Näf earns first victory of the season ahead of Schurter and Flueckiger
By Cycling News
Suess beats Spitz and Stirnemann in women's race
Ralph Naef (BMC) celebrated a surprise win against world champion Nino Schurter (Scott Swisspower) at the finale of the BMC Racing Cup in Muttenz, Switzerland. Schurter took the overall victory ahead of Julien Absalon (BMC) and Lukas Flueckiger (BMC) who was third in Muttenz. In the women's competition Esther Suess (Wheeler iXS) secured the overall victory with a narrow win against Sabine Spitz (Sabine Spitz Haibike). Kathrin Stirnemann (Sabine Spitz Haibike) was third.
Men
A lead group of four emerged in the Schaenzli bike arena in rainy conditions after the fourth of eight laps. A bit earlier, Marcel Wildhaber (Scott Swisspower) had had to say goodbye due to a mechanical, and then BMC rider Reto Indergand was not been able to hold the pace of the group on an uphill section. However, with seventh place overall, Indergand finally won the U23 competition.
At one point, Flueckiger had to pull himself back to the leaders, when after a running section, he had some problems getting into his clipless pedals. But last year's world championships runner-up had enough energy to catch up again.
Näf also succeeded in doing this. On the penultimate lap, he attacked in the singletrack before the descent, but he risked too much and crashed. Entering the final lap, he had closed the 15-second-gap again.
"At that time I didn't think that I could win the race. Nino always applied heavy pressure on us in the uphill sections, but he couldn’t shake me off," said Naef.
Whereas Florian Vogel (Scott Swisspower) faded a bit earlier, Naef still was in third position with 500 metres to go. He passed Flueckiger and Schurter and rode "a long, good sprint" which earned him his first victory of the season.
"Nino was catching up on the finishing straight again, so I had to fight him off again. It's fantastic to win the finale here in Muttenz, just seven days prior to the world championships," said Naef.
Schurter will also travel to the world championships in South Africa in a positive mood. "Ralph always managed to gain time in the slippery sections, where I had to catch up time and again. But I'm quite happy, I think I was the strongest guy on the climbs." The Scott-Swisspower rider won the BMC Racing Cup overall standings ahead of Absalon. In the struggle for positions at the entrance to the first singletrack, the Frenchman missed the boat and then rode a steady pace in pursuit. He was fifth, 53 seconds behind.
His BMC teammate Flueckiger was "not one hundred percent" happy. "I would have liked to win this race. Of course, I am glad for Ralph's sake, this is really important for him." Flueckiger, third overall in the Cup ranking, is happy about his fitness, and also said, "I felt very good on the climbs, that was great."
Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida), who was suffering from a sore throat, pulled out of the race on lap five.
The five-lap women's race was dominated by a three-member leading group that had established itself after Esther Suess and Sabine Spitz had managed to catch up to Kathrin Stirnemann on the third lap.
Somewhat involuntarily, eliminator World Cup winner Stirnemann found herself alone at the front in the first lap. "I was first in the downhill, and I had a gap at the bottom. Then I decided to keep a steady rhythm," said Stirnemann. She had a lead of almost 40 seconds, but they melted away quickly on the third lap. Since the course began to dry up, Stirnemann's rear tire no longer suited the conditions.
"I had no chance," said Stirnemann. Due to her superior skills in the descents, she was able to keep up with Spitz and Suess to the final lap. But then a flat tire took away all her chances to win.
Chain suck on one of the climbs decided the duel between Süss and Spitz. Spitz had to dismount and lost some seconds. Although she tried to claw her way back, the German could not catch-up again. In the end, the European marathon champion and the World Cup winner of Andorra were seven seconds apart.
"No doubt, Kathrin was the fastest on the downhills, but I wasn't really slow either," said Suess, grinning. She had not even noticed that behind her, Spitz had suffered chain suck. "Competing against these two Haibike girls I had to lead for much of the race. Of course. I had a gap before we reached the descent, and I said to myself: Now ride down safely but not too slowly. I had to fight to the finish, because Sabine was catching up again. Given today's conditions, it was also a question of motivation, but I've tried to think positively, and it worked. Now I'm ready to fly to the Worlds with good self-confidence," said Süss, who also won the overall ranking.
Spitz said that it was "unfortunate that the chain suck happened at this bad point in time." However, the 41-year-old was very happy about her form after having suffered from two infections. "Due to its special characteristics, you cannot compare this race course with the course at the Worlds. But it was good for me to do a race in the mud because that could happen in South Africa, too."
