Pauline Ferrand Prevot is the new MTB world champion

Right from the start the race went wild and the established riders immediately took the lead. The field was led by Canadian Haley Smith, in 2nd place Jolanda Neff, followed by American Kate Courtney and Australian Rebecca McConnell, in 5th place Dutch Anne Terpstra, in 7th Linda Indergand, in 8th Jenny Rissveds and in 9th the second Canadian Catherine Pendrel, who also wanted to deliver a great race at home. Quickly World Champion Kate Courtney took the lead and pulled ahead, tearing the field apart. Shortly after, Anne Terpstra snatched the lead, a back and forth in the lead work until Jolanda Neff broke away in the technical part and took the lead. She crossed the finish line first, with Kate Courtney and Rebecca McConnell close behind, Terpstra already 15 seconds behind, Rissveds already 23 seconds. Thus, the trio pulled away more and more. When crossing the finish line for lap 2, McConnell led ahead of Neff with a gap of already 26 seconds to third-placed American Courtney and 35 seconds to Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand Prevot, who had suddenly moved up to 6th place. Jenny Rissveds in 8th place was already 56 seconds behind. In the 3rd lap, Australian McConnell even managed to pull away a bit and Frenchwoman Ferrand Prevot closed the gap to 22 seconds. After the third lap the Australian crossed the finish line with a proud gap of 18 seconds on the Swiss Neff, McConnell seemed determined to win the World Championship at this point. Twelve seconds later, Ferrand Prevot had already rolled across the finish line, significantly closing the gap to Neff. American Kate Courtney was already a minute behind in 6th place. The Frenchwoman came closer and closer to the Swiss with big steps until she stuck to the rear wheel of Jolanda Neff in the middle of the 4th lap. In a climb, the Frenchwoman then suddenly pulled up and left Neff standing to catch up with the leading Australian, who had already opened up a considerable gap of 30 seconds. The Frenchwoman pushed and pulled constantly and suddenly the leading Australian Rebecca McConnell was also within striking distance. At the end of lap 4, the Frenchwoman attacked again on a climb, got up and pedaled hard to pass the Australian and take the lead in the world championship race.

After one hour Ferrand Prevot rolled over the finish line to enter the 5th and penultimate lap, three seconds behind Australian McConnell, 41 seconds behind Jolanda Neff, 1:08 min behind Anne Terpstra. The Frenchwoman now began to extend her lead and Neff tried to close the gap to McConnell. Among these three riders the medals should probably be awarded, but there were still a little less than two laps to go. The Frenchwoman started the last lap with an impressive gap of 41 seconds to the Australian McConnell, who probably now had to pay tribute to her strong race. Jolanda Neff still in 3rd place had caught up with the Australian with a gap of 1:02 min to just 21 seconds. The chance to catch the Australian was absolutely intact. Anne Terpstra, with a gap of 1:47 min. to the leader, was already too far behind for her or the mountain bikers behind her to have had any chance of winning a medal. And Jolanda Neff actually managed to close the gap to the car racer more and more, although McConnell was always fighting and pedaling with pressure. Would it be enough? At this point it was clear Ferrand Prevot was too far away and was clearly going for gold, but between the two chasers the race for silver was on. After 1 hour and 22 minutes the time had come, Neff stuck to the rear wheel of McConnell and in a narrow climb with numerous hairpin bends the Swiss waited for the right moment to pass the struggling Australian and immediately put a clear gap between herself and her chaser, which she was able to quickly extend. Now the medal places were set.

Pauline Ferrand Prevot was the first to cross the finish line after 1:28:51 hrs to celebrate her world title. With a gap of 43 seconds, Jolanda Neff took the silver medal. Rebecca McConnell rolled across the finish line after 1:17 min to grab the bronze medal. What a great success for the Australian. After 2:26 min. Anne Terpstra made it to the finish line, closely followed by Kate Courtney with a gap of 2:42 min. As the fastest Canadian Emily Batty crossed the finish line with a gap of 3:59 min. Somewhat behind in 14th place Canada's Catherine Pendrel and in 16th place with a gap of 5:51 min Sweden's Jenny Rissveds, she had certainly hoped for more. The World Championship has produced a new and deserved World Champion, who had run her race very intelligently and tactically, timing her race well without looking at the lead. The perseverance, the good rhythm, the determination and the strong form were in the end decisive for her outstanding victory.