Joel Koller and Janine Schneider defied the nasty weather conditions in Wetzikon to win the second race of the EKZ Cup. Koller closes the gap on the leading Masters riders, who had started with a head start, on the sixth of ten laps. His performance on this day was so strong that even the cyclo-cross specialist and top favorite Simon Zahner was unable to follow. "I was able to ride alone at the front practically from the start. When I caught up with the last juniors and masters, I knew that today would be enough," says Koller happily. Zahner managed to catch up with the Masters-Junior duo Marcel Bartholet and Kevin Kuhn on the last lap and finished second behind Koller. Kuhn finished third.

In the women's race, Janine Schneider struggled with technical problems at the start. But in the end, the bike did its job and Schneider was able to really step on the gas. "I quickly built up a good lead over Alessia Bisig". Although she always remains within sight, she has no serious chance of getting ahead. In the end, Schneider rode safely to victory ahead of Bisig and Rahel Signer.

Despite the rainy weather, the organizers can be satisfied with the almost 440 participants and 80 late registrations. The six-minute EKZ Cup magazines will be broadcast on two channels: Tuesdays at 5.50 pm on Tele Top and Wednesdays at 7.05 pm on S1.

www.ekz-cup.ch

Wildhaber third in the Specialized Sram Enduro Series
Norway's Zakarias Johansen and Germany's Raphaela Richter win the second race of the Specialized Sram Enduro Series at the Bike Festival in Willingen (GER). While Johansen rode the fastest times on five of the six downhill stages, Richter could not be beaten on any stage.
Behind the victorious Norwegian, the German Christian Textor took second place. Cube rider Gusti Wildhaber, in action twice this weekend, finished third.
www.enduroseries.net/de/p341,3,126,8_2/Ergebnis/2016/Willingen/Ergebnis/Final

Cappellari second in the iXS European Downhill Cup
The second race of the iXS European Downhill Cup will also take place in Willingen. Johannes Fischbach (GER) is the fastest man of the day and wins by a wafer-thin margin ahead of Poland's Slawomir Lukasik. Fischbach's French Radon teammate Faustin Figaret finished third, also close behind. The best Swiss rider is Team Project rider Basil Weber in twelfth place. Gusti Wildhaber also competes in the downhill and finishes 24th. The Walenstadter was even fourth in Saturday's qualifying run. Carina Cappellari makes it onto the podium in the women's race. She took second place behind the Czech Jana Bartova, beating the up-and-coming Italian champion Veronika Widmann. Another Swiss athlete, Géraldine Fink, finished in fifth place. Fink won the pump track race two days earlier.
www.ixsdownhillcup.com/de/Ergebnisse-Finale-Willingen

Huber misses out on the podium
Willingen for the third time: Urs Huber comes away empty-handed for once at the Rocky Mountain Bike Marathon. The Swiss marathon figurehead misjudged his tactics somewhat and had to make do with fourth place. Victory goes to the former Cape Epic winner Robert Mennen (GER). Dutchwoman Hielke Elferink, who lives in Switzerland, wins the women's race.
www.willingen.bike-festival.de

At the "Enduro-Girls des Portes du Mercantour" in Valberg, France - an enduro racing event for women only - Anita and Carolin Gehrig took second and third place. The two twins were no match for the winner Cecile Ravanel (FRA). However, they leave otherwise higher-ranked riders such as Isabeau Courdurier behind them.
www.1001sentiers.fr/resultats/enduro-girls

Enduro Helveticup Delémont
The first race of the Enduro Helveti Cup in Delémont is entirely in the hands of the Romands. Downhill specialist Maxime Chapuis completes the seven downhill stages the fastest. He is followed by Florian Golay and Jérôme Caroli. Jonas Bähler and Stefan Peter take fourth and fifth place. Camille Balanche won the women's race ahead of former marathon specialist Andrea Kuster and Sandra Börner.
www.equinoxx.ch