JIC= Just In Case, as in, “Just in case you missed the Val di Sole race this weekend, the link to the replay is right here.”
There’s no better way to get your Wednesday rolling as with redbull.tv’s full, on-demand replay of this past weekend’s Val di Sole UCI World Cup Race. It’s early days for the mountain bike season, but Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon seem to be head and shoulders above the competition.
Our good friends the Fluckinger Brothers finished third and fourth, adding yet another World Cup podium before hopefully returning this fall to the Iceman Cometh. They’re great guys to root for and have mentioned our little bike race on the international scene. We owe them some fudge the next time they roll through.
Also on the podium is one of the titans of kolo t.c., the very very Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy. The Olympic Champion stumbled through the early season, including a rough showing at his home race of Nove Mesto. He’s on the rise, however, and though he’s said his main target is the World Championships and not the World Cup, he’s shown a renewed interest in the series after Albstadt.
You can watch the full men’s race here.
The Women’s race was equally thrilling, and not just because Emily Batty is back at the top of her game. The dreamy Canadian put in her best performance of the season on a course that finally suited her skillset, while the ageless Gunn-Rita Dahle took home fourth place. The also very, very Czech Katerina Nash is having her best season in years, interestingly enough after a full cyclocross season and a very short break from training after the CX World Championships. You’ll see the winner, and it was a bit of a shocker.