On the first lap, Jolanda Neff takes the lead together with Eva Lechner. They were already 20 seconds ahead when Jolanda Neff suddenly lost contact on the second lap. "I got stomach cramps. Whenever I accelerated, it got worse again. It was only on the last lap that things got a little better again," said Neff, explaining why she dropped back to ninth place. However, as the classification is pretty shaken up compared to the South Africa World Cup, Neff is still wearing the white leader's jersey.

Kathrin Stirnemann experiences a scary moment on the start lap. Lying in fourth place, she rode through a mud hole. "The front wheel just got stuck and I went over the handlebars," she says, describing the situation. "Luckily it didn't cost me much time." Stirnemann is not deterred by this and continues on her way. On the fourth of five laps, she worked her way up to sixth place and held on to it until the end. "I never overdid it and always concentrated on the downhill sections at the top. I even had reserves at the end, but Tanja Zakelj in front of me apparently did too. In any case, I'm super happy," says the best Swiss racer after her best World Cup result in cross-country.

Katrin Leumann also made an exhausted but satisfied impression at the finish. "I tried to be at the front at the start and then looked for my rhythm. That was very important today. On the third lap, I was a bit worried that I might have slumped. I talked myself into it and overcame the crisis. I'm really happy now," says Leumann.

Lechner rode alone at the front from the second lap onwards and could not be caught by the German champion Sabine Spitz. She was her biggest rival until the middle of the fourth lap, but when she suffered a rear wheel defect, she dropped back to fourth place. "I had a bad crash in training yesterday. That's why I'm all the happier about the win today," says Lechner, whose face is scarred from the crash, but who gets through the competition day without any problems.

U23 victories go to France and Germany
Victor Koretzky and Helen Grobert win the U23 World Cup races in Cairns. Koretzky celebrates a double victory with fellow Frenchman Jordan Sarrou and Grobert beats the Swedish favorite Jenny Rissveds.

Victor Koretzky and Jordan Sarrou take the lead in the very first round. Koretzky, the junior world champion from Champéry in 2011, takes the lead alone. He increases his lead to 30 seconds and maintains it until the last lap, when Sarrou suffers a puncture and is then caught by Michiel van der Heijden. However, the Dutchman was unable to capitalize and ultimately finished third. Sarrou defends his white leader's jersey. "After my chain break in Pietermaritzburg, this is a little revenge. I'm very happy about my first World Cup victory in the U23 class," says Koretzky.

Only eleven riders are competing in the U23 women's category this morning. Favorite Jenny Rissveds, from Thomas Frischknecht's Scott-Odlo-MTB-Racing-Team, is able to pull out a few seconds lead after the start lap, but then fails due to a "mental block", as she reports at the finish. "I crashed every day in training. Something broke," says Rissveds, referring to her mental state.

Helen Grobert closes the gap when Rissveds has to come off her bike in a technical passage. At the end of the second of four laps, she pulled away and extended her lead to over 40 seconds. In the final lap, she manages her advantage and wins her first U23 World Cup by ten seconds. "I've waited a long time for this, now I'm almost in tears," said the athlete from South Baden, laughing.

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Rankings World Cup 2014, #2 Cairns AUS, Women:
1. Eva Lechner (ITA)	1.38.48	+0.00
2. Emily Batty (CAN)	1.39.40	+0.52
3rd Irina Kalentieva (RUS)	1.39.55	+1.07
4th Sabine Spitz (GER)	1.40.07	+1.19
5th Tanja Zakelj (SLO)	1.40.55	+2.07
6th Kathrin Stirnemann (SUI)	1.41.12	+2.24
7th Katrin Leumann (SUI)	1.42.33	+3.45
8th Lisi Osl (AUT)	1.42.52	+4.04
9th Jolanda Neff (SUI)	1.43.24	+4.36
10. Rebecca Henderson (AUS)	1.43.51	+5.03
Ranking World Cup 2014, #2 Cairns AUS, U23- Men:
1. Victor Koretzky (FRA)	1.25.33	+0.00
2. Jordan Sarrou (FRA)	1.26.16	+0.43
3rd Michiel van der Heijden (NED)	1.26.26	+0.53
4. Jeff Luyten (BEL)	1.28.25	+2.52
5th Julien Trarieux (FRA)	1.29.11	+3.38
Rankings World Cup 2014, #2 Cairns AUS, U23 Women:
1. Helen Grobert (GER)	1.25.22	+0.00
2. Jenny Rissveds (SWE)	1.25.32	+0.10
3rd Jovana Crnogorac (SRB)	1.26.46	+1.24
4. Kate Courtney (USA)	1.28.15	+2.53
5th Nadezhda Antonova (RUS)	1.28.59	+3.37