A few days ago, she was still lying on the beach recovering from the exhausting mountain bike season, which she crowned in Cairns, Australia, with her first elite world title. She will be back on Sunday in Bern - and how! The 24-year-old Jolanda Neff is better than all the cyclo-cross specialists and rides to the finish with a lead of 20 seconds over the Czech national champion Pavla Havlikova, who also won the overall classification of the EKZ-CrossTour two years ago. After finishing second in Baden, the first stop of this year's series, she is now back at the top of the overall standings. Third place goes to Lucie Chainel from France, who has already lost 32 seconds to Neff.

"I can hardly believe it," says Neff at the finish, after almost falling off her bike from exhaustion. It was "brutally hard", "mega hard!" - but also "incredibly beautiful". At the start of the race, you can tell that she doesn't yet have much experience in cyclo-cross. But this soon disappears and Neff proves her class by quickly getting used to the new challenge. On the second-to-last of seven laps, she takes the lead on the steep slope rather by chance because she chooses a slightly different line to the two other riders in the leading trio. From then on, she pulled away.

The world number four in third place

There is even a double victory for Switzerland in the men's race: Marcel Wildhaber wins ahead of Simon Zahner. The success is also remarkable because it comes against the Dutchman Corné van Kessel, the world number four. A week ago, van Kessel came second at the World Cup in Waterloo, USA, and now he comes third in Bern. He says he is probably a little exhausted from the long journey - but emphasizes that he doesn't want that to be an excuse. "It was an incredibly tough race, and Marcel and Simon rode superbly."

Like Neff before him, Wildhaber also takes the lead on the steep slope. He rides a few seconds ahead of the leading group, which has dominated the race almost since the start, and can no longer be caught. Zahner only overtakes van Kessel in the final meters. The decision between the two was so close that he and van Kessel were both ranked two seconds behind Wildhaber.

Wildhaber finished eighth in Baden two weeks ago. With his victory in Bern, the second of six races in a row, he also takes the lead in the overall standings of the EKZ-CrossTour.

"It was great"

Both Neff and Wildhaber, Zahner and van Kessel are delighted with what the organizers in Bern have put together in such a short space of time. "An event that is taking place for the first time is rarely organized as professionally as this one," praises Neff. Dutchman van Kessel, a world star of the scene, is particularly surprised by the turnout. "It was really great," says van Kessel.

"We are very satisfied," says Christian Rocha, President of the EKZ-CrossTour and initiator of the race in Bern. "I'm most pleased that the atmosphere was so good - in a place where cyclo-cross has no tradition. It also shows me that we still have potential with the event in Bern. We can't really want anything more for the premiere."

Around 3,000 spectators come to the Weyermannshaus outdoor pool in the west of the city to attend this extraordinary event, whose course runs around the largest artificial outdoor pool in Europe. Rocha has already spoken in advance about submitting a bid to host a World Cup event in Bern next year. He is now more convinced than ever that he could be successful with the international cycling association UCI with this request. "The feedback from the association people was very positive."

The Bern stop of the EKZ-CrossTour was not only a top-class cyclo-cross competition, but also an experience for the whole family. From the "Cross for all" to the kids' cross races, the street food festival and the bike expo: there is something for everyone, and the fact that some food stands are sold out before the end shows that the concept is well received. There is also a mobile pump track, a skills course, a roller slide, a large playground and a bouncy castle for the little ones.

The target of 400 participants is also exceeded: 453 cyclo-cross riders are at the start in the various categories, a remarkable success for a premiere.

Results EKZ-CrossTour Bern

www.ekz-crosstour.ch