Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV) took a convincing win in Lenzerheide, Switzerland at the second round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cross-country Olympic World Cup.
Lecomte powered away from compatriot Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) on the final lap of the rooty, technical course.
But in the end it was Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory Racing) who would take second and Alessandra Keller (Thomus Maxon) third after Ferrand-Prevot faded at the last.
The top 10 were bunched together early on with France’s Lecomte on the front but as they reached the halfway stage the European champion had moved back and Swiss national champion Keller was leading the way.
Lecomte found another gear to drop the field
However Lecomte and World Champion Ferrand-Prevot attacked Keller and re-took the lead. That trio and Terpstra battled all the way until the final two laps. Nove Mesto winner Puck Pieterse (Alpecin Deceunik) was in the bunch early on but gradually dropped back as the gruelling pace lifted.
The gap between the leading four extended coming into the final lap, with Ferrand-Prevot on the front and Lecomte just behind as Terpstra and Keller lost time.
But it was Lecomte who had the legs, finding the power to crack the World Champion and pull away. Terpstra also managed to get past a flagging Ferrand-Prevot who was also bested by Keller a few metres from the line.
Missed any of the action? Full replays from this weekends race are available globally on GCN+ here.
