Two men defied the heat particularly well: American Richie Rude and Belgian Martin Maes were already close together on the first day - each winning two stages. On the second day of the race, Maes was able to make up some ground, but in the end seven seconds remained between him and Rude, who took his second win of the season. Frenchman Damien Oton, who was still within striking distance at the start of the race but then lost some ground, rode to third place.

The fastest Swiss rider is Maxime Chapuis. After a mixed season, the Frenchman is still in form and finishes in 19th place. He laid the foundation for this in the longest first stage. Patrick Lühti, another Swiss rider, rides into the top 40 - 37th place is also his best performance.

As expected, Cecile Ravanel rides dominantly in the women's race. Although the Frenchwoman shares the stage wins on the first day of the race with her compatriot Isabeau Courdurier, she takes hers by a much wider margin. On the second day of the race, Ravanel extends her time cushion to 55 seconds. Courdurier comes second again.

Behind her, the battle for third place flares up. Andreane Lanthier Nadeau from Canada manages to hold on to her third place, while Anita Gehrig makes another leap and passes Israel's Noga Korem to take fourth place.
Carolin Gehrig fared less well. She started the race well, but then the worm got into her and she couldn't really find her way back into the race after two falls. Twelfth place is the sobering result after the race.

Final in final for the last time

In the battle for the overall standings, things are unlikely to get any more exciting in Finale Ligure. Sam Hill has a big lead and would have to have a major failure for Martin Maes to overtake him. For Damien Oton in third place, overall victory is already out of reach. The same goes for the women, where Cecile Ravanel has a cushion of 350 points - with a safe race she has victory in the bag. However, Scotland's Katy Winton, who has lost a lot of ground in the last few races, has to tremble. Another poor result could cost her third place overall.

Finale Ligure will host the final race of the World Series for the last time. In 2019, the grand finale will be held in Zermatt. Another first: the last race of the season will be held over just one day and not two, as in the past.

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