Another top finish for Alessandra Keller
Alessandra Keller delivered a strong performance at the penultimate World Cup race of the season: In Soldier Hollow, Utah, USA, the Thömus maxon rider finished fifth and battled for a podium spot right up until the end. Two-thirds of the way through the race, Keller was still in the leading group; in the end, she was just twelve seconds behind third place.
On the fast and spectacular new World Cup course, the pace was high right from the start. Keller was able to keep up for a long time and held her own in the ever-shrinking leading group. About two-thirds of the way through the race, Martina Berta (ITA) and Gwendalyn Gibson (USA) broke away from the rest of the field and battled it out for the win. Berta ultimately secured the World Cup victory ahead of Gibson. Behind them, Keller battled until the very end for the remaining podium spot but had to settle for fifth place.
Alessandra Keller’s post-race analysis was clear: “It was extremely fast, and I also felt technically very strong. But I couldn’t make a difference on the descents on this course. On the very tough climbs, I didn’t have the legs for more, but another top-5 finish shows good consistency. I’m okay with the result, and I’m looking forward to the last two World Cup races in Lake Placid.”
Not an ideal day for the rest of the team
In the men’s race, Lars Forster and Mathias Flückiger also got off to a very good start. However, neither of them could keep up with the fast pace on the speedy course for long. Flückiger found his rhythm again toward the end of the race and posted excellent lap times in the final three laps. This allowed him to move up to 19th place. Just two positions behind him, Vital Albin finished in 21st place. He put in a consistent performance but narrowly missed connecting with the main leading group. Lars Forster fell further back as the race progressed and finished in 42nd place.
U23 rider Monique Halter also delivered a strong performance. Only a poor first lap cost her a top result. The 22-year-old finished in 7th place.
For Thömus maxon, the season’s final World Cup is scheduled to take place in Lake Placid in just under two weeks. The short-track race will be held on Friday, October 2, and the XCO race on Saturday, October 3.