Dahle-Flesjå wins World Cup in Lenzerheide
Davison, Pendrel round out podium
Swiss hopes of victory on home soil were dashed on Sunday, at Round 3 of the Cross-country series of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano in Lenzerheide, when Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida) won a record 29th World Cup. Jolanda Neff (Stoeckli) continues to lead the women's overall standings, tied on points with Dahle Flesjaa.
The hot weather that has blanketed Lenzerheide all week continued for the cross-country, surpassing 30 degrees Celsius and making for dry, dusty conditions. Combined with the 1500 metre altitude and the technical track, riders faced some of the toughest conditions of the season.
Neff, who uses Lenzerheide as a training base, was the favourite for the women after two consecutive wins in the opening rounds, and she did not disappoint the thousands of Swiss fans, by attacking on the first climb and opening a gap on newly crowned Marathon world champion Dahle Flesjaa and world champion Catharine Pendrel (Luna).
However, within half a lap the two chasers had caught and dropped her, with Neff dropping back out of the top-10 and clearly struggling with the conditions. The European Games champion admitted afterwards that she may have gone out too hard and paid the price.
At the front, Dahle Flesjaa and Pendrel rode together until the fourth lap of the six lap race, when Pendrel slid out in a loose corner, enabling the Norwegian to open a gap. Dahle Flesjaa rode away to win her 29th World Cup; a record number for women and moving her ahead of American star of the 1990's Juliana Furtado.
Behind, Pendrel never seemed to regain her rhythm after her slip and was eventually overtaken for second by American champion Lea Davison (Specialized). Neff managed to recover to take fourth behind Pendrel.
"This win means a lot," revealed Dahle Flesjaa. "I dedicate this 29th victory to my coach, my best friend and my husband, Kenneth. Today we both had an amazing day, we knew I was in good shape after a tough week recovering from the [Marathon] Worlds. This is just an unbelievable day for both of us."
"Normally, I'm not too much affected by the heat and I tried to drink as much as possible, but today it was not so much my legs as my lungs that had the pain. So I had to watch my pace and not overdo it, because the legs wanted more then the head and the lungs could give."
Neff and Dahle Flesjaa are tied atop the overall standings with 650 points each, but Neff retains the jersey by virtue of more wins. Pendrel remains in third with 470 points, followed by Davison, who jumps to fourth from eighth with 420 points.
Full results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 1:32:15 |
2 | Lea Davison (USA) Specialized Racing | 0:01:00 |
3 | Catharine Pendrel (Can) Luna Pro Team | 0:01:36 |
4 | Jolanda Neff (Swi) Stoeckli Pro Team | 0:02:05 |
5 | Irina Kalentyeva (Rus) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team | 0:02:12 |
6 | Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Kross Racing Team | 0:02:41 |
7 | Emily Batty (Can) Trek Factory Racing | 0:02:59 |
8 | Eva Lechner (Ita) Team Colnago Sudtirol | 0:03:32 |
9 | Annika Langvad (Den) Specialized Racing | 0:03:44 |
10 | Annie Last (GBr) | 0:04:19 |
11 | Yana Belomoina (Ukr) Betch.Nl Superior Brentjens MTB Racing Team | 0:04:40 |
