Team Thömus maxon can look back on a successful race day at the Ötztaler Mountainbike Festival in Haiming, Austria. In the women’s race, Alessandra Keller delivered a commanding start-to-finish victory, while Lars Forster secured second place in the men’s race.
Keller dominated from the outset and quickly opened a gap on the technically demanding yet fast course. With a consistently strong and controlled performance, she kept fellow Swiss riders Ginia Caluori and Ramona Forchini behind her in second and third place.
Lars Forster also produced an impressive performance. In a race won by American Bjorn Riley, he finished second. For Forster, the event served as an important final test ahead of the World Cup opener in South Korea next weekend. He had already raced on Sunday in order to better familiarise himself with the technically demanding course, gain valuable track knowledge and fine-tune his line choices. Despite a mechanical issue in the first half of the race, Forster was able to secure another podium finish. “The feeling is good,” he said after the race.
While Alessandra Keller will skip the World Cup opener in South Korea and shift her focus to another block of road racing, the team will travel to South Korea on Monday with Lars Forster, Mathias Flückiger and Vital Albin, where the first World Cup race of the season will take place next weekend.