Keller again on the podium – Flückiger with a great comeback
Alessandra Keller crowned a perfect weekend for Team Thömus maxon at the World Cup in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic with an extremely strong third place. While the current women’s world number 1 impressed for the second time in 24 hours, Mathias Flückiger returned to the top of the world rankings with a strong race in sixth place.
Apart from a mistake in the start periode, which caused Alessandra Keller to drop back briefly, the Swiss champion impressively demonstrated that she is now a world-class athlete for the third year in a row. With a strong final phase, the two-time overall World Cup winner of 2022 took third place on the podium.
Alessandra Keller was extremely satisfied: “The pace at the top was extremely high. I tried to save some energy as good as possible and managed to get the maximum out of the last lap. It makes me proud that I was able to show again today that I can consistently ride among the world’s best.”
Flückiger’s comeback – Forster also strong
The men’s race was characterized by an extremely fast start phase. This did not stop Mathias Flückiger, who had to start from a long way back. He steadily worked his way forward, battled for third place for a long time and ultimately achieved a very pleasing sixth place.
Flückiger was very satisfied with his result. “It was very good today. I’ve worked very hard over the last three weeks – mentally as well. For me, today is like a comeback. It’s just the beginning for the coming weeks and months.”
Lars Forster was also convincing. Although his start was not ideal, he consistently worked his way forward. A crash halfway through the race slowed the two-time European champion down for a while. But Forster did not give up and finished in a strong tenth place.
Vital Albin was also satisfied with place 48. More importantly , after a break from training and racing, Albin was able to push his limits again and take away a good feeling for the next races.
Both races were won by the two reigning world champions, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Tom Pidcock.