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Jordan Sarrou takes the win in Snowshoe.

Snowshoe World Cup XCO: Sarrou survives and brings it to the line

Jordan Sarrou takes his first ever World Cup XCO win.

Jordan Sarrou takes the win in Snowshoe.

Ryan Simonovich
by Ryan Simonovich 01.10.2023 Photography by
Piper Albrecht
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Mr. Consistent Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) rode a tactical masterclass to best Nino Schurter (Scott SRAM MTB Racing Team) in a sprint finish in the XCO race at the Snowshoe round of the MTB World Cup. The French rider was the 2020 World Champion but had never won a World Cup XCO race – until Sunday.

Brief analysis

The race was a tactical masterclass from Sarrou, who has stood on countless World Cup podiums but never won a race outside of his Worlds victory a few years ago. The French rider’s consistency near the front of races paid off when he suddenly gained the lead due to Schwarzbauer’s misfortune. Then he played the finale perfectly, knowing he had to come out of the final corner in the lead in order to win the sprint.

Why were there so many punctures? That’s anybody’s guess, but my hunch is that the mud in the technical sections covered the rocks, making it impossible to spot the sharp edges lurking beneath the rider’s tires.

The race was certainly a ‘what could have been’ scenario for Pidcock, who rode back to fifth after his two punctures. It’s hard to think that the World Champion would have been beaten with legs like that.

With tight pack racing and numerous lead changes, Snowshoe was the most dynamic race this year. Next week in Mont-Sainte-Anne will bring sharper climbs and even more technical sections, and the weather forecast is pointing to another mudder (as it was last year) to send off the 2023 World Cup season.

Brief results

  1. Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC)
  2. Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team)
  3. Marcel Guerrini (BIXS Performance Race Team)
  4. Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon)
  5. Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers)
  6. Martins Blums (KMC MTB Racing Team)
  7. Thomas Griot (Canyon CLLCTV)
  8. Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing)
  9. Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team)
  10. Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing)

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