UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

The Mercedes Benz UCI DH MTB World Cup reached its conclusion in La Bresse, France in less than ideal conditions. The rain that so affected qualifying the day before returned for finals, making the course super slick in places. This was no bad thing, with the track running faster than in qualifying as a result. For the Elite Women, the overall title still needed to be decided, while in the Elite Men's contest there was still the question of who would finish second to World Cup champion Amaury Pierron to settle, with up to five riders in contention for that spot. The weather started to clear up as the session went on, but this appeared to be at the disadvantage to the riders now coming down, as the muddy seemed to get a bit stickier. Times were slowing considerably, with huge amounts of time being lost by riders in the steep section in the middle of the course, where Maes had been incredibly fast.

The rain that had so affected the downhill racing in La Bresse had all but disappeared as the Elite Women and Elite Men took to the track for Round 7 of the UCI Mercedes-Benz XCO World Cup. The deluge of the previous few days had taken its toll on the course, though. Ruts were forming out in the open, while in the covered forest sections the rocks and roots were extremely slippery, making climbing very hard and descending technically demanding. The Elite Women's XCO grand finale didn't disappoint and the title showdown played out with one of the most exciting and intense races we've seen on the cross-country circuit for a long time. Littered with mechanicals, and with the pressure of the World Cup overall title riding on this race, it was drama-filled and action-packed from the get go. When it came to overall standings, the battle for the top spot was between Danish rider Annika Langvad and Switzerland Jolanda Neff. After the chaos of the women's race, all eyes were on the elite Men's race to see if it could produce as much drama. The World Cup overall title was already Nino Schurter's and the Swiss racer cut a relaxed figure before the start. Nino Schurter was crowned World Cup champion in Mont-Sainte-Anne in the Men's class, leaving the Elite Women's overall title the only issue to be decided in this final race of the season. Second and third place in the overall standings was still up for grabs however, with four riders in contention: Mathieu Van der Poel, Henrique Avancini, Maxime Marotte and Gerhard Kerschbaumer. It was perfect end of the season for Schurter, who claimed his 30th World Cup win, and he goes into the 2018 World Championships at home in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in top form. With the results, Van der Poel was confirmed as second in the World Cup overall standings, with Marotte moving up to third due to Avancini finishing down in 16th place in the race.

Watch a recap of the racing as a very different course greeted the cross-country cohort for Friday's XCC showdown at the UCI XC World Cup round in France. Introduced into the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for the first time in the 2018 season, cross-country short track is held on a shorter, but still demanding, course. Still a very new addition to the cross-country race weekend, the fifth Cross-Country Short Track race (XCC) of the season took a different shape at La Bresse's World Cup round in France.

Take a deep breath… the finals are upon us. Some titles remain up for grabs, champions-elect are yet to be crowned, but for the rest of the pros, it’s their last opportunity to claim a scalp or two before the UCI World Championships. They're officially calling last orders in the Last Chance Saloon and the stage is perfectly set for a classic! La Bresse seems to have a propensity for producing dramatic racing and historically significant results. In 2011, Aaron Gwin locked up the first of his back-to-back titles here with a third place. It sealed him the title for Trek Factory Racing with a round to spare. It was the first time an American had won the overall crown.