Esther Suss during stage 1(Image credit: Karin Schermbrucker/Cape Epic/Sportzpics)
Katrin Leumann (Switzerland)(Image credit: Hilton Meyer)
Swiss Cycling has selected the three male and two female mountain bikers who will comprise the Swiss National Team headed to the 2012 Olympic Games in London in August.
Florian Vogel and Ralph Näf joined the already selected Nino Schurter on the men's team while Katrin Leumann and Esther Süss will make up the women's team.
Based on his past performances, Schurter was selected in September 2011. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and finished second at the 2011 world championships in Champery.
In addition to Vogel, 30, and Näf, 32, three other men had met the selection criteria: Fabian Giger, Lukas Flückiger and Christoph Sauser. Giger, 24, was selected as the reserve team member.
It will be Näf's third time at the Olympic Games. He was also in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008, although as a reserve rider, he did not race in Beijing. Vogel will be at his second Olympic Games, having already raced in Beijing in 2008.
Süss, 38, will make her Olympic debut while Leumann, 30, will be in her second Olympic games after having already competed in Athens in 2004. No reserve female rider was nominated because no other Swiss woman met the selection criteria.
The elite women's cross country Olympic race will take place on Saturday, August 11, 2012 while the elite men's cross country race is scheduled for Sunday, August 12, 2012.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
