Defending champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot already pulled away in the starting round. Rebecca McConnell (AUS) was relatively far behind in second place. From lap two, Sina Frei and Eva Lechner follow together in third and fourth place. The Swiss and the Italian duel for a long time, but Lechner is able to hold off Frei in the second third of the race. She rides even further forward and catches the Australian on the last lap.

While Frei was still in fourth place, Jolanda Neff increasingly caught up and was in sixth place on the penultimate lap. Alessandra Keller, previously in sixth place, increasingly loses ground and fights for ninth position. Linda Indergand also loses some ground and drops out of the top 10 at the start of the last lap.

After the initial lap, the last lap actually becomes exciting again: McConnell gets close to Lechner again - even overtakes her in a difficult moment for the Italian. Lechner seems to be in crisis and Sina Frei is also back in sight of the medal positions.While Ferrand Prevot rides safely to victory - her third world title in cross country - the battle for second place flares up. McConnell makes a mistake and crashes, Lechner comes close again. Close enough that she has a chance of silver in the sprint. She takes her chances and sprints away the silver medal from the Australian. Sina Frei remains in fourth place, which is an excellent result for the young Swiss athlete.
"On the one hand I'm a bit disappointed, but I gave it my all. I was always able to make up ground on the descents, but unfortunately I lost ground on the climbs. But the others were simply stronger uphill. It's confirmation that I can ride at the front and I can build on that, recapitulates Frei.

Jolanda Neff continues to catch up, but British rider Isla Short's lead is too big to catch her. However, given the health circumstances, Neff's sixth place is a success. She also celebrates it and speaks with relief: "I rode a great race today, I got the maximum out of it. I was able to improve every lap, never lost my fighting spirit and am very happy with my performance. After all the difficulties this year, this sixth place means a lot to me!"

Alessandra Keller continues to lose ground, but she fights on valiantly, which earns her a good tenth place. Linda Indergang, who was in eighth place at one point, also lost some ground and suffered a defect at the end. She crossed the finish line on foot in 15th place, with Nicole Koller immediately behind her in 16th place: "It was a hectic start. There was already a traffic jam in the first corner and I was stuck, so I was only able to really start the race in 30th place. I then tried to work my way forward lap by lap, was then in 16th position and was still fighting cramps for the last two laps. But I'm very happy for my first Elite World Championships.

Lecomte with a "must win" - Buri fifth

As expected, France's Leona Lecomte wins the title in the U23 women's world championship race ahead of Hungary's Kata Vas and Ceylin Alvarado from the Netherlands. Noelle Burri surprises with fifth place.

Leona Lecomte leaves no doubt about her role as favorite and rides away from her competitors in the starting lap to win the U23 World Championship title over a minute ahead of Kata Vas. She also rides a lonely race and finishes 90 seconds ahead of the Dutchwoman Alvarado.

Noelle Burri starts at the back and tries to catch up in the starting lap. She then gained further ground in the first lap. On lap two, the Swiss rider settled into fifth position, but lost some ground towards the end. It came to a sprint against the Russian Viktoria Kirsanova and Burri was able to hold on and secure a good fifth place.
"I had to start at the back and tried to overtake as many riders as possible lap after lap, especially on the climbs, so that they didn't hold me up on the descents. I was able to make up a lot of time there until I was in fifth place. In the end, I gave everything I had to defend it in the sprint," said a delighted Burri, who thus caused a small surprise.

Results World U23 Women's Championships
1st Loana Lecomte (FRA)
2nd Kata Blanka Vas (UKR)
3rd Ceylin Alvarado (FRA)
4th Haley Batten (USA)
5th Noelle Buri (SUI)
20th Jacqueline Schneebeli (SUI)

Results World Championship Elite Women
1st Pauline Ferrand Prevot (FRA)
2. Eva Lechner (ITA)
3. Rebecca McConnell (AUS)
4th Sina Frei (SUI)
5th Isla Short (GBR)
6th Jolanda Neff (SUI)
7th Yana Belomoina (UKR)
8. Maja Wloszczowska (POL)
9. Tanja Zakelj (SLO)
10th Alessandra Keller (SUI)
15th Linda Indergand (SUI)
16th Nicole Koller (SUI)