Jolanda Neff (Liv Pro XC) won the first elite World Cup of her career in the women's race at the first round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on Sunday.
The 5.7-kilometre course is completely new from the one riders saw last fall at the world championships, and most riders considered it to be harder. It challenged riders with technical rock gardens and jumps, and gave them no chance to rest with multiple climbs per lap. The heat also took its toll, particularly during the women's race in the early afternoon.
Neff, the under 23 world champion in Pietermaritzburg last fall, chose to ride with the elite field this season, and she came into the race as a favourite after dominating early season races in Europe. She did not disappoint, jumping to an early lead on the first of five laps, and did not relinquish the front spot for the rest of the race.
The young Swiss rider had a bit of a scare on the second lap when a moment's inattention led to a crash, forcing her to stop and straighten her saddle, but she managed to hold onto the lead by a slim nine seconds over a chasing Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida), who was shadowed by Neff's teammate Maja Wloszczowska.
Once Neff had stopped and banged her saddle straight, she extended her lead slowly over the remainder of the race to finish 25 seconds ahead of Dahle Flesjaa, with Wloszczowska taking third, a minute down on her teammate.
"I had a crash on the second lap after I had a lead of over a minute and when I crashed I lost a lot of time and hurt myself, and my saddle was out of place so I had to get off and fix it," Neff said. "It is not the best thing that can happen, but I was happy that I could find the rhythm again in the next lap and keep the lead until the finish line."
"It is such an amazing feeling; I knew that I was in good shape after I had a really good winter, where I could do a lot of good training, so I knew my shape was good. It is always really special when you can put it together when it counts, and it is amazing that I could do it today."
In the under 23 race held earlier in the day, Swedish national champion JennyRissveds (Scott-Odlo) took the title.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jolanda Neff* (Swi) Liv Pro XC Team | 1:38:00 |
| 2 | Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 0:00:25 |
| 3 | Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Liv Pro XC Team | 0:01:00 |
| 4 | Annika Langvad (Den) Specialized Racing XC | 0:01:37 |
| 5 | Alexandra Engen (Swe) Ghost Factory Racing | 0:01:55 |
| 6 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | 0:02:04 |
| 7 | Irina Kalentieva (Rus) | 0:02:08 |
| 8 | Julie Bresset (Fra) BH-Suntour-KMC | 0:02:48 |
| 9 | Emily Batty (Can) Trek Factory Racing | 0:03:05 |
| 10 | Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Specialized Racing XC | 0:03:27 |
| 11 | Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Feenstra Felt Pb Kenda Bike Team | 0:04:08 |
| 12 | Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Ghost Factory Racing | 0:04:18 |
| 13 | Eva Lechner (Ita) Team Colnago Sudtirol | 0:04:43 |
| 14 | Tanja Zakelj (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 0:05:00 |
| 15 | Katrin Leumann (Swi) Ghost Factory Racing | 0:06:10 |
| 16 | Rebecca Henderson (Aus) Trek Factory Racing | 0:06:38 |
| 17 | Corina Gantenbein (Swi) Fischer-BMC | 0:08:58 |
| 18 | Hanna Klein (Ger) BH-Suntour-KMC | 0:09:22 |
| 19 | Mariske Strauss (RSA) Orange Monkey Pro Team | 0:11:14 |
| 20 | Esther Süss (Swi) Wheeler - Ixs Team | 0:11:39 |
| 21 | Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Pro Team | 0:12:00 |
| 22 | Paula Gorycka (Pol) 4F Racing Team | 0:12:21 |
| 23 | Serena Calvetti (Ita) | 0:13:02 |
| 24 | Michelle Hediger (Swi) Fischer-BMC | 0:13:21 |
| 25 | Kathrin Stirnemann (Swi) Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | 0:13:35 |
| 26 | Karen Hanlen (NZl) | 0:13:59 |
| 27 | Barbara Benko (Hun) Focus XC Team | 0:14:16 |
| 28 | Vera Andreeva (Rus) | 0:14:31 |
| 29 | Tracy Moseley (GBr) | 0:16:46 |
| 30 | Cindy Montambault (Can) | 0:17:13 |
| 31 | Tory Thomas (Aus) | 0:19:43 |
| -1lap | Ekateryna Anoshina (Rus) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
| -2laps | Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Adelheid Morath (Ger) Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Lene Byberg (Nor) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Cherie Vale (RSA) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Jenni King (Aus) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liv Pro XC Team | 72 | pts |
| 2 | Ghost Factory Racing | 63 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Specialized Racing XC | 51 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Trek Factory Racing | 37 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | BH-Suntour-KMC | 36 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Multivan Merida Biking Team | 35 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | 32 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Fischer-BMC | 21 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Feenstra Felt Pb Kenda Bike Team | 20 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Team Colnago Sudtirol | 18 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Unior Tools Team | 17 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Orange Monkey Pro Team | 12 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Wheeler - Ixs Team | 11 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Luna Pro Team | 10 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | 4F Racing Team | 9 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Focus XC Team | 4 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jolanda Neff* (Swi) Liv Pro XC Team | 250 | pts |
| 2 | Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 200 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Liv Pro XC Team | 160 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Annika Langvad (Den) Specialized Racing XC | 150 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Alexandra Engen (Swe) Ghost Factory Racing | 140 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | 130 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Irina Kalentieva (Rus) | 120 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Julie Bresset (Fra) BH-Suntour-KMC | 110 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Emily Batty (Can) Trek Factory Racing | 100 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Specialized Racing XC | 95 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Feenstra Felt Pb Kenda Bike Team | 90 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Ghost Factory Racing | 85 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Eva Lechner (Ita) Team Colnago Sudtirol | 80 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Tanja Zakelj (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 78 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Katrin Leumann (Swi) Ghost Factory Racing | 76 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Rebecca Henderson (Aus) Trek Factory Racing | 74 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Ekateryna Anoshina (Rus) | 42 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) | 40 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liv Pro XC Team | 72 | pts |
| 2 | Ghost Factory Racing | 63 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Specialized Racing XC | 51 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Trek Factory Racing | 37 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | BH-Suntour-KMC | 36 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Multivan Merida Biking Team | 35 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | 32 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Fischer-BMC | 21 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Feenstra Felt Pb Kenda Bike Team | 20 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Team Colnago Sudtirol | 18 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Unior Tools Team | 17 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Orange Monkey Pro Team | 12 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Wheeler - Ixs Team | 11 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Luna Pro Team | 10 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | 4F Racing Team | 9 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Focus XC Team | 4 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
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