U23 rider Linda Indergand managed to keep up with Spitz and Suess up to the third lap and finished the competition on fourth place, ahead of local hero Katrin Leumann who was struggling with a neck issue. Leumann had been second until lap two. "I'm sure it will get better till next week," said Leumann.
Olympic and world champion Julie Bresset (BH-SR Suntour-KMC) had to throw in the towel quite early in the race. "I simply did not have the right kind of tires," said Bresset. She quit the race on lap three.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Ralph Näf (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 1:45:06 |
2 | Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing | 0:00:01 |
3 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:00:06 |
4 | Florian Vogel (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing | 0:00:37 |
5 | Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:00:53 |
6 | Marek Konwa (Pol) National Team Poland | 0:01:09 |
7 | Reto Indergand* (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:02:15 |
8 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing | 0:02:50 |
9 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) goldwurst-power/ Stöckli | 0:04:18 |
10 | Jürg Graf (Swi) bskGraf-ROLLMAT-KOBA MTB Team | 0:04:36 |
11 | Martin Fanger (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:05:04 |
12 | Fabian Giger (Swi) Giant Pro XC Team | 0:05:17 |
13 | Markus Bauer (Ger) | 0:05:17 |
14 | Daniel Eymann (Swi) Imboden Bike Lauterbrunnen | 0:05:37 |
15 | Stephen Ettinger (USA) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:06:06 |
16 | Lars Forster* (Swi) Tower Sports - VC Eschenbach | 0:06:55 |
17 | Andri Frischknecht* (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing | 0:06:56 |
18 | Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi) Thömus Racing Team | 0:07:38 |
19 | Patrick Tresch (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | 0:08:17 |
20 | Stefan Peter* (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | 0:08:45 |
21 | Lucien Besançon (Swi) BH-Biketeam | 0:09:35 |
22 | Pascal Schmutz (Swi) goldwurst-power / Stöckli | 0:09:43 |
23 | Florian Chenaux* (Swi) Zimmermann-BMC-New Work | 0:09:56 |
24 | Dylan Page* (Swi) Dom cycle-Merida | 0:10:26 |
25 | Matthias Allenspach (Swi) Tower Sports - VC Eschenbach | 0:10:49 |
26 | Mariusz Kowal (Pol) Kocarz Polanica | 0:11:04 |
27 | Silvio Büsser (Swi) Wheeler-IXS Team | 0:11:24 |
28 | Jonas Baumann (Swi) Wheeler-IXS Team | 0:11:33 |
29 | Giancarlo Sax (Swi) BigFriends Racing Team | 0:11:35 |
30 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) WildWolf-Trek Pro Racing | 0:12:03 |
31 | Severin Sägesser* (Swi) Crazy Velo Shop | 0:12:39 |
32 | Michael Wildhaber (Swi) Tower Sports - VC Eschenbach | 0:12:40 |
33 | Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) Team Bulls | 0:13:09 |
34 | Ramon Sagués Portabella (Spa) Blue Motors | 0:13:13 |
35 | Sandro Soncin (Swi) BH-Biketeam | 0:13:17 |
36 | Bryan Allemann* (Swi) Zimmermann-BMC-New Work | 0:14:58 |
-1lap | Alexander Gehbauer (Aut) TX-Active Bianchi Team | |
-2laps | Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Elettroveneta Corratec | |
-2laps | Rick Reimann* (Swi) Orbea Suisse MTB Team | |
-2laps | Sylvain Engelmann* (Swi) Prof Raiffeisen CCL | |
-2laps | Mike Schuler* (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | |
