Haley Batten of Specialized Factory Racing continued her winning streak in the second round of women’s elite racing at the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Brazil. She added the elite women’s cross-country Olympic (XCO) victory to her Saturday’s short track (XCC) win. Batten engaged in a battle with Jenny Rissveds of Team 31 Ibis Cycles Continental, who had won the first Brazilian round in Mairiporã.
After a tactical race, Batten managed to pull ahead of Rissveds in the final lap, finishing 17 seconds ahead of her and taking second place. Savilia Blunk of Decathlon Ford Racing Team held on for third place in Araxá.
Batten expressed her excitement after the race, saying “You train so hard all winter but to put it all together on race day when it’s so tactical like that, I just had no idea what was happening, so to pull it off feels insane.” For both Batten and Blunk, this was a huge year as they are preparing for the Olympic Games.
Rissveds commended Batten’s clever tactics and said “Haley was clever today. I tried to attack her but she hung onto my attack and then she went.” Alessandra Keller finished fourth and Anne Terpstra was fifth in the race. The competition now moves back to Europe, with the next cross-country round taking place in Nové Město na Moravě from May 24-26.
