Flückiger fought hard but ultimately unrewarded
Mathias Flückiger put in a superb performance at the World Championships in Crans-Montana, but was beaten in the sprint for bronze after a hard-fought battle. In the end, Flückiger had to settle for a disappointing fifth place.
The story of the World Championship race is quickly told. Alan Hatherly (RSA) was in a class of his own. The South African defending champion pulled away in the second of nine laps and continuously extended his lead. Only Mathias Flückiger tried to keep up in the first third of the race and set off alone in pursuit of Hatherly. But Flückiger was unable to close the gap and later found refuge in the chasing group.
There was no stopping 29-year-old Hatherly. With three laps to go, the South African’s lead was just under a minute and a half. The pursuers, including Flückiger, were now only fighting for silver. A group of six, including Luca Schätti as the second Swiss rider, XCC world champion Koretzky, the two Italians Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto, and Simon Andreassen (Den), entered the penultimate lap together.
«Fifth isn’t bad, but it’s disappointing in terms of ranking»
Flückiger attempted to seal the deal. However, Avondetto, Schätti, and Koretzky caught up again in the final lap. Avondetto pulled away on the last climb and secured silver behind Hatherly. It was a sad ending for the Swiss, as the strong sprinter Victor Koretzky came back again on the last section of the course and relegated Schätti and Flückiger to 4th and 5th place in the sprint.
«I felt really good for a while, and then I was back at my limit again. It was an up and down. Before the race, I said that I wanted to judge only my own performance. And that was what I was capable of today. Fifth isn’t bad. But sprinting against Koretzky is extremely difficult. That’s why I tried it on the final descent. In terms of ranking, it’s certainly disappointing.»
Vital Albin in the top 20 – Forster disappointed
With an 18th place finish, Vital Albin provided some good news for the Thömus maxon team. Albin got off to a good start and quickly established himself in the top 20. During the race, he moved between 14th and 19th place. In the end, with a strong final lap, Albin secured 18th place. Things didn’t go so well for Lars Forster. He also established himself in the top 20, but after the first two laps, Forster couldn’t keep up the pace and ultimately fell back to 37th place.
Näf draws an extremely positive conclusion
Even though the final race of the home World Championships did not bring the crowning glory, Ralph Näf, team manager of Thömus maxon, drew an extremely positive conclusion: «We wanted three medals and two titles. Now we have one title and one bronze medal. Mathias rode for victory today. That plan didn’t work out. Victories and defeats are very close together in top-level sport. Alessandra’s gold medal outshines everything else. This means that, for the first time in the team’s history, we have won the rainbow jersey in the elite category. For us as a Swiss team with Swiss partners at the Swiss home World Championships, this is a huge success.»