Pidcock faints, recovers and wins the Bike Revolution XCO of Chur 2023

The Swiss town of Chur has been the protagonist of the best XCO in the world with a starting grid that saw for the first time this year riders like Thomas Pidcock, Nino Schurter, Mathias Fluckiger or Jordan Sarrou. There we have lived an exciting race that ended up winning Thomas Pidcock after a race in which he went through everything.

Pidcock wins the Bike Revolution XCO Chur 2023 after a thrilling finish with Mathias Fluckiger

At the start, Swiss rider Andri Frischknecht (SCOTT SRAM) was the fastest and managed to get to the front of an endless group with none of the favourites missing. Soon it was Vlad Dascalu (Trek Factory) who took command of the race and set the pace for the rest of the first lap.

Thomas Pidcock (INEOS Grenadier) seemed to hold back during the first kilometres and we saw him riding in position 8, and Mathias Fluckiger (Thomus Maxon) did the same from position 13. Nino Schurter did not give up so many places and followed Dascalu's movements from fourth place.

Although this order was short-lived and at the start of lap 2, it was Mathias Fluckiger who tried to shake up the group a little and attacked to take the lead just before the hardest and steepest climb of the circuit. An attack that did not break the group, but left Dascalu closely followed by Pidcock, Schurter and Fluckiger.

The attack that finally selected the first group was that of Thomas Pidcock. The British rider made a powerful change of pace that only Nino Schurter (SCOTT SRAM), Mathias Fluckiger, Albin Vital (Thomus Maxon) and Jordan Sarrou (BMC) could join.

But the surprise came a few kilometres ahead when it was Pidcock himself who showed signs of fatigue by momentarily dropping out of the group after an attack by Nino Schurter before the start of lap 5.

The leading group would compact soon after, but Schurter had already discovered some weaknesses in his rivals and decided to exploit them with a new attack on the next climb. It was not decisive either. The group remained with 7 riders including Schurter, Fluckiger, Vital, Sarrou, Forster and Pidcock.

The gaps were minimal and the group was growing and shrinking at almost every stretch, the rider who best showed what was happening in the race was Thomas Pidcock, who was for several laps riding with the first ones and as soon as he closed the group he was dropping off.

Nino Schurter looked the strongest of the frontrunners, but in a sudden change of script European champion Tom Pidcock emerged from his weakness midway through lap 6 to make a change of pace that took him straight into first place and even allowed him to gain some advantage over the rest. Exactly 6 seconds with Jordan Sarrou, his first pursuer at the start of lap 7.

Nobody knew if it was part of his strategy or if Pidcock had discovered the formula to rise from the ashes, but the INEOS Grenadier rider looked like another rider with two laps to go, his attack never stopped and he was putting time on his rivals in every metre of the course.

The next surprise came from Mathias Flueckiger. The Swiss managed to jump out of the chasing group and catch Pidcock during lap 7. A move that no one expected, but that gives us clues as to who will be the strongest at the start of the World Cup in Nove Mesto.

With two laps to go, Pidcock and Fluckiger were in a fierce fight for the win, while a group of three, led by Nino Schurter, were riding within half a minute of the leaders.

The final lap started with Fluckiger and Pidcock 35 seconds behind Albin, Schurter and Sarrou. Everything was still to be decided.

Mathias Fluckiger was the first to try to get away from Pidcok by pushing hard on a climb, but he was only separated by a few metres. The one who did manage to open a small gap, on the same climb, was Nino Schurter who got rid of his group mates to try to secure third place.

The victory was decided on the last urban climb, where Pidcock unleashed everything he had and within a few metres left Fluckiger with the only option of resigning himself to second place.

Thomas Pidcock took victory at the Bike Revolution XCO Chur 2023, Fluckiger was second and Nino Schurter closed the podium.

Results Men Bike Revolution XCO of Chur 2023

1. Thomas Pidcock
2. Mathias Fluckiger
3. Nino Schurter
4. Jordan Sarrou
5. Marcel Guerrini
6. Vital Albin
7. Joel Roth
8. Simon Walter
9. Lars Forster
10. Vlad Dascalu