In light of her complete and utter domination of this past Sunday’s UCI XCO race in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada, I would be remiss if I didn’t give another shout out to Jolanda Neff (Liv Pro XC Team) and her continued “Neffness.” It was pretty amazing to watch as she took the lead in the opening lap and never looked back. In the end she took the victory by over a minute on Canada’s own Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team). With two races remaining, Neff leads the series with 900 points, 310 points over the second place Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing).
By the way, if you’re new to the blog you may wonder just what the hell “Neffness” is. Hmm… that’s a good question! While I’m not entirely sure what it is or why the hell I started these posts dedicated to a Swiss mountain bike racer, I can tell you it’s not some creepy old man bike blogger with a crush on a female athlete half his age with big blonde hair. I think it’s just an admiration for a young racer who kicks ass, has a little bit of swagger (yet doesn’t come off crass and arrogant), has enough balls (figuratively speaking) to fearlessly bomb down rocky descents and yet remains comfortable enough to pull off the look below.
There are of course others out there I admire as well: Georgia Gould, Maja Wloszczowska, Emily Batty, Catharine Pendrel and Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa to name a few current XCO and in the past I was always a fan of racers like Susan Haywood and Alison Dunlap. However, I find “Neffness” to be one of those things that you just know it when you see it and it’s yet another way for me to goof off and talk about bike racing. In a word, it’s fun.
Photos by Michal Červený