Snowshoe Elite Men's Cross Country | XCO Highlights

And the lights go green in Snowshoe. Jordan Saru off the line really, really fast. Luca Schwarzbauer to his left hand side, the track bottlenecks at the top of this climb. We've seen Carnage already today up at the top of this climb. There's Charlie Aldridge out in front at the top of it. This is a course that Saldor Aldridge suits as well. I'm wondering what he can do. He won in the 23 World Champs. Aldridge, so big, so powerful. There's Alan Haverly alongside in the two Cannondale factory racing riders out front. Ahead of Jordan Saru, Sebastian Finney-Carsonson's behind him. Yeah, Alan Haverly, second place. Koretsky, up the inside of Carsonson. Then there's Tescalu. Martins Blums, good start of him too. Like road racing, where you have these little climbs and I'm just over the top. Then they accelerate and there is where it's mostly spread out. Yeah. And, you know, OK, yeah, the great Susie Christoph Salzer, my first mentor and coach in the professional ranks. Shifting conditions, Sam, here as well in Snowshoe this week. It started really sort of murky. And there's Tom Pidcock now past Haverly. Yeah, he likes to join that first group. Yeah, he's done with waiting. So it started off very wet this week. It's dried out a lot since then. Yeah, it's really dry in the last 24 hours, especially, you know, when we did the recon. It was super dark, super slimy and you could really not grip on anything. And that actual route section there, the expert down, we have, you know, three or four different French riders in the top 10 or 15. But then Adrian Beauches in the E23s, he's a contender for Olympics and another cycle or so. And even next year, all part of it. You spend so much time on the road with each other. And yeah, I mean, you end up really getting along because you spend so much time. Yeah, and don't forget all the staff people, the mechanics, the masseurs who are taking care of all you as a rider. Crash for Charlie Aldridge then. Aldridge down on the exit of that little descent. Oh, bitterly disappointed for the big Scotsman. On that, whoa, Pidcock, bike tries to get away from there, but holds on. You're taking the tech feeds on lane. Yeah, again, that fight. Look at the strength of Pidcock up here, out muscles Schwarzbach. Kerecki tries to go with him. Kerecki senses this is a move he needs to be involved in. Oh, the bridge is coming. Three abreast into the bridge, just about worked. But the action really at the front of it. Yeah, ten minutes, five seconds. That's absolutely nothing between them. Sure is intense. That's more like the fastest lap times at the moment. The overall, the overall leader's intense. Now we go. Serious business. Tom Pidcock. Off he goes. Shatters the race at the front and he's taken Kerecki and Saru with him. A long sprint to the top. This is impressive from Kerecki, though. Yeah, you're following him quite easily. What has happened to Tom Pidcock? Tom Pidcock on fourth. He might have a technical, but yeah, technical. Pidcock pointed at the front wheel. He shouted something to a member of staff at the top of that last descent. It's a front flat for Tom Pidcock here in Snowshoe. Kerecki, Saru, Schwarzbach back with them now. Cracks on at the front. Fluegiger looks over. That might be quick. Yeah, a front flat tyre won't be as bad. Now we are, we are going to see something special from Pidcock here. He wants to get back on the front. For the 20 seconds it always costs. Front axle going in. Oh, it's agony. Pidcock has to stand there and wait. He's riding a mud front. A mud front as a spare wheel. Yeah. And he's off again. And probably that's not the best one for today. Or what do you think? I think it's, you know, it's not going to affect it too much. I think a little bit more traction. But I mean, when you have so much fast rolling resistance. Yeah, the rolling resistance would be the thing. The mud tyre on the front of that Pinarello lane for Tom Pidcock. I think they'll welcome a little bit of recovery, but it's it's hard to tell. Schurter around the outside of Nascaldu trying to get past Blooms up this descent. Whoa, whoa, whoa. On the far right hand side, Nino Schurter slingshots his way down that descent and up, by my reckoning, into further fourth place. Tom's still in the back of that group. He created a new line. The Schurter line, far right, on the right hand side of the track. How's it possible? He's back in the group. Crash, crash, crash. Cross-country Olympic race has stayed together for this long. Now Nino Schurter to the front. This is almost like a short track race at the front of this one. The one and a half hour short track race. Look at Schurter go. New positions of these riders. Oh, Ted Cox back in. And it's that front. Yeah, probably putting the fast tyre back on. Oh, so that maybe was a spare mod that they had to one side that's gone on the front in the last tech zone. Interesting that he stopped to change it, though. You know, like with such a fast course in group racing, you'd think he'd just bite the bullet and have a go at the mud tyre, but he must maybe feel confident enough that he should still come back. Well, the whole mechanic in me was wincing at the sight of that electric screwdriver there, but it's worked for Pidcock. He's away again. Gunnar Holmgren in front of him. The Canadian rider. Briefly, in general. He's back out in 16th. Schwarzbauer's at the front again. The sheer amount of energy that Schwarzbauer expends at the front of these races. And Jordan Seru and then Nino Schurter just spins up, bobbles off to one side. That one might ripple back into the pack behind him. And it does. Guarini's off. Blum's is off. Martin Blum's foot on the ground. Eli Hatterley, everyone, almost. These two, though, through