The Mountain Bike World Championships in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, are casting their shadows ahead. Seven days before the titles are awarded in the elite categories, the BMC Racing Cup final is of particular importance. With Nino Schurter, two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon (FRA), as well as Olympic champions Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja (NOR), Sabine Spitz (GER) and Julie Bresset (FRA), the "crème de la crème" of mountain biking will be at the start in Basel.

"It will be a final comparison with my toughest opponents and a last intensive session," says reigning world champion Nino Schurter about the race. The man from Graubünden says that the result will not actually play such a big role, but that he would like to take a victory back to South Africa to defend his title. If he succeeds, he would also have beaten Julien Absalon once again. The record World Cup winner last beat Schurter at the World Cup in Canada and a duel on equal terms is also expected in Muttenz. "My values in training were good, I'm quite optimistic," says Schurter.

Absalon is also the rider closest to Schurter in the overall standings. However, Schurter only needs a top 25 result to secure overall victory.
The Frenchman is cautious. "Muttenz is good for my preparation because it's a race that doesn't completely destroy you. The result is secondary. Some riders play poker before the world championships. What counts is seven days later," says Absalon, who doesn't really want to get involved in another duel with Schurter. He recently celebrated his 26th World Cup victory in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada, beating Schurter for the second time this season.

Absalon's team-mate Lukas Flückiger skipped the World Cup in Canada and prepared in the Engadine mountain air. "Apart from two or three training sessions when I had problems with my Achilles tendon, everything went really well. The form should be right," says the Bernese and adds: "If it works in Muttenz, it should also work at the World Championships." Ralph Näf, who returned to the top of the world rankings two weeks ago with fourth place in Mont Sainte Anne, is also looking for competition. "I need a race before an important race," says the Thurgau native. With the same motivation, his colleagues from the national team will also be competing in Muttenz and, with José Hermida, who is celebrating his 35th birthday on this day, Italian Gerhard Kerschbaumer and Frenchmen Maxime Marotte and Stephane Tempier, will ensure a World Cup-like field and a great show in the riding stadium.

Three Olympic champions at the Schänzli
Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja, Olympic champion in Athens, can be expected to be in strong form at the "Schänzli" equestrian stadium in Muttenz. Last Saturday in Méribel (FRA), the Norwegian clearly relegated the reigning Olympic champion Julie Bresset to second place. The 2008 Olympic champion Sabine Spitz recently celebrated her second World Cup victory in Andorra. However, she contracted an infection last week, so it remains to be seen how much of her form remains.

Katrin Leumann is taking on the role of the ambitious local hero. The Swiss champion has analyzed her negative experience at the World Cup in Mont Sainte Anne and believes that she will have resolved the problem, which originated in the sacroiliac joint, by Saturday. "The World Cup preparation is complete. Now it's just a matter of fine-tuning with high-quality sessions," says Leumann. One of these is the race not far from her home in Riehen. "As it's my home race, I want to be well prepared for the start. The race is usually very tactical and last year I missed out on the top spot. I hope that doesn't happen to me again," explains the 31-year-old.The Veloclub Reinach has put together a varied supporting program for the bike festival. In addition to many attractions on the festival site, there will be the Baselbieter Bike Challenge on Saturday morning, the popular fun race Bike4Trails in the evening and additional fun races on Sunday following the junior categories of the BMC Racing Cup.www.bmc-racing-cup.ch