Courtney wins second consecutive MTB World Cup in Nove Mesto
American outpaces McConnell and Smith after coming back from early puncture
World champion Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM) took her second straight victory in the Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday, at Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Unlike the first round, a week earlier in Albstadt, Germany, when Courtney rode away from the field, this time she had to battle her way back to the front after having been dropped with a flat tire.
Anne Tauber (CST Sandd Bafang) attacked on the opening lap to take the lead, with Courtney, Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory), Rebecca McConnell (Primaflor Mondraker) and Sina Frei (Ghost Factory) chasing. Tauber was joined by Neff, while Courtney fell back to fourth by the second lap after flatting.
She worked her way back up to join Neff on Lap 4 and then went on a solo chase, joining and dropping Tauber on the last lap, after the Dutch rider crashed multiple times, bending her derailleur. McConnell moved up to take second, while Haley Smith (Norco Factory) had the fastest lap of the day to move from sixth to third. Courtney solidified her lead in the overall standings with 700 points, followed by Neff at 490 and Chloe Woodruff (Team USA) at 385.
"I think I started a little hard," said Courtney, "and when I had my flat it was tough mentally. But I was able to reset and focus on my own pace. It took every ounce of what I had, so I'm pretty happy."
Brief Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Kate Courtney (USA) | 1:27:31 |
2 | Rebecca Ellen McConnel (Aus) | 0:00:36 |
3 | Haley Smith (Can) | 0:00:42 |
4 | Sina Frei (Sui) | 0:00:45 |
5 | Malene Degn (Den) | 0:01:33 |
6 | Linda Indergand (Sui) | 0:01:34 |
7 | Anne Terpstra (Ned) | 0:02:01 |
8 | Jolanda Neff (Sui) | 0:02:13 |
9 | Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra) | 0:02:26 |
10 | Anne Tauber (Ned) | 0:02:38 |
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Rigoberto Urán closes out professional cycling career with farewell event at Medellín stadium among 8000 fans
'I was able to fight and inspire an entire country' -
'The contract was ready' - Remco Evenepoel was reportedly offered multi-million euro contract by Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe
HLN analyst Michel Wuyts reveals details of bid to try and lure Evenepoel away from Soudal-QuickStep -
Pan-Am Cyclocross Championships: Eric Brunner wins fourth consecutive title
USA sweeps elite men's podium with Curtis White in second and Andrew Strohmeyer in third -
Patrick Bevin retires despite contract with DSM-Firmenich-PostNL for 2025
Kiwi thanks team for their support 'throughout an extremely tough last two seasons'