{"id":169984,"date":"2025-06-09T10:18:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T10:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/169984\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T10:18:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T10:18:33","slug":"mud-and-grit-as-cink-and-pieterse-triumph-in-wild-leogang-xco-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/169984\/","title":{"rendered":"Mud and grit as Cink and Pieterse triumph in wild Leogang XCO battles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gallery:<\/p>\n

News & Racing<\/a><\/p>\n

An emotional first win and a dominant run in the mud. <\/p>\n

\"Caley<\/p>\n

Piper Albrecht<\/p>\n

The rugged mountains of Leogang, Austria played host to a dramatic fourth round of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, where torrential conditions transformed the elite cross-country Olympic (XCO) races into a mud-caked battleground. In a weekend where staying upright was half the challenge, it was seasoned Czech rider Ond\u0159ej Cink (Cube) who finally seized a long-awaited elite XCO World Cup win, while Dutch phenom Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) executed a masterclass to complete a perfect double across the short track and Olympic disciplines. <\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Elite XCO: Pieterse Doubles Up in Style<\/p>\n

For Pieterse, Sunday\u2019s win was more than just another notch in her palmar\u00e8s, it was a declaration of dominance and consistency. Having already claimed victory in the short-track race on Friday, Pieterse showed no signs of fatigue as she launched her assault early in the six-lap women\u2019s race. Unfazed by the treacherous, rain-slicked terrain, she surged ahead from the start, never relinquishing control despite the course\u2019s unpredictable conditions. Her win marked her third XCO victory in just four rounds this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI maybe was a bit too eager to get to the front directly\u2014I\u2019m not good at waiting,\u201d Pieterse admitted post-race. \u201cBut I knew this track would reward aggression.\u201d And reward her it did. Even with the course claiming multiple riders through crashes and mechanicals, Pieterse stayed largely out of trouble. Though not flawless, her ability to minimize errors set her apart. \u201cNobody had a perfect race today,\u201d she reflected, \u201cbut as long as your mistakes are small and spaced out, you can still win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind her, New Zealand\u2019s Samara Maxwell (Decathlon-Ford) proved her resilience once again. After a tough opening lap that saw her drop back into mid-pack, Maxwell clawed her way up the field with measured precision. Her second-place finish not only marked another strong result\u2014following her round one win in Brazil and consistent podiums since\u2014but also solidified her grip on the overall series lead. Nicole Koller (Ghost Factory Racing) rounded out the podium in third after a steady and clean race.<\/p>\n

Pieterse\u2019s form continues to set a high bar in the women\u2019s field, but Maxwell\u2019s steady presence and gritty comebacks are shaping the narrative of the series as a two-woman duel. With four rounds down and momentum building, Leogang may have provided just a glimpse of the rivalry to come through the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s XCO \u2013 Leogang, 2025<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Puck Pieterse \u2013 1:26:39<\/li>\n
  2. Samara Maxwell \u2013 +0:50<\/li>\n
  3. Ramona Forchini \u2013 +1:26<\/li>\n
  4. Jolanda Neff \u2013 +1:41<\/li>\n
  5. Tamara Wiedmann \u2013 +1:41<\/li>\n
  6. Loana Lecomte \u2013 +2:04<\/li>\n
  7. Isla Short \u2013 +2:26<\/li>\n
  8. Nicole Koller \u2013 +2:46<\/li>\n
  9. Mona Mitterwallner \u2013 +3:06<\/li>\n
  10. Jenny Rissveds \u2013 +3:08<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Men\u2019s Elite XCO: Cink Breaks Through at Last<\/p>\n

    While the women\u2019s race followed a more expected script, the men\u2019s XCO delivered a shake-up. In his 30s and well past the age when most riders peak, Ond\u0159ej Cink turned back the clock with a sensational ride to claim his first elite World Cup XCO win. Racing with Cube after his former team folded, Cink took full advantage of the chaos on course and mounted a solo offensive that held through all seven grueling laps.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming,\u201d Cink said after crossing the line with visible emotion. \u201cI\u2019ve been second so many times\u2014I thought maybe my career was winding down. But today, something just clicked.\u201d Despite disliking the muddy conditions, Cink seemed at home on the sodden climbs and greasy descents. After opening a gap midway through the race, he briefly looked vulnerable as the chasers closed in. But summoning a final reserve of strength, he extended his lead on the last lap and crossed the line 18 seconds ahead of the competition.<\/p>\n

    The chase group featured two Swiss standouts: Mathias Fl\u00fcckiger (Th\u00f6mus Maxon), who managed to secure second, and surprise podium finisher Fabio P\u00fcntener (Bike Team Solothurn), a privateer who stunned by riding toe-to-toe with the elites. For Fl\u00fcckiger, the result marked a strong bounce back after inconsistent showings in earlier rounds.<\/p>\n

    It was, by contrast, a nightmare outing for many pre-race favourites. Specialized\u2019s Victor Koretzky pulled out after just two laps, citing illness and the lingering effects of a crash in training. His teammate Christopher Blevins, dominant in the short track on Friday, had no such magic in the longer format and limped home in 17th. Still, Blevins\u2019 commanding performances in the early rounds mean his lead in the overall standings remains intact\u2014though the door may now be open to challengers like Cink and Fl\u00fcckiger.<\/p>\n

    Men\u2019s XCO results \u2013 Leogang, 2025<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Ond\u0159ej Cink \u2013 1:25:05<\/li>\n
    2. Mathias Fl\u00fcckiger \u2013 +0:18<\/li>\n
    3. Fabio P\u00fcntener \u2013 +0:27<\/li>\n
    4. Mathis Azzaro \u2013 +0:43<\/li>\n
    5. Lars Forster \u2013 +1:13<\/li>\n
    6. Filippo Colombo \u2013 +1:15<\/li>\n
    7. Luca Martin \u2013 +1:15<\/li>\n
    8. Luca Schwarzbauer \u2013 +1:44<\/li>\n
    9. Vital Albin \u2013 +1:46<\/li>\n
    10. Alan Hatherly \u2013 +1:53<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Piper Albrecht sent over a gallery from the weekend, including Friday’s short track. Enjoy. <\/p>\n

      \"\"Blevins was dominant in the short track on Friday, but two days later struggled in the mud. \"\"Pieterse was unstoppable all weekend. \"\"\"\"Blevins wins XCC Friday, making it his fourth XCC win in the a row.\"\"\"\"\"\"The weather changed dramatically for the XCO. No more dry, the course was wet and nasty. \"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

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      Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n

      \n \ud83d\udc4dYep
      \n \ud83d\udc4eNope\n <\/p>\n

      \n News & Racing<\/a>
      \n       Cross Country<\/a>
      \n       Mountain Bike World Cup<\/a>
      \n       Mountain Bike<\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News & Racing An emotional first win and a dominant run in the mud. Piper Albrecht The rugged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-169984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114652899831400906","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}