The Italian champion and silver medal winner at the World Championships in Lenzerheide Gerhard Kerschbaumer is in a class of his own in Lugano. For once, it is not Nino Schurter against whom the South Tyrolean has to battle, but Mathias Flückiger. The Swiss rider is in the lead with Kerschbaumer until the third lap, but then has to let him go. His lead over Flückiger grows to one minute, but then the latter lights the afterburner again. The Swiss champion rode almost half a minute faster on the last lap, but it was no longer enough to catch Kerschbaumer. "I could still feel the marathon world championships in my legs," Mathias Fückiger admits and is very satisfied in view of this.

Third place went to Frenchman Titouan Carod, who rode a lonely race from the second of six laps. Behind him, Florian Vogel and Andri Frischknecht finished fourth and fifth respectively.
For once, Nino Schurter is not in a duel with Kerschbaumer, who has probably been his toughest rival this season. Although the world champion rides the fastest lap time in the first round, he then falls back and finishes the race in seventh place.

Lars Forster is also not among the front runners. The European champion doesn't get up to speed and only finishes tenth. However, that is just enough to secure overall victory in the Proffix Swiss Bike Cup - only eight points lie between him and Mathias Flückiger in the end.

World champions take the podium

In the women's race, U23 world champion Alessandra Keller secured overall victory. However, she was beaten in the race by former world champion Irina Kalentyeva. Initially just behind, she worked her way up to Keller and Andrea Waldis. The latter falls back slightly in the second lap and finishes fourth. In the fourth of five laps, Keller was also unable to keep up with Kalentyeva's pace.

The Russian, who lives in Switzerland, thus wins the last Swiss Cup race of the season ahead of Keller and Nicole Koller. The 2014 Junior World Champion worked her way up to third position on lap two and even made up ground on Keller by the end of the race. Behind Waldis, Kathrin Stirnemann takes fifth place.
Jolanda Neff did not have the luck of the race on her side. She crashes on the first lap and then abandons the race.

The Kids Camp is back!

On Saturday, Carona near Lugano is already in mountain bike fever. Many children once again took part in thrilling competitions and enjoyed a very well-attended and worthy award ceremony at the end of the day. In addition to leader jerseys and trophies, the highlight for the best of each year is the presentation of a cheque for the Kids Camp in Lenzerheide with former national coach Andi Seeli.

"Thanks to partners like Proffix, we were able to bring the Kids Camp back to life. The fact that it is taking place in Lenzerheide, the venue of the World Championships, is of course a dream come true," says project manager Simon von Allmen.

Proffix Swiss Bike Cup 2018 is a success

The national race series, which is considered one of the most important in Europe after the World Cup, was a success in 2018. An average of around 700 athletes took part in the eight stages, including the Swiss Championships in Andermatt - including around 500 children and young people. Swiss mountain biking is alive and well, and the foundations for success stories similar to the World Championships in Lenzerheide are being laid here.

www.swissbikecup.ch/resultate-2018