World champion Courtney doubles up in Les Gets

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Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM) re-established her dominance in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup with her third XCO win in four rounds on Sunday in Les Gets, France. Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory) recovered from over-extending herself in the first lap to finish second, while Germany's Elizabeth Brandau had her best-ever World Cup finish with third.

After faltering at the 2,000-metre altitude in Andorra last weekend, Courtney showed that she remains the strongest woman in the cross-country this season at the slightly lower 1,200 metres in Les Gets. Neff had her usual fast start, but then slowed on the climbs, dropping nearly a minute back of the lead group.

Courtney attacked out of the group, and had a 14-second gap by the start of the second lap. The chase was led by Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Canyon Factory), who was joined by Brandau, Sina Frei (Ghost Factory), Italian champion Eva Lechner and, remarkably, 2016 Olympic champion Jenny Rissveds (Sweden), who came up from starting nine rows back. Rissveds went right through the group and up to Courtney, but almost immediately faded after her effort, eventually finishing ninth.

In front, Courtney was steadily riding her way to victory, but behind her was a battle for the podium spots. Rissveds was caught by Frei and Ferrand Prevot by the fourth lap, with Neff joining them late in the lap and attacking to move into second. Courtney appeared to be slowing, as Neff moved to within 30 seconds by the start of the penultimate sixth lap, but the world champion was merely managing her effort, and maintained the gap for the rest of the race.

Brandau joined Frei and Ferrand Prevot in the chase, and then got a slight gap on Frei after Ferrand Prevot had a small crash.

"Today I just rode my own race and focused on the objectives," said Courtney. "I'm really happy it worked out. It’s been a really good weekend, but I'm new to this, so I'm learning to focus on just one race at a time and not let the pressure get to me.

“Of course, having a rider like Jolanda, who is so strong on the climbs and a maniac on the descents, put some pressure on, but I just tried to stay focused and keep on the gas,” she said.

Courtney, after winning both the XCC (short track) on Friday and the XCO, extended her lead in the overall standings to 175 points over Neff. Terpstra, despite finishing seventh, remains third, while Brandau has jumped from 11th to fourth. 

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