Forster shows up on time to take victory in the Leogang World Cup

Forster takes the victory in the Leogang XCO World Cup after regaining the lead in the final part of the race and launching an attack on the last lap. Schwarzbauer makes the feat and finishes second after a great performance, while Cink is third. Fluckiger suffers a flat tyre that ruins her chances of victory after coming back from beyond the top 50.

Forster takes victory on a day in which Schwarzbauer and Fluckiger also shined

Schwarzbauer was the fastest in the first meters and took the lead at the start, but it was soon De Frointmont who overtook him and opened the lead as the road began to climb. The Belgian continued to lead for the rest of the start loop with Schwarzbauer close behind. After these two, a small break with Sarrou, Dubau, Cink and others who closed shortly after.

The head was stretching out as a symptom of Schwarzbauer's relentless pace, a personal trademark of the German, who doesn't understand how to reserve his strength. We had to wait a few more minutes to see how the front group was formed. Ten riders: Schwarzbauer, De Frointmont, Sarrou, Dubau, Cink, Hatherly, Aldridge, Cooper, Forster and Blevins.

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Schurter, who had just had one of his best days on the bike, was 29th, 55 seconds behind the leaders.

During the same lap the casualty report of the lead was updated: Blevins and Aldridge gave way while Fluckiger - who fell out of the top 50 at the start of the race - recovered to rejoin the wheel with the last in line.

Schwarzbauer continued to be generous, setting the pace from the first place. Cink's move to take over the lead without toughening up the race. Fluckiger confirmed his express comeback when he took fourth place.

Cink decided to push with the aim of shaking up the group to unhook someone else. A move that worked perfectly at first, as only Schwarzbauer was able to keep up with the leader. Even so, first Fluckiger and then De Froindmont and Sarrou also made contact with them again.

So the five started the next lap, led by Schwarzbauer who seemed fresher than on other occasions. Fluckiger in front. The Swiss rider squeezed his quads to leave Cink, De Frointmont and Sarrou behind.

Schwarzbauer was reluctant to give up and Cink reacted in time to get back into the fight. And bad luck knocked on Fluckiger's door to cut short a major comeback with a rear tyre puncture that caused the Thomus Maxon rider to lose too much time. The result was a loss of almost a minute.

The lead was still shared between Schwarzbauer and Cink while Fluckiger started his particular comeback. The gap was gradually decreasing. 44 seconds. 37 seconds. 33 seconds. 29 seconds.

With Schwarzbauer in front and Cink behind him, Forster was the unexpected guest to form the final trio that would play for the win in the lap and a half to go.

Behind, Fluckiger overtook Hatherly for fourth and set his sights on the top three. 22 seconds.

Last lap. Forster took the lead while pulling on his legs to open up a gap and put some ground in front of Fluckiger, who was no longer cutting back as before.

Forster continued to ride hard to avoid any outburst from those behind and raised his arms to the sky of Leogang to seal his first World Cup victory of the season. A great race by the Swiss rider who came from behind and reached the lead in time to wait and launch a demolishing attack at the start of the last lap.

Special mention for Schwarzbauer, who finally signed a high level performance outside the XCC being true to his style, showing that he can also be counted on in this type of events and giving a good punch to the overall. Cink was third after completing a great performance in which he was among the frontrunners throughout the race.

Hatherly was fourth and Fluckiger fifth, who made an impressive comeback to position himself as the favorite for the victory before a flat tyre frustrated that possibility.

Schurter was 21st and loses the overall lead.

Results XCO World Cup Leogang 2023 - Men's

1. Lars Forster 1:17'41"
2. Luca Schwarzbauer +14"
3. Ondrej Cink +23"
4. Alan Hatherly +30"
5. Mathias Fluckiger +44"
6. Luca Braidot +1'01"
7. Thomas Griot +1:04"
8. Alan Cooper +1'21"
9. Jens Schuermans +1'29"
10. Vlad Dascalu +1'35"