Keller crowns World Championships with bronze
At the XCO World Championships in Crans-Montana, Alessandra Keller once again showed her class and won bronze. After an incredible three-way battle for the World Championship title, Keller won her second medal at the World Championships on home soil – her first in XCO in the elite category!
After a less than ideal start Alessandra Keller quickly made up ground and was able to close the gap on the leader Jenny Rissveds (Swe) in the second lap. From that moment on, Keller, Rissveds, and the young New Zealander Samara Maxwell battled it out for the world championship title.
The race did not go entirely smoothly for Keller: a minor crash, in which the 29-year-old lost her gels, caused a moment of shock. But the leading trio stayed together until the fifth of seven laps, when Rissveds shifted into a higher gear. Rissveds was the strongest and deservedly won her first cross-country title. Behind Maxwell, Alessandra Keller won her second World Championship medal after the XCC title in Zermatt.
«It’s great to win a second World Championship medal»
«It was brutal. I’m very happy with bronze. It’s amazing that I was able to win a second medal at the World Championships on home soil. I fought to the absolute maximum and still had cramps in the last lap. The crowd motivated me so much», said Alessandra Keller just a few minutes after crossing the finish line.
Keller summed up that winning two medals was the perfect scenario: «This is better than I ever hoped for. Jenny and Samara were incredibly strong and more than deserved their medals. At the finish line, I was able to really enjoy the atmosphere once again. It was an amazing moment!»