Sina Frei wins the Elite Women's XCO Mountain Bike World Championship as Pieterse fails to make the podium

Pieterse got off to a good start in the Valley of the Sun and moved up to seventh place after the opening lap. Another dark horse, Alessandra Keller from Switzerland, had less luck: she immediately ran into a mechanical problem and was thus forced to play catch-up in the pack. She would never get back into the race.

The two top favorites, Frei and Rissveds, left no doubt right from the start and set their own pace on the course in sunny Italy. Pieterse followed, along with the American riders Savilia Blunk and Haily Batten, ten seconds behind. The Italian Martina Berta sensed the threat from ahead and closed the gap to Frei and Rissveds.

Pieterse also had to let Nicole Koller pass and moved up to fifth place in the second lap, just ahead of the American duo. Meanwhile, at the front, Frei continued to push hard, and, remarkably, Rissveds had no answer. The Swedish rider, the reigning world champion, watched as Koller passed her and could only watch helplessly as only Berta kept up with Frei.

A flat tire compounded the problems for Rissveds, who also saw Pieterse pass her that way. The Dutch rider also caught Koller in her sights and was thus well in the running for a medal, though the gold was out of reach: the battle for the win was between Frei and Berta, with the Swiss rider appearing to have the edge over the home favorite.

In the third lap, Frei sealed the victory by pulling away from Berta on the toughest stretch. The Italian turned out to have overexerted herself, which also gave Koller and Pieterse hope. Koller was the first to reach Berta, who was trying to hang on to the rear rack to defend her own podium chances against Pieterse.

As the final lap began, Pieterse was twelve seconds behind Koller and Berta, who seemed to be finding a second wind as the race neared its end. That was one of the reasons why a fourth-place finish for Pieterse—more than a minute behind Frei—turned out to be the best she could achieve in Val di Sole.

1. Sina Frei (Switzerland)
2. Marta Berta (Italy) + 1.07
3. Nicole Koller (Switzerland)
4. Puck Pieterse + 1.25