MTB News: After the great start of the Swiss at the Team Relay, Junior Alexandre Balmer was able to win the second gold medal for the Swiss on the second day of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide. Austria's Laura Stigger dominated the XCO Juniors Women.
On the second day of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, the XCO Juniors started in Lenzerheide. The weather on Thursday should provide additional excitement. While the sun was still shining in the morning, the rain that set in later turned the Junior Men's race into a thriller. The Junior Women's race, which started first, was accompanied by a cloudy sky, but it was still dry. The young Austrian and defending champion Laura Stigger drove a great race in which she didn't give her pursuers the slightest chance. With a lead of over three minutes over Tereza Saskova (CZE) and Harriet Harnden (GBR), the 18-year-old once again secured the rainbow jersey.
Directly after the junior women's race, a short heavy rain shower fell. Numerous falls whirled the Junior Men's field upside down. Already in the first downhill section, the favored European champions Alexandre Balmer (SUI) and the reigning UCI World Champion Cameron Wright (AUS) went down. Frenchman Mathis Azzaro managed the track very well and extended his lead to 25 seconds ahead of Germany's Leon Kaiser and American Kevin Vermaerke. The Swiss Loris Rouiller then got third place, behind him Balmer ignited the turbo and started a brilliant race to catch up. Cheered on by the home fans, the Swiss Rouiller and Balmer put a lot of pressure on them and at the beginning of the fifth round both Kaisers were hot on their heels. Rouiller was unlucky, however, and suffered a flat tire. For the second half of the last lap, Balmer held the lead and finally prevailed in the final meters. Kaiser secured his second silver medal after the Team Relay, with Azzaro completing the podium.
