RACE HIGHLIGHTS | Elite Men 2025 UCI XCO World Cup – Round 6 Pal Arinsal 🇦🇩

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The lights, the lights will go red and then you know what happens next. They are off and they’re off early. Has caught a few people out. Simon Andreas and really really punchy off the line for a box. Christopher Leven in the middle of your shot in the red jersey as they all get through their first right hander cleanly. Yeah, good start for Charlie Aldridge as well after that mechanically in the short track. Yeah, on the left side up his team manager Phil Dixon in the coffee shop the other day said if it wasn’t for that mechanical Charlie horse had plenty left in the tank. We’re seeing a rider moving up on the right hand side. Who is that? Pushing their way all the way to the front. It’s Victor Caretski. Caretski in the white helmet, the red jersey of Specialized Factory Racing making absolutely no time at all to get to the front of the race here at Palarasal. Levens is now back with Martan sink. Caretseski’s in there as well. So Victor Caretski now shuffled back into fourth place after that strong start. But Ollie, that will have been the first check on the checklist of get to the front getting amongst it. Another rider has got to the front. Charlie Aldridge just sitting there behind the back of Nino Sher. seventh position. And these riders will be aware of Tom Pickock and he’s coming. Josh Carson reporting in for the bottom. We spoke to Christopher Blevens before the race got underway. Bleven saying he’s riding with a bit of anger, bit of fuel in the tank. Apparently, he actually misjudged where the finish line of the short track was and got his final sprint wrong in terms of his efforts. So, here we go into this big rock section for the first time. [Applause] That ride over that line over the riders left hand side that they’re all hitting really the A- line the fastest route through it. But the entry super difficult Ollie and you see Fry just getting bobbled by it slightly. That was a really fast exit which is why all these riders want to hit that line but the entry to get it so difficult. Saw a good line there by Aendetto. He took the B line and then crossed over to the A. What’s going to be the big agenda for the riders at the front? I think for someone like Luka Martan, he’s riding on a complete high. French champion last week, beating Matis’s RO in second place, winning the short track and I think he’s now got that confidence that he can win up at least sixth place and then it’s a long descent from the top. And I think by the time we get to the top of that long gravel, we’re calling it the wall this week, that long gravel track. I’m pretty sure we’ll see him on the back of that front group of five. Yep. used to be the the red zone climb at the back of the course where we saw Alan Hafley attack Victor Caretsky the UCI World Championships last season to ultimately take that rainbow striped jersey. Haley currently in 11th place the number 10 bike for Scott Shramm MTB racing. [Applause] Tom Pecock charging hard to catch up with Christopher Blevens. Now Levens in fifth place all in red as we’re used to seeing him in 2025. Pedcock has actually broken free of that big train behind him. I say ridden across on this long climb. It’s good section for Pitcock this one. Yeah, we know the strength. There’s Pedcock on the left hand side. Oh, Tom Pedcock. Look at the reserves of power that man has. That is some attack up here. And I was, you know, that Tom Pickle, I’m confident that Tom Pickhold could get to the front. I was predicting lap three to get to the front group. He’s done it on lap two. A really good first lap. Pedcock on his way to the front of this bike race. We are hearing that Gunner Holgren has crashed. Was just riding away from him a bit today. And Pedco saw the back end lap. Pinella swap about a bit underneath and managed to keep it going. But Martan now looking like he’s starting to open up a little bit of a gap. 3 seconds between him and Matiso. One of the amazing things for Tom Pigcock. We know how good he is technically, but how he can adapt and come back. He said before in the interview that this is a new bike, new equipment. He hasn’t been on it long, but in his laps during the week, so in his wrecky laps, I don’t know, five, six lap, he’s learning the bike and he’s having to, I say, become one with it again. But he can adapt and get back to this sport so quickly. Here he comes. He’s going to swallow up Matisaro here straight past him. Tom Pigcock in a hurry in Palaron. [Music] You land the nef on the side. Lor roaring her teammate Charlie Aldridge on. Look at this from Tom Pigcock. Yeah, bear in mind memory up to Tom Pickock had to move up from fourth row on the grid. You know, easier said than done. You would have had to expend some energy compared to the riders had to start on the front row. So, we know he’s got the minerals to be able to do that, but you’ve still got to suck it up, recover. Oh no, Fluger into the tech feed zone with a rear flap. We saw a number of these in the elite women’s race and for a rider who loves this venue in this track that is an absolute disaster. And the natural features here, there’s quite a lot of sharp rock sections and the the chance of just catching a tire and just putting a small rip in is relatively high on this surface. I think I just saw the UCI World Champions jersey of Alan Hafferly roll through in front of him. Stop should put flucer just trying to find him on our screen. Sorry, excuse me. 22nd now. Matiso in third place. Charlie Aldridge in fourth. It’s the battle for fifth behind them. These two welded together at the front. You can hear how hard they’re having to work. Yeah. Whipping around these laps to be doing sub 10s around here. We talked about it in the elite women’s race. Puck Peterson telling us earlier in the week that she finds that one of the toughest things about altitude is being able to mentally just process the fact that things are feeling tougher. Yeah, the