Matthias Flückiger (Thömus Maxon) won his first World Cup of the 2023 season after taking the lead on the second lap of seven in Pal Arinsal, Andorra. After more than a year, Flückiger made it back to the top of the podium for his 10th career World Cup victory, in a time of 1:28:03.
The Swiss rider was pushed hard by France’s Thomas Griot (Canyon CLLCTV), who rode through a chasing bunch to get within eight seconds of Flückiger on the penultimate lap. But Flückiger extended the gap to take the win by some 23 seconds. World Champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadier) was third.
"My goal today was to go as hard as I could to the limit. I think I managed to do that. I'm glad I handled it well when Griot put a lot of pressure on me. I just concentrated on myself.
“A little more than a year ago I won my last World Cup race here in Andorra, in Short Track. After that I got Covid and what happened afterwards, everybody knows. It just feels good to be back, just to be able to race. Winning a World Cup is just great,” Flückiger said.
A mix of rain, low temperatures and high altitude made this fifth World Cup race one of the toughest cross-country World Cups of the season.
By the second lap, an already solo Flückiger had established a seven-second lead to Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) while Pidcock had made his way up to a top 5 position.
Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB) suffered a rear flat, and though he was close to the technical zone, he still had lost almost one minute to the lead riders.
Mid-way through the race, Jordan Sarrou (BMC) overtook Schwarzbauer and the pair were soon joined by Griot, 31 seconds behind Flückiger. The Frenchman continued to forcibly chase reducing the gap to under 10 seconds at the start of the final lap.
Pidcock passed Sarrou in sight of the finishing straight to take third, crossing the line 44 seconds after the winner. Schurter held on to the series leader’s jersey after finishing 12th.
