The transalpine star repeated her success from the short track and closes out her 2022 season in style. Her younger compatriot, Loana Lecomte, had to settle for second, with Switzerland's Neff in third. Sixth place was enough for Alessandra Keller to win the overall world cup ranking. Eighth place belongs to the Italian, Martina Berta
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Friday's short track foreshadowed a transalpine domination in advance of the cross-country event, and the race predictions came true on Sunday. Pauline Ferrand-Prèvot closed out a sensational season finale in style, triumphant in the World Cup Grand Final in Val di Sole exactly one week after her success at the World Championships in Les Gets.
Compared to Friday's short track, Ferrand-Prèvot’s younger compatriot, Loana Lecomte (Canyon), was able to put up some resistance during the first two laps, despite a few line errors she made just inside the new uphill passage inside the forest, which was crowded with fans, before giving way to the unsustainable pace set by the 30-year-old from Team BMC MTB during the third lap.
Pauline Ferrand-Prèvot's ride didn't stop in the second part of the race. The world champion crossed the finish line 1'27" ahead of European Champion Lecomte, and 2'29" ahead of Olympic champion, Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory), from Switzerland, who was able to shake off Haley Batten (Specialized), who finished fourth after racing mostly in tandem with the Swiss rider. With her sixth position, the other Swiss racer, Alessandra Keller (Thomus Maxon), won the overall cross-country world cup ranking, after having won the short track ranking on Friday as well.
"After Friday's victory, it was great to be able to repeat today. I really like the course here, with its hard and technical climbs where you can make a move, but also its very dry descents. It was a fantastic day, also because of the atmosphere. It was the perfect finale to this world cup," said Pauline Ferrand Prèvot.
"I felt good, and, on the third lap, I tried to attack on the climb – I was able to make a move and from there, I just tried to push hard all the way to the finish. What are my next goals? I will participate in the marathon world championships and the gravel world championships, so I want to maintain this form to take aim at the rainbow jerseys."
There was satisfaction also in the words of Alessandra Keller. "I had to push hard today; I struggled a lot on the climbs, especially in the most demanding section. I was aiming for the podium, because I knew that if I reached it, I would win the overall classification. I was briefed on the positions of McConnell and Terpstra during the race, and to that end, I concentrated on finishing as well as I could."
