Linda Indergand starts well from the pack and remains in the leading group at all times. Shortly before the end of the second lap, the athlete from Uri even pulls away and gains almost twenty seconds. However, her lead then dwindled and grew again slightly, and she went into the sixth and final lap with a 17-second lead.

The Frenchwoman uses her momentum to take the lead shortly before the home straight. She pulled away in the sprint and took her first "small" World Cup victory of the 2021 season thanks to her energy-saving tactics, as she explained: "I didn't expect that beforehand. I was always at the front, but I tried not to ride too much into the headwind and let the others do more of the leading work. I wouldn't have been able to ride alone at the front, but the tactics worked out perfectly."

Behind Indergand, Annie Last (GBR) took third place, with Kate Courtney (USA) and Loana Lecomte (FRA) in fourth and fifth place respectively.
"The solo ride after my attack wasn't actually planned, but as the pace of the chasers collapsed, a decent gap opened up which I then tried to exploit. It was great to be at the front for so long, even if it wasn't enough to win in the end," said Linda Indergand, explaining her breakaway.

Van der Poel unbeaten in the short track

The men's race gets down to business right from the start. It is Mathieu van der Poel who is already looking for a preliminary decision at the start of lap two. Schurter parries, but the Dutchman launches another attack as soon as possible. Here too, the Swiss rider sticks to van der Poel's rear wheel, and soon the other chasers do too.

Now first Victor Koretzky and then world champion Jordan Sarrou try it - and both times Schurter is on the spot, and then he starts the next attack himself. However, his success on this fast one is also short-lived. After that, the previous protagonists have had enough for the time being - the pace collapses.

But the calm does not last long, Mathias Flückiger shows up at the front and immediately increases the pace. This attack draws the peloton out again and now van der Poel uses the momentum for his final increase in pace. Now the thread to his pursuers breaks and Nino Schurter is also unable to catch up. The Dutchman wins with a clear lead, Schurter is caught by the Frenchman Koretzky at the end. This means that van der Poel has won every short track race in which he has competed.
"My goal was to narrow the field at the front so that I could get away with six or seven riders at the front and we could share the work there. It was clear that there would always be tough battles for position, which I actually wanted to avoid. In the end, the headwind on the home straight was just too strong, so nobody really wanted to ride at full throttle," van der Poel explains his tactics and adds: "I felt very good today and hope that I can also be at the front on Sunday. The course is very hilly, which doesn't necessarily suit me, but I will try my best."

Schurter is satisfied with his race: "I deliberately held back and didn't try to attack myself. I'll start from the front row on Sunday, that was my main goal."
Mathias Flückiger also made it onto the front row, catching himself again after his attack and fighting his way up to fifth place.