The Swiss hand cyclists miss out on the medals in the road race at the Paralympics in Paris. Fabian Recher finishes in 5th place in the H4 category.
Recher stayed on course for a medal for a long time on the 56.8 km course in constant rain. He was in the battle for 3rd place with the Belgian Jonas van de Steene when the latter crashed in a bend. This also threw Recher off his rhythm and he also had to stop briefly before the last lap to have his bike repaired.
He lost 1:06 minutes to Poland's Rafal Wilk, who took bronze. The 25-year-old from the Bernese Oberland was disappointed at the finish, even though he had continued his run of improvement at the Paralympic Games. On Wednesday, the man from Spiez had finished sixth in the time trial, having already won two diplomas for his two 7th places at his Paralympic premiere in Tokyo three years previously.
Recher was the first wheelchair rider to complete the top sport RS. He won his first World Cup race in Belgium in May.
Sandra Stöckli and Benjamin Früh were unable to compete for the medals in their races in difficult, wet conditions. The St. Gallen native finished eighth, around two and a half minutes behind the podium, while the Zurich native dropped out after being lapped. Both had to start in a category with less severely impaired athletes.
SDA
