The iXS European Downhill Cup race in the lovingly designed bike park in Spicak, near the German border, has been an integral part of the race series for years. Around 250 riders from a total of 20 nations come together to test their strength. One of them is the young Swiss rider Noel Niederberger. Having started the season with bad luck due to injury, the apprentice forest ranger worked hard on his comeback. Niederberger already showed in Saturday's timed run with the third-best time that he is a force to be reckoned with on Sunday.

On race day, however, it was Lutz Weber who was one of the first elite riders to take on the 1750-meter course after his retirement the day before. Weber puts in a great run and immediately sets a new course record. The long wait on the Red Bull Hot Seat begins. It was only when the top ten took to the track that the excitement returned. However, Weber's time is a tough nut to crack and even Nick Beer fails to beat it. Only Jure Zabjek was able to maintain his lead at the intermediate time to the finish and replace Lutz Weber as the leader from the hot seat.

Noel Niederberger is the third-to-last rider with a very good split time. The young Swiss even manages to make up some ground, finishing in first place. Only Ziga Pandur from Slovenia and Johannes Fischbach from Germany can change the outcome. Both were slightly behind at the intermediate time, but were unable to improve in the second section and finished behind Niederberger, who took his first elite victory in the European Cup. Zabiek remains in second place and Fischbach is third.

Strong Swiss collective
As if Niederberger's victory and Weber's fourth place weren't enough, three other Swiss riders also achieved top results. Nick Beer finished sixth, even though this result is probably rather disappointing for him. Dominik Gspan finished just one place behind him. With the tenth place of downhill national coach Lars Peyer, the ranking list includes five Swiss in the top ten - an extraordinarily nice overall picture that you would like to get used to as a Swiss.
As in the previous year, victory in the women's race went to Slovenian champion Zarja Cernilogar. She already set the fastest time in Saturday's timed run. On Sunday, she once again left no doubt about her form and won the race with a lead of almost five seconds over the Czech Jana Bartkova. Third place on the podium went to Diana Marggraff from Ecuador. Géraldine Fink was the only Swiss woman in the race in eighth place.

Now there are only two more stops to go. In August, after Val di Sole, it's back to Italy, to the well-known Pila. After that, the only thing missing is the final, for which the series will make a guest appearance in Leogang, Austria, at one of the oldest members of the racing series.

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