Lars Forster narrowly misses out on the podium
Lars Forster was part of the leading group for a long time in the short track race in Leogang (AUT) and only just missed out on the podium in fourth place. Alessandra Keller rode a tactically clever race and secured a good starting position on the front row for Sunday’s race.
The track in Leogang, Austria, is a classic on the racing calendar and is not one of Alessandra Keller’s favourite tracks. Unlike usual, she focussed primarily on herself during the short track and on achieving a solid final result. She is satisfied with her seventh place finish: ‘I timed my race perfectly and achieved a place on the front row of the grid. That was my goal right from the start.’
Keller with a solid performance
The men’s race was characterised by lively battles for position at the start. Halfway through the race, the leading group consisted of a good ten riders, including Lars Forster and Mathias Flückiger.
Flückiger in the top ten
Forster, who said before the start that he would approach the race with caution and not ‘chase every carrot‘, kept up with the eventual winning trio for the longest time and beat young Fabio Püntener in a sprint to the finish. Mathias Flückiger paid tribute to the efforts made at the start of the race on his favourite course, but still finished a solid ninth.
Puck Pieterse (NED), Samara Maxwell (NZL) and Nicole Koller (CH) finished on the podium in the women’s race. The winners in the men’s race were Blevins (USA), Vidaure Kossmann (CHI) and Aldridge (GB).