Neff secures World Cup win in Nove Mesto

Defending women's World Cup champion Jolanda Neff (Stoeckli) retained the number one race plate after her win in this year's series opener at Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, on Sunday.

After raining through the night, conditions gradually cleared throughout the day. However, the rain had soaked the course, and rocky sections quickly became mud covered and slippery, leading to many crashes.

Neff had her usual fast start to open a 15-second lead by the end of the start loop. Leading the chase was legendary Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida), who took her first World Cup victory 19 years earlier. With Dahle Flesjaa were defending Nove Mesto champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Rabobank Liv) and Annika Langvad (Specialized).

Dahle Flesjaa joined Neff on the first lap, and the two rode away from the rest of the field, with Langvad settling into third and Ferrand-Prevot in fourth. World champion Catharine Pendrel (Luna) worked her way up to fifth, but was already 49 seconds down after a lap. The race held this pattern until the final lap, when Neff dropped Dahle Flesjaa, only to see the Norwegian battle back to within a second by the finish line. Langvad crashed in the final lap, allowing both Ferrand-Prevot and Pendrel to get by her.

"It was really hard and it feels unreal," commented Neff. "I didn't believe it until I really crossed the line. I am really happy how it went today. Once she [Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa] even got a gap on me, but I caught her back. In the last lap I really rode as fast as I could. I knew if I went into the downhill first I had a good chance of taking the win.

"It was really important to start the season with a win. Nove Mesto means really a lot to me. In 2011 I won a junior World Cup, in 2012 the under-23 and now I finally win the elite. It feels absolutely amazing."

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