No, I’m not going to be sucked into another season of the uber-successful (by my low standards) blog post series: #Neffness, but I must admit that I’m finding it hard not to comment on Jolanda Neff’s victory at UCI XCO #1 in Nové Město, Czech Republic last weekend.
Jolanda Neff (Stoeckli Pro Team) has won in Nové Město as a Junior (2011), as a U-23 (2012) and now as an Elite racer. While the Swiss rider’s near flawless race was indeed impressive, what’s equally impressive (in this crap bike blogger’s feeble mind) is that Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå (Multivan Merida) also rode a near flawless race and lost to Neff by just one second. ONE freaking second.
It’s not all that impressive or nothing new for XCO mountain bike races to finish in close sprints, but it IS impressive that there is a twenty year age difference between Neff and Gunn-Rita!
At nearly forty-four years old, I’m not one to be calling someone forty-two years of age old, but it is hard not to recognize the awesomeness of coming in second and losing by just one second to someone twenty years younger. Hell, I can’t even keep up with racers my own age, let along a twenty-three year old!
Chapeau to both Jolanda and Gunn-Rita, it was sure fun to watch.
Photo ©Armin M. Küsternbrück/EGO-Promotion
Later.