Frenchman take the win in a sprint.
Photographer Piper Albrecht was in Snowshow to capture all the action for Escape. You can see his photos below.
The elite women's race was contested under sunny skies.Evie Richards leads the battle for early position.Fresh off her win in the Paris Olympics test event last weekend, Loana Lecomte was in hot pursuit and would finish with second on the day.Jolanda Neff in pursuit. The Swisswoman would end up fifth.Puck Pieterse was in the mix, as she has been so often this season.Note Stigger (left) on Richards' tail. Martina Berta (right), would have a good day too ...... ultimately riding her way to the podium in third.Stigger made her move just before the start of the third lap.The many root- and rock-strewn sections caused difficulty for a bunch of riders.Aussie national champ Bec Henderson finished third in the short-track event on Friday but couldn't reach the same heights on Sunday.The win was Stigger's first World Cup XCO victory ...... and she took it in the homeland of her bike sponsor, Specialized.Sixteenth for Henderson on the day.From left to right: the USA's Savilia Blunk (fourth), Lecomte (second), Stigger, Berta (third), and Neff (fifth).Gotta get that podium selfie!With one race remaining – in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada – Pieterse has already wrapped up the overall series victory.British national champ Charlie Aldridge awaits the start. He was one of 19 riders in a national champ's jersey at the start.Also in special livery was European champ Vlad Dascalu.Off and racing in Snowshoe, with the purple-clad figure of Luca Schwarzbauer ever-present near the front.After yet another fast start, Schwarzbauer found himself in third on course.Steep climbs aplenty.Aussie champ Sam Fox had a tricky day. He wrote on Instagram afterwards that he "couldn't find a good rhythm ... and ended up making a mistake that ended in a mechanical. Fought till the end, but a fair way back on where I like to be?" He finished 68th.Sarrou has been a consistent presence near the front of XCO races but had never managed a World Cup win. He was again near the front on Sunday.Ondrej Cink picks a line through a root-strewn section.After Schwarzbauer punctured out of the leading duo, Sarrou was on his own.Nino Schurter caught Sarrou and even hit the front at one point, but a clever finish from Sarrou netted the Frenchman his first World Cup XCO win.It was clear how much the win meant.From left to right: Mathias Flückiger (fourth), Schurter (second), Sarrou, Marcel Guerrini (third), and Tom Pidcock (fifth).With one round left, Schurter leads the overall standings.
