First World Cup win of 2016 for Jolanda Neff

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Jolanda Neff (Stoeckli Pro Team), the defending World Cup champion, took her first World Cup win of the season on Sunday, in La Bresse, France. However, she had a close battle with two Canadian riders, Catharine Pendrel (Luna) and Emily Batty (Trek Factory), who finished second and third respectively.

The rain that had been forecast for race day came the night before, leaving the descent muddy but rideable. After a long climb out of town, riders faced a technical section traversing the top of the course before a long, switchback descent back to the finish, for a total of 4.2 kilometres.

Neff missed the first round, choosing to skip the long trip to Cairns, Australia, and she was a last minute scratch last weekend in Albstadt, Germany, after falling sick. However, her form is good, having won the European Championships earlier in the month. She started the race strong, breaking away on the first long climb and then using her descending skills to further open a gap on the first lap. Behind, Batty, Katerina Nash (Luna), Jenny Rissveds (Scott-Odlo) and Lea Davison (Specialized) took up the early chase. Pendrel had got caught in traffic, but was working her way towards the front.

Rissveds, who had crashed heavily a week earlier pulled out after having difficulty on the descents with her injured wrist. Davison also crashed and fell off the pace, but Batty and Nash were chasing together until Batty dropped the Czech rider. By the fourth lap, Pendrel was up to third, and both she and Batty were closing on Neff, as she nursed a flat down the descent to the tech zone.

Batty took the lead as they started the final lap, but was soon joined by both Neff and Pendrel. Pendrel upped the pace on the climb, with Batty getting gapped, and then Neff attacked and Pendrel could not respond.

"I wasn't sure how I would feel on the final climb," said Neff, "because on the earlier laps I could just ride my own pace. But I had some energy left, so I was able to attack and go well. I'm not yet back at 100%, so today I really didn't know before the race how I was going to feel. So, I am extremely happy to have done so well and that I could ride. I am really looking forward to recover completely."

Annika Langvad (Specialized), the winner of the first two rounds and the World Cup leader, was never in contention, and was covered in mud after the second lap; clearly having difficulty with the descents and finishing 15th. Langvad continues to lead with 576 points, but Pendrel is now only 66 points behind, making the competition tight for the second half of the season. Linda Indergand (Focus XC) is a distant third, at 373 points, only 8 points in front of Batty.  

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