UCI MTB World Championships: Frenchman Victor Koretzky outsprints USA’s Christopher Blevins for men’s elite XCC title

The men’s XCC contests were held on the same challenging 1.3km course as the women in the shadow of Switzerland’s Matterhorn peak in Zermatt. Short track races for both of the men’s fields covered 10 laps, with 70 metres of elevation gain on each circuit.

You may like

Azzaro led in the opening lap of the elite men’s race while Blevins had to come back from a terrible start, only managing to get into the top 10 by the end of the lap.

At the mid-point of the race, Blevins came to the fore, patrolling the front of the race.

He came under pressure from the French riders in the closing laps but fought his way back to the head of the race and made a stinging last-lap attack.

However, the effort by the US rider came too early, and Koretzky was able to chase the XCC World Cup leader down and out-sprint him on the line.

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!

“The level was super high this year,” Koretzky said. “I had a difficult season so far, so it’s my first win of the year and a good time of the year. To be on the podium with Chris is also something special, he was the guy to beat this year and it wasn’t easy,” said Koretzky, who came into the race in third place in the XCC World Cup standings.

“On the last lap it was difficult to catch him, he had a huge gap, but I managed to close the gap on the grass section and on the rock garden. On the berms, I was so fast coming behind him I had to go straight to the finish line. It’s crazy – I’m so happy.”

Men Under-23 XCC winner Adrien Boichis (France) (Image credit: Shutterstock)

In the U23 race, Ian Ackert (Canada) set the pace for the 40-rider field on the opening lap, with Treudler and Martin Farstadvoll (Norway) on his wheel. Punchard and Boichis then worked their way through the top 10 over multiple laps, with Punchard taking the lead on laps four and five.

Laps six and seven were led by Treudler, who had Boichis for company, while Ackert faded out of the top 10 by the mid-point of the race.

On the eighth circuit of 10, Rens Teunissen van Manen (Netherlands) pushed past Treudler at the front of the field. Boichis caught and passed the pair across the next lap and set up the tight sprint finish with the Swiss rider for the rainbow stripes.