-2laps | Claude Koster* (Swi) Bergamont Swiss Team | |
-2laps | Matthias Stirnemann* (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | |
-2laps | Roger Jenny* (Swi) Cycling Projekt Bike4Fun | |
-3laps | Michael Hutter (Swi) Pink Gili Swiss Racing Team | |
-3laps | Mattia Setti* (Ita) CANOSSA MERIDA | |
-3laps | Nick Albrecht* (Swi) dapp-putzi-team.ch | |
-4laps | Pascal Meyer (Swi) JB Felt Team | |
-4laps | Michael Stünzi* (Swi) Orbea Suisse MTB Team | |
-4laps | Jonas Loretz* (Swi) Thömus Racing Team | |
-4laps | Johannes Striller (Ger) Team Storck Bicycles/Rosbacher | |
DNF | José Antonio Hermida (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team | |
DNF | Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH SrSuntour KMC | |
DNF | Martin Loo (Est) Merida Italia Team | |
DNF | Fabian Paumann* (Swi) Greenhope MTB Team - biking against cancer | |
DNF | Wawak Bartlomiej (Pol) National Team Poland | |
DNF | Carlos Coloma-Nicolas (Spa) WildWolf-Trek Pro Racing | |
DNF | Florian Thie (Swi) Bergamont Swiss Team | |
DNF | Patrik Gallati (Swi) Focus XC Team | |
DNF | Valentin Berset* (Swi) team dom cycle - merida | |
DNF | Sebastian Lehr (Ger) TU-Sports / Centurion | |
DNF | Sebastian Ostertag (Swi) velo-reichmuth.ch/VC Wädenswil | |
DNF | Shlomi Haimy (Isr) Focus MIG Team | |
DNF | Gerhard Kerschbaumer* (Ita) TX-Active Bianchi Team | |
DNF | Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) Specialized Racing Team | |
DNF | Jose Alberto Gonzalez Merchan* (Ecu) Ecuador |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Esther Süss (Swi) Wheeler-IXS Team | 1:20:41 |
2 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | 0:00:07 |
3 | Kathrin Stirnemann (Swi) Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team | 0:00:47 |
4 | Linda Indergand* (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | 0:02:09 |
5 | Katrin Leumann (Swi) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 0:03:19 |
6 | Katarzyna Solus Miskowicz (Pol) National Team Poland | 0:03:52 |
7 | Monika Zur* (Pol) 4F Racing Team | 0:04:33 |
8 | Andrea Waldis* (Swi) Colnago Südtirol | 0:05:20 |
9 | Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) Colnago Südtirol | 0:06:00 |
10 | Elisabeth Sveum (Nor) Raufoss & Gjøvik SK | 0:07:10 |
11 | Corina Gantenbein (Swi) Fischer - BMC | 0:08:34 |
12 | Michelle Hediger* (Swi) Fischer - BMC | 0:10:00 |
13 | Anna Villar Argente (Spa) Tomàs Bellès Cannondale By Gaes | 0:11:42 |
14 | Sabrina Baumgartner (Swi) Raiffeisen Bikeshop Studer Raceteam | 0:11:50 |
15 | Janina Wüst* (Swi) Schmid-Velosport | 0:12:37 |
16 | Franziska Ebinger (Swi) Bergamont - Radsport Lafranchi Madiswil | 0:12:39 |
17 | Kerry Macphee (GBr) Rock and Road Cycles | 0:13:16 |
18 | Céline Farner (Swi) JB Felt Team | 0:14:53 |
19 | Mercè Pacios Pujadó (Spa) Blue Motors | 0:15:09 |
20 | Jennifer Kupferschmied* (Swi) Wheeler-IXS Team | 0:15:53 |
21 | Marine Groccia* (Swi) Alouettes.ch/Race C.C.Moutier | 0:16:26 |
22 | Ramona Forchini* (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | 0:19:23 |
23 | Romaine Wenger* (Swi) Thömus Racing Team | 0:19:26 |
-2laps | Franziska Brun (Swi) Bergamont Swiss Team | |
-2laps | Aurélia Perry (Fra) Focus Rotor Coaching-system | |
-2laps | Eliane Müggler* (Swi) Pink Gili Swiss Racing Team | |
-2laps | Vanessa Kleih (Ger) Merida-Schulte | |
-2laps | Tanja Starkermann* (Swi) BH-Biketeam / RCGränichen | |
DNF | Sabrina Maurer (Swi) Bskgraf-Rollmat-Koba MTB Team | |
