UCI MTB World Championships: Sweden's Jenny Rissveds earns first world title going solo in women's elite XCO contest

2016 Olympic games XCO champion Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) won her first world title in the cross-country discipline on Saturday at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland.

Samara Maxwell (New Zealand) finished 18 seconds back for sliver, while Switzerland's Alessandra Keller recovered from a crash on a descent just before the mid-point of the race and fought back for third, 56 seconds down.

Evie Richards (Great Britain) was 12 seconds off the pace in fourth place and USA's Savilia Blunk another 38 seconds back in fifth, one spot ahead of defending champion Puck Pieterse (Netherlands).

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The final podium reflected the same three elite women atop the UCI MTB World Cup standings for XCO, with series runner-up Rissveds getting the better of current series leader Maxwell in Crans Montana.

Rissveds, who earned the silver medal earlier the week in the elite women's XCC contest, grabbed the early lead with a small gap to a stellar bunch that included Maxwell, Keller, Pieterse, Evie Richards (Great Britain), Martina Berta (Italy) and Candice Lill (South Africa).

Maxwell grabbed the lead in front of Rissveds on the second lap, and then Keller took a turn at the front on flap four, but then fell on a rooty descent on the next lap and had to quickly work her way back toward the front. By that time, Rissveds had a 10-second gap on the Swiss rider and Maxwell, and 20 seconds on the Pieterse-Richards chasing duo.

The 31-year-old Swede claimed her first elite world championship title, nine years after her Olympic victory in Rio 2016.

“We all say that we want to become World Champion, it’s something we say from a very early age… but I think this year is the first year I really, really wanted it. It’s a pretty amazing feeling to achieve that,” Rissveds said.

“I knew that I was in good shape and I could manage to pull it off, but it was a close fight today, and I really had to keep believing in it.”

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