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Review the stories that defined the 2021 cross-country mountain bike season
The XCO mountain biking elite enjoyed six rounds of the World Cup and a World Championship. Here are the takeaways from an action-packed 2021 season.
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After last year's shortened season, cross-country mountain bike racing returned in 2021 to a full schedule of races, with six Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup rounds in six countries, plus the World Championships. There was also the little matter of the delayed Olympics race in the riders' programmes.
Read on to see what we thought were the most important takeaways from the last year of racing. And don’t forget, the 2022 cross-country season kicks off again in Petropolis, Brazil on April 8-10, with a bumper nine cross-country World Cups and a World Championships in Les Gets, France, making next year one of the most action-packed seasons ever.
52 min
Cross-country season recap 2021
Join us for a look back at the 2021 cross-country World Cup as a strong young field shook up the season.
Recap the action from the first three rounds
01
Tom Pidcock was born to ride mountain bikes
The British U23 World Champion from 2020 made his debut in the elite ranks in 2021 and boy did he make a bang. This season was all about qualifying for Tokyo, but that participation wasn't certain for Tom Pidcock. He needed World Cup points and he needed them to be as high-ranking as possible. In the first race of the World Cup season in Albstadt, he overcame an 11th-row start and a puncture to finish fifth. He went even better in Nové Město, dominating the race to win solo ahead of Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel. What a start to his elite career.
12 min
Born to mountain bike – Tom Pidcock
Tom Pidcock has his sights on the UCI MTB Cross-Country World Cup. Join him on his journey in Albstadt.
Participation in the Games was guaranteed by the time he raced at Les Gets in early July, but nothing went to plan there and he didn't finish the race. Three weeks on and in Tokyo, Pidcock was at his supreme best, making a race-winning attack on the fourth of seven laps and comfortably held off Mathias Flückiger in second place to win by 20 seconds.
Tom Pidcock races at Nové Město
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
The 22-year-old still has a lot to achieve in mountain biking and he's committed to racing next year, where his commitments to his professional road cycling team, Ineos Grenadiers, allow. As he said himself, following his win in Nové Město, he's born to mountain bike.
02
XCC is a competition all by itself and now it's official
When cross-country short track (XCC) was introduced to World Cup racing in 2018, it's fair to say that not all riders were fans. Twenty minutes of flat out racing on a Friday before a main cross-country race on Sunday sounded like hell. However, now with four seasons of XCC racing behind us, there's no doubt XCC has been a qualified success. It's produced some top-class exciting racing, where there are intense battles and regular sprint finishes. It's also become a crowd-pleaser to punters trackside and viewers alike on Red Bull TV.
7 min
Snowshoe XC short track recap
Watch the best action from the gruelling cross-country XC short track race at Snowshoe, USA.
The UCI has recognised the format's importance and from the 2022 season, XCC will have its own overall ranking, with an XCC World Cup overall title awarded at the end of the season in both the men's and women's categories.
Now there's even more hanging on winning an XCC race
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
The XCC will, of course, continue to play a role in deciding the riders' positions on the starting grid for the main cross-country race on the Sunday of a World Cup weekend. Points gained in the XCC will also continue to count towards ranking points for the cross-country overall race.
03
Loana Lecomte made the history books in the women's World Cup
Frenchwoman, Loana Lecomte, was simply unstoppable in the first half of the cross-country season. The 22-year-old won the first four World Cup races of the season (Albstadt, Nové Město, Leogang and Les Gets), the first time this had been achieved since Norway's Gunn-Rita Dahle won all the races in the 2003 season. These weren't scrappy wins – Lecomte absolutely destroyed the women's field in each race with what became a trademark break from the main pack in the first few laps and then soloing to wins.
An incredible four wins back-to-back for Lecomte
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Unsurprisingly, Lecomte couldn't keep her fantastic form and condition going all season. Having finished fourth at the Lenzerheide World Cup round and wrapped up the World Cup overall title at that race, she opted not to race in Snowshoe. As we've seen with other U23 riders that have stepped up to elites in the women's category, success is often immediate. The question is whether Lecomte can continue on this upward curve and dominate the women's category for years to come.
