Just over a month after the Olympic Games in Paris, the mountain bikers are once again competing for medals at the World Championships in Andorra this week. The Swiss are looking for revenge after the "zero" in Paris.
28.08.2024, 05:01
28.08.2024, 07:29
SDA
The World Championship races will be held in the Pal Arinsal ski destination at around 2000 meters above sea level. Medals will be awarded in the short track, cross-country, downhill and e-mountain bike disciplines, with the team competition in the Olympic cross-country starting on Wednesday. Switzerland emerged as world champions in this format in 2022 and 2023.
Nino Schurter was also part of the winning team each time. The 38-year-old from Graubünden is the record world champion in cross-country with ten world titles, but the 2016 Olympic champion recently suffered a major disappointment with 9th place at the Summer Games in Paris. Mathias Flückiger, who won silver in Tokyo in 2021, also missed out on the podium in fifth place.
However, both have proven in the past that the World Championship course in Andorra suits them. Schurter became world champion at the same venue in 2015, while Flückiger won the World Cup last year. The Bernese rider has never been World Champion: Flückiger won World Championship silver in 2019 and 2021 behind Schurter and in 2020 behind the Frenchman Jordan Sarrou.
Colombo and Guerrini also have ambitions
Unlike at the Olympic Games, when the big nations were also able to compete with just two riders, the Swiss top duo will face competition from their own camp this time. Filippo Colombo and Marcel Guerrini are likely to be doubly motivated after not being selected for Paris.
Thomas Pidcock goes into the race as the top favorite. After his (second) Olympic victory in Paris, the Brit had initially left it open as to whether he would be defending his title in Andorra. Last year, Pidcock won ahead of New Zealander Samuel Gaze, while Schurter took his 13th World Championship medal with bronze. Since 2009, the Grisons rider has only failed to finish on the podium twice at a World Championships (2010 and 2020).
Keller with fond memories of Andorra
Alessandra Keller is still without a World Championship medal. As in Paris, where she had to settle for 7th place, the athlete from Nidwalden is once again one of the favorites in Andorra. In recent years, the 28-year-old has impressed above all with her consistency. This helped her to triumph in the overall World Cup in 2022. Now, with two races to go, she is once again leading the overall standings.
Keller has already proven that she is very familiar with the altitude in the Pyrenees. Last year, she won the short track and followed this up with a 2nd place in the cross-country.
Switzerland also has a good chance of winning a medal in the downhill. While Lisa Baumann arrives as European champion, Camille Balanche returns to the place where she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a serious crash a year ago. The former world champion and overall World Cup winner is still suffering from the consequences of this fall today.
