Wiedmann provides highlight with podium finish.
Luke Wiedmann provides the highlight in Sunday’s cross country races with his fifth place. In the elite categories, neither Alessandra Keller nor the men were able to match the performances of the previous weekends. Team manager Ralph Näf nevertheless does not draw a negative conclusion from the races in Les Gets, France.
Already at nine o’clock in the morning, the youngest team member, Luke Wiedmann, started the race in the U23 category. Already at this time, the temperatures were high, which were to increase during the course of the day. Wiedmann from Solothurn coped well with the challenging conditions and showed an animated race, which he finally finished in an excellent fifth place. As on Friday, he was the best Swiss in the ranking.
“I am very satisfied with my race,” said the exhausted Wiedmann.
In the elite categories, other riders are writing the headlines for once. Although Mathias Flückiger fought his way up to ninth place in the last two laps, we are used to Thömus maxon’s victories and podium finishes from the recent past. For team boss Ralph Näf, however, such a weekend is no reason to get nervous. “That’s racing,” he says dryly.
For Ralph Näf, such weekends are also part of the business
“We look back on enormously successful weeks and today, for once, our trump cards didn’t work as usual. Nevertheless, we leave here with a podium for Alessandra Keller, a podium for Luke Wiedmann and a top ten result for Mathias Flückiger. We must not forget: Our riders are not machines and at the top of the world it’s little things that decide victory and “defeat”. Today, others won, but Thömus maxon is a strong collective and we will soon be able to return to our usual level of performance”, Ralph Näf is combative.
The women’s race was won by Mona Mitterwallner (AUT), ahead of Pieterse (NED) and Ferrand Prevot (FR). Alessandra Keller finished in 13th place. The first three places in the men’s race are taken by Koretzky (FRA), Schurter (CH) and Dascalu (ROM). Flückiger is ninth, Albin 13th and Forster 40th.
The final races of the World Cup season will take place in Snowshoe (USA) and Mont-Sainte-Ann (CAN) at the end of September and beginning of October respectively.