Strong Flückiger finishes 4th in crazy race
Mathias Flückiger of the Swiss MTB team Thömus maxon showed a strong performance at the Cross-Country World Cup in Snowshoe (USA) and finished fourth – just ten seconds behind the winner Jordan Sarrou.
At first it didn’t look at all like Mathias Flückiger would race for victory in Snowshoe, after a disappointing short track. Flückiger was only in 22nd place after the start lap. But he didn’t let himself get rattled, found his rhythm and set off to catch up.
A real thriller with suspense until the end
At the halfway point of the race, the Swiss champion was firmly established in the extremely large leading group and from then on stayed mostly in the first five positions. When a preliminary decision at the top was in the offing, the events came thick and fast. First the World Champion Pidcock had a front wheel puncture twice, then Lukas Schwarzbauer (Ger), who was leading with Sarrou (Fra) at that time, was also hit a rock and had to change his backwheel.
But the Swiss riders Guerrini, Schurter and Flückiger were able to catch up with Sarrou once again and it was exactly these four who decided the victory among themselves in the final lap of the race that could hardly be surpassed in terms of suspense. Then Flückiger made a mistake in a technical uphill section and had to get off the bike for a short time. The 35-year-old was unable to close the gap and had to settle for a strong but ungrateful fourth place.
Mixed results for the rest of the team
In the women’s race Alessandra Keller could not live up to her own expectations. The Swiss champ felt powerless. Nevertheless she fought bravely and reached the remarkable rank 15. In the men’s race Vital Albin showed a very constant performance. In the end, the man from Chur finished in 20th place. Lars Forster did not fare as well, falling behind in the last two laps and finishing in 36th place. U23 rider Luke Wiedmann was also unable to compete at the front and finished the second last World Cup of the season in 22nd place.