News
Tactical preparation pays off in another win for Kalentieva
First place at Mont Saint Anne, taking the series lead – UCI World Cup
There was excitement right up to the closing meters at the World Cup in Mont Saint Anne. Irina Kalentieva was the one left smiling. The world number two won in Canada with a paper thin advantage over a rejuvenated Ren Chengyuan of China and her old rival Sabine Spitz of Germany. "This course here is one of my favourites. For this reason I knew that I would have a good chance. I simply waited for the right moment, and then made my move", Kalentieva explained of the way the race was played out.
Until the final lap the trio of Kalentieva, Chengyuan and Spitz were head to head. First Spitz attacked, but Irina and Ren countered, then just before the finish Kalentieva forced the tempo once more and opened up a gap on the others. The pair could not manage to hold the Topeak Ergon rider's rear wheel. With a lead of only 10 seconds it was enough for "Ira" to celebrate her second world cup win of the season. "I thought carefully about when to attack. My feeling at that moment that it was the right time to pull away from them, and be able to hold that gap until the finish", she said of her tactics on the day.
In the overall classification Kalentieva has taken the lead with two races still to come."The next race is also in Canada. I don't only want to defend my lead, I want to extend it so I can win the overall classification for the first time", the six time Russian national champion admitted full of optimism. The outlook certainly looks good, as at the moment Kalentieva is in top form and is performing the best she has in her career so far.