numbers are still there, but it’s just a mental alarm bell that’s ringing all the time. I think this you got this long drag up through here up through up into that last loop and yeah, he’s having a good quarter pick. That’s uh that’s a proper attack. That’s a lot of what’s being dropped on that climb. But Luca Martan is doing his best to hang on the back wheel of Tom Pickock here. But look at Tom Pickock. Ollie Beck can’t believe what he’s looking at in the boo sat there. We know the class of Pickup. We know the power. four out of eight. He got to the front super quick, really impressive. And then just look sat on the back of Martan, maybe recovered a little bit, learned a bit about the French guy, picked some lines, and then wal. [Music] It’s what the sport is all about though. A warm down of sorts running around Tom Pickot. Yeah. And just goes to show even at the very highest of pro levels, it’s pretty rare that you see Tom Pigot going down. Yeah, top pro as well didn’t attack for you. Luca Martan just shaking his hand out slightly there. Maybe getting a bit of gel or something on the glove. Not looking that comfortable all of a sudden. Martan 15 seconds the gap. One minute now. Back to Aaro and Aldridge. So their lap delta is really dropping as Martan, take your hat off to him. He’s hanging in there because yeah, this will be a PB ride as well. So at some point it’s interesting to see whether Matan continues to fight. Here’s a second group. Aaro and Aldridge. 1 minute 1 second back off the leader Tom Pitcock who has detonated at the front of the race. Half a lap at best. Pick crosses the line and is now just 4 seconds ahead of Luca Martan. Take your hat off Luca Martan. He’s decided that he’s not going to roll over here. He’s not beaten yet. And the French national champion has all of a sudden come alive here in Palar and Salandor. Just the lap times that they are doing consistently 15 20 seconds faster than the second group and the gap just going out. Ollie, is there anything that team manager team staff can do to help push Luca Martin back towards pick? Luka Martan is into the pits. Oh, and this is disaster for the Frenchman. It’s a rear wheel change late in the day here. Lap six out of eight in Palar and Salandor. He has chased Tom Pitcock round every inch of this track and this is not what he deserves for those efforts. He was doing an amazing race. Consistent matching the Olympic. Can’t get the axle. Goes back in. Let’s try and find a gear for him now. There he goes. Have a decent gap to the third place. Oh, I know. But what a cruel sport mountain bike racing is. Luca Martan leaves attack feed zone. He’s had to stop again. He’s stopped again, has he? He has. Oh, just managed to stop inside the tech zone and it’s still not right. Bikes in the wrong gear. Can’t get going. Oh, Luca Martan. Tom Pedcock though happens to be very, very good at winning. What a machine. That’s the word, isn’t it? I don’t know. As we see the Superman logo, it’s going to take a Clark Kent spec effort from Luca Martan to close a gap of this size. I really hope Luka Martan can hang on to this second place. Yeah, so deserves it. Johnny Walker rings the bell. FIM super inuro start and you just cannot help but wonder what could have been. Keeps pushing. But I think this is sometimes round this circuit that you got to be inch perfect with your line and missing the sharp rocks and maybe you know overthinking it but Martan just under pressure trying to keep up with Tom Picker after that attack and if you’ve just overexerted yourself a little bit then that’s when you can just be a little offline. Begs the question without that mechanical what a race we could have been treated to. Let’s get Pedcock down through the rocks for the last time. ticks it off. Little kicker on the way out of it. Yeah, he’s got a relatively easy roll now. Nothing. 35 seconds though. Another 3 seconds have gone the way of Martam. But this is why you build leads in cross country. Ollie, so you can manage last laps like this. So within 20 minutes of racing, closing that gap, work working through all the other riders in what limited open sections as well. Luka Martan. for Canondale Factory Race and continues to grow his fan base every time we see him get on a race bike and he’ll have grown that by a few more notches today. Look at the time he’s put into Charlie Aldidge. Pretty safe in second. Sorry, curse that one. Get a victory here at the UCI Cross Country Olympic World Cup. The perfect performance, the perfect race. Pitcock perfection in Palar in S. [Applause] [Music] Not a baller to him. Tom Pitcock takes his eighth UCI cross country Olympic World Cup draws level with Cadell Evans. Managed it to absolute perfection all race long. One of the rides of the year so far from Luca Martan. We all love a fighter and this man put up one of the biggest fights of his career so far. Tom Pitcock gets a drink after a long reward. Here we go. We’re about to get two British riders onto a UCI Cross Country Olympic World Cup podium for the first time since 1994 in Mammoth Lakes. Charlie Aldridge finishes off with a bit of trials. Canadel factory racing. Let’s get confirmation of the results then. Tom Pitcock takes the win by just 21 seconds in the end from Luca Martan. Charlie Aldridge taking third place. Matis Cesaro, Luca, Brido, Vidari, Sherter, Dubau, Sink, and Aendetto. Putting her in 11th. Lucer 12th. Dario Lilo 13. Fury’s a naughty. Well, I can’t be unsatisfied, that’s for sure. Um, now it’s super nice to finally win here kind of at home in um after a few years coming here. So, uh, yeah, it’s nice. Not not an easy place to race, that’s for sure. victorious work. UCI Mountain World Series, UCI Cross Country Olympic World Cup, round six in Andor going to a man who calls this place home. Lives up the road. There they go. Your top three. This what does for the standings. Blevins leads away from Vidari by 313 points. Caretski Specializ still 123. The Nazaro Pinter fourth for fifth. Martan Forester sink Schwarzbar Columbo