2023-08-27 13:21:59
Mona Mitterwallner celebrated her first World Cup victory in Olympic cross-country on Sunday in Vallnord. The 21-year-old Tyrolean won in Vallnord in Andorra in 1:14:09 hours 34 seconds ahead of Swiss Alessandra Keller. Laura Stigger finished 17th. Elisabeth Osl had her last Cross Country World Cup victory in Schladming in 2009.
Osl achieved a total of three victories, Gerhard Zadrobilek two, which made Mitterwallner responsible for the sixth red-white-red success.
“Finally it worked. All I can say is final. I don’t know why I cried. It was either the pain of the last two laps of the race or the thoughts of all the doubts, all the work and all the work over the past few months,” said Mitterwallner. “Finally I can call myself World Cup winner, finally I’m one hundred percent happy. Ever since I’ve been riding in the elite, I’ve never been able to say that after the race, I’m going to celebrate with all my heart today.”
Austria’s marathon world champion, who missed out on bronze at the World Cross Country Championships by just four seconds, fought an exciting duel with Keller on Sunday. Last season’s overall World Cup winner rode at the front throughout the race. Mitterwallner and she were able to break away from the rest of the field. In the fourth of five laps, however, the Tyrolean pulled away, and Keller had to give up in rainy conditions. “In the last lap it was a cocktail of emotions,” reported Mitterwallner.
Keller fought desperately to close the gap on the muddy and sometimes slippery track, but Mitterwallner didn’t let victory be stolen from him. The podium was completed by French world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
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