Paul van der Ploeg, "The Animal" as he is jokingly called by Austrian World Cup leader Daniel Federspiel, has made himself scarce in the World Cup this year. But the Australian surprises European champion Federspiel and relegates him to second place. Bronze goes to the Argentinian Catriel Soto. Defending champion Ralph Näf has to bow to the strong competition in the round of 16. "They go off like a cannon at the start. The discipline has changed a lot, and at 33 years old I might not be fast enough anymore," says Näf.

Marcel Wildhaber is faring better. He is even happy to reach the semi-finals at all. In the quarter-finals, he will be up against Fabrice Mels (BEL), Simon Gegenheimer (GER) and Catriel Soto, who all finished on the podium at the World Cup in Andorra. Despite the strong group, Wildhaber knocks out Mels and Gegenheimer and advances to the next round. In the semi-finals, he then missed out on a place in the grand final by one place. "I really felt the effort in the quarter-final in the semi-final," admits Wildhaber. In the small final, the Swiss champion still managed to secure second place and thus sixth place in the final. "This is the region I've been in all season. I'm definitely satisfied with sixth place," says Wildhaber.

Successful Swiss women
Jolanda Neff confidently reaches the final after her best time in the qualification run. Linda Indergand also comes out on top, which is remarkable. The 2011 junior world champion suffered a few bruises and a sore elbow from her crash in the cross-country race. In the final, Alexandra Engen once again proves herself to be the best sprinter. She thwarted Neff's previous approach on the start straight and was the first to enter the first tight bend. Engen never relinquishes her lead and defends her Eliminator World Championship title. Jolanda Neff finishes second, as she did last year. "Traveling home from the World Championships with gold and silver is certainly not bad. I can't complain. I can still improve a bit next year," says Neff with a grin.

Linda Indergand is unable to keep up with Neff and Engen, but is very happy with her bronze medal. In the flat section with the stone obstacles, she loses a little too much time to catch up with Jolanda Neff again. However, she clearly leaves the German Nadine Rieder behind her. "I forgot about the pain in the race fever," explains Indergand.