Loana Lecomte wins the tough Crans Montana 2024 XCO World Cup

She arrived wrapped in controversy from her circuit and the Crans Montana World Cup will be remembered by all cyclists for the toughness of its course. A very demanding track in which Loana Lecomte has been the best.

Loana Lecomte wins the tough Crans Montana 2024 XCO World Cup

With the notable absences of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Jolanda Neff, or Savilia Blunk, a very open Crans Montana XCO World Cup started in which Dutch Puck Pieterse was the favorite.

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As expected from the initial loop, we saw that the circuit would make a big difference, and it was the French Loana Lecomte who launched an attack in the first technical zone that allowed her to open a small gap and go solo.

From the first lap the mud began to make driving very difficult. There were sections of real cyclocross, the climbs became very demanding due to the lack of traction, and in some technical areas, the cyclists had to pass at really slow speeds.

Lecomte returned to lead at the start of lap 2 but everything changed as soon as they entered the technical zones again. Puck Pieterse managed to catch Lecomte and overtake her, and shortly after Keller also reached the front.

But the situation didn't last long and as Lecomte regained sensations, Pieterse seemed to pay the effort it took her to reach the Frenchwoman. The result was that Lecomte regained the lead, Swiss Alessandra Keller reached her to co-lead the race, and Pieterse dropped to third place with more than 20" behind.

Lap 3 consolidated the positions of the top three: Lecomte, Keller, and Pieterse, while behind, overtaking was happening constantly. British Evie Richards was leading her own comeback and was already fifth in a podium position.

The race was physically demanding and the continuous descents and climbs of the bike made it even tougher.

The penultimate lap (4/5) seemed to be Lecomte's absolute confirmation and the French champion continued to show herself very solid in all sections of the circuit. So much so that her advantage over Alessandra Keller and Puck Pieterser only increased.

Behind, Evie Richards remained fifth behind Laura Stigger and improving times of those ahead. This confirmed her recovery after the concussion suffered in Brazil, which kept her out of competition for a couple of tests.

As we said, the race was very demanding, and the last lap was for many more a matter of survival than launching final attacks.

Loana Lecomte remained as firm as she showed from the beginning and without making a single mistake, she reached the finish line smiling to win the 2024 Crans Montana XCO World Cup.

Swiss Alessandra Keller secured a second place to the delight of the Swiss public, while Dutch Puck Pieterse had to settle for third place in the end. 

With more than 2 minutes and almost 4, Laura Stigger and Evie Richards closed the podium. 

Top 5 Crans Montana 2024 XCO World Cup Women's Elite

1. Loana Lecomte 1:17:22
2. Alessandra Keller +46"
3. Puck Pieterse +1:33'
4. Laura Stigger +2:18'
5. Evie Richards +3:57'