World cross-country champion Kate Courtney claimed her second consecutive victory ©Getty Images

World cross-country champion Kate Courtney claimed her second consecutive victory as Switzerland's Mathias Flückiger won an incident-packed men's race at the International Cycling Union Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt.

Courtney followed her short track success on Friday (May 17) by securing victory in the women's event in 1hr 26min 03sec.

Switzerland's defending World Cup champion Jolanda Neff was forced to settle for silver as she crossed the line 49 seconds behind the American.

Ukraine's Yana Belomina came through to take third place, while a crash dented the hopes of Dutch rider Anne Tauber, who finished fourth.

The result handed Courtney a first cross-country World Cup gold medal and ensure she began the season in the best possible fashion.

Flückiger, who is entering the twilight of his career at the age of 30, avoided the chaos in the men's race to seal gold in 1:23:54.

The Swiss rider broke clear of the rest of the field before the last lap of the course to finish 32 seconds ahead of Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel.

Van der Poel caught Jordan Sarrou late on to take second place but the Frenchman did enough for bronze.