Neff puts her stamp on the race right from the start and pushes the pace. Pauline Ferrand stayed on her heels for two laps and finally even attacked. But Neff counters. "I was surprised that she went past. That annoyed me, which is why I overtook her again on another line and was then able to pull out what was probably the decisive lead," said Neff after the race.

Calm and focused, Neff, who is considered a rather hot-blooded racer, continues to ride and can no longer be held back. She steadily increased her lead and defended her U23 world title unchallenged. "I didn't feel the pressure like I did at the European Championships at home. I wasn't nervous, I just wanted to show a good race and defend my title. Before the race, I didn't know what the situation would be like because I was riding in the elite World Cup," said Neff, pointing out that it was the first time she hadn't been ill before a World Championships.

Behind Neff and Ferrand, Yana Belomoyna is riding a lonely race in third position, so that only the battle for fourth place is actually important. Two other Swiss riders, Andrea Waldis and Linda Indergand, are also involved. The German Helen Grobert crashes twice in this battle, but Linda Indergand also comes down hard twice. Indergand finished the race in seventh place in pain, but had to receive medical treatment at the finish.

Andrea Waldis continues to duel with Helen Grobert, but the German is able to leave last year's junior world champion behind on the final lap. Waldis was even up against Sweden's Jenny Rissveds at the end, but was able to beat the Scandinavian by a wafer-thin margin in the sprint. "In the end it was all down to my head. I tried to ride my rhythm and benefited from Helen and Linda's crashes. The three in front of us were in a different league, but I'm glad that I was able to ride in the top five in my first year. I wouldn't have thought that beforehand," commented Waldis on her first World Championship appearance in the U23 category.