Final Swiss Racer Bikes Cup round serves as dress rehearsal for Worlds

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The 2011 Swiss Racer Bikes Cup series will wrap up in Muttenz, Switzerland, this weekend with the last round. It will serve as the final rehearsal for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships which start in Champery, Switzerland, the following week. Racers from over 20 nations will compete in Sunday's elite cross country events.

World championship favorites like Julien Absalon (Orbea) and Jose Antonio Hermida (Multivan Merida) will join the Swiss national team for one final test of the legs.

Scott-Swisspower's Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel are the favorites in the men's race, but they will be challenged by fellow Swiss rider Lukas Flückiger (Trek World Racing), who is also a contender for the series.

In the women's race, Austrian Lisi Osl will battle local rider Sarah Koba and Kathrin Leumann, who are only five points apart in the standings. Leumann will be looking to repeat her last year's win here, but the presence of Esther Süss and German Sabine Spitz will only add to the challenge.

Among the juniors, Lars Forster is just 65 points ahead of Andri Frischknecht while Jolanda Neff is in a league of her own and going for her 13th win in a row.

Stefan Peter, only 19, and Kevin Krieg will battle in the amateur and masters category. Both have two wins thus far in the series.

The Muttenz race is being held for the 16th time and it will include a festival, slopestyle action from riders like American Sam Pilgrim and a regional tour for about 600 cyclists.