15 min
XCO highlights – Les Gets
The weather made for a slick ride that some riders thrived on, while others struggled not to wipe out.
04
Everything fell into place for Evie Richards
If the first half of the women's cross-country season belonged to Lecomte, then the second half was all about Evie Richards. Richards won the remaining World Cup races in Lenzerheide and Snowshoe that came after the break for the Games and she also became the World Champion between those races in Val di Sole.
1 min
Women's XCO finish – Lenzerheide
Watch a recap of the end of the women's cross-country race in Lenzerheide.
So why did it suddenly just go right for Richards? Well, obviously, she had good form. In July, before her run of wins, she finished third at Les Gets, gaining her first elite World Cup podium, and then finished seventh in Tokyo. Richards also seemed to be stronger this season, having the mindset that she belonged amongst the group of top female riders and favourites.
Evie Richards was commanding in her World Championship win
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Disbelief from Richards after her first World Cup win in Lenzerheide
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
That confidence in herself showed at those latter races in the 2021 season while she also tried to keep to a race plan for each race, which she admits often went out of the window in races before. Next season, she'll have to deal with the pressure of being a favourite and a marked athlete in races.
9 min
Evie Richards's 2021 season review
Watch newly crowned XCO world champion Evie Richards as she reviews her 2021 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season.
05
Pro-cycling teams are recognising there's talent in cross-country
There have been well-trodden paths between athletes who ride cross-country mountain biking in the summer and cyclo-cross in the winter – Pidcock, Van der Poel, Richards and Jolanda Neff among those names. But now we're seeing a crossover of a different kind, athletes who are moving between cross-country and road cycling. Pidcock and Van der Poel are the two such high-profile examples, but others are now beginning to flirt between the two.
Van der Poel is still committed to riding the mountain bike World Cup
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Snowshoe World Cup winner Christopher Blevins turned out for his pro-team Trinity at the Tour of Britain the week before his Snowshoe win, even participating in a group breakaway. Sam Gaze has raced on the road this season with Alpecin-Fenix and next year, Victor Koretsky and Milan Vader will ride on the road for B&B Hotels and Jumbo-Visma respectively, but also still ride at World Cups.
The two World Cup wins have upped Koretzky's profile in his native France
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
Milan Vader will be riding World Cups next year in a Jumbo Visma jersey
© Bartek Woliński/@wolisphoto
06
Mathias Flückiger is no longer in Nino Schurter's shadow
Mathias Flückiger dominated the men's mountain bike season in 2021. In doing so, he finally got the plaudits and recognition of being one of the best cross-country riders of this past decade. Flückiger has had to contend with his countryman Nino Schurter dominating the headlines back home in Switzerland, but this season was winless for Schurter in terms of the World Cup. Flückiger was touted as Switzerland's best hope of gold in Tokyo given his form this season.
Schurter has been following Flückiger's wheel this season
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
Flückiger set his stall by beating Schurter to take the Swiss national title in May and followed that up with World Cup wins in Leogang and Les Gets, where he also won the XCC races. A silver medal in Tokyo and at the World Championships showed he was having the season of his life and he was deservedly the overall men's World Cup winner when the World Cup series ended at Snowshoe. Schurter did get something from this season though – he's the senior World Champion for the ninth time.
Easy does it for Mathias Flückiger
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
07
Watch out for Mona Mitterwallner next year
If you're looking for a name as the next breakout star of cross-country, then look no further than Mona Mitterwallner of Austria. The 19-year-old had the perfect season in the women's U23 category, winning all six of the World Cup races and winning the women's U23 World Championships. A step-up to the elite level in 2022 surely has to be coming for the youngster. Mitterwallner beat some of the world's elite to the 2021 UCI Marathon MTB World title and beat elite riders in non-World Cup races.
Tune in to Red Bull TV's live coverage of the first stop of the 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Cross-Country Mountain Bike World Cup from Petropolis, Brazil, on April 8, 2022.
Download the free Red Bull TV app and watch unmissable bike action on all your devices! Get the app here.
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