After more than a year, I’m back on top of the World Cup podium! In the fifth World Cup race of the season in Andorra, I took my tenth World Cup victory overall. A victory that means a lot to me.
I was extremely motivated going into the XCO race on Sunday. The course in Andorra suits me, as well as the cold and wet weather and the difficult conditions. Already in the second lap I took the lead and slightly increased my advantage lap by lap. Until, with two laps to go, Thomas Griot was able to make up more and more ground and came within ten seconds of me with one lap to go.
“To win again feels great”
I had to fight extremely hard for the win. My goal was to push as hard as I could. I think I managed to do that. I’m glad I handled it well when Griot put a lot of pressure on me. I just concentrated on myself.
A little over a year ago I won my last World Cup race here in Andorra, in short track. After that I got Covid and what happened afterwards, everybody knows. It just feels good to be back, just to be able to race. Winning a World Cup is just great.
Fantastic team performance
On Friday, I still didn’t quite make it to the top in the Short Track. I was one of the most active riders in the XCC race. I tried to attack several times. But in the end I had to pay tribute to my efforts and let my competitors go at the very end. Nevertheless, I was able to secure a good fifth place – the basis for Sunday’s success.
Once again we were able to win the team ranking in the XCO. In general, it was a great weekend for the whole team, as Alessandra came in a strong second after her victory in the XCC. Lars (6th) just missed the podium and Luke (8th) and Vital (10th) also finished in the top 10.
