Kenya's Njeru secures Mountain Running World Cup

Joyce Njeru is the Mountain Running World Cup winner following her victory in the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup series – this time at the Canfranc Classic 16k, a Gold Label stage, on Sunday.

The win thrust her to an unassailable lead in the overall standings with 468 points ahead of Andrea Mayr of Australia and Kenya's Lucy Wambui Murigi who are on 343 and 318 points respectively.

Njeru once again made an early break at the start of the women’s race as Italy’s Camilla Magliano struggled to stay with her. Behind them, Laia García Montoya settled into a podium position while Julia Font and Leire Fernández Abete completed the top five.

Njeru reached La Moleta summit after 71 minutes, which suggested a swift finishing time. Magliano was 83 seconds in arrears, while Montoya was a solitary third, five minutes behind the Italian and five minutes ahead of Font and Abete.

In a descent as fast as it was technical and ferocious, Njeru didn’t just maintain her advantage, she increased it remarkably. She ultimately won in 2:01:58, while Magliano took second place in 2:08:24. Montoya rounded out the podium with 2:17:28 ahead of Font (2:16:29) and Abete (2:20:41).

In the men’s race, Philemon Kiriago's second-place finish behind Robert Loic pushed him closer to his compatriot Patrick Kipngeno on the standings on 265 points, 65 points behind Kipngeno who leads with 330.

Kiriago set out fast, while Loic was the only athlete to stay in close contact. Behind the lead duo, Spain’s Raul Criado, Noel Burgos and Antonio Martínez – all relative experts of the course – followed their own strategy.

Kiriago summited La Moleta in 1:00:08 – an ascent record by two minutes. Loic was 1:42 behind but also inside the previous record and was biding his time until the descent when he knew he’d be able to call upon his past experience of the French Pyrenees.

Loic’s gamble paid off and, half way down, the French runner overtook long-time leader Kiriago. Behind them both there was a crazy descent by world descent VK record holder Raul Criado who, despite reaching the summit in fourth place, some five minutes behind Kiriago, was blasting down the mountain towards his home village, much to the delight of the local supporters.

Loic crossed the finish line in 1:43:11, chopping more than four minutes from the course record. Kiriago held on for second place in 1:43:53, while Criado took third place in 1:45:00. Spaniards Martínez and Burgos closed out the top five in 1:49:50 and 1:50:48 respectively.

Additional reporting by World Athletics