Ineos Grenadiers’ Pauline Ferrand-Prévot rode to a dominant solo victory in Nové Město na Moravě, besting Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) and Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon) for the top step of the podium in the Frenchwoman’s first World Cup XCO race of the season.
It was also a return to the World Cup for Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who raced on the road instead of traveling to the first two rounds in Brazil. Pieterse put pressure on the doubletrack climb during the startloop, but it was Ferrand-Prévot who led into the singletrack descent. She was followed by World Cup series leader Batten, Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV), and Martina Berta (Santa Cruz-RockShox).
Batten brought back the Frenchwoman heading into the first full lap and Pieterse and Berta joined the lead group. Ferrand-Prévot immediately got to work in distancing the others, gaining a double digit lead.
Batten and Pieterse gave chase, but Batten faded and was overtaken by Alessandra Keller and Specialized’s Laura Stigger. Keller, a previous World Cup overall winner, looked the strongest up Nové Město’s brutal technical climbs. Pieterse eventually faded as well, potentially paying for her earlier efforts.
Meanwhile, Ferrand-Prévot rode as if she was unbothered by the rest of the field, bolstering her lead by over a minute.
Batten and Pieterse both caught the chasing duo of Keller and Stigger heading into the penultimate lap, and Batten attacked into second position. As Ferrand-Prévot prepared to cross the line in victory, Pieterse’s rear wheel washed out on a technical climb during the last lap, putting Keller in a prime spot for third place.
Brief Analysis
- Ferrand-Prévot’s victory was reminiscent of her World Championship performance last year where she rode away from the field early in the race to take the win in Scotland. The win today primes her for a home-country Olympic Games where she will battle Lecomte for best French rider.
- Batten showed again her late-race form that allows her to surge to great results in the final laps of a race when many others falter from exhaustion.
- That being said, Batten and Pieterse both may have spent their matches too early in the race trying to mark Ferrand-Prévot.
- This is the first World Cup race of the season where we saw a long range solo victory. The previous rounds were much more tight and tactical at the front.
- The Olympic qualification period is about to close with nations set to announce their squads very soon.
Results
- Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Haley Batten (Specialized Factory)
- Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon)
- Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
- Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory)
- Candice Lill (privateer)
- Mona Mitterwallner (Cannondale Factory)
- Martina Berta (Santa Cruz-RockShox)
- Greta Seiwald (Decathlon-Ford)
- Nina Benz (Lexware)
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