UCI MTB World Championships Les Gets: Switzerland wins relay gold - BDR team in 10th place

For the relay race at the UCI MTB World Championships in the French Alpine resort of Les Gets 18 national teams, each with six riders, competed in the women's elite, women's U23, women's junior, men's elite, men's U23 and men's junior categories. The mixed cross-country race format and the different strategies of the nations meant that the relay races were usually very open, the lead changed several times and the positions and gaps were wildly mixed up on every lap and at every split time.

Some top elite riders such as Nino Schurter, Christopher Blevins and Luva Braidot used the relay race to prepare for their individual competitions. Another exciting aspect of the relay: the junior riders compete against the most experienced UCI World Champions and UCI World Cup winners in one race and on the same lap.

Nino Schurter secures relay gold despite flat tyres

Once again, it was Switzerland in Les Gets that demonstrated how well and broadly the Alpine republic is positioned in cross-country racing. The Swiss team, consisting of Dario Lillo (men's U23), Khalid Sidahmed (juniors), Ramona Forchini (elite), Ronja Blöchlinger (women's U23), Anina Hutter (juniors) and Nino Schurter (men's elite), also rode a good tactical race over the six laps and won in 1:17:14 hours. The Swiss cross-country bikers took their fourth World Championship title in six years - their eighth overall - and prevented hosts France from winning their third World Championship title in a row.

However, the Swiss, who still had Jolanda Neff or Alessandra Keller up their sleeve among the elite riders, benefited from a defect by the French. The French team of Loana Lecomte and Jordan Sarrou were in the lead for more than half of the race. But on the penultimate lap, junior Tatiana Tournut lost her saddle and the French team's medal dreams were dashed.

The drama continued on the final lap. Despite a punctured rear tyre, nine-time XC world champion Nino Schurter crossed the finish line in first place, six seconds ahead of the strong Italian Simone Avondetto (U23) and the USA, who finished first with a tyre puncture. Short track world champion Christopher Blevins and Haley Batten were a further eight seconds behind. Denmark and France rounded off the top 5. The German team of Leon Kaiser, Benjamin Krüger, Lia Schrievers, Finja Lipp, Antonia Weeger and Niklas Schehl finished in tenth place at the World Championship race in Les Gets, 3:45 minutes behind the Austrian relay team. The young BDR team, which competed without Luca Schwarzbauer or Max Brandl, will probably not be satisfied with this result, as the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2021 and the 2021 World Championships in Val di Sole, the Germans had won bronze in the relay races.