Ferrand Prevot wins women's cross country at Albstadt World Cup

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Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Liv Pro XC), showed that her win last weekend in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, in the round 3 of the cross country World Cup was no fluke, by recording her second victory in a row in Albstadt, Germany, on Sunday.

The women's seven-lap race saw Ferrand Prevot shoot into the lead on the first lap, never to relinquish it. By the end of lap one, she was almost 30 seconds ahead, and continued to set the fastest lap times through the race, to win by nearly three minutes.

Behind, Gunn Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida) moved into second place on lap two, but her lead over a chase group containing World Cup leader Jolanda Neff (Liv Pro XC), Catharine Pendrel (Luna), Tanja Zakelj (Unior Tools), Adelheid Morath (Sabine Spitz Haibike) and Maja Wloszczowska (Liv Pro XC), was never more than 30 seconds.

Dahle Flesjaa managed to hold on for second, while Neff made a last lap surge to take third and pad her lead in the overall standings.

"I felt a little pressure before the start," said Ferrand Prevot, "so I tried to relax. I started fast and I felt good. I am very, very happy to take my second win. I had a small crash before the finish, but it was nothing really. I was not so fresh and just lost some concentration."

Ferrand Prevot will now return to the road, and will not mountain bike again until Worlds.

Behind, Pendrel commented that she felt like she was "stuck in a Liv Giant sandwich". With Ferrand Prevot's teammates Neff and Wloszczowska in the chase group but not contributing to the chase, it was left to Pendrel and Morath to do the work.

Neff now leads the overall World Cup standings after four of seven races with 650 points. Dahle Flesjaa jumped to second from sixth, and now has 560 points, with Ferrand Prevot moving into third with 500 points.

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