There was plenty of reason for Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing) to despair during the cross-country Olympic (XCO) race at Pal Arinsal, with two crashes and a puncture, but instead of succumbing to defeat the determined rider from New Zealand launched a spectacular fight back that put her back on the top step at the Andorra round of the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series.
"I had a flat and two crashes all within what felt like five seconds," said Maxwell in a release from race organisers. "I thought ‘it’s going to be one of those days’ where I panic and drop down the rankings. I told myself ‘just because I had the thought doesn’t make it a fact’. I’m a fighter and just re-set and chipped them [her rivals] off one by one."
The overall series leader had been out the front with Ronja Blöchlinger (LIV Factory Racing) early before falling away as she lost 47 seconds after needing a change for a rear wheel puncture,
“I don’t know where I flatted, I just came round the corner, and it felt a bit squirely and I looked down and my tyre was flat just as I passed the tech zone. It was a bit of chaos, but I tried to stay calm," said Maxwell.
She then went on to chase back to the front, with a crash on the way, but once she made the junction to the leading group of four in the second last lap of seven it wasn't all smooth sailing then either. The high altitude course in the Pyrenees with energy-sapping climbs kept serving up the challenges and Maxwell kept rising to meet them.
"It was all out in the last lap. I felt strong but kept making silly mistakes in the downhills," said Maxwell. "I just realised I needed a bit of room for myself to take my own lines.
"I waited until the climb, but afterwards my whole body was screaming. It’s hard. People think what I did on the last lap was hard. It’s not. What is hard is having setbacks and feeling out of control."
Maxwell crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Alessandra Keller (Thomus Maxon) while Jenny Rissveds was next, 15 seconds back. On the other hand Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who had led the race early, fell back through the field after crashing and finished in 10th place.
Maxwell, who won her debut elite XCO round in Brazil, has now stretched her lead in the overall series with 1535 points while second placed Nicole Keller (Ghost Factory Racing) has 1090 points.