DNF | Julie Bresset (Fra) BH SrSuntour KMC | |
DNF | Michèle Wittlin (Swi) Stöckli 29er Team / Bike Club Olten | |
DNF | Deborah Inauen* (Swi) Pink Gili Swiss Racing Team |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dominic Grab (Swi) Team Grab-Credo / VC Maur | 1:11:44 |
2 | Manuel Fasnacht (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing | 0:00:47 |
3 | Daniel Voitl (Ger) Bike Junior Team powered by milka | 0:00:50 |
4 | Léo L'homme (Swi) BikePark.ch Adrisport | 0:01:30 |
5 | Jodok Salzmann (Aut) MTB Team Hohenems | 0:02:13 |
6 | Piotr Konwa (Pol) 4F Racing Team | 0:02:18 |
7 | Nicolas Fischer (Swi) Tropical Solothurn | |
8 | Mike Hermann (Swi) Thömus Racing Team / RSV Pizol | 0:02:37 |
9 | Robin Gemperle (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing | 0:02:48 |
10 | Simon Vitzthum (Swi) bischibikes / kopierpapier.ch | 0:03:09 |
11 | Timothy Mazzuchelli (Swi) Greenhope MTB Team - biking against cancer | 0:03:31 |
12 | Raphael Koch (Swi) Greenhope MTB Team - biking against cancer | 0:04:12 |
13 | Gordian Banzer (Lie) kbike.ch | 0:04:25 |
14 | Alessandro Naspi (Ita) Merida Italia Team | 0:04:33 |
15 | Lars Hubacher (Swi) bskGraf-Rollmat-Koba MTB Team | 0:04:45 |
16 | Fabian Strittmatter (Swi) Specialized Racing | 0:04:56 |
17 | Timon Rüegg (Swi) Sortimo Fahrzeugeinrichtung / VC Steinmaur | 0:05:09 |
18 | Benjamin Inauen (Swi) Pink Gili Swiss Racing Team | 0:05:16 |
19 | Johannes Bläsi (Ger) LEXWARE-ROTHAUS-Team | 0:06:07 |
20 | Sandro Trevisani (Swi) Dom Cycle Merida | 0:06:08 |
21 | Rémy Dénervaud (Swi) Team Dom Cycle Merida | 0:06:37 |
22 | Noah Blöchlinger (Swi) bischibikes / kopierpapier.ch | 0:07:28 |
23 | Andreas Egger (Ger) VC Mindelheim, Cube Factory Pilot | 0:07:31 |
24 | Lionel Fasel (Swi) Vélo club Echallens | 0:07:55 |
25 | Johannes Frey (Ger) Wheeler-iXS-Team | 0:08:53 |
26 | Tim Streckenbach (Ger) TSV Dettingen / Radwerk Racing Team | 0:09:12 |
27 | Guillaume Conus (Swi) VC.Echallens | 0:09:49 |
28 | Jean Villermaulaz (Swi) Dupasquier sport stöckli | 0:09:58 |
29 | Nils Dillmann (Ger) Merida-Schulte | 0:10:27 |
30 | Fabio Franz (Swi) Fischer Junior MTB Team | 0:10:50 |
31 | Marco Thalhofer (Ger) MSC Wiesenbach | 0:12:42 |
32 | Johann Sansonnens (Swi) Zeta cycling Club | 0:12:49 |
33 | Lars Stillhart (Swi) kbike.ch / RV Buchs | 0:13:51 |
34 | Sammy Leumann (Swi) VC Maur | 0:14:52 |
35 | Maxime Schlotter (Ger) Chouet Bike Club Village | 0:17:53 |
36 | Bruno Silva (Por) biketeam.gr | 0:19:14 |
-1lap | Marco Häner (Swi) Goldwurst-Power / Stöckli | |
-1lap | Cedric Gauch (Swi) Fischer Junior MTB Team | |
DNF | Andrin Beeli (Swi) bskGraf-ROLLMAT-KOBA MTB Team | |
DNF | Valentin Kiser (Swi) JB Felt Team | |
DNF | Oliver Herzig (Ger) Tropical Solothurn | |
DNF | Gérard Steiblé (Fra) Chouet'bike club Village Neuf |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Alessandra Keller (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | 1:11:57 |
2 | Pierina Beeli (Swi) bskGraf-Rollmat-Koba MTB Team | 0:01:25 |
3 | Mallory Barth (Swi) JB Felt Team | 0:02:45 |
4 | Veronika Brüchle (Swi) Stevens- Schubert racing Team | 0:04:01 |
5 | Chantal Eheim (Swi) Tropical Solothurn | 0:04:02 |
6 | Chrystelle Baumann (Swi) Prof Raiffeisen CCL | 0:08:02 |
7 | Joana Schönthal (Swi) Velo-Shop Vonäsch Zollikon/VC Meilen | 0:10:28 |
8 | Milena Waldis (Swi) Focus X-Bionic TEAM / VC Gersau | 0:14:35 |
