September 9/04 3:57 am - MTB Worlds: Preview for the Junior and the U-23 races

Posted by Editoress on 09/9/04
 

Preview for the Junior and the U 23 races
by Juerg Feldmann

Sorry this is a bit late, Rob took it with him and edited on teh plane overnight

Switzerland has a plan. The 3 Swiss Power Cup riders (Junior men) Nino Schurter, (Junior women) Emilie Siegenthaler and U23 guy Vogel. All three athletes will push for gold. All three are able to do this but will have some stiff competition from their own country. Junior guys Bernasconi and Hutter will be 2 of them. Slovack rider Hanus, the Dutch rider Hans Backing and for sure the French team with Tempier and Marotte.

In the Junior womens race Swiss rider Nathalie Schneitter will push together with the Czech rider Hurikova. Always good for a surprise are the Polish riders with a tradition of doing well ( Szafraniec , Wloszczowska ) but this time Dawidowicz. French rider Metzler should be watched and let's see where C. Wilkes from New Zealand is placing. She is the girl who was racing in canada in Canada Cup races with the pro elite women.

In U23 besides Vogel, Switzerland is hoping for Marx Till and Lukas Flueckiger. Spain with Lejarreta, Montecon and Ruzafa are a team to watch. Fuglsang (Denmark), Lehmann (Germany) and the odd Czech riders we very rarely see in the western races are worth watching.

Good luck for the Canadian riders and we hope they can take a lot of positive experiences from this races. The relay medal may not be so important for some European countries, but I still believe they can get a team going, as it is the first race and it will lift the spirit for any team.