Langvad solos to Val di Sole victory

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Jolanda Neff (Stoeckli Pro Team) successfully defended her World Cup by finishing second to Annika Langvad (Specialized) in the sixth and final round of the Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday, in Val di Sole, Italy.

Rain overnight had turned much of the course into sticky mud - referred to by one team manager as 'velcro'. The mud was transferred to many of the rocky sections, making them slippery and treacherous, and causing numerous crashes.

The start of the race followed a pattern fans are all to used to seeing - Neff pulling away with a fast start, forcing everyone else to chase. Langvad and world champion Catharine Pendrel (Luna) took up the chase, limiting Neff to a handful of seconds on the opening half-lap start loop, but then Pendrel began to fade, leaving Langvad alone in the chase.

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The Danish rider joined Neff by the halfway mark in the race and immediately went to the front to set the pace on the climbs, with Neff only able to keep up by coming back on the descents. On the penultimate lap Langvad broke clear for good, pulling away to win by nearly a minute.

Behind, Pendrel was first caught by Irina Kalentyeva (Moebel Maerki), who then moved solo into third place, which she held to line. A chase group followed containing Maja Wloszczowska (Kross Racing), Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing), Adelheid Morath (BH-SR Suntour-KMC), Lea Davison (Specialized), Blaza Klemencic (Habitat Mountain Bike) and Eva Lechner (Colnago Sudtirol). This group dropped Pendrel and then it became a race of attrition, with Wloszczowska getting away first to take fourth, followed by Batty in fifth.

"I must say I can't believe it," stated Langvad. "It felt so good out there today. Last weekend I did a race in Leadville [USA] at three thousand metres. This entire week I was filled with jet lag, I was exhausted, didn't sit much on my bike. I thought 'OK, I'll do this race for the points, for going for the overall team award'. Even yesterday I did some intensity on the course and I thought 'whoo, I'm tired'. So I started out with very low expectations. Then, all of a sudden, I felt really good. When you catch a good wave, you just have to stay with that feeling."

"You've all seen how I have been struggling the last few World Cups with crashes, lack of concentration. But, this race, I actually put it all together. I had a little bit of a mistake on the second last lap, but I kept it together. I am so happy. I am beyond words."

"The last two laps I really had to put the hammer down. I could see Jolanda was struggling and I had to put it to my advantage. But when you go over your limit, you go a little bit cross eyed, especially going into the downhill part. But still, I kept it together. I really wanted the win and the tears came into my eyes when I came to the last stretch and realized this is really going to happen. It is an amazing feeling."

The race shook up the standings behind Neff and Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida), who were secure in first and second overall. Third placed Pendrel dropped to fourth, Davison moved up to third, and Kalentyeva bumped Batty out of fifth. Batty dropped to seventh when Langvad's win propelled her into sixth.

"Oh yes, this was a really tough race for me," agreed Neff. "Really hard. Tough climbing. Yeah, it really was a hard race. But I'm really happy I could take the overall. It means a lot to me and to take it two times in a row, yeah it's amazing."

Neff, who is still an Under 23 rider, has been permission to race with the Elite field at the world championships in two weeks, and commented "Oh yeah I am [confident about Worlds]. I have been training really well last week. I will go back straight to high altitude now. I hope I can prepare well for the World Championships. I am looking forward a lot to race Elite."

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