Australian Rebecca McConnell has gone undefeated in three mountain bike World Cups this season. Sunday, in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic), she beat the French Loana Lecomte by 40 seconds and the Olympic champion of the Rio Games, the Swedish Jenny Rissveds (+1 min 17 s) in a race where the Quebecer Laurie Arseneault took the 47and rank.
Posted at 3:24 p.m.
The athlete from Terrebonne (+8 min 57 s) was the best Quebecer and third Canadian of the day. She finished just ahead of her teammate at Canyon MTB Racing, Ontario’s Emily Batty. The best result of the Quebecer this season in the World Cup was a 33and place, in Brazil, last month.
Cindy Montambault (-2 laps), from Val-David, ended her day in 65and square. Respiratory problems marked his race.
“It wasn’t great. Usually it’s a course that I really like, but this week there was a lot of pollen. We were finishing training and we were dusted with pollen. I am asthmatic and I had trouble with my breathing,” admitted Montambault after the race.
“I fought against myself to try to counter that,” added the one who even thought that she was going to lose consciousness at times. “I really lacked the oxygen in the muscles to move forward. »
Sandra Walters (+7 min 14 s) was the best representative of the maple leaf finishing in 28and rank.
Thomas Pidcock, the versatile
Briton and member of the INEOS – Grenadiers road cycling team Thomas Pidcock has won a second consecutive World Cup, after his victory in Albstadt (Germany) last week. The reigning Olympic champion and also world cyclocross champion kept Vlad Dascalu in his sights on the last lap to pass him on the home stretch and deprive the Romanian of his first World Cup victory.
Third, the Swiss and world cross-country champion Nino Schurter will have to wait to become the male cyclist who has won the most World Cups. This third place, however, takes on a shine, as he made a spectacular comeback on the lead after suffering a puncture on the fifth of eight laps.
Marc-André Fortier (Pivot Cycles – OTE), from Victoriaville, finished 78and (+9 min 26 s) and Victor Verreault (Foresco Holding Proco RL), from Saint-Félicien, 95and (-2 turns).
The day before, in the women’s under-23 event, Roxane Vermette (+9 min 25 s), from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, finished in 31and place, good for the second best Canadian result. Julianne Sarrazin (-1 lap) finished in 54and square.
In this same age group, but for the men this time, the Chilean Martin Vidaurre Kossmann won, he who had also won the first stage of the season. William Côté (-1 lap) and William Maltais-Pilote (-3 laps) respectively finished 95and and 133and. Charles-Antoine St-Onge was forced to retire.
Among the junior men, Zorak Paillé finished tenth.