In a double role: successful mountain bikers at the Cyclo-cross World Cup in Bern
What a gift! For exactly 41 minutes, the spectators in Bern have the opportunity to watch the best and most versatile female cyclist the world has ever seen. And this rider, 31-year-old Dutchwoman Marianne Vos, leaves no doubt during her performance that she had only one thing in mind: victory. Right from the start, she rides away at the front, in the last of six laps over 2.9 kilometers she also leaves her compatriot Annemarie Worst standing and at the finish she has a nine-second lead.
The American Katherine Campton rode to third place. Vos had originally wanted to use the World Cup primarily to prepare for the European Championships at the beginning of November. The plan was not to complete all nine races in the series, which runs until the end of January. This is because the new road season begins in March and is the main focus. On the road, Vos is an Olympic champion and multiple world champion and has won almost all major races at least once. But the success in Bern was her second World Cup victory of the season after the opening race in Waterloo, USA, in mid-September, making her the clear overall leader. And because she is also a multiple world champion in cyclo-cross, but still lacks the overall World Cup in her impressive palmarès, she says with a laugh: "It looks like I'll have to rethink my season planning."
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The three-time world champion in second place
On the fifth of eleven laps, Van der Poel took advantage of a minor technical incident involving Van Aert to attack. By the finish, which he reached after 64:48 minutes, he had increased his lead to eight seconds. What is particularly remarkable about the 24-year-old Van der Poel's success is that he won a Superprestige race in Belgium on Saturday.
The next World Cup race will take place in mid-November in Tábor, Czech Republic. Thanks to his third place in Bern, Aerts remains the overall leader at least until then.
Notable Swiss riders
There are separate races for the men's junior categories. In the U19 category, Lars Sommer rides to a surprising ninth place (15 seconds behind Belgian Witse Neeussen). In the U23 men's race, Kevin Kuhn even managed sixth place (55 seconds behind the outstanding Belgian Eli Iserbyt). The best Swiss in the elite race is Marcel Wildhaber - he also reaches the finish line in 22nd place
Satisfied OC president
The riders are full of praise for the organization of the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Bern. Marianne Vos is no exception: "I know that Switzerland can look back on a long tradition in cyclo-cross. But I also know that Switzerland has not been one of the dominant nations in recent years. So I was all the more surprised at how good the atmosphere was on the course. I was impressed by how enthusiastic the crowd was."
OC President Christian Rocha is also satisfied with the Bernese World Cup premiere. "It was more than perfect," he said. Only last year, he and his team organized a cyclo-cross race for the first time at the Weyermannshaus outdoor pool. The fact that they were awarded World Cup status for the second year meant a few late nights. But the two-day concept worked, the combination of popular sporting event and top-class sporting event was worthwhile, as proven by the many hundreds of participants on Saturday and around five thousand spectators on Sunday.
And now?
According to Christian Rocha, the representatives of the City of Bern present at the Weyermannshaus outdoor pool, including Mayor Alec von Graffenried, have signaled their interest in continuing the "World Cup in Bern" project. However, Rocha emphasizes that there will only be another World Cup event in Bern next year if he receives a confirmation from the International Cycling Union UCI earlier - and not in February, as was the case this time. "That's simply too late. By that time, most of the sponsorship budgets have already been drawn up. We need more lead time to raise enough money." Rocha is expecting a deficit of 20,000 to 30,000 francs this year. He says he cannot take such a financial risk again.
Full rankings Telenet Cyclocross Worldcup Bern
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.