Lenzerheide World Cup: Koretzky beats the Swiss
From the start, Nino Schurter is at the front and indicates that victory near his home in Chur will only go through him. But there are obviously others who want to have a say, including pace-setter Victor Koretzky (FRA), but also Mathias Flückiger and Ondrej Cink (CZE). But overall leader Flückiger, of all people, is missing at the front - he is slightly behind in 15th position.
Once again it is Schurter who leads the sextet. And Flückiger manages to catch up with the leading group on the first lap. The pace remained horrendous, but hardly changed for two laps. On lap three, the two Swiss set the pace for the seven-man leading group, which also included Victor Koretzky, Henrique Avancini, Alan Hatherly, Ondrej Cink and Titouan Carod.Now Schurter launches the first serious attack and tries to break into the group with just under three laps to go. In fact, the number of leaders is reduced to four, Avancini, Cink and Carod can no longer follow. Flückiger then doubles up, but his success is short-lived. His attacks always ended in the top four.
On the last lap, Victor Koretzky has his say again. His attack seems to work, as neither Flückiger nor Schurter can follow the Frenchman, no matter how hard they try. The world champion then passes Flückiger and tries to close the gap again, but without success. Koretzky takes his second World Cup victory in Lenzerheide. "I am super happy! My legs were great, unfortunately a bit late for the World Championships, but to win a World Cup in this fantastic atmosphere, it's great. I know that Nino and Mathias really wanted to win here, so I'm even more overwhelmed that it was enough for my second victory here," said the Frenchman happily, also thanking the fair Swiss crowd.
Even though victory was the goal, Schurter is not disappointed: "Despite second place, it's still especially nice to ride here in front of the home crowd. The atmosphere was just great," Schurter thanks the fans. "It was a very close race and a very tough battle. It was difficult to make a decision and so it was an extremely tactical race. In the end, I couldn't do any more, but that's racing."
And Mathias Flückiger also takes his defeat in his stride: "I'm happy with third place, even if I would have liked to win. It just wasn't possible. I kept trying to get away, but after the bad start and the chase to catch up, I probably didn't have the energy to hold off Koretzky's attack in the end."
Andri Frischknecht got back on track and finished the race in 20th place. Vital Albin also put in a strong race, finishing 25th. Lukas Flückiger is hoping for a little more for his last World Cup race, even though 33rd place is a respectable result. "Even if the result isn't quite what I was hoping for, with the great atmosphere, Lenzerheide is definitely the best place to finish my career. I've also had many great moments over the years. The highlight is definitely my second place at the 2012 World Championships in Saalbach, when I was able to share the podium with my brother Mathias.
Matthias Stirnemann will also be making his last appearance. The man from Aargau is reaching into the retro drawer and will be competing in the old RC Gränichen kit and with an old 26-inch Hot Chilli Fully. Even if Stirnemann can't keep up with the front runners with this equipment, he makes a great impression and is far from last. Two laps before the end, Stirnemann is taken out of the race with other colleagues, as he doesn't get in the way of the leading riders behind.
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.