Snowshoe Men’s XC Race Proves Cross Country Riders Can Shred
The final 2021 World Cup XC race course was challenging for everyone, and also gave some of the riders a chance to show off their technical chops and jumping skills.
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A typical cross-country race scene.
The final race of the weekend at Snowshoe, West Virginia saw an exciting final two laps. Christopher Blevins became the first American man to win a World Cup cross country race since the 1990s, starting the race near the front and staying with the lead group before making his move toward the end.
The course was challenging for everyone, and also gave some of the men a chance to show off their technical chops and jumping skills.
World Cup leader Mathias Flueckiger airs out the course.
This section toward the back of the course featured a tricky climb that seemingly caught riders off guard. Henrique Avancini and Blevins made it through first, avoiding the pile-up, followed by Jordan Sarrou, Nino Schurter, and Ondej Cink.World Champ Nino Schurter looked strong on Sunday.
Second place finisher Vlad Dascalu attacks the rocks.
“Jorts guy” Ryan Standish somehow drew race number 69. For Sunday’s race he went with a darker pair of jean shorts.Canada’s Felix Belhumeur throws a decent whip.
Most riders chose the line to the left of this rock drop, but a few like Andri Frischknecht used the rock as a launch pad into the sweeping turn below.
Racers were bombarded with sound all the way around the course.
Most riders were able to double this section, including Cink, Avancini, and Schurter.
The race course mixed this… with this.Simon Andreassen exits the corner and launches into the air.Most riders chose the right line through the boulder field. Here, Blevins goes left to get around Schurter for the eventual win. Avancini rode with the leaders all afternoon until losing his tire on the last lap. His Lefty fork allowed him to keep rolling, however, somehow finishing 15th overall.
Absolute blast of a race to watch! And yeah the skills of the XC guys these days, especially at the top level, is nothing to sneeze at! Awesome to see the progression!
Great pictures. I saw a crew of guys with Singletracks hats on at the real technical descent section, as I was going to say something, they all walked off.
The course definitely ate its share of tires. At least 4 flats that I can think of immediately. Oddly, most of them were fronts. Too much hucking by XC guys?
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