At the start of the cross-country competitions at the World Cup in Lenzerheide, Sina Frei takes second place behind Kate Courtney. The US American won in 1:14:12 minutes, 21 seconds ahead of the Swiss rider, while Evie Richards from Great Britain finished third, exactly one minute behind. The riders who have dominated the U23 World Cup to date are also dominant in Lenzerheide. In lap two of five, the trio is once again in the lead. However, the positions keep changing. Sometimes Richards is in front, then Sina Frei takes over and finally it's Kate Courtney.

"The rain made the roots very slippery and every now and then someone made a small mistake and slid off. This created these gaps," reports Sina Frei. But it was the gap that opened up on the penultimate lap that was decisive. Courtney was able to gain an advantage of almost ten seconds and never relinquished the lead. The overall leader celebrates her third U23 World Cup victory, but Sina Frei has no complaints about second place.

"It was very difficult to find a good rhythm here. You keep coming to a standstill. It was a bit more difficult today than a week ago, but I'm happy with my race," summarizes Sina Frei.

Nicole Koller finished eighth with a difference of 5:15 minutes. After an almost customary slow start, she works her way up to this position after two laps, but it doesn't go any further. Koller complains of nausea. "I also had to throw up once. I just couldn't go on today," she shakes her head.

Ryf with a personal best

No Swiss U23 rider can intervene in the battle for victory. Blums, Brandl and Colledani fought it out among themselves. The Italian, riding in second place, makes a mistake on the penultimate lap, Brandl gets past, but he also allows himself a small slip. This opens up the gap for Martins Blums, who can no longer be caught and celebrates the first victory for a Latvian in the Mountain Bike World Cup. Max Brandl wins the duel with Colledani for second place.

The best Swiss rider, Joris Ryf, is delighted with 15th place, which is also his best result in the World Cup. Vital Albin has set himself the goal of a top 20 result after the disappointment in Andorra. The 2016 Junior World Championship silver medallist held 19th place for a long time, but he was unable to maintain his pace in the final lap.

"I just don't have the stamina to keep up with the older riders. I made a lot of technical mistakes at the end," says Albin, explaining why he lost three places. Nevertheless, he is relieved. "Now I'm glad that Andorra was probably only due to the altitude and that I haven't lost my form," says Albin.

Filippo Colombo, on the other hand, is very disappointed. The highest-ranked Swiss only finished 37th (+7:08). "I don't know what happened. I still had breakfast in the tree, it just didn't go well," said Colombo. Noah Blochlinger was even better in 32nd place (+6:30).