Pal Arinsal – Men Elite XCO Highlights | 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Watch the Men Elite XCO highlights from the finals of the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Pal Arinsal, Andorra.
 
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They are off and they’re off early. It’s quite 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 hand or cleanly. Yeah, good start for Charlie Aldridge as well after that mechanically in the short track. Yeah, 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 and 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 in Palarasal. Yeah, we saw the legs that Carky had in the short track. Unfortunately, mechanical issue, but the form was there. And a bit like Lou Faringo, you don’t want to make him angry. No. Caretsky sink. Levens, Martan, Azaru, Columbbo, Sugar, Herley, Charlie. There’s Tom Pcock. Yeah, good start for Tom Pickock already on the move. And these riders will be aware of Tom Pickock and he’s coming. There is Pitcock just ahead of Luca Brido. Look at Luca Martan. That is a rider who has just taken his first elite level win, isn’t it? And Mattis Cesaro as well. Two young French guys. There’s Caretski just a little further back with Simon Andresen, Andre Sink, Alan Herley, Martin Vidari, Philippo Columbbo, Fluger, Tom Pitcock bridging across the 51 machine. Really good first lap from Pigcock. He’s got through the danger patch now. So, it’s that first kind of four, five minutes where it’s easy to get taken out, pushed into the tape. He’s through that now. He can now settle into his race and just focus on just clawing back these last few seconds to this front group. Hog just rolling up the outside. Here he comes. Bigco moves ahead of Andre Sink. Really these two now extending their lead ahead of Nino Sher. Tom Pedcock charging hard to catch up with Christopher Blevens. Now Blevens 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 Pigot this one. So I think riders just have to be you just see PCO just going on the inside of Blevens now closing the wheel back to Nino Sher and there’s Pedcock on the left hand side. Oh Tom Pedcock look at the reserves of power that man has. You know that Tom Pickle I’m confident that Tom Pickock could get to the front. I was predicting lap three to get to the front grouping. He’s done it on lap two. A really good first lap. Look at here just standing on the pedals and riding straight past Charlie Aldridge as he heads towards the front of the the race. Now Tom Pitcock wants to shut these two French guys down and look at Mart and Nazaro full of confidence. Yeah, plenty of alleys whenever you’ve got Tom Pock closing down on you. Martan now looking like he’s starting to open up a little bit of a gap. 3 seconds between him and Matis’s arrow. Here he comes. He’s going to swallow up Matis’s arrow here. Straight past him. Tom Pigcock in a hurry. You land the nef on the side. Lor roaring her teammate Charlie Aldridge on. Here we go though. Luca Martan. The Jaws music is on. Look at Tom Pigcock right up on the back wheel of Luca Martan. This is unreal. Ollie, look at the reserves of power. Tom Pitcock has on lap two here in Andor. Martan Pitcock, Aaro Aldridge. when there’s a slight gap. Back to Martin Vidari. He’s currently fifth. 32 seconds back for Specialized Factory Racing. Christopher Bleven’s overall points leaders in eighth. There he is on your screen now ahead of Luca Brido and Simony Aendto. What are you reading into what you’re seeing from Pitcock here now? He’s not gone past Martan. as he realized that this pace is keeping them both away from the chase and pack and so long as it doesn’t dip he may as well stay in Martan’s way. He doesn’t he’s back where he needs to be. Obviously he’s in that first second the key was to get to the front of the race. It’s now better for I think for Tom P. He would have had to expend quite a bit of energy to get back to Luca Martan. So actually just to have a bit of recovery time and again relatively speaking recovery time you’re still sitting on the back wheel Luca Martan but just try and regroup a little bit also as well it’s a rider he won’t know in third place Charlie Aldridge in fourth the battle for fifth behind them as they head out onto this climb now in chase of the leaders Aldridge and Aaro working really really hard here. That gap still going out. Aldridge doing really good ride with Aaro, but that gap just increasing. And what was interesting then as they came over the top of the climb, they wouldn’t have seen the front two. Meanwhile though, Tom Pitcock takes the lead of the UCI Cross Country Olympic World Cup in Andor away from Luca Martan. I think he’s just going to apply the pressure. Do you think this will be a pre-planned lap for midpoint Larice attack? You think this you got this long drag up through here? Up through up into that last loop. And yeah, he’s having a good quer here. That’s uh that’s a proper attack. That’s a lot of W 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 back. I can’t believe what he’s looking at in the booth. Four out of eight. He got to the front super quick. Really impressive. And then just look s on the back of Martan. Maybe recovered a little bit. Learned a bit about the French guy. Pick some lines and then W. So Canondale Factory Racing find themselves in second and third places behind this man Tom Pitcock as he tips into the rock section. Neatly done just about. Here comes Luca Martan. doesn’t want to force the issue and force a mistake. 