Sina Frei rides a smart race. Partly due to the altitude of 1900 meters, she pays very close attention to her pace. First it is Kate Courtney who rides out a small lead, then Evie Richards attacks on the second lap and breaks up the leading group of three. She gained ten seconds on Frei and 20 on Courtney, but Sina Frei's strategy worked out better in the end. "I didn't want to push too hard at the start and made sure I rode my rhythm and had a good cadence," explains Sina Frei.

At the end of the second of five laps, she caught up with Richards again and on the first climb of lap three she was able to pull away from her. From then on, Sina Frei continued to increase her lead, while behind her Richards was penalized for her efforts and was also overtaken by Courtney. This gives the Nove Mesto winner back the white leader's jersey.

However, after her injury problems in the winter, Sina Frei is back where she was permanently in 2016: at the top. After two third places, she celebrates her first World Cup victory of the season and her sixth overall in the U23 category. "I'll be finishing my apprenticeship as a businesswoman in two weeks' time, so I'm sure I'll be in even better shape then," says the 19-year-old.

Nicole Koller does not have the best day. She was unable to get into the front after the start and struggled over the entire distance without optimal form. After one lap, she is only in 19th position and is already 2:03 minutes behind. "I noticed the altitude, but I wasn't doing so well otherwise either," admits Koller, who still managed to finish in tenth place (+7:51).

First World Cup victory for Simon Andreassen

Dane Simon Andreassen is the winner of the third U23 World Cup race of the season. In Pal Arinsal, Andorra, the two-time junior world champion took his first World Cup victory in 1:17:14 hours, one second ahead of South Africa's Alan Hatherly and eleven seconds ahead of Latvia's Martin Blums. The best Swiss was Filippo Colombo in 14th place.

Andreassen and Blums form the first leading duo, they are already 20 seconds ahead of Alan Hatherly. Behind them, the individual positions are scattered and after two laps there is nothing to suggest that there will be five riders going into the sixth and final four-kilometer loop together. Hatherly is the first to catch up, but he is joined by Romanian Vlad Dascalu and Albstadt winner Nadir Colledani. The Romanian outsider shows no respect and tries to break up the group on the first climb, but is unsuccessful. In the end, it is Simon Andreassen's attack that puts a little air between the positions, but it is not yet decisive. However, Andreassen ultimately has the best finish and can raise his arms ten meters before the finish line.

The battle with the altitude

Filippo Colombo gets off to a good start and is in fifth place. But then he has increasing problems breathing in the high altitude air. This may have caused the fall, which threw him further out of rhythm. Colombo falls further and further behind, at one point he is listed in 27th place. But at some point he catches himself again and shifts into forward gear. "I was then just overtaking," says Colombo. "It's a shame that I had the slump."