Boichis wins in Les Gets as Van der Poel makes spectacular MTB comeback despite a near-crash

After Sina Frei's victory in the women's race, it was time for the Men's Elite Short Track of the Les Gets World Cup. A race particularly awaited for the return of Mathieu van der Poel, who was back to MTB after almost a year without competing.

Additionally, with the World Championship in Val di Sole just a few days away, Les Gets presented itself as an important rehearsal before the fight for the rainbow jerseys.

Adrien Boichis wins in Les Gets and Van der Poel stages a spectacular comeback

Much of the attention was on Van der Poel. The new regulations introduced this year by the UCI allowed him to compete in the Short Track despite starting from the last position, and the Dutchman needed to make up ground if he wanted to improve his starting position for the XCO on Sunday.

But before the race started, there were also important technical updates. For the second time, there was a 32" bike competing in this lineup, and it was Ondřej Cink's Cube prototype. The Czech decided to race in Les Gets with the same bike he had won a few days earlier.

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In the front row were the top eight in the World Cup ranking, with Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) taking the first position to the delight of the French crowd. Alongside him were Adrien Boichis, Bjorn Riley, Dario Lillo, Mathis Azzaro, Simone Avondetto, Luca Schwarzbauer, and Fabio Püntener.

The start was, as expected, a real sprint. Adrien Boichis quickly took the lead ahead of Mathis Azzaro and Luca Martin, but many eyes were focused many meters further back.

Van der Poel launched off the line.

The Dutchman approached the first meters as if he were already in a battle for victory and passed more than 20 riders during the first half of the opening lap. A comeback so rapid that by the start of the second lap, he had already managed to enter the first large group, which at that moment was led by the Spaniard Jofre Cullell.

The pace did not relent. Luca Schwarzbauer took the lead during the third lap, but shortly after suffered a mishap that forced him to stop momentarily and caused him to lose contact with the favorites' group.

Meanwhile, another rider began a notable comeback. David List moved through the front group to take the lead on the fifth lap. What initially seemed like a one-off move ended up continuing, and the German kept leading the race as the front group had already been reduced to about ten cyclists.

Among them was still Van der Poel. The Dutchman had completed the most difficult part of his comeback, although the enormous effort made from the start and the extremely high race pace were barely giving him room to recover.

With nine laps established, the tension continued to rise. On the sixth lap, Fabio Püntener suffered a spectacular fall that ended with the saddle of his SCOTT Spark broken and forced him to abandon.

One lap later, it was Van der Poel who came very close to ending up on the ground. In the middle of the rock garden, one hand slipped off the handlebars, and he barely managed to save the fall. The scare, however, had consequences, and he went from fighting within the front group to rolling around the 14th position.

Everything was still to be decided ahead.

Boichis responds to Martin's attack in the final meters

The final lap began with Adrien Boichis, Luca Martin, Charlie Aldridge, David List, Simone Avondetto, and Mathis Azzaro at the front.

Martin was the first to make a move. The Frenchman launched a hard attack that definitively broke the group, and only Boichis and List could stay close.

Martin did not ease up and continued to accelerate to try to seal the race in front of his home crowd, but Boichis still had one last response.

Adrien Boichis attacked in the final meters, passed Luca Martin, and crossed the finish line first with a time of 22:32. Martin finished second just one second later, and David List completed the podium seven seconds behind.

Behind, Van der Poel regained positions after his problem in the rock garden and managed to close his return to MTB with a 10th position, 36 seconds behind the winner. A particularly important result because it allows him to start from the second row of the grid in the XCO on Sunday.

Top 10 Men's Elite Short Track – Les Gets World Cup 2026

1. Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) – 22:32
2. Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) – +1
3. David List (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) – +7
4. Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) – +16
5. Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) – +17
6. Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon) – +19
7. Vital Albin (Thömus Maxon) – +24
8. Bjorn Riley (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing Team) – +30
9. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann (Specialized Factory Racing) – +31
10. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) – +36