Mountainbike-EM: Gold for Switzerland - and twice! Jolanda Neff and Lars Forster secured first place at the European Mountain Bike Championships in Glasgow on Tuesday. While Neff is already celebrating her third European title, Forster is crowned European champion for the first time.
Jolanda Neff confidently drives to the third title
Even before the start of the European Championship, she was traded as the clear favourite. Yolanda Neff withstood the pressure. She didn't give her competitors the slightest chance on the fast-paced and technically not too demanding course. On the last of five laps she drove with a lead of 90 seconds. But instead of just defending her lead, she extended it to over two minutes. No wonder, because as the 25-year-old Swiss woman later admitted in an interview, she had a lot of fun on her bike. The French took second place Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in front of the Belgian Githa Michiels. Bronze almost went to Switzerland as well, because Linda Indiangand was right on course before she broke down. As the best German could Elizabeth Brandau attract attention with fifth place. Nevertheless, little attention was paid to the event overall, since the important World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, was held at the weekend - extremely poorly planned.
Jolanda Neff:
“The race went perfectly from A to Z. I was able to ride my rhythm and had a lot of fun.”
i believe in #fairytales because I'm living one ✨💖✨ European Champion! #soooohappy #worldchampion #swisschampion #worldcupleader #uciworldnumber1 #goldtoday #dreamrace #thisisjustthebeginning #ilovemountainbiking @swisscycling @KrossRacingTeam @Glasgow2018 pic.twitter.com/rb7yCzO5Te
— Jolanda Neff (@jolandaneff) August 7, 2018
Lars Forster celebrates his first major success in cross-country
While Jolanda Neff secured her third title after 2015 and 2016 in the morning, she triumphed in the men's category Lars Forster for the first time. The St. Galler took advantage of the absence of a few stars - such as compatriot Nino Schurter - to become European champion for the first time. On the long distance, the 25-year-old pulled away from Luca Braidot very early in the race. His pursuers later made numerous mistakes, so that it was no longer possible to get close. Surprisingly, the co-favorites presented themselves completely without a chance Mathieu van der Poel and Yaroslav Kulhavy. The Czech finished the race in 42nd place, the Dutchman even gave up. It would almost have been enough for a second Swiss medal in the men's category, too Luke Flueckinger and Rheto Indergand drove to the thankless places four and five. Silver went to the Italian Luca Braidot, Bronze to en Spaniard David Valero. Interesting: While Jolanda Neff won with a lead of more than two minutes, there were 14 men's drivers within this time.
I really enjoyed my day watching the mountain biking #glasgow2018 # ec2018 #themoment well done #LarsForster pic.twitter.com/TRmOXg0BmH
— Xanadu Linda (@xanadu_linda) August 8, 2018