From the Swiss camp, Andri Frischknecht (Elite M), Joel Roth (u23 M), Ramona Forchini (Elite F), Sina Frei (u23 F) and Dario Lillo (u19 M) will start the team race on Thursday evening.

Even if the team does not compete with its full power, "everything is open", as national coach Bruno Diethelm openly formulates his forecast. However, this is not the only reason why it is difficult to assess the competition, as Diethelm explains: "Italy, Denmark... It's difficult to say who our strongest competitors will be. For many, the program is very tough with World Cups in Vallnord and Les Gets, national and then European Championships and then two World Cups again. So we don't yet know who of the foreign elite riders will be coming to Brno."

On Friday, Swiss Cycling announced no Swiss participants in the Eliminator competitions.

High chances in the individual races

Even though two of the top candidates, Nino Schurter and Mathias Flückiger, are missing from the 33 athletes, the chances of a medal are still intact. With Lars Forster, the Swiss delegation also has the defending champion. Although Forster's start to the World Cup season was delayed due to an accident, he is now in improving form. With Florian Vogel, Andri Frischknecht and Reto Indergand, there is also a very strong backup at the start, rounded off by Thomas Litscher, Matthias Stirnemann, Martin Fanger and Simon Vitzthum.

The Swiss women's delegation, on the other hand, will be at the start without any gaps - led by defending champion Jolanda Neff. She also currently has the best chance of winning gold again. After Neff, however, the possibilities are open, as Alessandra Keller and Ramona Forchini in particular are in good shape, but were unable to reach their full potential at the last World Cup. Also
Linda Indergand, Kathrin Stirnemann and Corina Gantenbein rode below their value at the last two World Cups, but are still good for a surprise.

Promising young talent

She even has a chance of winning a medal in the elite: Sina Frei has ridden to ninth place once in the last two World Cup races and fourth place once - in the elite. Due to her age, however, Frei still has to compete in the u23 race at the European Championships. There she is not only the defending champion but also the heavy favorite for gold.

Nicole Koller, the second Swiss woman in the u23 race, also has a chance of winning a medal.


In the u23 men's race, Swiss hopes rest on Filippo Colombo. In Joel Roht, the Ticino rider also has a strong team colleague at his side, who can be expected to do well, as can Vital Albin, who is in rising form.

In the junior squad, Dario Lillo and Janis Baumann as well as Jacqueline Schneebeli have the best chances.

Link to the detailed program