The women provided the spectators in Commezzadura with a thrilling race with a special dramaturgy. At first, Pauline Ferrand Prevot and Jolanda Neff pulled away together at the front, but in the third of a total of six laps, Neff was no longer able to follow the Frenchwoman on the first climb. The 2015 world champion increases her lead and Jenny Rissveds comes closer and closer to the Swiss rider from behind. Neff's gap grew to 45 seconds and Rissveds managed to catch up on the fourth lap.

From the outside, second place seems to be lost, but suddenly the tide turns. "When Pauline rode away, I couldn't go any faster, but when Jenny was there, I suddenly found my rhythm again," explains Neff.
She caught the Swede again and reduced the gap to Ferrand Prevot as if she was just reading the seconds together between the roots and rocks. In the final lap, halfway through the 4.3 kilometers, she manages to catch up and the duel is reopened.

At the end of the last climb, a slightly uphill "puller", a sprint duel ensues. Neff rides from the front, accelerates, Ferrand Prevot gets out of the saddle. 200 meters before the final descent, the Frenchwoman leaves the rear wheel, looks for a second line and, despite resistance from Neff, she passes her.
This is ultimately the winning move. Neff is unable to exploit her advantage on the downhill and her hopes of being able to attack again on the home straight are virtually swallowed up by the grass.
"I was hoping that if I rode a nice last corner, I would have another chance. But it wasn't enough, you could already see in the short track that it was a bit too short for that," explains Neff. "It was a great battle with Pauline and I'm very happy with my performance. But because it was so close, it will be even nicer if I win again," she says with a laugh.
With her second place, the defending champion takes over the World Cup lead from world champion Kate Courtney (USA), who only finished 17th.

European U23 champion Sina Frei finishes eleventh (+3:55). She was in the top five at the start, but lost ground halfway through the competition. "I don't think I started too boldly. Towards the end I simply ran out of energy and made a lot of mistakes on the climbs in the roots and rocks. It was more and more from lap to lap. Today was no longer possible," said Sina Frei.
Alessandra Keller improved to 15th place (+4:38).

Full results