Araxà, Brazil. If Mairipora last week was great, Araxà was next level in so many ways. A race track which was state of the art, surrounded by the stunning location of a botanical garden and racing that made the crowd go wild. In its 34 years of existence, the World Cup last saw such an incredible event only two years ago in Petropolis, Brazil. The track included many huge jumps and drops that were demanding. Most likely a taste of where this sport is going to go in the future.
One thing everyone agreed on, from the organizers to athletes, team staff and everyone involved in the past two weeks racing in Brazil: Let’s go back in 2025!
With a top finish in Saturday’s short track race, Filippo had a front row start. Not so for Nino, who would be starting out of the 2nd row. However, the 9 time World Cup Champion managed to get to the front of the race quite quickly and looked in control of the pace at the front. Filippo, in the meantime, was also present in the large leading group, yet not setting the pace like the week prior.
In lap 3 Filippo, in a flash, lost 10 places and more than 30 seconds to the leaders. What happened? “I got tangled up in a crash and broke the BOA off my shoe, which forced me to get off the bike to re-attach it again. This not only cost a lot of time and placings, but also broke my rhythm a bit. After refocusing, I got going again very strongly and caught up to the leaders again.” On the last big climb Colombo passed the leading Koretzky, who also had an issue on the bike. It looked like he would go for his first XCO win. However, his rivals Simon Andreassen, Viktor Koretzky and Alan Hatherly were still on Filippo’s heels and it came down to a sprint finish. Denmark’s Andreassen had the best ending, Filippo finishing 1 second behind in 4th. Never in history have we seen such a close sprint finish of 4 riders.
Nino Schurter
Only 23 seconds behind the winner, Nino Schurter managed to win the sprint against South American hero Martin Vidaurre. A result he very much can be pleased with after his World Cup start last week didn’t go as planned. Nino sure left a sample of what to expect from this year when he will back in his best shape.
Kate Courtney
In the second round of the Mountain Bike World Cup, Kate Courtney was able to build on her strong performance from the previous week and once again confirm her good form at the start of the year.
In the sweltering heat of Brazil, both the XCC and XCO races were led with extremely high intensity from the start, which led to the first upsets in the field of riders early on. In the battle for the top spots, Kate was once again able to establish herself in the top 10 and defend her place with a well-deserved 9th place in Araxà and 10th place the previous week. It is still early in the season but the form curve is pointing upwards.
Kate’s racing program includes the Pan American Games in Utah, USA, beginning of May, where she will have another opportunity to prove her form.
Andri Frischknecht
After a great start, Andri was in a war for positions in the pack. On one of the rock gardens, he had to get off the ideal line causing a mechanical.
One to forget and instead look ahead for the next races to come.
What’s next?
After an adventurous two weeks in Brazil everyone is heading home to reset. Next race is BIKE REVOLUTION in Chur, Switzerland May 5th, followed by the Continental Championships. It’s then the Pan Am Games for Kate in Utah, USA and European Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania.
