Lisa Baumann is the surprising European downhill mountain bike champion.
11.08.2024, 15:53
11.08.2024, 16:59
SDA
The athlete from Neuchâtel celebrated a home victory ahead of the two favorites Valentina Höll from Austria and Marine Cabirou from France at the highly competitive title fights in Champéry. Italian defending champion Eleonora Farina took fourth place.
The former cross-country and enduro rider Baumann, who had already won European Championship bronze last year, triumphed one day after her 23rd birthday with a lead of 1.85 and 1.99 seconds respectively. Camille Balanche, the Swiss number 1 who has not yet fully recovered from her traumatic brain injury, had to settle for 12th place after a time-consuming mishap in the upper part of the course, two places ahead of Ramona Kupferschmied.
The European Championships in Valais were also the main rehearsal for next year's World Championships at the same venue. This was one of the reasons why practically the entire European elite was at the start on Sunday. Baumann, who is only competing in her second proper downhill season, demonstrated her talent once again. In 2018, she took part in the World Championships in Lenzerheide as a junior in the cross-country competition before finding her way to the fastest mountain bike discipline via enduro.
