It was a catch-up race that Léandre Bouchard (Foresco Holding Proco RL Pro Team) had to do on Sunday at the Mountain Bike World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Caught in a fall from the start of the event, he was relegated in 98e place to slowly get back on the lead and finish at 56e row (+6 min 01 s).
The Swiss and world champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) won and rewrote the record books by becoming the most successful male athlete in the Olympic cross-country World Cup with 34 victories. He beat South African Alan Hatherly (+15 s) and Frenchman Jordan Sarrou (+16 min).
Raphaël Auclair (Pivot Cycles – OTE, +6 min 49 s) finished not far behind Bouchard in 62e place, while Victor Verreault (Foresco Holding Proco RL Pro Team), 86e (-1 lap) and Anthony Audet, 98e (-3 laps) were taken out of the course by the marshals because of their excessive delay.
“I was hoping for a good result, because it’s a course that suits me well. On the other hand, from the start, I left with two holds against me, ”explained Bouchard about the fall that occurred in front of him. “I was not responsible, but I was the victim. I was hit in a hip and an elbow, and a brake lever got caught in someone’s wheel. I came back quite far, but I had good legs and I really came back up. I had gas! »
The athlete from Alma still had to be patient to move up the rankings, because several competitors were in front of him and he couldn’t pass competitors everywhere on the course.
“I was going one rider at a time and that was encouraging, because on some climbs it was possible to pass four or five at the same time. »
The Rio Games Olympian’s 2022 season was marked by a fall in training on the eve of the first World Cup. The pneumothorax and broken ribs that followed didn’t just leave physical scars. They also had an impact on his international ranking.
Less international points means being relegated further on the starting lines and also no longer participating in criterium races (Short Track), another opportunity to accumulate points.
“I hope to soon have access to Short Track races and take fewer risks at the start. I’m taking it one step at a time. […] I feel like I’m in much better shape than last year. It’s reassuring and I’m in the process of rediscovering the sensations that I was able to have in 2021, which had been a good year for me. As a friend says: it’s like a vicious circle to be caught in the sardine can. Except that here, I have the form to get out of it. »
Laurie Arseneault (Pittstop Racing Team), from Terrebonne, was the top Quebecer in the women’s elite race, finishing 63e (-1 turn). Roxanne Vermette ranked 75e (-2 laps) and Juliette Tétreault 80e (-2 turns).
Jennifer Jackson posted the best Canadian result with a 39e up (+7 min 13 sec). The French Loanna Lecomte was the first to cross the finish line.
Among the women under 23, Ophélie Grandmont (+11 min 55 s), Marie-Fay St-Onge (+12 min 10 s) and Juliette Larose-Gingras (+12 min 41 s) made a group shot and respectively finished in 52e53e and 54e squares.
Finally, on the men’s side under 23, Zorak Paillé (Pittstop Racing Team, +7 min 51 s) and Zachary Brunelle (-1 lap) ranked 66e and 110e of the event where British Columbian Carter Woods took second place, just 2 seconds behind the winner, Swiss Dario Lillo.
The next stop on the mountain bike cross-country World Cup circuit is next weekend in Leongang-Salzburgerland, Austria.