15. August 2019

UCI Mountainbike World Cup – Mont-Sainte-Anne

A week full of premieres: The first time in Canada, the first time on this racetrack and the first time six hours time shift. On Monday morning we flew from Zürich to Montreal. After three hours of car driving we finally arrived in Mont-Sainte-Anne. I almost couldn’t wait to do a round on the course there with my mountainbike. The hard racetrack contains three long and toxic climbs, as well as some rooted and rocky passages. The next days I spent with recovering from the flight, acclimatising from the time shift, training on the racetrack, whale watching in the St. Lawrence River and swimming under the waterfall. On Sunday at 8.30 am I finally started. I had a clear goal in my mind. Again I started in the second last position. In the first lap, I was able to make up a few places and was already in 14th position. During the second and third lap, I felt physically and mentally still in a good shape. In the downhills I gained time and in the climbs I still had some grains on stock. In the fourth and last lap I again invested a lot of energy and overtook two more competitors. My front wheel reached the finish line on an amazing 11th rank. So I just missed my goal of a top 10 rank. With my performance and the result I am however very satisfied. Now I’m looking forward to another training week here in Mont-Sainte-Anne. After that I take a few days off for the Gampel Openair and then will compete next in the Proffix Swiss Bike Cup race in Muttenz on 20.08.2017.