A historic weekend for SA at the XC World Cup | Val di Sole Recap & Highlights
South African riders excel in Italy
The results are in from Round 4 of the 2024 XC World Cup and it was another historic weekend for South Africa. In Friday’s U23 and Elite XCC racing, Alan Hatherly placed 8th, Candice Lill placed 4th, Tyler Jacobs placed 7th and Luke Moir also finished 8th in their respective categories. These historic results gave South Africa a presence on the front row for the start of all four of Sunday’s XCO events. That’s a first for SA riders and a truly remarkable accomplishment — especially when you consider the only other nations that achieved a front row start in all four events this weekend were the almighty powerhouses of MTB: the Swiss and French. To the riders and everyone involved with this accomplishment — take a bow!
Into Sunday’s XCO racing and South Africa had a total of eight riders lining up for the four races. The standout results were Alan Hatherly in 2nd, Candice Lill with 3rd, Tyler Jacobs with 22nd and Luke Moir in 21st. It was Alan’s best result of the year and his consistency all season now sees him sitting 3rd in the Elite Men’s overall points. It’s also worth mentioning that Alan is the only rider in the Elite Men category who has finished inside the top ten at every round of the 2024 season. Truly incredible.
The performance of the weekend belongs to Candice Lill who rallied to 3rd in Sunday’s XCO. There are three outstanding facts that jump out at me when I look at Candice’s result this weekend. Firstly, her lap times were the most consistent of the lead riders which if anything shows she understands her body (and with a clear track) can pace effectively, riding within her ability — she’s the real deal! Secondly, she was the only privateer inside the top 25 riders — finishing third at this level as a privateer on relatively small budgets is a mind-blowing achievement. Finally, according to my research, Candice’s result is the best any South African Elite Female rider has ever achieved in the history of World Cup XCO racing. She’s our all-time great, when it comes to XCO and she now sits sixth in the points chase.
Race Gallery
Elite Women XCO
Results
1st. Pauline Ferrand Prevot: 1:21:04
2nd. Puck Pieterse: (+50)
3rd. Candice Lill: (+1:13)
4th. Loana Lecomte: (+1:39)
5th. Savilia Blunk: (+1:50)
Elite Men XCO
Results
1st. Nino Schurter: 1:18:25
2nd. Alan Hatherly: (+7)
3rd. Mathis Azzaro: (+46)
4th. Luca Braidot: (+46)
5th. Filippo Colombo: (+46) //