181 beats per minute going hard now in zone five in the red zone for Luca Martan on the whoop life. Aldridge 47 seconds back off Tom Pitcock now. Luka Martan, both wheels breaking traction almost at the same time across that big rock on the entry into that rock garden. But look at another attack from Tom Pedcock. But Martan’s not done yet. He’s not done yet, you know. And he’s looking composed behind Pedco on by Richards, Olympic teammate of course. The pace beginning to tell at the front. Let’s see what the gap looks like as we cross the line now and head on to lap five out of eight. It’s a key section. Now we go through the start finish straight which actually slightly uphill. Little chance to have a drink as we go on the gravel. Then we turn the corner. It’s a really tough climb up to the highest part of the circuit. And I think that’s where this gap 7 seconds at the moment. Tom Pickle can just press that gap home. Just 7 seconds will separate them. Aldridge. Aaro’s got back to Aldridge now. So maybe Charlie Aldridge is in trouble here on the number 20 bike. Aaro was well out of the shot about half a lap ago, but is back with him now. That last lap for Tom Pickock, a 946. So it wasn’t that Luca Martan dropped off. Luca Martan’s bang on the lap times. It’s a Pock actually attacking. Put that 46 in. 13 seconds now. The gap the last split between Pitcock and Martan. Martan still revving really hard here. Pedcock though out for a Sunday ride. Three fastest laps. Yep. Luka 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. Aaro through there safely. Charlie Aldridge just surfs the back wheel slightly. Aaro just pulled a bit of a gap on Aldridge now. It’s so lumpy and awkward that little rock garden 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 looking at the the speed of pickoff and Martan that just the lap times they’re doing consistently 15 20 seconds faster than the second group and the gap just going out 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’s doing an amazing race. Consistent matching the Olympic 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. I know. Oh, what a cruel sport mountain bike racing is. Luca Martan leaves a tech feed zone. He’s had to stop again. He stopped again, has he? He has. Oh, just managed to stop inside the tech speed zone and it’s still not right. Bikes in the wrong gear. Can’t get going. Oh, Luca Martan. Absolute disaster and he’s going to be back into you can see Aaro and Aldridge now coming through the pits. Probably about 10 or 12 second gap. He’s got a decent gap behind him. Meanwhile, Pincock 1 minute and 9 seconds into control of this race now. Just fredding it through. Super smooth, precise. Matiso is in third place as he has been for extremely long period of time. He’s got Charlie Aldridge following him every pedal of the way. Matisaro is in trouble here under pressure off an attack from Charlie Aldridge. Yeah, Aldridge now with a decent gap over Pati Cesaro. Martan knows all about it. has a little look over his left hand shoulder to try and gauge the gap. Yeah. 10 seconds now to Aldridge. Aldridge all of a sudden looming large on his teammates’s horizon. That gap now 50 seconds to Luca Martan. It’s another 10 seconds back for Martan. So is this Pitcock just metering his efforts getting the bike home. Ollie, I think 100%. 30 seconds now behind Tom Pitcock. We were used to seeing this in the under 23 ranks from Martan. He’s got this really gladatorial competitive style of racing. Dogged and take nothing away from him. 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. Tom Pitcock with a supreme performance. here at the UCI Cross Country Olympic World Cup. The perfect performance, the perfect race. Pitcock perfection in Palarin S. Not a bowler to him. Tom Pitcock takes his eighth UCI cross country Olympic World Cup draws level with Cadel Evans. managed it to absolute perfection all race long. But one of the rides of the year so far from Luca Martan. Here we go. We’re about to get two British riders onto a UCI Cross Country Olympics World Cup podium for the first time since 1994 in Mammoth Lakes. Charlie Aldridge finishes off of a bit of trials. Cat deal factory racing takes second and third.