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For Jolanda Neff (30), the World Cup home race in Lenzerheide, which was moved from July to June, comes just right this Sunday. On Graubünden soil, the Olympic mountain biking champion wants to show that her form is pointing upwards in view of the season’s highlight with the World Championships in August.
In the short track on Friday evening she didn’t really succeed with a 17th place. Neff is still looking for a form. She also cannot keep up with the top at the World Cup opener in May in the Czech Republic and has to settle for 15th place. Even a week earlier, during the main rehearsal in Chur, things did not go well. Neff at the time: “My form is not great at the moment, I can’t change that so quickly.”
The winter break was not ideal
But the woman from St. Gallen suspected before the start of the season at a Swiss Cycling media event that she would not start the year in top form. “The World Cup break from September to May was too long. Maybe next winter I’ll ride sideways again. I had to relearn for the future that I need more races,” said Neff.
However, more preparatory races on the mountain bike are organizationally a hard nut to crack. Sending your American Trek team to Switzerland with the trappings of a World Cup race only for Neff, say for a Swiss Cup race in March, is not logistically feasible. The mechanic from Spain. The material in Belgium. The team manager from Colorado. The physio from South Africa. “Maybe I didn’t communicate clearly enough that I want to race more,” Neff muses.
But now the Swiss mountain bike star got his feet wet three cross-country races in the past month. At the World Cup in Graubünden, the fans may now see a better mood from eastern Switzerland. The reasons: a good training block between the World Cup opener and the Swiss Championship last Sunday in Crans-Montana, where Neff finished second a few seconds behind Alessandra Keller (27).
More races in the same place as friend Luca
And the East Swiss was able to spend a lot of time with her loved ones. Training with her father Markus. Time to meet friends and family, recharge batteries – and of course spend time with friend Luca Shaw (26). The American downhill rider is now also by her side in Lenzerheide. The Downhill World Cup starts the season in Switzerland.
Will Neff help de Luca Boost in the home race? Due to the new World Cup marketing, there will be one more downhill race this year at the same venue and weekend as cross-country. So more time together for the cycling dream couple. “The calendar hasn’t changed that much compared to last year,” says Neff of racing with Shaw, “but it’s easier for us because then we can drive there together in the car.”
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
