World Cup: Dahle-Flesjaa takes 29th victory - Neff fourth
Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa makes history in Lenzerheide, winning a World Cup for the 29th time in her career. Dahle-Flesjaa wins exactly one minute ahead of US American Lea Davison and 1:36 minutes ahead of world champion Catharine Pendrel. Top favorite Jolanda Neff finished fourth (+2:05) ahead of Russian Irina Kalentieva.
Jolanda Neff is in the lead after the first climb, but it only takes two kilometers for Dahle-Flesjaa and Pendrel to put her under pressure. "I couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the leaders at the start," Neff later admitted. She loses so much that she suddenly finds herself in 13th place.
Dahle-Flesjaa explained after her victory that the plan had been to put Jolanda under pressure after the start phase. "When you have an opponent, you have to analyze them," said Dahle-Flesjaa. The Scandinavian escapes together with Pendrel and extends her lead to 50 seconds. Behind her, it is only the German Helen Grobert, who suffers a puncture on the third lap, and the three-time marathon world champion Annika Langvad (Den) who are battling it out for third place.While Linda Indergand fights for a top ten result but is also set back by a puncture, Jolanda Neff rallies and rides a brilliant recovery that brings her back into third place on the fourth of seven laps. However, she was unable to close the gap to the leading duo. On the last lap, she also had to relinquish third place. "The atmosphere on the track was cool - it's a shame it didn't go perfectly today. Maybe next time again," explains Neff. Why can't she perform at the front as usual? "This week has been more exhausting for me than usual. And I also had a crash in training the day before yesterday. But I don't want to make excuses. We need to analyze this in more detail," says Neff, who is still riding in the white leader's jersey, tied on points with Dahle-Flesjaa due to the higher number of victories.
In the battle for victory, Catharine Pendrel loses touch with Dahle-Flesjaa on the fourth lap and the latter rides unperturbed towards her 29th World Cup success in the heat of Lenzerheide. Eight days after winning the Marathon World Championships, the 42-year-old becomes the sole record holder in terms of World Cup victories. Previously, she was tied with the US American Julie Furtado with 28 victories. She celebrated her first success 19 years ago in Kristiansand, Norway.
Nathalie Schneitter was the second-best Swiss runner in 15th place (+6:05) and was very happy with her result. "I knew that the start phase with the mountain would be difficult for me. I prepared myself for that. After that it was still six and a half laps. It was just great," Schneitter comments on her race. From 25th place after one lap, she rode consistently forward and produced the ninth-best lap time at the end.
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.