The many thousands of spectators in La Bresse, France, witnessed a fascinating piece of racing history at the women's World Cup final, at the end of which Jolanda Neff triumphed twice. She celebrates her twelfth World Cup victory and wins the overall World Cup for the third time after a dramatic finish. Neff won in 1:33:03 hours, five seconds ahead of Canada's Emily Batty and 27 seconds ahead of Denmark's Annika Langvad. Behind Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra), Alessandra Keller finished fifth (+1:27) and fourth overall.

Rarely do you see such a thrilling women's race. There are four women in particular who provide the spectators in the Vosges with a race that they are unlikely to forget.
There are lots and lots of breakaways on this day. Jolanda Neff and Annika Langvad are also affected, which gives the dramaturgy a special twist. "If I had to write a screenplay for a movie about the craziest race, I don't think I could have written it any better. It was incredible," says Neff, still out of breath 20 minutes after crossing the finish line.

She quickly takes the lead, pulls out a lead of around 20 seconds thanks to her outstanding technical skills, but then has to watch as five rivals pass her while she has a new rear wheel fitted in the technical zone due to a defect. Jolanda Neff soon fights her way back to Alessandra Keller, leaving her Swiss compatriot behind and closing the gap to third place. This is the minimum position she needs to secure the overall classification if Annika Langvad wins.

But then events take a turn for the worse. Annika Langvad also suffers a defect and then Jolanda Neff a second time. So the order is constantly jumbled up. Emily Batty and Pauline Ferrand Prevot were spared, but were never able to pull away. There are constant attacks, Langvad is the weakest in the technical sections, Neff the fastest.

At the end of the penultimate lap, Langvad seemed to be beaten when she crashed and was twelve seconds behind. But all four women showed great fighting spirit and Langvad rode back to the front. On the final lap, Jolanda Neff takes command and it is her technical skills that make the difference. She emerged from a section in the forest, which she was the only one to complete entirely on her bike, with an 18-second lead.

However, Emily Batty fights for her first victory and manages to get within five seconds of the Swiss rider. "It was incredible," repeated Jolanda Neff. "From the start to the finish, so much action, so many emotions." And she admits that she had already calculated in between. "Twice I thought, yes, that's it now, with the overall victory. Then I rode and rode. It was really incredible right up to the finish line. I am over the moon. It's a dream to win the overall World Cup for the third time and it's ideal for the World Championships."

Somewhat in the shadow of this four-way battle, Alessandra Keller rode to fifth place on the World Cup podium for the second time in her young career and secured fourth place in the overall standings. "My goal was to ride clean, it was really difficult. It was also still very wet, it was getting rather sticky. I think, yes, it was a rather technical race," commented Keller, who was riding alone after two laps, apart from the intermezzo with Jolanda Neff when she passed her again. "The fact that I came fourth overall shows that I'm consistent, so I'm very happy with that."