Decisive events took place on the 1.6-kilometer starting lap. Overall U23 World Cup winner Kate Courtney touches the rear wheel of Brit Evie Richard and crashes. This also brings Alessandra Keller to the ground behind her. Courtney loses over 50 seconds before she can enter the first of five laps. Alessandra Keller was worse off. Last year's third-placed rider has a cable pulled out of the electronic circuit. She had to have it repaired in the technical zone and dropped back to last place. While Courtney fights her way forward, Alessandra Keller has to pit again after the second lap: Rear wheel defect. From 15th position, she falls back almost to the end of the field. Meanwhile, Sina Frei and co-favorite Anne Tauber from the Netherlands set the pace at the front and are already well ahead.

However, Tauber fell on the dusty track on the second lap and dropped back into the chasing group, while Courtney finally arrived in second position shortly afterwards. Sina Frei rides at the front of the race with a lead of plus-minus 50 seconds and maintains this gap with a clean and safe ride. She has enough time to celebrate with the Swiss flag. "I actually wanted to wait, but at some point Anne was no longer behind me. Then I decided to ride quickly. I wanted to have enough of a lead in case of a defect or something," says Sina Frei, explaining her strategy.

The fact that she was able to take gold this time after winning silver last year is something that moves the 20-year-old, who had a crash in training two days earlier that caused her some neck problems. "I didn't notice that in the race," says Frei. "I still can't believe it. Two world championship titles in three days, that's mega cool."

Alessandra Keller showed great morale and rode similar lap times to Sina Frei at the front despite being hindered during overtaking maneuvers, finishing third in the fourth of five laps. "The race is only over when you cross the finish line. I just rode and only realized on the last lap that I was in third place," commented Keller on her bravura performance. "I think I rode the race of my life today and am brutally satisfied with my performance. A lot could have been possible today."

Nicole Koller also impressed. She probably got off to her best start of the season and was then able to improve by a few positions. "I was able to ride my rhythm on the mountain. Only Kate and Alessandra were simply too fast. In any case, I'm very, very happy with my performance," says Koller.

Complete ranking list U23 women:

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