Laura Stigger shines in Nové Město and conquers the XCO World Cup after an impossible-to-respond attack

Austrian Laura Stigger delivered one of the strongest performances of her career to win the XCO World Cup in Nové Město 2026. The Specialized Factory Racing rider completely broke the race apart with a devastating attack on the fourth lap, and no one could keep up with her pace on one of the most demanding and fastest circuits on the calendar.

Laura Stigger dominates in Nové Město and Rissveds wins the sprint for the podium

The elite women's race started with a very large group at the front and a very high pace from the first climb. Jenny Rissveds initially took the lead, but soon the movements began in a group that also included Puck Pieterse, Sina Frei, Nicole Koller, Martina Berta, Laura Stigger, and Ronja Blöchlinger.

In fact, Blöchlinger was one of the first major protagonists of the race. The Swiss rider from LIV Factory Racing led the first lap and for a good part of the beginning, she seemed to be one of the strongest riders of the day. Pieterse, a strong favorite after winning the XCC on Friday, always stayed well positioned, although she seemed to be racing with some caution in the early laps.

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The race really began to break apart on the third lap. Pieterse made a small mistake in a root section and lost a few meters to the front group. From there, Jenny Rissveds increased the pace, and the women's XCO in Nové Město entered a new, much more selective and physical phase.

At that moment, Laura Stigger appeared. The Austrian launched a brutal change of pace on the fourth lap and quickly opened up a gap with all her rivals. It was not an explosive attack lasting a few seconds, but a sustained acceleration that no rider could respond to. In just half a lap, she already had more than ten seconds of advantage, and the chasing group began to completely disorganize.

A chasing group formed behind with Rissveds, Frei, Koller, Keller, Richards, and Blöchlinger trying to keep their podium hopes alive, while Stigger continued to increase her lead lap after lap. With five laps to go, she was already leading by more than ten seconds, and by the sixth lap, her margin was nearing 40 seconds.

The situation also changed significantly for some of the favorites. Puck Pieterse finished completely dropped after losing more than a minute and a half to the leaders and could never re-enter the fight for the podium. Ronja Blöchlinger, very active throughout the race, also ended up paying for the enormous fatigue from the start.

Another of the most delicate moments of the day came with the hard fall of Evie Richards on the last lap. The British rider lay on the circuit and had to be attended to by medical services.

Meanwhile, Stigger remained completely unreachable. The Specialized Factory Racing rider entered the last lap with almost a minute of advantage and ended up celebrating alone an uncontestable victory in Nové Město.

Behind, the battle for the other two podium spots was resolved in a sprint. Sina Frei launched an attack on the last lap trying to break the chasing group, but Jenny Rissveds managed to hold her wheel and ended up surpassing her in the final meters to take second place.

Top 10 Elite Women XCO – Nové Město 2026

1. Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) – 1:21:32
2. Jenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) – 1:22:19 (+47)
3. Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) – 1:22:19 (+47)
4. Nicole Koller (Lapierre PXR Racing) – 1:22:28 (+56)
5. Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) – 1:22:30 (+58)
6. Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) – 1:22:31 (+59)
7. Ronja Blöchlinger (LIV Factory Racing) – 1:23:15 (+1:43)
8. Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Premier Tech) – 1:23:30 (+1:58)
9. Nina Graf (Trek-Unbroken XC) – 1:23:41 (+2:09)
10. Gwendalyn Gibson (Trek-Unbroken XC) – 1:24:22 (+2:50)