safely. Schwarzbauer and Seru, tapping away at the front of it. Yeah, a small gap. That's because of that little mistake of Viktor Koretsky. There is Tom Pidcock. There's some work to do for him. Filippo Colombo. He closed that gap. Oh, Schwarzbauer now points at the rear wheel. Rear flat for Lukas Schwarzbauer. It's not that far anymore to the pits. Schwarzbauer points at the rear wheel. Puncture for Lukas Schwarzbauer. Jordan Seru's about to inherit the lead of this race. We almost can hear him, but he's yelling. That goes a little bit more time, rear wheel. It's now Jordan Seru who's leading the race. Jordan Seru needs to push on to keep himself free of the chasing pack. Oh, no, the wheel is out now. Oh, what a shame for Lukas Schwarzbauer. The chasing group, Benino Sciurto, Viktor Koretsky. Garini to the front of it now. Martins Blums, Alan Hetterly, Sebastian Phinney, Thomas Kriot. Tom Pidcock just coming into that tech zone now. He's in 15th position, 42 seconds back, four bars away again. Together with Lukas Schwarzbauer now. Yeah, they can work together. Good pair to chase on. Chasing hard. And he's had a lot of, you know, a lot of injuries and a lot of setbacks. I mean, he's over the years, he's definitely had his hard trips and to see him performing now at this level is awesome. And he's had the benefit and the misfortune of being Swiss and cross-country racing, which is so tightly contested from that nation. Yeah, well, I can say is most of the time he shows up at bike races with hairy legs. So I hope he shows up with legs today. He does not run with hairy legs. Here he comes, Seru. Rowing towards the front. Rowing towards the start of the final lap. And there is a chasing pack. Seru has a look around, you'll see them. Jordan Seru crosses the line to lead them onto the final lap here in Snowshoe West Virginia. But they're all nearly back together now. This climb could be critical. Blooms fifth, DuPose back in 13th. What's the fastest lap time for who is it at the moment? Fastest lap time belongs to Tom Pidcock. Yeah, that's what I thought. Jordan Seru. 9.55. Thomas Griot's third fastest actual lap time. So as we said, coming strong towards the end of it. Up through this tricky little route line climb. Oh, mistake. Small mistake from Pidcock. Here he is. Serguerini now leading the race in the last lap. Let's see that attack. Blast past Seru. What a performance from him. Leaving absolutely no room to spare on his way past. Seru looks behind, tellingly maybe. Look at Griotini. And then a small gap. Let's see how they do. Schurter going to go for that really fast line down the right hand side. Nino Schurter moves in the second. Look at the speed. All three of them are travelling up towards the bottom of that one. Flueckiger tips it in. Tom Pidcock shouts of Tommy, let's go from the side of the track. Fifth place. Are we going to see Schurter come up with something magical line choice wise through the rock garden? Schurter now attacks, gets past Griotini. Seru swings out left, tries to get past him too. Schurter digs deep. Nino Schurter to the front now at the top of this climb. Griotini can't answer him. Seru stuck to the back of him. Now Jordan Seru close on his wheel, but is it enough? Jordan Seru expended all that effort out the front of this one. Early doors. But he's now being asked questions by Nino Schurter. How much time to recover is there? They're pushing hard here also on the flat. Look at Schurter. He needs to stay to the left. Jordan will come up the inside. Schurter. Seru goes up the left hand side of Schurter. Just the same game as predicted. Into the final corner. What a race we've been treated to. An hour and 20 minutes in. Here they go. Jordan Seru up to the line. Jordan Seru outruns Nino Schurter. Jordan Seru wins in Snowshoe, West Virginia. Nino Schurter second place. Marcel Garini third. Nicely done. Clever, clever racing for Jordan Seru. There's Mateusz Klukiger, home and forth. Tom Pidcock, superb in fifth place. But all applause has to go to that man. Your winner today, Jordan Seru of Team BMC. Martins Blums in sixth. Tomar Griot seventh. But Jordan Seru, how he overtook Nino Schurter just before that last turn. Yep. To the finish line. Half release, home and eight for Cannondale Factory Racing. They're still coming in behind him. It's really, yeah, because you come out a little bit on the right on that straight and it's quite easy to stay on that side because it's a shorter side. But then it's, yeah, it just leaves the door a little bit open. Ninth place goes to Filippo Colombo. Viktor Koretsky, home and tenth. The man we were all talking about at the start of it. But that man, Jordan Seru. There's confirmation then. Seru, Schurter, Guarini, Klukiger, Pidcock here, top five. Then Blums, Griot, Haverly, Colombo, Koretsky. Schwarzbauer, Finne Carstensen, Brido, Brido, Holmgren, Roth, Fontana, Dubose, Shermans. His first ever elite level cross-country Olympic World Cup win. Jordan Seru. The Frenchman, Team BMC, back on the top step, following in the footsteps of the legend, Julian Absalon. Great to see those famous team colours on the back of a Frenchman on the top of the podium. Jordan Seru finally breaks his dunk after that 2020 UCI World Championships win. Jordan Seru from Nino Schurter, Guarini, Klukiger and Pidcock. Nino Schurter leads the way, just 89 points to the difference. It's going to go to a title decider amongst St. Anne, Canada next weekend. Mateusz Klukiger is in the mix as well. Lukasz Schwarzbauer, then Griot, Dubose, Haverly, Forster, Blums, the Scalu, the top ten. But Sharpen is looking extremely pointy just now. Schurter leads the way as we head to Canada. Koretsky in 11th, Shermans 12th, Brido, Guarini, Pidcock's in 15th. He's in another Brido, Cooper, Sink and Albon.