For Yana Belomoina (CST Sandd American Eagle) it was her third win for the year, while Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) extended his winning streak to a record five.
The elite women's race was missing top riders Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing) and Sabine Spitz (Wiawis Bikes), plus a late scratch from number-two ranked Maja Wloszczowska (Kross Racing), who had broken her wrist in a crash. However, Olympic champion Jenny Rissveds (Scott-SRAM) made her first appearance of the season of the World Cup, although she was caught in a crash in the first 200 metres and never figured in the race.
Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Canyon Factory), the 2015 world champion, attacked on the start loop, with only Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) able to join her. World Cup leader Belomoina quickly bridged across, and the trio rode away from a chase group led by Emily Batty (Trek Factory). Pendrel was dropped on the second lap but would solo in for third, while Belomoina dropped Ferrand Prevot on the third lap to take her third victory of the season. Batty dropped Irina Kalentyeva (Moebel Maerki) in the last lap to take fourth. Australian champion Rebecca Henderson was 17th.
"It's crazy, I don't know what to say about this season," Belomoina said. "It's a magic season for me. This gives me great motivation for the world championships."
Belomoina has an uncatchable 1050 points with one round remaining. Linda Indergand (Focus XC) moved into second ahead of the missing Wloszczowska with a distant 655 points, with Wloszczowska at 610. Henderson is 15th overall.
The men's race saw Olympic and world champion Schurter go to the front on the opening loop, joined by Titouan Carod (BMC) and Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory). Marotte fell off the pace, while Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory) moved up to join the leaders by the second lap.
Schurter attacked on the fourth lap, dropping the other two, to solo in for the 25th World Cup win of his career. Behind, Carod managed to hang on for fourth after being overtaken by Stephane Tempier (Bianchi Countervail) and Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Torpado Gabogas), who took second and third, respectively. Australian champion Dan McConnell was 31st.
"I'm really happy," Schurter said, "so far it's the perfect season with the fifth win and already the overall title. I love courses like this, that are super technical with steep climbs. It's just a perfect course. Fumic put some pressure on me, and I thought he would be tough to beat, but I think he blew up a bit. It was really awesome to make history by winning five World Cups in a row."
In the overall standings, Schurter has a perfect 1250 points to lock down his fifth overall title with one round remaining, 550 ahead of Marotte, with Tempier jumping to third from fifth. McConnell is 37th in the standings.
