- Alessandra Keller takes second place at the Short Track World Cup in Crans-Montana.
- Among the men, the best Swiss players occupy places 6 to 8.
- The cross-country races over the Olympic distance will take place on Sunday (live on SRF).
Alessandra Keller has once again proven at the home World Cup in Crans that she is the best-performing Swiss biker. The Nidwaldner was only defeated by the Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse in the short track race. Keller stayed in the leading group throughout the race. On the final lap, Anne Tauber (NED) attacked, but only her compatriot Pieterse was able to follow.
Keller and the Frenchwoman Loana Lecomte caught up with the slowing Tauber, and the Swiss woman won the three-man sprint for second place. “It took a lot of energy, but it was worth it,” said Keller. The second-best Swiss woman was Seraina Leugger in 12th place. The Olympic medalists from Tokyo, Linda Indergand (18th) and Sina Frei (21st), lost 1.16 and 1.29 minutes respectively to the winner.
Schurter 6th, Pidcock wins
In the men’s race, Thomas Pidcock celebrated an impressive victory. The Briton fell behind the rest of the competition due to a mishap at the start, rolled up the field from behind and made an irresistible start on the penultimate lap. The other podium places went to Julian Schelb (GER) and Luca Braidot (ITA).
The Swiss showed a good team performance, but ultimately missed the podium by a few seconds. Nino Schurter (6th) and Filippo Colombo (7th) were initially in the lead before they could no longer quite keep up with the top trio. Marcel Guerrini (8th) and Lars Forster (11th) also came close to an exploit.
With Jolanda Neff and Mathias Flückiger, half of the Swiss Olympic delegation decided not to take part. However, unlike Neff, Flückiger will compete in the cross-country race.
This is how it continues
On Sunday, the classic distance races will take place in Crans-Montana. SRF will broadcast both races live on SRF info (women from 11:50 a.m., men from 2:25 p.m.).