UCI Mountain Bike World Series: Cross-country Olympic World Cup – Men’s elite live

15:28 – Forster closing in on leaders

Fluckiger’s team mate has been toiling away and closing the gap on the leaders. They had build a 20 second advantage over the chasers but are now being reeled back in by the rest of the top 10.

15:26 – onto lap five

We’ve made it to the penultimate lap with the race nicely poised for now. Neither Schwarzbauer nor Cink have won a Cross-Country Olympic race before so if either of them are able to win, we will have a first-time winner.

Fluckiger is charging through the field, understandably frustrated by the puncture that has, as of now, ruined his race. He surely wont give up with a podium place still well within reach.

15:22 – Wheel change done

Fluckiger has lost an almighty amount of time after being forced into a wheel change. He comes out in ninth and is now around 45 seconds back from the two leaders. He’s making quick work of the field, but he’s got a tremendous amount of work to do if he is going to catch Schwarzbauer and Cink.

15:18 – Rear flat for Fluckiger!

It’s heartbreak for the Swiss rider on lap 4 who has taken a huge blow to his chances of victory. Schwarzbauer went straight by him with Cink and the duo are now moving away.

15:15 – Fluckiger hits the front!

Here he comes, Fluckiger had been moving up the places all throughout the opening three laps and he’s blown right past Cink and Schwarzbauer on one of the steepest parts of the course.

The German is the only rider currently able to live with the Swiss national champion with Cink slightly losing contact and everyone else in the top 10 falling even further back.

15:13 – Three laps to go

The riders are once again into the feed zone to get any form of cooling they can on such a hot day.

15:11 – Dubau fading

The Frenchman is clearly feeling the effects of having his momentum stifled by the mistake he made on the descent. At the front, Schwarzbauer has re-taken control in front of Cink.

15:09 – Fluckiger makes it three at the front

The Swiss rider is clearly in fine form and not being held back by his thumb injury sustained before the short track race in Lenzerheide. He had said that it wasn’t actually affecting him too badly but instead he hadn’t got used to the handlebar adjustments he and his team had been forced to make due to the injury.

15:07 – Big gaps forming

The front group was barely split by a few seconds before the riders entered the trees, but we’ve now got gaps forming at the front. Cink and Schwarzbauer are alone in front with around a five second lead over Fluckiger in third.

Dubau came into some trouble in the descent and had to stop despite being able to avoid crashing.

15:02 – Cink hits the front

The Czech rider was perhaps upset with the pace being set by Schwarzbauer and has taken it upon himself to drive the race along now. He’s one of the very strongest climbers in the group. Fluckiger has also moved positions in the front group and into fourth.

14:58 – Thomus Maxon due in leading group

With Fluckiger able to make contact and join the group of leaders which is now eight-strong, he’s made it to team mate and Swiss compatriot Lars Forster at the business end of things. Can they use their numeric advantage to make the difference?

14:55 – Fluckiger closing the gap

The Swiss veteran is maximising all of his descending skills to try and close the 13 second disadvantage he currently has to the leaders. Schwarzbauer is still leading with Cink sat in second behind him.

14:51 – Six riders leading

It’s stretching out all over the course with six of the bets climbers coming to the front and finding separation: Schwarzbauer, Dubau, De Froidmont, Sarrou, Cink and Hatherly. Whilst Schurter is struggling back in 27th, Fluckiger has moved into the top 10.

14:49 – Lap one complete

It’s been a brutal 18 minutes of racing to get us started, but we are now onto the second lap in Leogang. All the riders enter the feed zone to at absolute least cool themselves down after such a punishing effort in the heat.

14:46 – Fluckiger moving up

The winner from Leogang in 2022 and 2021 is realising he now has to move up to avoid a key split going away from him. He was way back in 34th but has now made it into the top 15.

14:42 – Schwarzbauer leading

The powerful German is looking great at the head of the race with De Froidmont and Sarrou sat in second and third. Ondrej Cink (Primaflor Mondraker Geniues Racing Team) is putting in a good performance and rounding out the current podium in fifth.

14:39 – Onto the climb we go

Suddenly, as the tough inclines approach, Sarrou is showing his face at the front of the race and making sure he doesn’t miss any possible moves. The tough pace at the front is causing some problems further back in the pack, notably for Schurter.

