So, round ones done & dusted, Nino stamped his authority on that one & Annika surprised herself with a win.
Its Germany this weekend, should be a great course to put Nino & Julian head to head.
Be good to support / feedback on the UK riders: Evie (2nd U23), Grant (75th Elite), Annie (10th Elite) & Isla (14th U23). (any others?).
May 20-21: (XCO) Nové Mesto, Czech Republic
May 27-28: (XCO) Albstadt, Germany
July 1-2 (XCO) Vallnord, Andorra
July 8-9: (XCO) Lenzerheide, Switzerland
August 5-6: (XCO) Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
August 26-27: (XCO) Val di Sole, Italy
September 5-10: (XCO/XCE) UCI World Championships, Cairns, Australia
How do you think it'll pan out?
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OMXPROBIKE.COM GF had a great result at Albstadt last seaon, hope he can repeat it!
Good thread idea!
Be interesting to see how MvdP does as well, 9th from a 90th grid last round. However I guess the lost of short punch climbs in Novo mesto is a bit more CX-y in effort style
After last week, its hard to predict how anything will pan out.
Seemed a lot like many big names arrived seriously under-cooked and miles off the pace.
Based on last week I can't really see any other outcome than Nino and Annika romping away with it.
Great news that MVP will be turning up in the mens, and will be interesting to see how he goes, but suspect he's too heavy for most courses and Nove Mesto just really suited him as it favours power/momentum more than pure climbers.
Shame the coverage didn't show more of MvdP coming through the field. Does he get to start from 8th next time?
What happened to J Neff?
Went out hard and exploded after lap 1What happened to J Neff?
Pink bike course preview photos: [url=
Discovered last week that my cousin is a soigneur for the OMX team.
Small world, my mate Mark is No.2 spanner monkey for them. The founders (Bambi & Wills) used to ride for Marks bike shop back in the day.
Great work by Pinkbike there, they really are the website to go to for racing coverage of the main disciplines.
Absalon should feature here. He was 3rd last week on a course that really doesn't suit him, which was a decent result, so I'd expect him bar accident to be fighting Nino for the win.
If MvdP does ride then it'll be interesting to see how he does on a more traditional XC course.
I think it's nino's to lose, with marrott 2nd absolon 3rd
I'd like too see Maxine Marrotte get a win, but fear it's going to be a Schirter/Absalon show, last weeks races were boos, looking forward to watching this weekends events unfold, after all the Monaco GP will be rubbish.
REDBULL.COM 
And another connection my friend Yanto does the team kit.
I'm liking Gunn Rita's bike.
My wife did a few world cups / world champs back in the day. Serious respect that Gunn-Rita is still near the front 22 years later!
That race was awesome! A great track.
Nino looked like the 1st 4 laps were just a warm up.
I know nothing about XCO at the moment but I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season.
Racing Albstadt this weekend
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A fast starter, on the front row, on a narrow course....
Braaaaaaaaaaaaaapp !
It'd be a hell of a week if he could beat Gilbert on the road, then Nino on the MTB a few days later.
But then again, when you've been a multiple world and national champion in three different disciplines across four different categories by the age of 22, who knows?
I'm just glad none of these riders is local. Imaging them Strava'ing your local trails.
Crumbs! Even I'd have to admit defeat and fit a dropper for that bad boy 😮
[img][url=
[/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/VbLEQt ]VdP" title="FLIC.KR" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" >
FLIC.KR "https://flic.kr/p/VbLEQt][img] [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/VbLEQt ]VdP"H.Q. Albstadt[/url] by [url=
on Flickr[/img]
VdP camped out opposite OMX.
My wife did a few world cups / world champs back in the day
Who is she then ❓
Frazer took 6th today in the U23 male 😀
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EP1.PINKBIKE.ORG Looking like a hardtail bike for most:
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EP1.PINKBIKE.ORG and it's gonna be H O T !!!
Looking forward to this. I'm home alone with both races to watch (Bike channel sky 464)
12th for Dan Tulett in the U19 Junior race today (riding for Specialized)
Been a long time coming for Frazer to get high up in a world cup, bloody awesome. I once almost beat him (i.e. lost) in a sprint finish at Margam Park 😀 . I believe he might have punctured in that race though!
Thanks Paton! What an awesome course!!
Evie wins U23s 😀
Looks bloody hard this course!
The heat looks horrible for that climb.
Well I wouldn't have put money on that podium! Let's see what MvdP can do next.
Awesome riding and tactics, absolutely burned her on the final climb. That price crash of the rider in yellow/blue looked painful, at least she missed the tree!
Fantastic!!!
Every time i watch a WC i find myself wishing i had a course like that locally.
Womens race excellent this week.
Good to see a new winner.
Langvad crashing is becoming a bit of a habit though - being the strongest is only so good if you cant stay rubber side down.
MvdP surely made an impact on the Mens race. I thought he'd be too big for a climbers course, but guess not. Looking forward to watching him for the rest of the season!
Has he said if he's racing the rest of them?
His Tweets indicate first two stages only. He commented:
Mathieu Van der Poel @mathieuvdpoel
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14h2nd place behind a legend, not bad! Without my stupid crash it could have been a nice battle!
Oh dear Julien Absalon has broken his collar bone while out training on the mtb somewhere near Nice.
Premature end to what he said was his final year, shame.
Premature end to what he said was his final year, shame.
I don't think a collarbone break will take him out for the season. He'll be back to training indoors in a couple of days and probably riding outside again in 2-3 weeks. Plenty of time to come back stronger for World Champs. The last time Kulhavy won world champs, he broke his wrist about this time of the year...
REDBULL.COM 