9 | Zina Barhoumi (Swi) RSC Aaretal Münsingen | 0:18:09 |
DNF | Rebecca Rudolf Von Rohr (Swi) Tropical Solothurn | |
DNF | Sabrina Sägesser (Swi) Fischer Junior MTB Team |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Martin Frey* (Ger) Team Bulls | 1:10:50 |
2 | Marcel Guerrini* (Swi) Focus XC Eliteteam | 0:00:15 |
3 | Enea Vetsch* (Swi) bskGraf-Rollmat-Koba MTB Team | 0:00:57 |
4 | Patrick Lüthi* (Swi) Prof Raiffeisen CCL | 0:00:57 |
5 | Tobias Hollenstein (Swi) bischibikes / kopierpapier.ch | 0:01:02 |
6 | Philipp Hediger* (Swi) Fischer - BMC | 0:01:05 |
7 | Rico Von Burg* (Swi) Thömus Racing Team | 0:02:20 |
8 | Manuel Boog* (Swi) Tower Sports - VC Eschenbach | 0:02:27 |
9 | Joel Koller* (Swi) Tower Sports - VC Eschenbach | 0:02:51 |
10 | Michael Frei (Swi) BH Biketeam | 0:03:05 |
11 | Thomas Schmid (Swi) bsk-Graf Rollmat MTB Team | 0:03:23 |
12 | Romain Bannwart* (Swi) Prof Raiffeisen CCL | 0:03:32 |
13 | Roli Mischler (Swi) Fischli Bike Team | 0:03:52 |
14 | Joël Haubensak* (Swi) fehr-velos.ch | 0:03:54 |
15 | Oliver Laudenberg (Ger) Team Merida Schulte | 0:04:14 |
16 | Jan Gafner* (Swi) Prof Raiffeisen CCL | 0:04:47 |
17 | Joel Graf (Swi) Pink Gili Swiss Racing Team | 0:04:58 |
18 | Michael Wicki* (Swi) bischibikes / kopierpapier.ch | 0:05:11 |
19 | Lukas Bucher (Swi) Tropical Solothurn | 0:05:33 |
20 | Adrian Muri (Swi) vc sursee-creabeton | 0:05:36 |
21 | Matthias Lauk (Swi) FOCUS X-BIONIC TEAM | 0:05:49 |
22 | Jeremias Marti (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | 0:05:53 |
23 | Ueli Schädler (Swi) FOCUS X-BIONIC TEAM | 0:06:12 |
24 | Thomas Weber (Swi) biketeam.gr | 0:06:17 |
25 | Pablo Egeda Maldonado (Spa) Tomàs Bellès Cannondale By Gaes | 0:06:28 |
26 | Elias Hagspiel (Aut) Radcult Bregenz | 0:06:41 |
27 | Simon Schilli* (Ger) Racextract. Werksteam | 0:06:58 |
28 | Silvan Kälin* (Swi) Strüby MTB Kader | 0:07:02 |
29 | Yves Ketterer* (Ger) Wheeler-IXS Team | 0:07:12 |
30 | Jack Humphreys* (GBr) Wheelbase Altura MGD | 0:07:20 |
31 | Severin Nowak (Swi) Bergamont Swiss Team | 0:08:42 |
32 | Nico Tambarikas* (Swi) | 0:08:52 |
33 | Benno Heussi (Swi) credo-bikes race team | 0:08:53 |
34 | Stefan Vögeli* (Swi) Ski+Velo-CenterRacingTeam/BC Spiez | 0:09:34 |
35 | Thomas Kunz* (Swi) Goldwurst-Power/Stöckli | 0:09:58 |
36 | Federer Ralph* (Swi) MTB-Team Frifag/Gaetzi | 0:10:02 |
37 | Jan Schär* (Swi) Thömus Racing Team | 0:10:02 |
38 | Tobias Schraner* (Swi) Fischer - BMC | 0:11:11 |
39 | Luca Formoso (Swi) dapp-putzi-team.ch | 0:11:36 |
40 | Sebastian Egger* (Swi) Orbea Suisse MTB Team | 0:11:38 |
41 | Kilian Oertli* (Swi) MTB Team Frifag-Gaetzi | 0:13:36 |
42 | Ulisse Fieschi* (Swi) JB Felt Team | 0:13:47 |
43 | Heiko Hog* (Ger) Lexware Rothaus Team | 0:16:00 |
44 | Tobias Sindlinger* (Ger) Gonso-Simplon-Racing-Team | |
45 | Fabian Bucher* (Swi) Merida Riders / VMC Bürglen | 0:17:45 |
-1lap | Kilian Badrutt* (Swi) biketeam.gr | |
-1lap | Marius Kottal (Ger) RSU Hochschwarzwald | |
DNF | Florian Meyer (Swi) Stöckli | |
DNF | Silvan Casutt* (Swi) biketeam.gr | |
DNF | Niklas Grobert (Ger) Rothaus-Poison/Hochschwarzwald | |
DNF | Pirmin Kuss (Ger) Wheeler-iXS-Team | |
DNF | Sandro Kessler (Swi) Cycling Project Bike4Fun | |
DNF | Erich Kuster (Swi) Pink Gili Swiss Racing Team | |
DNF | Pascal Nay* (Swi) Thömus Bike Team GR | |
DNF | Bruno Vitali* (Swi) VTT Club Jura |
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