12 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) | 0:05:09 |
13 | Anne Terpstra (Ned) Habitat Mountainbiketeam | 0:05:20 |
14 | Lisa Mitterbauer (Aut) Habitat Mountainbiketeam | 0:05:52 |
15 | Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) Rose Vaujany Fueled By Ultrasports | 0:06:05 |
16 | Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Habitat Mountainbiketeam | 0:07:01 |
17 | Chloe Woodruff (USA) | 0:07:19 |
18 | Tanja Zakelj (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 0:08:01 |
19 | Kate Fluker (NZl) | 0:08:30 |
20 | Helen Grobert (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing | 0:08:43 |
21 | Linda Indergand (Swi) Focus XC Team | 0:09:00 |
22 | Ariane Kleinhans (Swi) | 0:09:01 |
23 | Esther Suss (Swi) Wheeler - Ixs Team | |
24 | Githa Michiels (Bel) Versluys Team | 0:09:12 |
25 | Mary Mcconneloug (USA) | 0:09:25 |
26 | Rebecca Henderson (Aus) Trek Factory Racing | 0:09:50 |
27 | Corina Gantenbein (Swi) Haibike Oetztal Pro Team | 0:10:05 |
28 | Karla Stepanova (Cze) | 0:10:15 |
29 | Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Ghost Factory Racing | 0:10:29 |
30 | Katrin Leumann (Swi) Ghost Factory Racing | 0:10:51 |
31 | Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) | 0:11:13 |
32 | Sabrina Enaux (Fra) | 0:11:37 |
33 | Adelheid Morath (Ger) BH-Sr Suntour-KMC | 0:12:12 |
34 | Laura Metzler (Fra) Btwin MTB Racing Team | |
35 | Marine Groccia (Swi) | |
36 | Cherie Vale (RSA) Novus Omx Pro Team | |
37 | Alice Pirard (Bel) Merida-Wallonie Mountain Bike Team | |
38 | Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Superior MTB Team | |
39 | Rocio Martin Rodriguez (Spa) | |
40 | Barbara Benko (Hun) Focus XC Team | |
41 | Nina Wrobel (Ger) | |
42 | Nadine Rieder (Ger) | |
43 | Anna Villar Argente (Spa) | |
44 | Peta Mullens (Aus) | |
45 | Hanna Klein (Ger) BH-Sr Suntour-KMC | |
46 | Florence Darbellay (Swi) | |
47 | Marta Pastore (Ita) Team Piemonte Fci | |
48 | Aurelia Perry (Fra) | |
49 | Michelle Hediger (Swi) Giant Swiss Team | |
50 | Lucia Vazquez Crespo (Spa) | |
51 | Kerry Macphee (GBr) | |
52 | Fabienne Schaus (Lux) | |
53 | Nicky Healy (GBr) | |
54 | Samara Sheppard (NZl) | |
55 | Sarah Riley (Aus) | |
56 | Eliza Kwan (Aus) | |
57 | Ekateryna Anoshina (Rus) Rusvelo | |
DNF | Jitka Skarnitzlova (Cze) | |
DNF | Kathrin Stirnemann (Swi) Haibike Oetztal Pro Team |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jolanda Neff (Swi) Stoeckli Pro Team | 650 | pts |
2 | Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 650 | |
3 | Catharine Pendrel (Can) Luna Pro Team | 470 | |
4 | Lea Davison (USA) Specialized Racing | 420 | |
5 | Irina Kalentyeva (Rus) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team | 390 | |
6 | Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Kross Racing Team | 365 | |
7 | Emily Batty (Can) Trek Factory Racing | 355 | |
8 | Annika Langvad (Den) Specialized Racing | 318 | |
9 | Helen Grobert (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing | 296 | |
10 | Rebecca Henderson (Aus) Trek Factory Racing | 274 | |
11 | Eva Lechner (Ita) Team Colnago Sudtirol | 254 | |
12 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) | 245 | |
13 | Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Habitat Mountainbiketeam | 237 | |
14 | Linda Indergand (Swi) Focus XC Team | 234 | |
