Les Gets World Cup Power Rankings
Current situation: Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are currently in a breakaway at the Tour de France because, of course, they are, and we are 90 minutes away from the start of the Les Gets World Cup short track races. Time to hustle.
Les Gets is the last tune-up race before the Olympics, and it’s a crapshoot on how everybody will be coming into these races. With the Olympics being the ultimate “A” race for those who are going, they may not be coming into this weekend’s event in peak form. For those who believe they should be on the invite list for Tokyo but aren’t, it’s the perfect opportunity to prove the doubters wrong. For those who are just good for every race, they’ll be right where we expect them to be no matter what the circumstances.
With that in mind, les gets to it and kick out some on-the-fly, off-the-dome, primed-to-not-age-well power rankings. Instead of the normal top 11, with the time crunch, we’re going with the top 9.
Women:
1. Loana Lecomte. What really needs to be said here? Lolo is in her own league this season. Even if she isn’t at peak form, the only real question is not if she will win but by how much. I suspect we will be in for a much closer race than we’ve seen in the first three rounds of the XCO, but that may be wishful thinking.
2. Pauline Ferrand Prevot. It’s been a long time since PFP took a back seat to another French bike racer. And as much as her public-facing comments have been supportive of Lecomte, you don’t get an armoire full of world championship jerseys by accepting someone is better than you. Coming into this round healthy and hungry, this may be the race that PFP reasserts her dominance.
3. Jenny Rissveds. She’s sneaky fast and has been gaining momentum week in and out, evidenced by her second-place finish at Leogang. She may not win this week, but Rissveds will repeat as Olympic champion, and it’s going to be the MTB story of the year.
4. Kate Courtney. I haven’t eaten breakfast, so the word “hungry” keeps popping into my head. But I don’t think anyone is hungrier than Kate Courtney. After a frustrating Nove Mesto race that added injury to insult with the discovery of a broken arm, Courtney is chomping at the bit to restore the good mojo. She won the 2019 Les Gets round and also won a race in Switzerland last week. Sparkle Watts should be fighting for a podium this weekend.
5. Sina Frei. Pop quiz: who’s the strongest Swiss rider racing right now on the Women’s side? If you answered Sina Frei, you’re paying attention. She’s been working her way up the results every round and likes it when things get climby. So if she’s able to hold back on the urge to go on the early attack and saves some of those matches for the finale, we may see Frei continue her rise to the top.
6. Haley Batten. Although she didn’t have the race we thought she would at Leogang, Batten has proven she’s a podium threat every time she toes the line. And for this reason [quick rant alert], it is a huge bummer that she won’t be able to compete for the US national championship jersey (along with Kate Courtney and Lea Davison.) I understand the scheduling issues created by the pandemic, but it still seems wrong that athletes have to choose between a world cup and a national championship. No other nation puts this burden on its athletes. Those who will compete for the stars and stripes know the top riders aren’t there. It leaves nobody in a good position. [rant over]
7. Evie Richards. She’s not a climber. She is a climber. Another racer who has been getting better every week, Richards should finally return to form in the short track with a second-row start and has proven she’s better than anyone has given her credit when the course points up. With the technical bits on the way back down, Richards should be at the pointy end come Sunday.
8. Bec McConnell. Always be racing: The Bec McConnell story. Coming off a win in Italy, McConnell is always ready on race day. The question is if she can stay at the front for the entire race or will do the pro drift back to the pack in the waning laps.
9. Laura Stigger. Probably should be ranked higher than ninth following a podium finish at Leogang. Laura, here’s your bulletin board material from The CXHAIRS Bulletin. You’re welcome.
MEN
1. Mathias Flueckiger. Fluecki is undeniably the best male XCO racer right now. He’s earned it. But will he win the XCO on Sunday? That depends on no. 2 in the power rankings.
2. Tom Pidcock. Picante is … BACK. Not six weeks after breaking his collarbone in a scary-looking crash, Pidcock is back at it. Testing his collarbone on the Les Gets drops in practice, it looks like he’s ready to go for the weekend. If he’s able to handle the stress on his healing body for the entire race, there’s no reason to bet against Pidcock for the win. He’s born for this, friends.
3. Anton Cooper. So many fits and starts for the Kiwi over the years. Is this the season he puts it all together? We haven’t seen Anton having this much fun on the bike in quite some time. And fun equals success. A third-place finish at Leogang showed the promise; let’s pencil him in for the same this weekend.
4. Ondrej Cink. The Czech Dangler. The Czangler. Does he deserve to have the second or third spot on this list? Probably. But danglers dangle, so Cink is hanging on to fourth with the potential to move up at any time.
5. Nino Schurter. I’ve been burned before by putting Schurter up this high on the power rankings, but this time it’s going to pay off. If Rissveds is going to complete the career comeback to win Olympic Gold on the women’s side, it only makes sense that Nino would do the same on the men’s side. He’s lying in wait. Biding his time. In Tokyo, it all pays off. For this weekend, it will be better than Leogang.
6. Vlad Dascalu. He got the Bulletin bump last time out. There’s no reason to believe that won’t carry over to this weekend. Vladdy Daddy will continue to party.
7. Thomas Griot. Vying for top French guy, Griot won the bunch sprint at Leogang for fourth place. An Olympics snub should keep him motivated this weekend to prove they picked the wrong duo of Jordan Sarrou and Victor Koretzky for Tokyo.
8. Victor Koretzky. See above. Koretzky bounces back this week. He makes sure everyone knows he earned that Olympics spot.
9. Simon Andreassen. We haven’t heard much from the Danish upstart this season. That changes this week.
Just in under the deadline! Excuse the typos. Now go watch some short track.
USAC just can’t stop being that cowboy that can’t get the pistol out of the holster but keeps pulling the trigger and shooting themselves in the foot.