Ferrand-Prévot wins Snowshoe World Cup

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The 2019 Mountain Bike World Cup concluded on Sunday with the seventh and final round of the cross-country, held at Snowshoe, West Virginia.  The women's race had two battles underway - for the race win and for the overall title.  New world champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Canyon Factory) won the race, while American Kate Courtney (Scott SRAM) made a dramatic come from behind race before a partisan crowd to finish fifth and win the overall title after series leader Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory) could only manage 11th.

The short, 3.8 kilometre circuit resulted in fast and unrelenting racing.  Neff led out the start but soon faded, while a group of seven formed at the front, including Ferrand Prevot, Courtney, Rebecca McConnell (Primaflora Mondrake Rotor), Jenny Rissveds (Team 31), Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory), American national champion Chloe Woodruff and Annie Last (KMC-Ekoi-Orbea).  Woodruff, McConnell and Courtney could not manage the pace of the other four, and were left to battle for fifth.  Terpstra attacked, with Rissveds and Ferrand Prevot chasing, before Rissveds suffered a flat, eventually finishing seventh.  Ferrand Prevot chased Terpstra down on the last lap to take the win, her fifth World Cup victory, with Terpstra holding on for second ahead of Last, and McConnell taking fourth in front of Courtney.

"In the last lap, I was ten seconds behind Terpstra," said Ferrand Prevot, "and I thought I was going for second place.  But I never gave up and was able to come back and win the sprint.  I was not too good in the first two World Cups, so to finish third [overall] is a good result.  I really didn't imagine I could have such a good year, so I am really proud of myself and my team."

"Today was all-in," said Courtney.  "I knew that I needed to put in a really good ride, but also put distance between Jolanda and I.  So it was do-or-die; and go as hard as I could from the start, and then hang on until the finish, fighting for every spot.  This was a huge mental victory.  It's been a fight all season, so to win [the title] in the United States was incredible."

Courtney finished the season with 1772 points, 30 ahead of Neff after coming into the final race with a 20 point deficit.  Ferrand Prevot took third, ahead of Terpstra, with McConnell finishing fifth.

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