Indergand loses overall podium place
Reto Indergand loses his chances of a podium finish in the overall standings due to a crash on the first lap. He got off to a good start, but the mishap cost him many positions. By the end of the first lap he was back in 13th position, but he had lost crucial ground on the top five. "Crashing on the first lap is always bad. I was then able to catch up, but the gap to the front was too big," explains Indergand. He would have needed sixth place to finish third and second respectively, as Frenchman Hugo Drechou and Dutchman Michiel van der Heijden both ended up with five points more than Indergand. "It's a shame that it wasn't enough, but I definitely felt better today than at the world championships," says Indergand.
Second best Swiss is Marc Stutzmann. The Bernese rider had a lot of bad luck in the start phase when he was involved in a crash and was almost last to start the race. "I always overtook a lot on the long climb, so I'm quite happy with my performance," said Stutzmann, who finished in a respectable 13th place.In the battle for overall victory, things got tight again briefly when Markus Schulte-Lünzum, who was leading by around 20 seconds on the second lap, suffered a puncture in a meadow passage and dropped back to 16th place. However, he quickly fought his way up to eleventh place, which was enough for the two-time winner of the season to secure the first German overall World Cup victory in cross-country. After Schulte-Lünzum's defect, U23 European champion Jordan Sarrou took the lead and never relinquished it. Anton Cooper (NZL) finished second ahead of Michiel van der Heijden (NED).Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.