One week before the World Cup opener in South Africa, Julien Absalon puts in a convincing performance at the second BMC Racing Cup in Ticino. On the second lap, Ralph Näf pulls up the pace for his team-mate, causing a leading group of eight to break up. Absalon rode a little stronger on the singletrail climb, creating a small gap to Näf. "I was banking on getting back to Julien on the downhill, but then had a defect there," Näf describes the situation.

Another BMC rider, Moritz Milatz, moved up to second place and thus fixed the classification in the first two positions. "This is my favorite course in the BMC Cup and I'm also very happy with my condition. It wasn't so easy to keep Moritz at bay, but it's great to win a week before the World Cup," said Absalon after his first victory in the Swiss series since 2011. Milatz was also very satisfied in second place, 51 seconds behind. "I've already noticed this week that I'm getting better and better. The race was fun, but I was careful not to have a defect," explained Milatz.

This puts him on the safe side, because in addition to Näf, Matthias Flückiger and Fabian Giger each suffered one and Thomas Litscher three defects. Thanks to these setbacks, Dutchman Michiel van der Heijden has the opportunity to work his way up from ninth to third place after one lap. Ralph Näf is very satisfied, even surprised, with fourth place. "I didn't think it would go so well. I pulled up for Julien and then just had the puncture. After that, I continued to ride my rhythm. I feel really, really good," says Näf. Multivan-Merida rider Thomas Litscher says that although he gave up third place, he still won fifth. He is not sure where he picked up the punctures. In the end, he rolls across the finish line with a puncture.

Neff continues on the road to victory
Jolanda Neff is also unbeatable in Tesserete. The 21-year-old, who says she was "forced" to do so, pulled away from the competition on the first lap. In front of an enthusiastic crowd, the u23 world champion rides a solo that brings her to the finish line with a large lead over the German champion Sabine Spitz.
Neff also uses the technical passages in Tesserete to her advantage. "Adelheid Morath took the lead on the first lap. I overtook her again at the highest point because I knew I was faster on the downhill. Somehow it always comes down to that," says Neff with a laugh.

Three-time Olympic medal winner Sabine Spitz was left behind. "I tried not to overdo it, because then you quickly make mistakes on this technical terrain. I'm very satisfied for today, I also enjoyed the course," explains Spitz. Her Haibike teammate Adelheid Morath (GER) finished third after dueling with her teammate Kathrin Stirnemann for two laps. "That was a cool test for the World Cup opener. Because I was a bit tired from training, I'm very happy with how it went," explained Morath. Stirnemann, who developed circulation problems on the penultimate of five laps, had to concede fourth place to former two-time world champion Irina Kalentieva (Rus).

Koller defeats the world champion
Nicole Koller repeats her victory from Buchs in Tesserete. She beats junior world champion Alessandra Keller again. "I just rode my thing," says Koller. Koller's lap times make you sit up and take notice. With her fast turns, she would also be right up there with the elite women. Aline Seitz took third place on the podium.

The junior race goes to Joris Ryf. He pulled away on the first climb on the second lap and celebrated his second victory after winning the opening race in Rivera three weeks earlier. "I like courses like this," beams Ryf. Just under a minute behind him, Sandro Trevisani won the duel for second place with Tobias Neuhaus.

Former elite Swiss champion Jürg Graf won the amateur race, 23 seconds ahead of his team-mate Andrin Beeli. Dominic Grab is 45 seconds behind in third place.

Julien Absalon on course for victory. Photo© Andreas Dobslaff

Jolanda Neff in flight to her second victory in the 2014 BMC Racing Cup. photo© Asprosport

www.bmc-racing-cup.ch