In Episode 10 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast looks back at Luke Moir’s breakthrough performance at the UCI MTB World Series. During the second race in Araxá, Brazil, the 22-year-old notched up his first top 5 placing and heralded his arrival as a force to be reckoned with on the biggest stage. Candice Lill had a rare off day, finishing 17th, while Tyler Jacobs showed remarkable consistency with an 11th and a 6th place finish in the XCC and XCO. Alongside the cross-country and cross-country eliminator coverage, we also reflected on the first three days of the 4Islands Epic racing in Croatia.
The UCI MTB World Series now takes a hiatus from XCC andXCO racing for nearly 6 weeks before reconvening in Nové Město na Moravě on the 23rd to the 25th of May. The Czech Republic will see the return of World Champion Alan Hatherly to mountain bike racing, after an early season on the road. Before switching to wider tyres, the South African time trial champion will start at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, 20 April, and the Tour de Romandie from 29 April to 4 May.
Off-road stage racing has already been taking place this week, too. The 10th edition of 4Islands Epic got underway on Tuesday, 15 April. Starting with a Prologue time trial on the island of Lošinj, after the initial Prologue on Unije had to be replanned due to adverse weather. Stayed on Lošinj for Stage 1 before travelling to Cres for Stage 2. Going into the weekend, on Krk, Buff Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport lead the UCI Men’s and Women’s categories, respectively. Hans Becking and Wout Alleman hold a 6 minute and 37 second advantage over Nicholas Pettinà and Ramon Vantaggiato, of KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes 2. HEXATRI are 3rd, a further 1 minute and 49 seconds back. Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas’s lead is 1 minute and 29 seconds in the women’s race over Bianca Haw and Vera Looser of Safari Essence Efficient Insure. Cannondale ISB Sport 2 are 3rd, 5 minutes behind their teammates.
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