How to watch the 2023 World Cup in Vallnord Andorra

The Pal Arinsa - Andorra XC World Cup takes place this week after an intense World Championship in Glasgow that left a lot of unfinished business among big names such as Pidcock, Van der Poel, Schurter, Valero, Gaze, Koretzky, Pieterse, Mitterwallner or Ferrand-Prevot.

This is the first event of the second half of the season and is expected to be one of the most interesting races of the calendar due to the level at which most of the favorites arrive. Here you have all the information about dates, times, favorites and how to watch it for free.

Schedule and how to watch the Andorra World Cup 2023

The UCI Pal Arinsa - Andorra World Cup will host a double event with DH and XC races. And while Thursday and Friday will be the turn of the Short Track, Sunday will again concentrate all XCO races, since Saturday will be reserved for DH. The broadcasts can be followed on GCN+, Eurosport or Discovery+.

Thursday, August 24th

• 17:30-17:52 XCC Women's U23 NO BROADCASTING
• 18:15-18:37 XCC Men's U23 NO BROADCASTING

Friday, August 25th

• 17:30-18:15 SHORT TRACK Women WATCH ON EUROSPORT - WATCH ON GCN+
• 18:15-19:00 SHORT TRACK Men WATCH ON EUROSPORT - WATCH ON GCN+

Saturday, August 26th

• 10:45 Women's DH Semifinal WATCH FREE LIVE
• 11:20 Men's DH Semifinal DH Men WATCH FREE LIVE
• 13:00 Women's DH Final WATCH ON EUROSPORT - WATCH ON GCN+
• 14:00 Men's DH Final WATCH ON EUROSPORT - WATCH ON GCN+

Sunday, August 27th

• 09:00-10:30 XCO Women's U23 WATCH FREE LIVE
• 11:00-12:30 XCO Men's U23 WATCH FREE LIVE
• 13:00-14:20 XCO Women WATCH ON EUROSPORT - WATCH ON GCN+
• 15:30-16:50 XCO Men WATCH ON EUROSPORT - WATCH ON GCN+

Pidcock, Valero, Schurter, Gaze, Koretzky or Van der Poel, the number of favorites is growing for the Andorra 2023 XCO World Cup

In the absence of final confirmation, the number of favorites to win the Andorra 2023 XCO World Cup could be as big as what we saw at the World Championships. In addition, the number of World Cup races are already counted down, 4 to go, and each one is seen as the last chance of the year for a victory, so it will not be uncommon to see new names on the podium that had not yet made an appearance this season.

UPDATE: Samuel Gaze and Mathieu van der Poel will not race in Andorra. Gaze has decided to start La Vuelta a España 2023 and Van der Poel has decided to continue his training.

British rider Tom Pidcock arrives in Andorra with the clear intention of debuting his newly won rainbow jersey as he deserves and after seeing with the authority he won in Glasgow it is not crazy to put him as the top favorite. Besides, Pidcock lives in Andorra most of the year and surely the altitude is not a problem for him. 

The incident with his shoe deprived David Valero to fight for the medals in the World Championship, but his performance and good adaptation to the conditions of this circuit, we remember in 2022 he was second, make him one of the names to fight for the victory. Nino Schurter is also among the favorites. The Swiss could not win the World Champion title, but he was the only one who put Pidcock in trouble during the race, so he will surely look for a new World Cup victory before the end of the season.

New Zealander Samuel Gaze and Frenchman Victor Koretzky were two of the best performers at the World Championships, both in Short Track and XCO, so both arrive in Andorra with the necessary form to win. In addition, in the World Championship they were disadvantaged by the controversial UCI rule that placed Pidcock ahead of them on the starting grid and we will see what happens in the World Cup where the starting positions are decided by Friday's race in the Short Track.

Finally it is worth mentioning the presence of Mathieu van der Poel. Pending final confirmation, the Dutchman is registered for the race and will arrive after his unfortunate crash in the XCO World Championship and winning the World Road Cycling Championships. His performance in mountain biking is an unknown after more than a year without racing, but if anyone can surprise us, it is Van der Poel.

Pieterse vs Ferrand Prevot?

The XCO World Championship 2023 left us a victory to remember starring the French Pauline Ferrand Prevot. Once again, Pauline has managed to manage her preparation to reach the World Championship and the end of the season at the peak of her form, so in the World Cup in Andorra she will start as the main favorite, pending to know how the altitude affects her in competition.

The Dutch Puck Pieterse leads the overall classification of the World Cup and has been demonstrating all season that her level was a point above the rest, but we will see what happens in Andorra, as not only Ferrand-Prevot but Loana Lecomte also was ahead of her in the World Championship with a great performance demonstration.

As we said for the men's race, this is one of the last opportunities of the year to achieve a victory so surely many cyclists will focus their preparation on trying to get on the podium in one of them.

XCO overall classification becomes a major objective

As we said, Andorra will be the first of the four remaining rounds of the World Cup calendar, and while some riders will try to hunt for a podium or victory between now and the end of the season, others are already aiming for the overall classification. Here is the current top 10, before Andorra, for women and men.

In men, Nino Schurter leads the XCO World Cup. And after not being able to revalidate his title of World Champion, keeping the number 1 in the UCI ranking and in the general classification of the World Cup becomes a priority for him. But the truth is that winning the overall is an equally achievable and realistic goal for Frenchman Jordan Sarrou or South African Alan Hatherly.

1. Nino Schurter 848 points
2. Jordan Sarrou 726 points
3. Alan Hatherly 721 points
4. Luca Schwarzbauer 718 points
5. Mathias Fluckiger 681 points
6. Lars Forster 663 points
7. Joshua Dubau 604 points
8. Thomas Griot 561 points
9. David Valero 494 points
10. Martins Blums 477 points

In elite women, Puck Pieterse leads with authority the overall classification, but as it happened last year, Pauline Ferrand-Prevót is expected to have a great end of the season. Moreover, we do not doubt the Frenchwoman's ambition and if she sees the overall as an achievable goal, she will surely try until the last race.

1. Puck Pieterse 1096 points
2. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot 800 points
3. Laura Stigger 690 points
4. Anne Terpstra 667 points
5. Alessandra Keller 662 points
6. Mona Mitterwallner 654 points
7. Jenny Rissveds 635 points
8. Loana Lecomte 630 points
9. Martina Berta 592 points
10. Evie Richards 568 points