After a two-month break, the second round of the Swiss downhill series, the iXS Swiss Downhill Cup, is on the program on the Wiriehorn. The Swiss downhill elite and their international guests will be heading to the small but iconic bike park in Diemtigtal. The race there has long been part of the iXS Cup - albeit with a break from racing in 2015. The team from the organizing club "Hot-Trail" has once again done a great job and prepared the 2.8-kilometre course with over 400 metres of altitude perfectly for the race. But they are not idle away from the race preparations either, as the long-awaited and now finally completed "Old T-Bar" flow trail will be opened in a week's time.

On race day, the best time of the day from Saturday's timed run was broken early on in the elite class, and Noel Niederberger (SUI - Swiss Downhill Syndicate) was the first to take the lead with a time of 4:07.175 minutes. The next to beat this time was Maxime Chapuis (SUI - We ride, We respect). Basil Weber (SUI - Team Project) moves ahead of Niederberger, but remains behind Chapuis and finishes fifth. Then comes Swiss champion Lutz Weber (SUI - Swiss Downhill Syndicate) and beats the time by another 1.5 seconds. His lead, however, is exactly one minute, as Felix Klee (SUI - Team Project) goes one better. So it is only the Swiss who occupy the first five places. However, there are still three riders at the start: one Australian and two Brits. James Maltman (AUS) is the next rider to cross the finish line. But the scoreboard shows eighth position. Briton Guy Gibbs also misses the top time by around four seconds, leaving only Jono Jones, the fastest of the time trial, with a chance of taking the win. He comes out of the last forest section and looks very fast. The clock stops at 4:01.450 minutes and reveals a minus of 1.7 seconds. This means that Jones once again thwarts the Swiss and secures victory in the second round of the iXS Swiss Downhill Cup. Felix Klee finished second ahead of Lutz Weber.

Confirmation for Rutz

Lea Rutz (Gravity Union) once again dominated the elite women's race. The 21-year-old now seems to have hit the jackpot. She had already set the fastest time on both days at the Swiss Championships last weekend and is now repeating the same feat on the Wiriehorn. It is also Rutz's first Swiss Cup victory in the license class. Géraldine Fink (SUI - Pink Gravity) repeats her result from Morgins and secures the lead in the iXS overall standings with second place. Just behind her, Eva Battolla shines in third place. Battolla is still a junior in terms of age, but rides in the elite class due to the lack of a corresponding category.

In the Pro Masters, local hero Thomas Ryser (SUI - Radon Hot-Trail Racing) underlines his home advantage and improves his time from the previous day by 16 seconds, securing first place. Noah Grossmann (GER) finished second, followed by the fastest time trial rider Chris Sinden (GBR). Janis Lehmann (SUI) is fastest in the Pro Junior U19 category, repeating his success from 2014 on the Wiriehorn. Luca Heinzi (SUI - Radon Hot-Trail Racing) finished in second place. Jack Tennyson from England completes the podium. Vincent Arbellay (SUI - Cyclone DH Team) wins the race in the Pro Youth U17 category after finishing second in Morgins and at the Swiss Championships. Second place went to Janosch Klaus (SUI - Team Project), an athlete whose name should be familiar from his victories in the 2015 Rookies Cup. Elia Saurer (SUI - Radon Hot-Trail Racing) left the course in third place.

Résumé and outlook

Wiriehorn has once again shown with this race that it should not be missing from the racing calendar. We can therefore hope that the one-year break will remain an exception and that Wiriehorn will once again be a permanent fixture in the series. The series continues with the Cup finale in Bellwald in October. Incidentally, the race in Upper Valais is celebrating an anniversary.

All results

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