Keller und Carod gewinnen das Swiss-Bike-Cup-Finale in Lugano | Ride MTB

Keller und Carod gewinnen das Swiss-Bike-Cup-Finale in Lugano

Beim siebten und letzten Rennen des «Proffix Swiss Bike Cup» in Carona bei Lugano gehen Titouan Carod und Alessandra Keller als Sieger hervor. Reto Indergand verteidigt seinen Cup-Gesamtsieg mit einem sechsten Rang, während Sina Frei den Gesamtsieg ohne das letzte Rennen holt.

After the start, it was Mathias Flückiger who first pulled away from the field and maintained the lead for three laps. Then the Bernese rider loses some ground, is dropped and has to let his rivals Carod and Kerschbaumer, and a little later Thomas Litscher, go. On the penultimate lap, Mathias Flückiger was also caught by his brother Lukas, who finished third thanks to a strong finish. Between the Flückiger brothers, Thomas Litscher finishes the racing season in fourth place.

The Frenchman Carod and the South Tyrolean Gerhard Kerschbaumer are the two riders to beat. On the penultimate lap, the South Tyrolean seeks a preliminary decision, but Carod just can't be shaken off. He also recognizes that Kerschbaumer is riding at the limit and is no longer as controlled on the downhill. So he waits on his rear wheel until he makes a mistake and crashes. The ten seconds or so that Kerschbaumer loses in the process are enough for the Frenchman to take the win solo on the final lap.
"I really didn't expect to win today, because I didn't think my form was good enough beforehand," says Carod about his victory.

Keller with first elite victory

In the women's race, it was the newly crowned world champion Jolanda Neff who took the lead after the start lap. Not for long, however, as Alessandra Keller put the pedal to the metal on the first big lap and pulled away. She rides the fastest time on every lap and ultimately takes her first victory in the elite category in Lugano, over 1:30.00 minutes ahead of Neff. "Today went really well for me - I was able to take my good form from the World Championships in Australia with me to Lugano," says Keller, delighted with her strong race. World champion Neff once again rode a lonely race in second position, and it doesn't look any different after her. Irina Kalentyeva rides to third place ahead of Katrin Leumann, who is delighted with an extremely conciliatory season finale in fourth place. Kathrin Stirnemann finished in fifth place.

Indergand in second place

"I've accomplished my "Mission Impossible"," were Reto Indergand's first words after crossing the finish line in sixth place. World champion Nino Schurter, second in the overall standings ahead of Lugano, was the clear favorite for the final victory, but Indergand believed in his chances before the race. "After his world championship title, I thought that Nino might be a little more tired and less focused than usual, so it could be my chance." In fact, Schurter was unable to keep up at the front for once and Indergand took his second Proffix Swiss Bike Cup overall victory in a row, finishing sixth ahead of Schurter. "It's a great result for me. I never thought I could win the Swiss race series twice in a row". Behind Nino Schurter, Martin Fanger is in third place overall. Behind him, Andri Frischknecht and Lukas Flückiger are just one point apart in fourth and fifth place.

Frei wins without a last race

The battle for overall victory in the women's Cup is over. U23 world champion Sina Frei is already the winner. She will not take part in the final race as she is currently in Canada. Despite her victory in Lugano, Alessandra Keller is no match for Irina Kalentyeva in the race for second place. She finishes the race series in third place ahead of Linda Indergand, who is also not competing due to her start at the Road World Championships in Bergen (NOR). Kathrin Stirnemann takes fifth place.

Tresch and Zanotti are the fastest juniors

In the junior category, Melanie Tresch scored 100 points for the win, ahead of Sarina Marti and Tina Züger. Top favorite Nadja Grod crashes in the second lap and has to go straight to the ambulance before she can continue the race. In the overall standings, the World Championship medal winner still wins, clearly beating Züger and Tresch. In the juniors, there was narrowly no Swiss victory. The Italian Juri Zanotti rides the race together with Joel Roth and manages to shake off the Swiss on the last lap. Ten seconds separate Zanotti and Roth at the finish. Fabio Püntener finished the race in third place. In the overall standings, however, Joel Roth takes the win. Juri Zanotti takes third place behind Jorin Gabriel.

Results Lugano and overall standings

www.swissbikecup.ch


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