Laura Stigger put together a near-perfect performance at round two of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series. She rode away from the elite women’s XCO field and eventually won by 47 seconds.
Evie Richards was having a strong race until she crashed while in second place. That left the final two spots on the podium open and created a sprint finish between Jenny Rissveds and Sina Frei. Rissveds raced strategicaly and sprinted at the last few seconds to pass Frei in the final moments of the race.
Canada’s Jenn Jackson had another great result, finsihing 11th on the day.
Stigger finally puts it all together
Stigger credited both hard work and confidence in her equipment.
“We always were there and it was a dream,” she said. “Goosebumps.”
She also pointed toward improvements with her bike setup this season.
“It was always a bit missing a little bit and yeah, this year with the new Epic…” she said before trailing off with a smile.
The win also marked the 30th elite women’s XCO World Cup victory for Specialized.
Rissveds survives roller coaster race
Rissveds spent much of the race moving backward and forward through the field before finally attacking late to grab second place from Frei.
“It was a bit of a roller coaster of a race,” Rissveds said. “Everyone was kind of going from forward to back. Riders are coming and going and positions are changing.”
At one point, she even spotted Richards after the British rider crashed.
“I saw something on the side of the course crawling,” Rissveds said. “Apparently it was Evie and yeah, I hope she’s OK.”
Despite struggling through the week leading into the race, the Swede said she finally started feeling good Sunday morning.
“I’ve been feeling really, really bad the whole week,” she said. “Today this morning I was finally feeling really good and excited to race.”
Rissveds also admitted Nové Město has not exactly been kind to her in recent years.
“I think it’s the first time in three years I actually made it to the finish line,” she said. “I’ve always been having bad luck here.”
Frei takes overall lead
Even after losing second place in the sprint, Frei walked away from the Czech Republic with the overall World Cup lead. The Swiss rider praised both the atmosphere and the teamwork around her Specialized squad.
“It’s a super nice team effort,” Frei said. “To race here with this atmosphere, with this crowd…”
Frei also pointed toward the importance of the new Specialized Epic bike on Nové Město’s punishing course.
“The new bike gives me so much,” she said. “On the uphill it’s so light and that saves some energy.”
After two rounds, Frei now leads the overall standings ahead of Stigger and Rissveds. Jackson sits sixth overall.
Pieterse battles technical issues
Puck Pieterse returned to World Cup mountain biking action but never fully found her rhythm on the technical Czech course.
The Dutch rider finished eighth, more than two minutes behind Stigger, after struggling on one of the rocky technical climbs.
“For me, the rocky skills are twice as hard,” Pieterse said. “The uphill roots are difficult, but then in the downhills compared to Laura…”
Still, Pieterse said she enjoyed being back racing mountain bikes despite the heat and difficult conditions.
“I enjoyed it,” she said. “It’s hard for me to be disappointed, so I cannot complain.”