Alan Hatherly took the victory at the XCO World Cup in Les Gets. The South African broke the race with a devastating attack that exhausted the forces of Fluckiger, who had accompanied him in his solo escape. Fluckiger pulled on his courage to hold on with aplomb in second place, while Andreassen won the chasing group and was third.
The XCO World Cup travelled to the French town of Les Gets with the absence of its two big stars: Tom Pidcock -who with his particular calendar is now in the Tour- and Nino Schurter -who announced that he would focus his efforts on preparing for the Olympic Games-.
The race started punctually on a heavy and slippery course, punished by the rain that had fallen in the previous hours. The start was uneventful and saw Simon Andreassen as the first leader of the day.
The quiet start ended when Luca Braidot stormed the lead and took the baton to increase the pace. The Italian champion took spurs in a ride that rewarded him with a gap of several seconds. The group stretched out in a dance of positions that pushed Fluckiger up to second place.
Braidot enjoyed a 9-second lead before Hatherly and Fluckiger distinguished themselves among the chasers and began the chase. The pair’s efforts met with success soon after and they made contact with the breakaway. Behind, Schwarzbauer took up the challenge to pull the group, which was already giving up 30 seconds.
And then Fluckiger opened the thunderbox. Hostilities reached the front trio with an onslaught by the Swiss rider that forced his teammates to increase the pace. Braidot gave up in the early stages, unable to replicate the pedal strokes; Hatherly responded with discipline and caught up in his wake.
Fluckiger led the way, while Hatherly stayed in the background behind him. Fluckiger’s attempts proved futile to get rid of the South African who, against the odds, pulled a move that cracked his opponent’s quadriceps. The outburst was productive and gave him a cushion of eight seconds.
The change of pace punished Fluckiger more than expected. The lead grew to 20 seconds in just half a lap and the Swiss rider’s face revealed the harshness of trying to hold on to Hatherly’s wheel.
Braidot, until then in no man’s land, suffered the second crash of his particular account and had to rejoin the race as a new wagon of the train formed by Gaze, Andreassen and Avondetto. With the top two positions stable, the real interest and fire went to the chasing quartet.
Hatherly’s offensive was sustained over time as a visibly fatigued Fluckiger was unable to close the bleeding seconds. Braidot gave in while Gaze, Andreassen and Avondetto engaged in an all-out battle in the final part of the race.
At all this, a spectacular Jofre Cullell was peeking the head in a comeback that seemed to have no end. The Catalan recovered from the bad start with overtaking and climbed up to the top positions of the table. The BH Coloma Team rider was on fire and left behind everyone ahead: Vidaurre, Schelb, Zanotti, De Foidmont and List to get into the top ten.
Gaze went to the ground moments before Braidot rejoined the group. Still, the New Zealander upped the ante and took off. But Braidot re-emerged when no one expected him to and was the only one able to make contact again. Gaze went to the ground again and lost steam in the final stretch.
Alan Hatherly rode calmly on the last lap and reached the finish line with his arms in the air to certify his victory in the XCO World Cup in Les Gets. The South African has had a dream weekend after Friday’s victory in the Short Track.
Fluckiger was second after showing great doses of courage to keep the pulse of the race. Andreassen and Braidot fought a head-to-head battle that finally left the Dane with the third step of the podium, while Avondetto had to settle for fourth place and Gaze for fifth.
Results XCO Les Gets 2024 World Cup – Men’s
Alan Hatherly 1h 23′ 14″.
Mathias Fluckiger +1’31”
Simon Andreassen +2’02”
Luca Braidot +2’05”
Simone Avondetto +2’19”
Sam Gaze +2’38”
Luca Schwarzbauer +2’48”
Jofre Cullell +2’50”
Antoine Philipp +2’52”
Nadir Colledani +2’55”