After Samara Maxwell described Saturday's second-place finish in the XCC as a “dream come true,” she must quickly get used to the reality of being a top contender at the World Cups. cross-country UCI, as the New Zealander outclassed a star-studded lead group and held off a pursuer like Nicole Koller.
Although the winning move only faded in the final quarter of the race, the main protagonists asserted themselves early on as Jenny Rissveds set a scorching early pace in her first XCO race for Canyon CLLCTV XCO.
A crash for Scott-SRAM MTB Racing newcomer Emily Johnston threatened to red-flag the race, but the action ultimately continued uninterrupted as the incident coincided with Maxwell's winning attack.
“I just can’t believe it, Jenny [Rissveds] was so strong in the beginning and I was on the limit the whole time,” Maxwell said. “On the downhill I worked so hard technically over the summer on my skills, it was just a matter of getting to the front and I went for it.”
“The team has been so incredible to me, I’ve been struggling a bit over the last few years and the team has stood by me and said, ‘no matter what you do, as long as you put your health first and yourself as a person, we’re going to support you.’
“They were willing to support me stepping away from the mountain bike team for a few years to get healthy because they believed in me so much. So to see it all come together for these amazing people is the most special part.”
FEMALE ELITE RANKING
| 1. |  | MAXWELL Samara (DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM) | 1:24:03 |
| 2. |  | KOLLER Nicole (GHOST FACTORY RACING) | 1:24:07 +4 |
| 3. |  | BLUNK Savilia (DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM) | 1:24:07 +4 |
| 4. | | KELLER Alexandra (THOMUS MAXON) | 1:24:15 +12 |
| 5. |  | LILL Candice | 1:24:31 +28 |
| 6. |  | JACKSONJennifer (ORBEA FOX FACTORY TEAM) | 1:24:49 +46 |
| 7. | | FREI Sina (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 1:24:55 +52 |
| 8. |  | Risveds Jenny (CANYON CLLCTV XCO) | 1:24:55 +52 |
| 9. |  | LECOMTE Loana (BMC FACTORY RACING) | 1:24:55 +52 |
| 10. | | URBAN Kelsey (KMC RIDLEY MTB RACING TEAM) | 1:25:01 +58 |
