Nino Schurter leads the Swiss Olympic mountain bike quartet
Image: Keystone
Mathias Flückiger has dispelled any doubts about his Olympic selection
Image: Keystone
Alessandra Keller is the Swiss hopeful in the women's race
Image: Keystone
Jolanda Neff, the 2021 Olympic champion, is struggling with breathing problems
Image: Keystone
The exceptional British rider Thomas Pidcock is the big favorite - but a coronavirus illness has just slowed him down at the Tour de France
Image: Keystone
Nino Schurter leads the Swiss Olympic mountain bike quartet
Image: Keystone
Mathias Flückiger has dispelled any doubts about his Olympic selection
Image: Keystone
Alessandra Keller is the Swiss hopeful in the women's race
Image: Keystone
Jolanda Neff, the 2021 Olympic champion, is struggling with breathing problems
Image: Keystone
The exceptional British rider Thomas Pidcock is the big favorite - but a coronavirus illness has just slowed him down at the Tour de France
Image: Keystone
On July 28 and 29, things get serious for the mountain bikers at the Olympic Games in Paris. The answers to the most pressing questions.
Who will be competing for Switzerland?
In contrast to the successful last Olympic Games, Switzerland, even as the leading nation, only has two starting places per gender. Nino Schurter and Mathias Flückiger as well as Alessandra Keller and Jolanda Neff have been awarded the places. For Keller it is the Olympic premiere. Schurter is competing for the fifth time, Neff for the third time and Flückiger for the second time.
What are the Swiss' chances?
Nino Schurter: The Grisons record holder already has a complete set of medals. He won bronze in Beijing in 2008, silver in London in 2012 and gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. He also came 4th three years ago in Tokyo.
Can the 38-year-old reverse the trend once again in Paris? He is by no means without a chance in the battle for the medals. Schurter has been the most consistent Swiss rider this season, leading the overall World Cup until he withdrew from the race in Les Gets at the beginning of July and taking his 36th World Cup victory in Val di Sole in mid-June. "The goal is clearly a medal, and if I didn't win one, that would be a bit of a disappointment," he says.
Mathias Flückiger: The selection of the 35-year-old veteran from Oberaargau to replace the talented Ticino athlete Filippo Colombo caused some discussion at the end of May. Until then, the 2021 Olympic silver medallist, who was acquitted of doping charges due to procedural errors, had had a mixed season. He was ill twice and only once, shortly before selection, did he make it into the top 6 in the World Cup in Nove Mesto.
The doubts have now been dispelled. Recently, Flückiger finished second on the podium twice and was significantly faster than Colombo. He is a specialist in delivering on day X, say Swiss Cycling and himself. In their current good form, both Schurter and Flückiger are among the medal candidates in Paris, albeit not as top favorites.
Alessandra Keller: In 2021, the 28-year-old from Nidwalden lost out to Neff, Sina Frei and Linda Indergand in the Olympic selection and watched from afar as the Swiss trio celebrated a historic triple victory in Tokyo. Keller is the sole big trump card in the women's race in 2024.
Keller goes into her first Olympic race on July 28 as the overall World Cup leader. Although she has yet to win an Olympic cross-country race this World Cup season, she has been a reliable contender at the front and has finished on the podium in three of the six races. "I've had a consistent season and know what I can do. But I'm not putting any pressure on myself because of that," she says.
Jolanda Neff: There is still a question mark behind the 2021 Olympic champion's start, or at least behind her form to compete at the front. The reason for this is the breathing problems that have severely restricted Neff recently. At the beginning of June, the 31-year-old from St. Gallen was diagnosed with "EILO", a constriction of the larynx caused by exertion. Respiratory therapy should bring improvement, but she has missed the last three World Cup races.
Who are her strongest opponents?
The Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel is one of the two exceptional all-round cyclists of our time who will not be taking part in the Olympic mountain bike race. The other, Briton Thomas Pidcock, will be the big favorite. He triumphed in Tokyo three years ago as a 21-year-old, and this season he has competed twice in the World Cup and won in superior style.
Behind Pidcock, who withdrew from the Tour de France on Saturday due to coronavirus, the starting position is more open than it has been for a long time. In addition to Schurter and Flückiger, numerous other athletes are among the medal contenders, including the French around Victor Koretzky, who has recently been weakened by ill health, the South African overall World Cup leader Alan Hatherly and the Italian Luca Braidot.
In the women's race, the Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and the Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse are the favorites. The 32-year-old Ferrand-Prévot has only competed twice in the World Cup this season and won both times. Pieterse, who is ten years younger, won the overall World Cup last season and was recently the strongest in the World Cup. Ferrand-Prévot's compatriot Loana Lecomte also has everything she needs for an Olympic victory on home soil. Keller and Neff will also be up against Sweden's Jenny Rissveds and the Americans Haley Batten and Savilia Blunk in the battle for the medals.
What can the athletes expect on the Olympic course?
We're talking about the fastest mountain bike race ever. Lots of loose gravel increases the risk of falling and gives the feeling of riding on balls. The heat could also be a factor.
Beat Müller, the national coach of the Swiss men, says: "So far, the Olympic race in Rio de Janeiro has been the fastest race. Paris will be even faster." Women's national coach Edi Telser also refers to the high speed and the "short, physically demanding climbs". Nino Schurter says: "You have to ride extremely carefully, sometimes it's like riding on eggshells."
SDA
