After Nino Schurter dictated the pace on the starting lap, Henrique Avancini pushed ahead on the first of six laps on the long climb. The two were accompanied by Romanian Vlad Dascalu - who has already stood on the podium in Brazil this season - Olympic champion Tom Pidcock, the French duo Titouan Carod and Jordan Sarrou and the Swiss trio: Mathias Flückiger, Filippo Colombo and Thomas Litscher.
After the threat of rain late in the first lap and a broken saddle for Dascalu on lap two, it was mainly World Cup overall winner Flückiger and world champion Schurter who put the pressure on and kept the pace high, with Briton Pidcock then attacking on the third lap. The 22-year-old quickly built up a 10-second lead over the Swiss duo on the long climb, which he doubled by the end of the lap. Only Carod and Alan Hatherly from South Africa were able to keep up and regrouped to work together as a quartet.
Pidcock doubled his lead again to 40 seconds when Flückiger had a flat rear tyre late in the fourth lap and dropped back. On the penultimate lap, Dascalu caught up with the trio, the Spaniard David Valero tried to keep up but couldn't quite keep up the pace. Carod reacted and pulled back, while Schurter stayed behind.
While Pidcock headed towards the finish line with a comfortable lead at the front, Schurter attacked on the last lap. Dascalu was able to keep up for a long time, but a few metres ahead at the highest point was enough for the Swiss rider to secure second place. Carod had to let go. Pidcock crossed the finish line in a wheelie in Albstadt and secured his second victory in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup with a 20-second lead over Schurter and Dascalu. In the battle for fifth place, Valero and Sarrou both overtook Alan Hatherly. Unlucky Mathias Flückiger rolled to the finish in 13th place.
The best German at his first Elite World Cup in Albstadt was David List in 22nd place, while his Lexware team-mate Max Brandl was absent due to injury. Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon) finished the home World Cup in 25th place.
