The fact that Buchs, alternating with Schaan, hosts the season opener is already a tradition. This also applies to the world-class line-up that gathers at the market square in the St. Gallen municipality.

The women's start list has a whole host of world-class riders, six of whom are in the top ten in the world rankings. First and foremost the number one Eva Lechner from Italy. The South Tyrolean won the bronze medal at the cyclo-cross World Championships this winter and then took a break. It is therefore difficult to assess in advance how well she can hold her own against three-time Olympic medal winner Sabine Spitz, her Haibike teammate Adelheid Morath and, above all, Jolanda Neff. The two-time U23 world champion from Thal made an outstanding start to the season in Cyprus with two victories and can therefore be considered the favorite. What's more, Buchs is "almost a home race" for Neff, as she says with a laugh. And: The 21-year-old has a series to defend in Buchs. Every time she has competed in Buchs, she has also won. In 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010. Two years ago she was ill. "I really like the course and I'm excited to see if I can continue the streak. The standard in Cyprus was high and it was super cool to start the season like this. I hope it continues like this," explains Jolanda Neff, who seems to have made another leap in performance over the winter. She masters technical passages such as the legendary Hundsschopf with bravura and speed anyway. However, her last victory in the BMC Racing Cup was two and a half years ago. In Engelberg, she celebrated her 50th victory in the Swiss series.In addition to those mentioned above, her rivals for victory in Buchs include the Swiss champion Katrin Leumann, the Austrian title holder Elisabeth Osl, both from the professional team Ghost, and Kathrin Stirnemann (Gränichen), who races for Sabine Spitz's team. Another interesting face is the Swede Jenny Rissveds. The European sprint champion from Bern is now riding for the Scott-Odlo team of world champion Nino Schurter.

Men: Giger's early form makes him the favorite
Schurter himself is in South Africa, but he has a top-class representative on his own team in Florian Vogel. Vogel presented himself strongly both in Cyprus and last Sunday in Rivera and wants to take the next step in Buchs. This is also how Moritz Milatz from the BMC Racing Team puts it. "Things should go even better in Buchs than last Sunday. I'm really confident and looking forward to the race," says Milatz. Thomas Litscher also made a very strong impression on Monte Ceneri. The Multivan Merida rider was third there behind Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon. However, Fabian Giger in particular could find his way around the 4.1-kilometer course. Giger impressively won the four-day Afxentia stage race in Cyprus three weeks ago against top-class competition. "I was able to continue training well after Cyprus and I'm still happy with my condition. My goal is the podium, but if everything goes right, I would like to be in contention for the win. I'm looking forward to getting started in Switzerland," says Giant rider Giger about his prospects.

This certainly also applies to the countless athletes in the junior categories who will be following in the footsteps of Jolanda Neff on Saturday. By Tuesday, a total of more than 730 bikers were already on the entry lists. RV Buchs expects the number to rise to over 800 athletes by the weekend and is hoping for a large audience with a festival restaurant and attractive route.

Schedule

Saturday, March 22, 2014
SOFT (yrs 06-08) course 10:30
CROSS (yr 04-05) course 11:00
ROCK (yrs 02-03) 3 small laps 12:30
MEGA (yo 00-01) 4 small rounds 13:30
HARD (Jg 98-99) 3 gr. Rd 14:45
FUN MEN (85-97) 5 gr. rd 16:00
FUN MASTERS (75-84) 5 gr. rd. 16:05
FUN SENIORS (74+older) 5 gr. rd. 16:05
FUN WOMEN (97+older) 4 gr. rd. 16:08

Sunday, March 23, 2014 (C2)
JUNIORS (96-97) 5 gr. rd 09:30
AMATEURS/MASTERS (95+older) 5 gr. rd 09:35
ELITE WOMEN (95+older) 6 gr. Rd 12:00
JUNIOR WOMEN (96-97) 4 gr. rd 12:05
ELITE MEN (95+older) 7 gr. Rd 14:00

The race calendar of the BMC Racing Cup 2014
22/23.03. Buchs (SG) C2
05./06.04. Tesserete (Ti) C1
09-11.05. Solothurn Bike Days (SO) C2
14/15/06 Gränichen (AG) HC
05/06/07 Delemont / Montsevelier (JU) C2
12/13/07 Lenzerheide (GR) C1
16./17.08. Basel Bikefestival (BL) C1

Source: Press release, www.bmcracingcup.ch