Swisspower Cup preview

Round six of the Swisspower Cup will head to Rennen Savognin this weekend, July 12-13, without last year's two winners as Julien Absalon will be sitting out with knee problems and Sabine Spitz is taking time off from racing to recover after winning a silver medal last weekend at the World Marathon Championships.

For many Swiss racers, it is good preparation for the Swiss Championships to take place one week later in Seon. For Olympic participants, the race will serve as another step of preparation. Swiss Olympians for Beijing, U23 World Champion Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel are among the favorites in the men's race along with Frenchman Jean Christophe Peraud and the Italian Marco Aurelio Fontana. However, Jürg Graf, Thomas Frischknecht, Alexandre Moos, Martin Gujan, Lukas Flückiger, Mathias Flückiger und Gion Manetsch are all capable of surprising the favorites.

The women's race will include top racers such as Irina Kalentieva, Petra Henzi, Nathalie Schneitter and Eva Lechner. Swiss cup leader Katrin Leumann and European Marathon Champion Esther Süss will also challenge them.

The action will kick off Saturday afternoon in Chur with a sprint and continue that night with a Lake Jump contest. Cross country action will happen Sunday.