Gunn-Rita Dahle leads out from the start
Gunn-Rita Dahle not winning a World Cup race is a pretty rare event. And Marie-Helene Premont not winning a race that Dahle fails to win is, if anything, even rarer. But the Leanachan Forest course upon which the Fort William UCI World Cup XC round was run takes no prisoners.
The course has a reputation for toughness, and on this occasion cold, wet conditions made it even harder. Unlike last weekend’s race in Belgium, the purpose-built Leanachan Forest trails don’t suffer from excess mud in the rain. But the already-treacherous rocky sections take on a whole new dimension of hazard in the rain.
The top three: Gohl, Premont and Kalentieva
She might not have won, but Dahle still managed to steal the show
It wasn’t a crash that kept Dahle off the top spot, though. She characteristically led out the race, but a puncture on lap one meant that she had to run for half a lap to reach the technical support zone for a new wheel. That put her down in the 40s and left Marie-Helene Premont (the only rider to beat Dahle over the last two seasons) to take the lead.
Premont established a small lead over chasing riders Irina Kalentieva and Dahle’s team-mate Nina Gohl, but it didn’t last – Gohl overhauled her to take her first World Cup win by just over a minute. Kalentieva took third.
Meanwhile Dahle was storming her way back up through the field, almost appearing to relish the opportunity to overtake people for a change. With a lap to go she was up to ninth place, and with just a minute between her and the fifth placed rider it looked like a podium place was a possibility. An amazing effort on the final lap saw her haul her way right up to fourth place and a valuable 150 points. Lene Byberg took the final podium place.
Results
- 1 Nina Gohl (Multivan Merida) 2:04:18
- 2 Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) 2:05:30 (+1:11)
- 3 Irina Kalentieva 2:06:39 (+2:20)
- 4 Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida) 2:08:01 (+3:43)
- 5 Lene Byberg 2:08:18 (+3:59)
The Brits
- 33 Jenny Copnall (Subary-Gary Fisher)
- 48 Amy Hunt
- 54 Caroline Jackson
- 60 Ruth McGavigan
- 64 Kim Hurst
- 65 Kate George
- 66 Sophie Johnson
- 70 Julie Cartner
- 71 Helen Findlay
World Cup Standings after Round 4
- Gunn-Rita Dahle (900pts)
- Sabine Spitz (620pts)
- Marie-Helene Premont (605pts)
- Margarita Fullana (600pts)
- Irina Kalentieva (586pts)
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