Sensational team performance crowned by Forster and Keller
Team Thömus maxon impressed at the World Cup classic in Nove Mesto (Cze). The impressive team performance was rewarded with third and fourth place on the podium for Lars Forster and Alessandra Keller: 6th place for Vital Albin was the crowning glory for the amazing races of the entire team.
The Thömus maxon team put in an outstanding and incredibly cohesive performance at the cross-country race in the biathlon arena in Nove Mesto. Alessandra Keller rode extremely strongly right from the start. The 29-year-old was always in the top places. In a thrilling women’s race that was exciting right up to the final lap, last year’s double overall World Cup winner finished in 4th place. The winner was Mona Mitterwallner from Austria.
Alessandra Keller drew a satisfied conclusion: “It was a really good race. I’m happy with fourth place. I did my best and felt good on the bike, on the trails and on the downhills. I’m not quite at the top yet, but we’re working on that.”
Thömus maxon’s men’s trio united at the front of the race
The men’s race presented a picture that caused the Thömus maxon team to be extremely nervous. While Mathias Flückiger and Lars Forster made a perfect start and immediately established themselves in the front positions, Vital Albin managed to work his way into the leading group from starting position 56 on the third lap.
From this moment on, Flückiger, Forster and Albin established themselves in a leading group of 11 riders. Albin even proved to be a courageous attacker three laps before the end, with the eventual winner Christopher Blevins immediately following. The group continued to run together until the pace was so high with around one and a half laps to go that several riders, including Mathias Flückiger, lost the contact to the front of the race.
Forster the man of the last lap
While Albin had to atone for his efforts for a short time, Forster was immediately able to step into the breach. With an outstanding final lap, Forster took a fantastic third place on the podium in a three-way sprint behind Blevins, against the two Frenchmen Korretzky and Azzaro. Vital Albin recovered and equaled his best XCO World Cup result to date in 6th place. Mathias Flückiger, on the other hand, fell back slightly in the final lap – 14th place.
For Lars Forster, it was the first podium finish in Nove Mesto in his career, was very satisfied: “Third place is great, even if victory would have been possible. But everything was so close. Riding together with Vital and Math in the leading group was fantastic. The last two laps were all out, so I’m really happy with the result.”
Results XCO WC Nove Mesto (Cze)