15 | Annie Last (GBr) | 233 | |
16 | Esther Suss (Swi) Wheeler - Ixs Team | 221 | |
17 | Yana Belomoina (Ukr) Betch.Nl Superior Brentjens MTB Racing Team | 220 | |
18 | Tanja Zakelj (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 202 | |
19 | Githa Michiels (Bel) Versluys Team | 196 | |
20 | Anne Terpstra (Ned) Habitat Mountainbiketeam | 190 | |
21 | Chloe Woodruff (USA) | 178 | |
22 | Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) Rose Vaujany Fueled By Ultrasports | 174 | |
23 | Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra) Raboliv | 160 | |
24 | Barbara Benko (Hun) Focus XC Team | 160 | |
25 | Adelheid Morath (Ger) BH-Sr Suntour-KMC | 138 | |
26 | Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Pro Team | 134 | |
27 | Kate Fluker (NZl) | 134 | |
28 | Corina Gantenbein (Swi) Haibike Oetztal Pro Team | 133 | |
29 | Karla Stepanova (Cze) | 117 | |
30 | Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Ghost Factory Racing | 116 | |
31 | Peta Mullens (Aus) | 114 | |
32 | Marine Groccia (Swi) | 110 | |
33 | Alice Pirard (Bel) Merida-Wallonie Mountain Bike Team | 105 | |
34 | Erin Huck (USA) Scott-3Rox Racing | 104 | |
35 | Mary Mcconneloug (USA) | 95 | |
36 | Lisa Mitterbauer (Aut) Habitat Mountainbiketeam | 90 | |
37 | Sabrina Enaux (Fra) | 89 | |
38 | Hanna Klein (Ger) BH-Sr Suntour-KMC | 87 | |
39 | Nina Wrobel (Ger) | 85 | |
40 | Katrin Leumann (Swi) Ghost Factory Racing | 82 | |
41 | Isabella Moreira Lacerda (Bra) | 77 | |
42 | Ekateryna Anoshina (Rus) Rusvelo | 77 | |
43 | Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) | 75 | |
44 | Jovana Crnogorac (Srb) Salcano Cappadocia | 70 | |
45 | Raiza Goulao-Henrique (Bra) | 66 | |
46 | Anna Oberparleiter (Ita) | 65 | |
47 | Ariane Kleinhans (Swi) | 62 | |
48 | Kathrin Stirnemann (Swi) Haibike Oetztal Pro Team | 61 | |
49 | Laura Metzler (Fra) Btwin MTB Racing Team | 60 | |
50 | Chengyuan Ren (Chn) China Jiangsu Zgl MTB Team | 58 | |
51 | Janka Keseg Stevkova (Svk) | 58 | |
52 | Sandra Walter (Can) | 52 | |
53 | Anna Villar Argente (Spa) | 49 | |
54 | Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Pol) | 48 | |
55 | Jitka Skarnitzlova (Cze) | 45 | |
56 | Cherie Vale (RSA) Novus Omx Pro Team | 43 | |
57 | Rocio Martin Rodriguez (Spa) | 43 | |
58 | Agustina Maria Apaza (Arg) | 43 | |
59 | Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Superior MTB Team | 40 | |
60 | Mikaela Kofman (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing | 38 | |
61 | Nadine Rieder (Ger) | 35 | |
62 | Aurelia Perry (Fra) | 33 | |
63 | Serena Calvetti (Ita) | 32 | |
64 | Florence Darbellay (Swi) | 32 | |
65 | Hielke Elferink (Ned) | 29 | |
66 | Paula Gorycka (Pol) 4F-Scott Racing Team | 26 | |
67 | Cindy Montambault (Can) | 26 | |
68 | Marta Pastore (Ita) Team Piemonte Fci | 21 | |
69 | Pavlina Sulcova (Cze) | 21 | |
70 | Nataliia Krompets (Ukr) Isd MTB Team | 20 | |
71 | Michelle Hediger (Swi) Giant Swiss Team | 19 | |
72 | Lucia Vazquez Crespo (Spa) | 18 | |
73 | Kerry Macphee (GBr) | 17 | |
74 | Fabienne Schaus (Lux) | 16 | |
75 | Nicky Healy (GBr) | 15 | |
76 | Samara Sheppard (NZl) | 14 | |
77 | Sarah Riley (Aus) | 13 | |
78 | Eliza Kwan (Aus) | 12 | |
79 | Mariske Strauss (RSA) Novus Omx Pro Team | 12 | |
80 | Lucie Vesela (Cze) Gt Bikeplac Opportunity | 8 |
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