In Val di Sole XCO, Carter Woods gave an encore of his Short Track win on Friday, albeit in unexpected fashion. emerging as the unexpected winner in today's Cross Country race. Giant Factory’s Canadian prevailed in the final lap, at a time when his hopes for the first place seemed all but gone.
Indeed, Luca Martin was leading the U23 race from the early going to the final lap, having outdistanced his rivals, but a double puncture in the last lap denied him a deserved success. The French prospect finished 11th, receiving the applause of the Val di Sole public at the finish line.
Behind Woods, Frenchman Adrien Boichis (Trinity Racing) was the runner-up at 31”, as American Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing) completed the top-3, 45” ahead of Belgian Jente Michels (Alpecin Deuceninck) and Austrian Mario Bair (Trek Future).
“It was pretty crazy, in that last lap a lot of things happened”, said Woods. – “I had a terrible start, I made my way back to the bunch, then Luca attacked and took some advantage, but that last lap was crazy and I made it!”
Boichis leads the World Cup overall standings with 486 points, ahead of Swiss Dario Lillo (470) and Woods (425).
U23 WOMEN: PEDERSEN MAKES IT FOUR IN VAL DI SOLE
Sofie Pedersen celebrated again in U23 XCO World Cup in Val di Sole on Sunday July 2nd, after winning the first three races of the season in Nove Mesto, Lenzerheide and Leogang. The Wilier-Pirelli Dane preceded New Zealand’s Sara Maxwell, second at 38”, and Swiss Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory), third at 2’02”.
Blöchlinger and Pedersen went for an aggressive tactic in the first part of the race, whilst Maxwell set up a consistent pace behind the leaders. In lap 3, the Swiss slowed down, whilst Pedersen continued solo her action.
In the final lap, Maxwell reached and overtook Blöchlinger, and tried to bridge over to the head of the race. However, Pedersen managed to control her pace and finish solo on the finish line. French Noemie Garnier (Scott Creuse) and German Sina Van Thiel (Lexware) completed the day’s top-5. Pedersen extended her overall lead with 610 points, ahead of Ronja Blöchlinger (448) and Ginia Caluori (387).
“I had run out of energy in the finale”, said Pedersen. – “With Ronja, we had a speedy start, but Samara was very fast and was coming back in the last lap. I honestly don’t know where I found the energy to maintain the first place”.
