Skövde driver Linnéa Åkesson grabbed the lead early and had a two-minute lead after the first hour, even though reigning world champion Jane Daniels was chasing, among others.
But Daniels found the speed and caught up and passed Åkesson an hour later. Åkesson then regained a lead of around 30 seconds when Daniels went in for a pit stop.
Daniels tried to come again to catch up, but didn’t get any closer than about 15 seconds. But Åkesson switched gears and won 30 seconds ahead of Daniels.
– I am impressed. She has bit the bullet and done really well. It is so strong, says SVT’s expert LG Ståhl.
Linnéa Åkesson was very happy after finishing.
– It’s absolutely crazy, I never thought this with such a tough starting field. I would have been very happy if I only made the top five, so I’m very happy, she says to SVT Sport.
Last year’s champion Tyra Bäckström, 15 years old today, finished seventh.