14:36 – Dubau sitting third

The young Frenchman, who has been a revelation this season, has again started well proving his climbing strength. He pushed Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) to the absolute limit in round 1 in Nove Mesto na Morave. He finished a fantastic second that time out and will be hoping to go one better here in Leogang.

14:34 – Cannondale duo looking good

Hatherly sits fourth for the moment and is closely followed by team mate Charlie Aldridge, the 22-year-old from Scotland.

14:32 – DE Froidmont to the front

The Belgian rider is one of the strongest climbers in the pack and is showing exactly why. He’s closely followed by Schwarzbauer and Joshua Dubau (Rockrider Ford Racing Team). Schurter is yet to move up the pack and still sits around 20th.

14:30 – We’re away!

The race has started and their onto the punchy start loop which should thin out the group before hitting the climb proper. Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) gets an unsurprisingly explosive start alongside Hatherly looking to get a strong early lead and stay out of trouble.

14:27 – Round 3 incoming

The riders are being announced and the tension is building as we gear up for another thrilling round of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country Olympic World Cup. Who will come out on top? Can Schurter make it 35 victories and extend his record? We’re about to find out.

Heating up in Leogang

The riders are warming up before taking the start, but also trying to stay cool as the sun beats down on the idyllic alpine setting. It will be really necessary to keep their core temperatures down on the course to prevent overheating and blowing up on the climb. They are great conditions to watch, however, the heat will make an already very difficult course even more gruelling.

Riders To Watch

History-maker from the last round in Lenzerheide, Nino Schurter (Scott-Sram MTB Racing Team), will likely be the big favourite after his dominant display to take an incredible 34th Cross-Country Olympic World Cup victory, overtaking Julien Absalon for all-time wins. He doesn’t have the ideal starting position, however, in 17th and on the third row.

It was one of Schurter’s finest-ever victories, in his home race, in front of his home fans, and he should have even more confidence after such a dominant performance. Maybe he’ll even make it 35 wins today.

One of his close rivals and Swiss compatriot, Mathias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon), has done the double in the short-track and Olympic races in Leogang for the past two years and tends to go better on hillier courses. However, after momentarily hitting the front in Friday’s short track race, he fell back in the latter laps and finished 24th.

Sarrou is sitting second overall in the XCO World Cup standings, behind Schurter, and should be spurred on by his form in the short-track race. Also, look out for Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) and Joshua Dubau (Rockrider Ford Racing Team) starting on the front row.

Women’s Race

We’ve just seen a thrilling race in the Women’s Cross-Country Olympic race with Puck Pieterse (Alpecin–Deceuninck) taking a dominant win after attacking on the first lap.

Course Preview

What makes Leogang one of the toughest courses? The climbs. The constant ascents in and out of the woods, up to gradients of 25% in places. There is nowhere to hide here and we should see significant gaps as those on a bad day will fall far from the lead.

It’s a much hillier course than the first two rounds in Nove Mesto na Morave and Lenzerheide and those more comfortable with climbing should come to the fore. We should see around 90 minutes of action on laps of the 3.6km course.

Also what goes up, must come down, meaning all that climbing equals a lot of technical descending on a course that has changed in nature significantly due to rain across the weekend and the constant use across all the different races. Who will it suit best?

Hello and Welcome

Good afternoon and welcome back to Eurosport’s live coverage of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, where we will see the finale of a great weekend of racing in Leogang, Austria. It’s one of the absolute toughest courses on the calendar so we’re set for a great battle.

The men’s Cross-Country Olympic World Cup is entering its third round in the wonderful alpine location with an exciting race on the cards after Friday’s thrilling short-track event.

Follow LIVE updates from the Cross-country Olympic World Cup from 14:00

Sarrou takes stylish victory in Leogang

Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) triumphed in round three of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country Short Track World Cup with a powerful attack on the final climb in Leogang, Austria.

The former Cross-Country Olympic World Champion waited until the final lap, whilst staying in the top five riders throughout the race, before attacking up to and past Jens Schuermans (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) on the final ascent of the hill that categorised the race and descended to victory.

Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) maintained his overall lead in the Cross-Country Short Track World Cup with an impressive second place on a course that didn’t suit him on paper, and there was another great performance in third as Martins Blums (KMC MTB Racing Team) achieved his first career podium in a short track race.

– – –