Pauline Ferrand-Prevot delivers first World Cup win in Leogang with victory at Cross-Country Short Track UCI event

World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) secured a well-deserved first World Cup win of the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Series season after a highly competitive race in Leogang. After two top-three finishes so far this season in Nove Mesto na Morave and Lenzerheide, she was finally able to enjoy a place on the top step of the podium in Austria. Ad As has been the case on multiple occasions this season, it was Puck Pieterse (Alpecin–Deceuninck) who powered away from the line as soon as the red lights turned green to take an early lead.

She wasn’t the only rider to have a swift start as Austrian national champion Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) also started strongly on home soil. UCI Mountain Bike World Series'What a performance!' – Watch as Ferrand-Prevot claims victory in Cross-Country Short Track eventAN HOUR AGO Pieterse was soon overtaken by Italian national champion Martina Berta (Santa Cruz — RockShox Pro Team) who had moved up the group from the start and up the first climb. Pieterse remained close to the front, but Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing XC) moved to overtake the young Dutch rider and pushed ahead into second.

At the end of the first lap, the front three of Berta, Richards, and Pieterse had retained their top three positions. Richards was the one to lead them up the climb this time, as Pieterse had done the lap before. As Richards led on the climb with Pieterse close behind, Berta began to drop back down the group.