The trio of Courtney, Frei and Richards are also in a class of their own in Commezzadura. There is a gap of 3:16 minutes between third and fourth place for Brit Isla Short, and the three dominant riders have been on the podium together all season with one exception. In Mont Sainte Anne, Richards had dropped out.

After the 2.3-kilometre start lap, Kate Courtney seized the initiative, broke up the large group and also created a gap to Frei and Richards that was never closed. Frei holds back at first, but then passes Evie Richards and leaves her rival behind. Until the third of five four-kilometre laps, the gap remains such that the Swiss camp can hope for the 20-year-old's second win of the season. "Then I made a mistake," says Sina Frei, explaining why the gap quickly grew to 20 seconds. The classification is now set.

Whether she should have passed Richards earlier? Sina Frei hesitates: "Yes, no. Maybe I should have gone past earlier," she then says, adding: "I had the feeling that I didn't have enough air in the rear tires, but then I just kept riding." The feeling is deceptive, the air is okay. But Courtney is gone.

Doping control before warm-up

Sina Frei doesn't want to make a big fuss about another topic. But it is quite remarkable, because a good hour before the start she is asked to undergo an anti-doping test. Blood sample. "It was just bad luck," says Frei, "next time it might be a different one." But of course this interferes with the usual start preparations. "I was just about to set off for the warm-up," confirms Frei, who is also in second place in the overall standings.

Nicole Koller does not fare so well on this Sunday morning in Val di Sole. This time she was unable to compensate for her usual poor start. She rides up to 13th position, but her progress is halted. Her condition does not seem to be optimal. In the end she finished 16th (+7:55).

Second U23 World Cup victory for Colledani

Italy's Nadir Colledani celebrates his second win of the season at the U23 World Cup in Val di Sole in front of a home crowd. He won by a superior 1:04 minutes ahead of Latvian Martins Blums, who secured his country's first overall World Cup success on a mountain bike. Nove Mesto winner Petter Fagerhaug from Norway came third (+1:50), while Simon Vitzthum finished eleventh (3:06) as the best Swiss rider.

Colledani seizes the initiative early on and also leaves Blums behind on lap two. Colledani confidently steers his way to his second win of the season in Albstadt. Blums, for his part, increases his lead over his two pursuers to one minute. Petter Fagerhaug then wins the duel for third place on the podium against the German Georg Egger with a lead of three seconds.

Simon Vitzthum rides in the chasing group, which reaches up to sixth place. In the end, he lacked a little "the sprightliness", as he says, to be able to keep up in the final. "The race was one lap too long for me. Due to the focus on the world championships, my preparation was not optimal. But I still achieved my second-best result with eleventh place," says Vitzthum. "But I'm in good spirits for the world championships."

Noah Blöchlinger finishes 19th (3:54), his best World Cup result to date. "I got away well at the start and was well in the group. That makes the race easier to ride than starting from the back. A top 15 result would have been better, but I can still be satisfied," said Blöchlinger.