At the UCI marathon world championships in Lillehammer, Norway, Gunn-Rita Dahle successfully defended her title. On her home turf, the favourite was controlling the race, building up a margin of 1:43 minutes, which is not much in long distance racing.

In front of an enormous and enthusiastically cheering crowd, it was a very special victory for Dahle: «I cannot really describe the way I feel, not yet», she commented at the finish.

«Since I am more of a cross country specialist, this race was very tough for me: I am simply not used to statically sitting on the bike for such a long time. At the end, I even suffered from cramps in my trizeps!»

 

Results World Championships Mountainbike Marathon, Women:

1. Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR), 4:05:18

2. Blaza Klemencic (SLO), 4:07:01

3. Petra Henzi (SUI), 4:07:43

4. Anna Enocsson (SWE), 4:08:04

5. Pia Sundstedt (FIN), 4:09:33

8. Irina Kalentieva (RUS), 4:16:15