Nové Město Elite Results and Olympics Update

Elite XCO results define Olympic MTB start lists

Along with the results and lap analysis for the elite XCO races at Nové Město, I will also hit on some Olympic qualifying highlights from today’s events. To keep this post spoiler-free for those who have not watched the races, let me first chat about something entirely unrelated to make sure nobody’s email preview pane gives them unwanted results.

There is a bridge not far from me that was replaced in 2011. For years, I’ve been telling an anecdote about how a commuter, who also happened to be an engineer, drove across the bridge daily. On one of his commutes, he noticed that the bridge sounded differently. The transition from road to bridge used to go “dut-dut” where the second “dut” was higher pitched than the first and now the second “dut” was lower pitched. The engineer/commuter contacted the Department of Transportation, saying something like, “Your bridge doesn’t sound right.” To DOT’s credit, they inspected the bridge and discovered the spans had dangerously shifted, and the transition was now an inch lower. The bridge was subsequently closed and rebuilt. A potential collapse saved by keen listening skills.

It’s a great story about being present and having expertise. I love it and share it way too often. But I don’t know if it’s real or apocryphal. I spent the morning searching for news accounts recounting the story and can’t find them anywhere. Maybe it happened somewhere else? Perhaps it is a scene from a movie? Somebody help me.

In the meantime, here’s Andrei the pitbull and after that, some analysis and results.

Nové Město never disappoints. And kudos to Ineos for creating an MTB team that only includes world champions who randomly show up to races and win. Seriously, Pauline Ferand-Prevot and Tom Pidcock are on a different level. But that’s not what I want to focus on right now. Now that the Olympic qualifying period has ended, I want to look at the implications of today’s results even before the dust settles.

United States

We knew in Brazil that the U.S. women had done enough to secure two start spots. Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) and Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) secured those spots from their two World Cup top fives in the first two rounds. Batten added a third top-five today for good measure.

For the men, Christopher Blevins (specialized Factory Racing), Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) and Bjorn Riley (Trek Future Racing) did enough to secure a spot in the top eight nations, which earns the men two start spots in Paris. So now comes the interesting part.

Riley Amos is in. He has won three U23 World Cups, which meets auto-qualifying criteria for U.S. Olympic selection. The more difficult question is who do you choose between Blevins and B. Riley under USA Cycling’s discretionary selection criteria? Conventional wisdom seems to be that Blevins has done enough to secure this spot. He won an elite World Cup in Brazil, that alone should seal the deal.

But let’s give B. Riley some kudos. So far this season, he has two World Cup silver medals and a World Cup fourth place. Those are phenomenal results. Without having to race Amos, he could have won two World Cups and auto-qualified over Blevins. I don’t think he will get the nod this year for the Olympics, but it’s not because he doesn’t deserve it. All three deserve it.

Canada

Canada will send two athletes to the Olympics: one for the men and one for the women. Here are the selection criteria for Cycling Canada.

Athletes will be nominated in the following order of priority until Canada’s quota has been filled:

1. Top 5 finisher in the Elite XCO at the 2023 World Championships or a UCI World Cup. 

2. Top 12 finisher in the Elite XCO at the 2023 World Championships or an Elite World Cup
   in Europe. 

3. Top 3 finisher in the U23 XCO at the 2023 World Championships or a UCI World Cup in
   Europe. 

4. Top 20 finisher in the Elite XCO at the 2023 UCI World Championships or at a UCI World
   Cup in Europe. 

5. Discretionary nomination considering Section C, Clause 3.

Results must be in the top half of athletes registered for the event. In the event of a tie, the athlete with the best result will be given priority. If there is still a tie, the athletes’ second-best eligible results will determine priority. If there is still a tie, it will be broken at the discretion of the Nomination Panel.

CC reserves the right to modify selection based on overarching strategy to support performances in all cycling disciplines, including but not limited to entering athletes in more than one discipline.”

For the women, criteria two and three are important. Isabella Holmgren’s (Lidl Trek) dominant performance in the U23 XCO event yesterday ticked the box for criteria three. [Edit: Emily Johnston (Trek Future Racing) also has landed on the U23 XCO podium in 2023 at Nove Mesto but Holmgren’s win will probably give her the nod. Johnston’s podiums in Brazil don’t meet the criteria since Brazil is not in Europe.] That meant Jenn Jackson (Liv Factory Racing), Sandra Walter and Laurie Arseneault (Pittstop Racing Team) needed to be in the top 12 of the elite race to meet criteria two and claim the spot over Holmgren.

Jackson finished 29th, Walter was 44th, and Arsenault was 48th, which means Holmgren earned the spot and an invitation to the Olympics.

For the Canadian men, Gunnar Holmgren (KMC Ridley MTB Racing Team), who has been coming on strong all season, had the ride of his career today, finishing eighth in the men’s elite field and securing another start spot at the Olympics for the Holmgren family.

Great Britain

Coming into Nové Město, GB was 88 points behind Denmark, who held eighth in the Nation rankings. Since the top eight nations send two athletes to the Olympics, those 88 points were the difference between Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) racing at the Olympics or watching at home. The GB selection document was way too much for me to take in this morning, but I’m going to assume that Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers)—World Champ, defending Olympic gold medalist, and winner of today’s World Cup—made the team.

By winning, Pidcock also secured enough points to ensure GB takes over that eighth spot and helps Aldridge punch his Paris ticket. However, Aldridge wasn’t sitting back and letting Pidcock do all the work. The guy had a race today! Sprinting it out at the end to finish fourth place. Your boy earned that Paris start spot.

We should have a definitive answer to all of the Olympic start list questions next week, including what the Swiss do with their men’s selection after Marcel Guerrini (Bixs Performance Race Team) finished ahead of Matthias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon) today [UPDATE: Swiss Cycling didn’t waste any time naming their Olympic team: Jolanda Neff, Alessandra Keller, Nino Schurter and Matthias Flückiger] and if the Netherlands will send anyone to fill the spot Mathieu van der Poel would have taken. My vote, send Frits Biesterbos.

Here are your elite XCO results from Nové Město.

Elite Women XCO

Elite Men XCO