On the less selective course in Hegau near Singen (Germany), there are four women who make the strongest impression on the mountain. This also includes Jolanda Neff. This quartet becomes the leading group after around 50 kilometers. The defending champion then tries to be the first to enter a longer singletrail passage, but Annika Langvad (Den) squeezes in front of her. Barely 20 meters later, the Dane crashes. Neff comes past, has a small lead, but is not far behind, while Dahle-Flesjaa (Nor) is held up. The quartet is torn apart somewhat, but Langvad fights back and Sabine Spitz (Ger) is also able to catch up.

About six kilometers before the finish into the last steep ramp, the trio is together, Dahle-Flesjaa a little behind. Langvad picks up the pace, Spitz is able to follow, but has to concede defeat to the Dane by one second. It is Langvad's fourth world title in the marathon and fifth overall. Neff lets a gap open and is unable to close it, but seems to be a certain bronze medal winner. However, Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa chases down the 300-metre finish straight and snatches the precious metal away from Neff. "I didn't see that she was still there. I didn't expect it, suddenly she was past me. I wanted to get close to Annika and Sabine Spitz and didn't pay attention to Gunn-Rita," explained Neff. "It's a shame, but that's the way it is now. We were at the front the whole time and made the race. It's clear that if there are four of us, then there are only medals for three."
Former world champion Esther Süss was the second-best Swiss woman in sixth place.

Gold as a birthday present

In the men's race, Nicola Rohrbach played a role for the longest time from a Swiss perspective, although he had to make up a deficit after making a mistake on the first of two laps. Rohrbach was still part of the nine-man lead group when the group of 20 riders split up on the steepest climb at the Hegau-Kreuz. However, Rohrbach was unable to keep up with the increased pace of defending champion Tiago Ferreira (Por) and Alban Lakata (Aut) on the next wave. The three medal winners and the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel form a top quartet. Alban Lakata wins his third rainbow jersey on his 37th birthday. He defeated the defending champion Tiago Ferreira (Portugal) by one second in the sprint after 3:17:25 hours. Lakata's compatriot Daniel Geismayr finished third in the same time.

Nicola Rohrbach manages to catch up with the highly rated Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) and together they catch up with Mathieu van der Poel two kilometers before the finish, with whom he finally sprints for the leather medal. With a better outcome for van der Poel and Kulhavy, who finished fourth and fifth, 2:42 minutes behind Rohrbach, who finished in the same time.
"I had cramps and couldn't keep up in the sprint. Now I'm a little disappointed, but also happy that I'm back on track overall. When you see who you were sprinting with for fourth place, that's not bad either," commented Rohrbach.