Loana Lecomte landed back-to-back World Cup wins, following her Leogang result with a hard-fought victory in Lenzerheide on Sunday. The two wins couldn’t be more different, though. After one of her trademark solo efforts in Austria, the French woman was bogged down in a three-way battle with Jenny Rissveds and Alessandra Keller in Switzerland.
Canadians in Lenzerheide
Emily Batty (Canyon MTB) led the Canadian effort in the elite women’s race, finishing 19th. It’s Batty’s first top-20 finish this year, continuing her upward trajectory on the results sheet. Laurie Arseneault, Batty’s teammate on Canyon, followed in 36th. Sandra Walter (Liv Canada) in 48th, Cindy Montambault in 60th and Mackenzie Myatt in 66th round out the Canadian results.
Elite Women: A three-way race
2016 Olympic champion Jenny Rissveds (Team 31-Ibis) led off the line. Initially, it was Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory) marking the Swede. But, as gaps start opening, Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing) was quick to make passes and follow Rissveds. New French national champion Loana Lecomte (Canyon Cllctv) was the only other rider able to match Rissveds’ pace.
At the end of the start loop, as the riders headed out onto the first of five full laps, the field came back together. A group of 13 rode together, led by Alessandra Keller (Thomus Maxon). The Swiss champion’s pace again started to break up the field, taking Lecomte and Rissveds with her. Lecomte didn’t wait long before launching her own attack but wasn’t immediately able to shake the other two. Behind, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (BMC) chased solo before fading back to the chasing group.
Over the next three laps, none of the front three were able to shake off the other two and gain an advantage. Keller looked to lose touch momentarily, but the Swiss rider continued to fight back, buoyed by the support of a home crowd. What they did do was create a substantial 1:19-second gap to a chase group of Ferrand-Prevot, Neff, Tersptra and Martina Berta (Santa Cruz FSA) behind.
Finally, on lap four of five, Lecomte launched a furious attack. On the long, paved climb, the French woman created a gap. Rissveds and Keller both struggled to respond but were far from giving up. Neither could close the gap, but Lecomte, also visibly suffering, couldn’t create more of an advantage either.
Behind, Anne Terpstra made a similar attack from the chase group. Ferrand-Prevot followed, Berta dangled. Neff appeared to struggle to match the…
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