No one can beat Loana Lecomte at the Lenzerheide XCO World Cup

There were many favorites and the race was close until the end, but French Loana Lecomte has shown again why she is one of the best mountain bikers in the world. Lecomte's attack with one lap to go was enough to win the Lenzerheide 2022 XCO World Cup.

Loana Lecomte wins the XCO World Cup in Lenzerheide and becomes overall leader

Under a cloudy sky and with perfect weather conditions for mountain biking, the women's race of the XCO World Cup Lenzerheide 2022 started.

After Jenny Rissveds' exhibition on Friday in the Short Track, the question was whether the Swede would be able to maintain her performance in the XCO event. And the truth is that Rissveds did not hesitate and took the lead from the start leading the race during the initial loop.

 

The first lap started with Jenny Rissveds in the lead followed by Jolanda Neff, Loana Lecomte, Alessandra Keller and Martina Berta. It was early to see big differences and the circuit of Lenzerheide is not one of those where a cyclist can mark big advantages in climbs or descents, as it has little slope. 

Even so, Rissveds, Lecomte and Keller did not wait and from the finishing line imposed a very high pace with which they opened a gap of more than half a minute with the rest. France's Loana Lecomte set the pace, while Rissveds and Switzerland's Alessandra Keller just followed her. 

The laps were passing, the race was 5 laps, and while the leading trio was still very solid, behind was formed a group that was disputing the last two places on the podium and in which was Jolanda Neff, Pauline Ferrand Prevot, Martina Berta and Anne Terpstra. At the end of lap 3, this group was more than 1 minute behind the first ones. 

Further back in 13th position was the current World Cup leader, Australian Rebecca McConnell, fighting to try to lose as few points as possible for the overall.

Another bad news came from the Spanish Rocío del Alba García. After a bad Short Track on Friday, the BH Templo Cafés team rider recovered and managed to be very close to the top 10 during the first lap of the race, but on lap 2 her performance declined to ride near the 60th position.

 

In the leading group we had to wait until the penultimate lap to see the first serious attack. As many suspected, it came from Loana Lecomte in an uphill asphalted area and with it she gained almost 8 seconds over Jenny Rissveds. 

The Swedish Team 31 rider did not give up and although she went into chase mode, at the start of the last lap the gap between Rissveds and Lecomte remained at 8 seconds. Switzerland's Keller was third, 10 seconds behind. Everything would be decided on the last lap. 

In the chasing group, Terpstra's attack had taken effect and now the fourth and fifth positions were decided between Pauline Ferrand Prevot and the Dutchwoman herself.

Far from giving up, Loana Lecomte grew in the last lap and her victory seemed inevitable. Meanwhile, the race was tightening for second and third place. Switzerland's Alessandra Keller attacked Rissveds to take second, but the Swede was not willing to give up and regained the position at pace. 

At the finish line, Loana Lecomte came in first to win the Lenzerheide 2022 World Cup. Jenny Rissveds came in second and Alessandra Keller closed the podium for her first XCO Elite podium and to the delight of the Swiss home crowd. 

The fourth and fifth positions were decided in the last meters in a sprint that Pauline Ferrand Prevot won over Anne Terpstra.

With this result, Loana Lecomte takes the lead in the overall World Cup standings.

Results Women's 2022 Lenzerheide XCO World Cup

1. LECOMTE Loana (CANYON CLLCTV) 
2. RISSVEDS Jenny (TEAM 31 IBIS CYCLES) 
3. KELLER Alessandra (THÖMUS MAXON) 
4. FERRAND PREVOT Pauline (BMC MTB RACING)
5. TERPSTRA Anne (GHOST FACTORY RACING) 
6. NEFF Jolanda (TREK FACTORY RACING XC)
7. COURTNEY Kate (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM)
8. BERTA Martina (SANTA CRUZ FSA MTB PRO TEAM) 
9. INDERGAND Linda (LIV FACTORY RACING) 
10. BOHÉ Caroline (GHOST FACTORY RACING) 

Provisional overall standings 2022 XCO World Cup

1. Loana Lecomte
2. Rebecca McConnell
3. Jenny Rissveds
4. Anne Terpstra
5. Alessandra Keller
6. Laura Stigger
7. Caroline Bohé
8. Mona Mitterwallner
9. Jolanda Neff
10. Sina Frei