Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) followed his short track victory on Friday at the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Les Gets to become the first South African to take an Olympic Cross Country World Cup title ahead of Mathias Fluckiger (Switzerland).
Hatherly moves into the overall lead in the World Cup series only weeks ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris and demonstrated dominant form on today’s circuit.
Initially breaking away from the main field in a group of three with Fluckiger and Luca Braidot (Italy) early in the 8-lap circuit.
Braidot briefly lost pace with Fluckiger and Hatherly before Hatherly attacked the Swiss rider on the lap’s main climb, establishing a distance that grew to 30 seconds by lap 5.
Hatherly then had a controlled individual ride where he distanced Fluckiger throughout the course, eventually finishing in 1:23:14, 1:31 ahead of the Swiss rider.
Braidot sprinted for the podium from a chase group, but it was Austrian rider Simon Andreassen (Cannondale Factory Racing) who won the sprint for third – giving Cannondale two spots on the podium.
“Unreal weekend,” Hatherly said after the race finished.
“When we spoke before the race and I kind of mentioned the double I think I kind of visualized it and yeah… I’m so happy to have executed it. An unreal weekend for myself and for the team, and two boys on the box in both races!
“A good sign for the team and especially for me leading to the Games around the corner.”
Speaking about his pacing and his gradual breakdown of Fluckiger, Hatherly had always expected the race to be one of attrition. “It’s a lot of repeated climbs here, and if you go for it early on, you’re gonna pay the bill,” he said.
“I was happy with my pacing strategy I just cracked on and yeah, I was kind of surprised I rode away the way I did.”
Hatherly takes the overall leader’s jersey for the World Cup series, which will continue in Aletsch Arena/Bellwald in Valais, in mid-July ahead of the Olympic Games.
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