Pidcock wins, Fluckiger dreams till the end and Schurter takes overall in a crazy XCO World Cup at Mont Sainte Anne

Pidcock takes the win in the spectacular XCO World Cup at Mont Sainte Anne. An unleashed Fluckiger kept alive his chances for the overall, after a terrible start by Schurter and Sarrou. The dream was cut short when he suffered his second flat tyre. Schurter becomes XCO World Cup champion for the ninth time.

Pidcock wins and Schurter signs his ninth XCO World Cup title

With an eye on the overall, the race started without rain and with a clean start that left Andreassen first ahead of Blevins, Aldridge, Schwarzbauer and Koretzky. For his part, Pidcock missed the front row and was relegated to fourteenth place, while Fluckiger dropped to sixteenth.

The surprise came with the favorites for the title: Schurter failed in those early stages and sank to 31st, although the drama was even greater for Sarrou, who was 36th.

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The bad start of Schurter and Sarrou condemned them to suffer the pains of those who do not pedal in the first positions: victims of multiple clogs, they were sentenced to a bleeding of seconds with the head of the race.

Fluckiger at the front. The Swiss rider made his chances for the general classification count by overtaking Andreassen and establishing himself as the new race leader. Spurred on by an ideal race situation for him, he opened a gap of 10 seconds. Koretzky, Pidcock, Andreassen and Aldridge made up the chasing group.

Schurter moved up to 24th by overtaking Cullell, while Sarrou was still sinking in 39th place.

Up front, Fluckiger held the baton until Pidcock stormed into the lead. However, Fluckiger hit back, barely giving the British rider time to savor the first place.

Another twist in the script, and this time it was Fluckiger's turn. Rear tyre puncture. The speed of the mechanics did not prevent him from being overtaken by both Pidcock and Aldridge, and he regained the pulse of the race 18 seconds behind the leader.

The tension was growing by the minute. Fluckiger was chasing Aldridge, Andreassen had a crash and Koretzky also had to visit the assistance zone.

Fluckiger got off Aldridge's wheel as he crossed the finish line. The Swiss rider was in fine form and opened up a big gap to make up ground on Aldridge and prepare to attack Pidcock, who was 10 seconds ahead.

Schurter moved up to thirteenth - between Cooper and Colombo - but would lose the title if he finished outside the top 15 and Fluckiger won. Sarrou, meanwhile, had climbed back to 25th place but was all but out of contention for the overall.

Fluckiger completed the feat: he arrived at Pidcock's wheel, waited and overtook him before entering a technical zone, knowing that he could take a risk and gain a valuable advantage. Pidcock resisted the gale and stayed behind the Swiss.

Schurter and Colombo worked together to reach Cooper, twelfth. The multi-champion was 43 seconds ahead of the rider who would then deprive him of his ninth XCO World Cup, which, ironically, was Sarrou.

Ahead, Fluckiger and Pidcock took a truce, aware that neither could outrun the other.

Schurter was completely uncorked and set a blistering pace to overtake Forster, Zanotti, Schwarzbauer and Dubau. Eighth position for the Swiss, who could take the final stretch of the race with relative confidence.

Penultimate lap. Fluckiger opened a 6-second gap to Pidcock, although the British rider put in watts to tie him up again; Guerrini crossed third almost a minute behind.

The race danced to the rhythm of Fluckiger's pedals, who was unleashed and managed to get a good income every time he had to put his foot down to run. Pidcock contained the distance as much as he could, without giving up completely.

Another setback for Fluckiger, who had turned his race into a roller coaster of emotions. Second flat tyre and second visit to the mechanic. An incident that caused him to lose about 30 seconds.

Last lap. Pidcock in front. The British had an income and a power that seemed sufficient to take home the victory. Sarrou climbed to thirteenth place, while Schurter was ninth.

A tense moment for Schurter, whose chain came off and he lost several places until he returned to the competition in thirteenth place, behind Sarrou.

Fluckiger was able to close the gap to Pidcock, but the British rider's lead was now insurmountable. Pidcock pedaled to the finish and won the Mont Sainte Anne XCO World Cup, while Fluckiger completed a fantastic performance and finished second.

Schurter finished fourteenth but was proclaimed overall champion of the XCO World Cup 2023. The Swiss rider adds to an extraordinary record by winning his ninth title in the competition.

Results XCO Mont Sainte Anne 2023 World Cup - Men's

1. Thomas Pidcock 1h26'27"
2. Mathias Fluckiger +26"
3. Marcel Guerrini +1'31"
4. Titouan Carod +1'55"
5. Thomas Litscher +2'17"
6. Simon Andreassen +2'26"
7. Charlie Aldridge +2'50"
8. Joshua Dubau +3'09"
9. Jordan Sarrou +3'10""
10. Luca Schwarzbauer +3'18"

You can find all the results at MTBData.