Sina Frei is immediately present in the leading group and controls the race. On the second lap, a four-strong leading group emerges - without junior world champion Laura Stigger. First the American Haley Batten loses the connection. Frei tries to ride at the front before the singletrail climb that leads into the notorious "La Beatrice" section.
"You can't really ride on the back wheel in the Beatrice. There are always gaps and if you always have to make up five seconds, it costs energy," explains Frei.

On the third lap, a small gap opened up to the two chasers Loana Lecomte from France and Martina Berta from Italy.
"I knew you had to ride at a good rhythm now and try to pull it off," explains Frei.

Frei slowly but surely increases the gap and when Laura Stigger wakes up again, it's too late. She is able to reduce the gap, which has grown to 40 seconds in the meantime, and ride into the medal ranks, but Sina Frei is unstoppable on her way to her second U23 world title.
"I was more nervous than usual at the start, and I made one or two mistakes. But I was able to catch myself and keep up my pace," explains Sina Frei. "I'm over the moon that I was able to win the title."

It wasn't that easy, because she has always ridden against the elite in the World Cup this year. "And I did put myself under a bit of pressure," admits Frei.
Stigger was still eight seconds behind Lecomte before the final descent, but she was able to catch up on the downhill and pass the Frenchwoman 200 meters before the finish.

Nicole Koller reaches the finish in twelfth place (+4:52) and thus falls short of her own expectations. She had wanted to compete for a medal. After a good start, she picked up a puncture in a creek crossing. It's not far to the technical zone, but Nicole Koller doesn't really get going after that.
She fought for sixth place for a long time, but in the end she was unable to hold on. "I didn't feel so good either. Sometimes it was my legs, sometimes my breathing that caused problems," she said disappointedly about her last U23 title fights.

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