The expected duel between Jolanda Neff and Pauline Ferrand Prevot can only be seen in the first two laps. Neff takes the lead, her Liv team-mate from France comes back, takes first position herself, but has to hand it back to Neff before the descent to the finish. "This descent was decisive," says Jolanda Neff later. In a very special way. Just like at the European Championships in St. Wendel 200 meters before the finish, there was an incident. "I crashed and just slid off in a bend," says Neff. The Frenchwoman slid into her and the chain fell off both of them. "I got it back on faster," says Neff and laughs: "That was revenge for the European Championships." In June, Ferrand Prevot was back on the bike faster after the crash.

From then on, Neff continued to extend her lead and it was already 45 seconds when two-time Elite World Cup winner Ferrand Prevot's chain broke at the start of the fourth lap. She races to the technical zone and has a new chain fitted within a minute, but after a few hundred meters the drivetrain breaks again.

The co-favorite finishes the race in eighth place with great fighting spirit. Jolanda Neff rides safely to her third gold in the U23 category. And cheers as if it was her first: "Unbelievable. For the third time. Indescribable, fantastic," she exclaimed at the finish line.

Pauline Ferrand Prevot's bad luck opens up the opportunity for Linda Indergand to grab a medal. She couldn't keep up with the initial pace, but didn't let it put her off her stride. "Our coach said that the race would be decided at the end," explains Indergand. She then gets stronger and together with the Frenchwoman Margot Moschetti, who had started badly, she rides past the Ukrainian Yana Belomoina. They benefit from Ferrand Prevot's second chain break and ride into the medal ranks. "Only then did I believe in a medal. I wanted to win a medal, but I haven't beaten the others all year. That's why the goal was certainly set high," said the 2010 junior world champion, who is taking home her second medal after winning sprint silver.

Ramona Forchini finished ninth, 5:40 minutes behind. She rode a solid race and was able to move up two places at the end.

Andrea Waldis completes a strong team result for the Swiss in twelfth place.

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