RESULTS: Women's Elite XCO Paris 2024

It was a bright sunny day in Paris, and the course was running very fast as the elite women set off in their bid for Olympic glory today. Pauline Ferrand Prevot was clearly on a mission, out to win her first Olympic gold, and buoyed by the home crowd support on a course that seemed to suit her to perfection she wasted little time launching an attack on lap two that would see the rest of the field relegated to fighting for the other medals. Pauline kept building her lead throughout the race and the outcome was never really in doubt, but there was no lack of drama behind her. Fellow Frenchwoman Loana Lecomte took a heavy crash in the rockgarden on lap 3 and was reportedly evacuated to hospital - we wish her all the best. Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse was looking to add to her impressive recent World Cup results and was sitting in second place when a rear wheel puncture put an end to her Olympic dreams (she was already some 1mn40 behind Pauline at the time). Haley Batten recovered from a mechanical issue of her own and worked her way back up to an impressive silver medal position, ahead of Sweden's Jenny Rissveds who added an Olympic bronze to her gold from Rio 2016.