Simon Andreassen and Haley Batten win the 2nd MTB World Cup race

After a brilliant MTB World Cup start a week ago in Mairipora, Brazil, things continued this weekend in Araxa, Brazil. Many drivers who had achieved good results in the first race now tried to defend or even expand on this good position. Jenny Rissveds had suddenly taken the lead in the World Cup and now wanted to cement this lead. It is clearly an Olympic year for her, in which she wants to show strength right from the start. This is also the case for Frenchman Victor Koretzky, who wants to shine in front of his home crowd at the Olympics in Paris this summer and of course also qualify for it. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann, Jordan Sarrou, Samuel Gaze for the men and Haley Batten, Savilia Blunk and Alessandra Keller for the women are other drivers who are among the favorites to compete for victory, be it in the World Cup or at the Olympics .

The women and men completed the short track races and the cross-country races over the Olympic distance on a fantastic route. Inspired by the good results in Mairipora, Victor Koretzky took victory in the short track, just ahead of the American Christopher Blevins, followed by Hatherly, Sarrou and Schwarzbauer. Of course, Blevins didn't want to give up his current lead in the World Cup and accelerated determinedly, but on the first climb he was forced off the track and fell and was only able to get back after the "pack" after the whole group had passed. So the XCO race was practically over for him. He still tried everything, but in the end it was only enough for 22nd place. After his setback in the first race, Nino Schurter fought his way forward from the start this time. Towards the end he couldn't keep up with the “boys”, but with sixth place he managed to finish much more successfully than a week before. Victor Koretzky attacked early, perhaps even too early. The victory in the short track race had given him courage, but towards the end of the race he was overtaken by his pursuers. It was very bad luck that his chain fell out on the last lap. He repaired the mishap within seconds, but had to let his pursuers go for a moment and then immediately get back on their heels. This comeback cost him a lot of energy and probably also his victory. The multiple Danish champion in cross country and marathon was not at the top of the favorites list, as he was not in the top 10 of the World Cup last year and was particularly noticeable in Mairipora with 9th and 16th place. But he seized the chance at the end of the race and in the end only dueled with Victor Koretzky, who was probably a little too exhausted from the long lead work over several laps and the race to catch up after his breakdown to counter, and took his victory.

In the women's race, it was the leader in the World Cup, Jenny Rissveds, who clearly wanted to win the race from the start. She is focused on her path to victory at the Olympics and is showing significantly more determination and fighting spirit than in the past three years. She wants gold, she wants to win this thing. And so she quickly took the lead in the race and tried to break away from the group and achieve a start-to-finish victory, which she almost succeeded in doing. In particular, the American Haley Batten, who won the short track race, was obviously full of confidence that she would have a say in the victory. But the American Savilia Blunk and the Swiss Alessandra Keller also had this goal. In the end, Haley Batten was able to break away from Jenny Rissveds shortly before the finish to celebrate her first World Cup victory. Jenny Rissveds further extends her World Cup lead with her second place and 200 points.