In the most difficult conditions imaginable, Ramona Forchini of Switzerland won the Under 23 Cross-country world title on Friday, in Vallnord, Andorra. Olga Terentyeva of Russia took silver and Jenny Rissveds of Sweden won the bronze medal.
Torrential rain began to fall shortly before the race began, making a course that was already muddy from a week of rain even worse. The mud and slippery rocks, combined with an altitude of nearly 2000 metres and the cold rain, put the winning time nearly 20 minutes higher then usual, with riders collapsing as they crossed the line.
Rissveds, the World Cup champion, got her usual strong start and opened a gap on the rest of the field. However, she was not riding in her usual dominating fashion, and Forchini and Terentyeva were steadily moving up. Forchini made contact on the second lap and moved into the lead a lap later. Terentyeva caught Rissveds partway through the final lap to take second.
