Switzerland's best once again: Nicole Koller finished 7th in the second World Cup race in Brazil
Image: Keystone
Fabio Püntener from Uri achieves his career-best result in the World Cup in Brazil with 8th place
Image: Keystone
Switzerland's best once again: Nicole Koller finished 7th in the second World Cup race in Brazil
Image: Keystone
Fabio Püntener from Uri achieves his career-best result in the World Cup in Brazil with 8th place
Image: Keystone
No further Swiss podium finish at the Mountain Bike World Cup in Araxá, but Fabio Püntener (8th) amazes with a career-best result. Nicole Koller (7th) is once again the best Swiss in the women's race.
12.04.2025, 19:57
12.04.2025, 21:44
SDA
Nino Schurter, who finished third on the podium in the short track the day before, fell far short of expectations in the last of four races in Araxá. In 25th place, the Grisons record world champion finished directly behind Filippo Colombo and Mathias Flückiger. The second best Swiss rider was Vital Albin in 19th place.
Fabio Püntener stepped into the breach for the established riders. The 25-year-old from Uri even tackled the last of ten laps in the lead, but was unable to keep up with the horrendous pace at the front when the American Christopher Blevins attacked on the final climb.
While Blevins was celebrated as the winner, as he had been the day before in the short track, Püntener finished eighth, 37 seconds behind, his best career result. Previously, 15th and 18th place at the end of last season in the final North American races were his best results in the World Cup.
Like Püntener, Filippo Colombo from Ticino was also part of the leading group for a long time. However, after a crash shortly after the halfway point of the race, he fell far behind.
Nicole Koller again best Swiss rider
The women's cross-country race also ended without a Swiss podium finish. However, Nicole Koller ended the two race weekends in Brazil with another top result in seventh place. This made the 28-year-old from Zurich the best-placed Swiss rider for the third time in a row.
Six days ago, Koller made her World Cup podium debut in Araxá, finishing second in the Olympic distance. On Friday, she also finished in the top 3 for the first time in the short track with second place.
The second best Swiss athlete on Saturday was Sina Frei in ninth place. Jolanda Neff finished eleventh and Ronja Blöchlinger, like Püntener, also achieved a career-best result in 13th. Alessandra Keller had to settle for 22nd place.
The winner was "Brazil specialist" Jenny Rissveds, ahead of New Zealand's Samara Maxwell and Great Britain's Evie Richards. For the Swede Rissveds, it was her fourth World Cup victory, having topped the podium for the first time in five years a year ago, also in Brazil. She also celebrated her 2016 Olympic victory in the country of the record-breaking football world champions. She took her first two World Cup victories in Lenzerheide.
