Lecomte wins three in a row at women's Leogang World Cup

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Young French revelation Loana Lecomte (Massi) took her third straight cross-country World Cup (XCO) win on Sunday in Leogang, Austria, to solidify her lead in the overall standings, after also winning the Short Track (XCC) on Friday. Lecomte becomes the first women to win the opening three rounds of the World Cup season since the legendary Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa 15 years earlier.

Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) finished second and Laura Stigger (Specialized) third.

Leogang has been a stop on the Downhill circuit for many years, but this is the first time the XCO World Cup has taken place here. Last Fall, it hosted the World Championships, so riders weren't completely unprepared, but the long, steep climbs in the Austrian Alps quickly tore apart the fields.

The course suited Lecomte perfectly as a climber, and she took the lead before the end of the start loop and the first of five laps, never to relinquish it. Incredibly, she has led every lap of every World Cup race this season. She steadily powered away from the rest of the field to a gap of over two minutes, before slowing slightly on the last lap.

The more interesting race was behind, as five riders battled for the remaining podium spots - world champion Pauline Ferrand Prévot (Absolute-Absalon-BMC), Olympic champion Jenny Rissveds (Sweden), Austrian champion Laura Stigger (Specialized), Swiss champion Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory) and Australian champion Rebecca McConnell (Primaflora Mondraker XSauce).

All five, at various times, led the chase and attacked, before having to back off and recover. Rissveds rode more conservatively and it paid off on the last lap when she rode away to take second with the fastest split of the day, just in front of local favourite Stigger. Neff took fourth, showing a return to form following her serious crash of over a year ago, ahead of Ferrand Prévot.

"I'm very happy to have this shape [fitness]," said Lecomte, "I just prepare the best I can and it is enough. It's a little strange, because I have now won four World Cups as an Elite, but I never won a [UCI] Junior series race or an Under-23 World Cup."

Rissveds, who struggled with depression after her Olympic win and left the sport for two years, has now started to show the form that won her the Olympic title in 2016, a little more than a month before she will defend that title at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

"I've been struggling with my self-confidence the last couple of weeks, so this was a very good race for me," Rissveds said. "I've been practicing a lot lately to commit fully; it's very scary to go all-in because it hurts and there is a chance of making mistakes. So I've been practicing that, and I did that even today in the race, and I'm very happy with how it turned out."