Rissveds played smart by initially letting the American duo of Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) and Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) let off steam while she saved her watts for the final lap.
After Saturday's XCC World Cup victory, Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) started strong, setting the pace from the start, with only Batten, Rissveds and Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) able to keep up with her.
Chiara Teocchi, in her first season for the Orbea Factory Team, took matters into her own hands after 2 laps. The multiple Italian national champion made the selection by bringing out a group of five athletes. Immediately afterwards, the Americans Batten and Blunk formed a leading duo again.
It was the Swedish rider Rissveds – gold medalist at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics – who managed to close the gap to the leading pair on the third lap, with Teocchi and Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon), chasing on the fourth and fifth place place respectively.
The leading trio remained united until the fourth lap, while further back, reigning Olympic champion Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) began to move up positions.
Batten attacked on the climb towards the end of the fourth lap and, although Rissveds managed to get back towards the American, her compatriot Blunk broke away. On the last lap Batten accelerates again to try to put Rissveds in difficulty.
But Rissveds counterattacks and goes on to win with a 27 second advantage over Blunk who takes 2nd place, beating Batten. Teocchi was very happy and finished in 4th place while Neff crowned a fantastic comeback by finishing fifth and completing the podium.
After the race, Rissveds said: “I felt really good, I ran last weekend on the exact same course and I was a little too excited. My goal was to feel the flow on the trails and stay patient, so I had that in mind throughout the race. Then Haley tried to attack me a few times on the last lap, but I still felt very strong and knew I still had some power in my legs.
FEMALE ELITE RANKING
| 1. |  | Risveds Jenny (TEAM 31 IBIS CYCLES CONTINENTAL) | 1:17:18 |
| 2. |  | BLUNK Savilia (DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM) | 1:17:45 +27 |
| 3. | | BATTEN Haley (SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING) | 1:18:03 +45 |
| 4. |  | TEOCCHI Clare (ORBEA FACTORY TEAM) | 1:18:16 +58 |
| 5. |  | NEFF Jolanda (TREK FACTORY RACING – PIRELLI) | 1:18:27 + 1: 09 |
| 6. | | KELLER Alexandra (THOMUS MAXON) | 1:18:42 + 1: 24 |
| 7. |  | TAUBER Anne (ORBEA FACTORY TEAM) | 1:18:59 + 1: 41 |
| 8. | | URBAN Kelsey (TEAM 31 IBIS CYCLES CONTINENTAL) | 1:19:15 + 1: 57 |
| 9. |  | RICHARDS Evie (TREK FACTORY RACING – PIRELLI) | 1:19:19 + 2: 01 |
| 10. | | COURTNEY Kate (SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM) | 1:19:20 + 2: 02 |
