Neff wins Albstadt World Cup

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World champion Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing) rode away from the rest of the women's field in Round 2 of the Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday, in Albstadt, Germany, taking both the event win and donning the leader's jersey for the series.

Rain through the week and on the morning of the race made the circuit muddy and slick, with almost every rider crashing at least once on the steep and technical descents. Neff seemed to relish the conditions, and was already 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field by the end of the start loop.

Alessandra Keller (Thomus-RN Racing) spent most of the racing chasing solo in second place, until the final lap, when she was caught by defending World Cup champion Yana Belomoina (CST Sandd American Eagle) and Anne Tauber (CST Sandd American Eagle), who took second and third, still over two minutes behind Neff.

"The conditions were my best friend today," said Neff. "When I heard that it was going to be muddy and rainy, I was the happiest person on earth. I love these conditions and I love mountain biking. Today, we had a real mountain bike race and I loved every second. A two-minute gap [over second place] was my goal. I knew the conditions were going to play in my favour. It was like La Bresse [France] a couple years ago, we had similar conditions and I loved it. I knew if I could be the first through the downhills I could use it to my advantage. I just tried to be in front and from there it went all smooth."

Neff jumped from sixth to first in the standings with 480 points, while round 1 winner Annika Langvad (Specialized) fell to second after struggling in the muddy conditions, finishing 29th. Tauber remains in third place.

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