Strong Alessandra Keller finishes in fourth place.

The trip to Brasil ends with a highlight for Alessandra Keller from Nidwalden. She dominated the XCO-race over long stretches and was rewarded with a great fourth place. After a brief lead in the men’s race, Mathias Flückiger subsequently paid tribute to his health problems.

The women’s race was extremely lively and exciting, with Alessandra Keller always at the forefront. She battled for the top places right from the start and crossed the finish line in a solid fourth place. After the race, she summarised: “It was a very fast and tactical race here in Araxá. I’m glad I was able to pull through and I’m happy with my performance.” Only Batten (USA), Rissveds (SWE) and Blunk (USA) finished ahead of Keller.

Keller on schedule, Wiedmann in great form this spring

The men’s race was even more spectacular. Mathias Flückiger, starting from the fourth row, found himself at the front of the race midway through the first lap after a chaotic start phase. Subsequently, however, he had to pay tribute to his health problems of the past week. In the end, he finished in 21st place. The winners were: Andreassen (DEN), Koretzky (FRA) and Hatherly (RSA). Lars Forster and Vital Albin, who was also in poor health, finished 31st and 74th respectively.

Luke Wiedmann put in another strong performance in the U23 men’s race, finishing in a great fifth place.

For team manager Ralpf Näf, the first World Cup races of the season provided important insights that need to be processed. However, the focus now is on preparing for the ÖKK Bike Revolution in Chur (CH) and the World Cup races taking place at the end of May in the Czech town of Nové Město na Moravě, he said after weeks in Brazil.

Results:
XCO Araxã (Bra)