The third round of the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series took place in Leogang, Austria, over the weekend. While the heavy rain leading up to Sunday's XCO races had plenty of people talking and teams scratching their heads over tyre choice, both the women's and men's elite races ultimately came to be defined by incidents between the tapes.
In the women's race, world champion Jenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) had a run-in with Savilia Blunk (Decathlon-Ford Racing Team) within sight of the start line. The result was Blunk sliding down the hillside on her back, her bike tangled in the course markers further up the hill, while Rissveds rode off the course to remain upright before rejoining a little further down the track.
In the men's race, the incident was far less dramatic and, for many viewers watching live, it would have been easy to miss entirely. However, as he entered the tech/feed zone at the start of a new lap, Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) went the wrong side of a section of banners before rejoining the intended course route.
The outcome was two riders at the front of their respective races breaking the letter of the rules, but only one suffering any meaningful consequence.
Alex Hunt
The Rissveds-Blunk incident
Let's start by addressing the events that led to Blunk and Rissveds becoming entangled, rather than the discussion around whether Rissveds should or should not have faced a penalty.
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