August 2/19 12:47 pm - Neff Takes Val di Sole Short Track Win, Smith 17th

Posted by Editoress on 08/2/19
 

Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory) took the second short track win of her career on Friday at Round 5 of the Mountain Bike World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy. For the first time in the history of the short track, riders faced wet conditions, with steady day-long rain making the 1.1 kilometre circuit very muddy and slippery.

After a short opening start loop, Rebecca McConnell (Primaflora Mondraker Rotor) the lead on the first of eight laps. However, she was supplanted on the second by Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Canyon Factory), who would lead for the next three laps. Sina Frei (Ghost Factory) took the lead on Lap 4 with an attack on the climb, and did again on the next lap, with only Neff able to respond. The two Swiss riders rode together until the final lap, when Neff attacked on the last climb. She opened a gap but then spun out in the mud, allowing Frei to rejoin her. However, Neff attacked again on the descent and this time managed to stay away. Ferrand Prevot took third.

"I had a really bad slip on the last uphill," said Neff, "and Sina caught me back; she rode such an amazing race, so much courage just to go for it. I can't believe I won because these uphills are super hard. I tried not to think about the overall, I just knew I needed to ride as good as I could."

Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro) was the top Canadian for most of the race, racing in the top ten for the first four laps before sliding back to finish 18th, one spot behind Haley Smith (Norco Factory). Emily Batty (Trek Factory) was 26th and Sandra Walter (Team Canada) 29th.

With her win, combined with World Cup leader Kate Courtney's (Scott-SRAM) tenth place, Neff cut Courtney's lead in the overall standings to 95 points from 175. Smith remains tenth overall with 579 points, while Pendrel moves up to one spot to 12th. Batty remains 22nd and Walter 31st.

Results