This article was originally published on Cyclingnews.com.
Julie Bresset (France) did the double this season by pulling off a win at the elite women's cross country world championship just three weeks after winning the Olympic Games. Behind the first-year elite French woman, the race was for second, with Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Norway) taking silver and Georgia Gould (United States) taking third.
Bresset went to the front early in the race and quickly distanced her rivals. In the chase behind her, a crash and broken rim slowed Sabine Spitz (Germany), who ended up running to a tech zone to get a wheel change. Eva Lechner (Italy) was also among the leaders in the first lap, but a major crash over the rock drop off cost her some places. Both racers continued onward after their mishaps and made up many places, but not enough to move back into medal contention.
