Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) made it two in a row as he took the short track win at the UCI World Cup in Nové Město na Moravě, ahead of teammate Christopher Blevins and Thomas Litscher (Lapierre Mavic Unity).
All eyes were on Olympic and World Champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), who was 29th in the start list and so had his work set out to establish position.
A blistering start and battle for position ensued where by the middle of the race Nino Schurter (Scott-Sram) was at the front of the race but unable to establish even a small gap on the pack.
The penultimate lap set up a fight for position into the start gantry, where Pidcock made an aggressive effort to move up into first position.
Expectations were high for Pidcock to ride away, but when it came to the track’s main climb Tomas Litscher moved into prime position as Pidcock found himself moving back in the pack.
For the final sprint, it was Victor Koretsky who managed to outpower the Swiss rider to take the overall win and to repeat the Specialized Factory Racing 1-2 seen in Araxá.
“Here the track is kind of easy,” Koretsky said after the finish. “So everyone is together with a big bench. So the main goal was to stay in the middle of the bunch in the first part of the race, and then I moved to the front on the last lap.
“I managed to do my best to say on the good wheels and then on the final uphill, I was good, really good. And yeah, I was just waiting for the finish line to do my last effort. And yeah, I was in good shape and I did the move and I’m really happy, and what else?”
“We did it again: one-two. It’s perfect for the team, and we will see tomorrow,” he added, setting for a battle for tomorrow’s Olympic Cross Country race in Nove Měst
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