Pidcock wins Nove Mesto XCC ahead of Gaze and a great Schwarzbauer

Pidcock has given a master class to take the victory in the first XCC of the World Cup 2023, held in Nove Mesto. The British rider was climbing up positions to occupy the first places in the last part of the race, he attacked in the back straight and nobody was able to catch him. Samuel Gaze was second and Schwarzbauer was third after a great performance.

Pidcock, Gaze and Schwarzbauer top the podium at the Nove Mesto XCC

The race started and the XXC World Cup season got underway without a trace of the rain that had fallen at the start of the women's race. The start was uneventful and it was David Valero who marked territory early on with a move that put him back in first position shortly before reaching the ground.

That's how the Baza rider completed the first lap at the front. Schwarzbauer then took the lead and Valero dropped a few positions. The pace was strong from the start, so they had to pull all the strength they had without much margin to save something for the final part of the race.

Schwarzbauer remained as leader almost without losing the first place until in the fourth lap it was Valero himself who took the lead again, assuming a leading role at the beginning of the race to which we are not very accustomed.

The front riders came and went, with the exception of Schwarzbauer, who was always in the leading positions.

We had to wait until lap six to see Pidcock at one end of the screen. The lead pack was still made up of the bulk of riders, with no one making a move over the others.

Eighth lap. A kind of tense calm that anticipated an attack, although the powerful pace made it difficult for anyone to try. Schwarzbauer was still second and Albin was in first place.

The high pace could not get anyone off the front and the riders were already entering the penultimate lap. Everything was up in the air. Schwarzbauer was still pounding the pedals like a steamroller in the first place, an effort that was already accumulating many minutes and that put in doubt whether the German would be able to maintain until the end.

Pidcock, until then hidden from the camera spotlight, climbed his way up to fourth place.

The last lap began with an eventful crash for De Froindmont and Hatherly when they were fighting in the top 10. An incident that occurred when Pidcock was already second. He moved into first position and attacked on the back straight with an unstoppable pedal stroke. Just like that, without further ado. He waited, went up, attacked and finished.

Gaze - who, like the race winner, saw his participation in the event in jeopardy for part of the afternoon - was second and Schwarzbauer, who pushed himself to the limit as leader for much of the race, put in a great XCC performance that earned him third place.

Ondrej Cink, who was racing at home, could not participate in the race due to physical problems.

XCC Nove Mesto 2023 World Cup Results - Men

1. Tom Pidcock
2. Samuel Gaze
3. Luca Schwarzbauer
4. Mathias Fluckiger
5. Nino Schurter
6. Daniele Braidot
7. Luca Braidot
8. Jordan Sarrou
9. Jens Schuermans
10. Lars Forster

You can check all the results at MTBDATA.