The German mountain bike champion Nina Graf missed a medal in the Olympic Cross Country at the World Canton of Valais, but achieved her best World Cup result so far.
The 27-year-old came ninth in the victory of Swede Jenny Rissveds, Olympic champion of Rio 2016. In the race in Crans-Montana, Lia Schrievers (20th), Kira Bohm (22nd) and Ronja Eibel (25th) drove far behind the top.
“I had a miserable start. Right from the start there was a very narrow place over a very steep bridge where we had to push and climb the wheel. I didn’t dare to look back at all. But after that it went really well,” said Graf. National coach Marc Schäfer praised: “Nina showed a great catch-up. It’s a shame that she missed the top dinner, which would have meant Olympic Cycle Status, a few seconds, but that should not reduce her performance.”
Mountain bike World Cup shortly before the end
Rissveds suffered from depression and an eating disorder in Brazil after her triumph nine years ago and took a break from sport. She came back all the more: last year she won bronze at the summer games in Paris, this year the 31-year-old already won the European Championship title. In Switzerland, she prevailed 18 seconds ahead of Samara Maxwell from New Zealand. Graf had 2:44 minutes behind.
On Sunday, the mountain bike World Cup ends with the U23 race of the women and the men’s race (1.30 p.m.), in which the Dutch Mathieu van der Poel, street world champion from 2023, is also at the start.
Luca Schwarzbauer hopes for a top position for the German team, and David List, Julian Schelb, Maximilian Brandl and Leon Reinhard Kaiser are also on the 84-strong start list.