Anything Did Happen in the Elite Women's XCO World Cup in Brazil
Australia's Rebecca McConnell shocks the world in a thrilling rumble in the jungle
The 2022 UCI XCO Mountain Bike World Cup kicked off on Sunday in Petropolis, Brazil, a new location for the series that occasionally ventures outside the usual venues in North America and Europe. The race, held just outside Rio de Janeiro, marked the first time since 2005 a mountain bike World Cup was held in Brazil.
The course was seemingly carved out of a jungle with help from Brazilian native hero Henrique Avancini, giving the track a unique look with plenty of jungle foliage augmenting the challenging single-track. The course featured two main climbs, some rock gardens, and a healthy dose of large rock jumps.
If you’re still not hyped for the start of mountain bike racing, this week’s optional soundtrack will certainly help:
Last Friday, we took a look at some of the storylines coming into the new season. The big one that we missed, unfortunately, was the Brazilian water. Or the climate. Or whatever it was that knocked several riders out of the race.
Jolanda “Sendy Poof” Neff was a scratch from Friday’s Short Track race and DNS’d the XCO race as well. Evie Richards withdrew with health issues shortly before the start of Sunday’s race. And Pauline Ferrand-Prevot started but dropped out relatively early in the XCO race after winning Friday’s Short Track race.
Ferrand-Prevot’s Short Track win was a banger, with the three-time MTB world champion making a late move to get the win. As it turns out, the Short Track contest was an appetizer, an appetite whetter, a tease, for a great race on Sunday. Folks, you may have heard it already, but mountain bike racing … is BACK.
As always, this was supposed to be a post about the Women and the Men, but too many words were written, so here is the Elite Women’s race report with the Elite Men to come.
Back to the Future Early On
In the first four races of last season, the story was France’s Loana Lecomte attacking early and getting a massive gap en route to a big win. After she struggled in the Olympics and then suffered an injury, there were some questions about where her fitness would be, but one had to figure she would give a big early attack a go. And with Sendy Poof and Richards on the sidelines, there were definitely questions about who would be able to counter Lecomte’s fury.
Lecomte quickly settled into about third wheel off the holeshot as Italy’s Martina Berta took the early lead. And by “early lead,” I mean “for the first minute.” Like, literally the first minute.
Approximately 1 minute and 6 seconds into the race, Lecomte got out of the saddle and powered to the front, keeping up a blistering pace to match the heat and humidity of Brazil. The other riders briefly kept her wheel, but when the track pitched upward into the first climb, she quickly got a gap. Austria’s Laura Stigger and Australia’s Rebecca McConnell led the chase.
Just like she did during her run of four dominant wins in 2021, Lecomte had a near-instantaneous gap. It quickly appeared there would be no rumble in the jungle for the day. Just another dominant win, straight out of Lecomte.
Near the top of the first climb, McConnell broke free to lead the chase, with the Austrian duo of Laura Stigger and Sina Frei following her. At the time split before the start of the second climb, Lecomte’s lead was up to 10 seconds. At the end of the lap, she led McConnell by 14 seconds. Stigger, Frei, Anne Terpstra, and Laura Indergand chased a full 33 seconds back.
In the second lap and the first part of the third, McConnell kept Lecomte in check, for the most part, keeping the gap at about 14 seconds and keeping Lecomte in sight on the longer sections of the course. Terpstra, meanwhile, worked to break free of Stigger and take up the chase for 3rd on her own.
In the second half of the third lap, Lecomte started to put McConnell in a dire place, extending her lead to 19 seconds before the start of the second climb and up to 27 seconds midway through the six-lap race. Terpstra started to close on 2nd, sitting just 8 seconds behind McConnell.
Based on what we saw last year and what we know about cyclocross, the raced had quickly entered ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN territory. If past were prologue, Lecomte was going to continue to extend her lead and win by over a minute, and McConnell would fade to a battle for 2nd. For the narrative to change, a certain something, an ANYTHING if you will, would have to happen.
Well folks, you know what, that ANYTHING happened at the start of Lap 4. Rarely does the ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN prophesy get fulfilled, so let us appreciate it when it does.
Anything Did Happen
In a rock garden at the start of the lap, Lecomte bobbled and put a foot down. Then she bobbled again and stopped. Then she struggled to get going.
The French rider eventually got moving, but per the time splits, she gave up a full 10 seconds to the chasers in the section. More importantly, her struggs in the rocks broke her rhythm, and she struggled to regain her composure as Terpstra and McConnell worked together to erase their deficit.
At the time split before the start of the second climb, the gap was down to 8 seconds, and when the three riders hit the final single-track climb, the gap was gone. It was now a group of three with two laps to go. Lecomte was in new-ish territory, caught after an early lead. How would she react in a three-up battle down the stretch?
Also on the line? On the Media Pit cyclocross podcast, we have mused about Laurens Sweeck’s Eliteness. We transferred that conversation to the mountain bike scene, asking if Rebecca McConnell is Elite. Well, folks, what better way to prove you are Elite than to win your first-ever World Cup race?
While the Media Pit may have been wondering about Lecomte and McConnell’s stories, Terpstra was having none of it early in the penultimate lap. She went to the front at the beginning of the lap and led the charge up the first climb. The Dutchwoman got a gap at the start of the climb and then really started to extend it near the top. Her reward was an impressive 12-second advantage as McConnell and Lecomte jockeyed back and forth for position.
As the meters on the penultimate lap ticked down, it appeared McConnell and Lecomte might be closing, but when the bell tolled, Terpstra still had a 10-second lead. She had exerted a big effort in conditions that took their toll on many an elite rider, but at the same time, Lecomte was flagging and McConnell is not necessarily known for her closing efforts.
Terpstra deserves all the credit for giving it a go in Lap 5, but as the riders neared the top of the first climb, it quickly become apparent she left it all out in the jungle. McConnell and Lecomte closed the gap to 8 seconds at the time split near the top, and then when Terpstra dabbed on a seemingly innocuous set of roots, McConnell made the catch. Lecomte, meanwhile, struggled to keep up and lagged behind.
McConnell wasted little time going to the front, leading down the first descent and thus putting pressure on the exhausted Terpstra. She then followed the old adage of “When you catch a rider, attack.”
McConnell revved it up to a new gear on the flats between the climbs, going all-in to earn a gap on Terpstra. Terpstra was no doubt at her limit, and she had nothing to offer when McConnell turned on the jets. McConnell’s lead grew to 9 seconds after the second climb. Not a yuge lead, but enough that there was little doubt about the outcome of the race.
Rebecca McConnell has been racing Elite World Cups since 2014. She had finished on seven Elite World Cup podiums. And on Sunday in Brazil, Rebecca McConnell won her first-ever World Cup race.
IDK, if I didn’t know any better, Rebecca McConnell might be ELITE.
Terpstra finished 2nd and Lecomte 3rd. Stigger held on for 4th, and Austrian wunderkind Mona Mitterwallner worked her way up to a 5th-place finish and a podium in her first Elite race. Methinks we might be hearing more from her, IDK.
American Kate Courtney rode up to a 9th-place finish from the fourth row and Gwendalyn Gibson finished an impressive 13th. Jenn Jackson was the top Canadian in 27th after riding in the top 20 early on, and Maghalie Rochette finished 39th.
Full results are below. Elite Men’s race report to come.