Lenzerheide seems to have a big plan for the future: from 2015 to 2017 it has been announced the venue of the World Cup and after that it plays host to the World Championships. In the past months, the track has been rebuilt, modified and improved constantly and this weekend we finally were presented with the result: a fast and steep 2km track with a difference in altitude of 460 meters. The location is simply perfect after the long absence of the Eastern parts of Switzerland in the downhill scene during the past years. What a promise for the future!
For more information on the Lenzerheide Bikepark go to lenzerheide.com
The track was extremely crowded already for the track walk on Friday – whenever a completely new track is introduced to a series, it is important to get to know the track in order to set a fast time. The Trailworks team provided the riders with extreme speed, big jumps, a rock garden and much more. Meanwhile, the weather was as changeable as the track itself, but a mixture of sunshine on a warm Friday and rain and cold temperatures on the misty race days made it rather unfortunate overall conditions in the end. Nevertheless, it was exciting for everyone as riders, visitors and the Trailworks team were eager to see how the riders would handle the track.
And who came up on the top? On both race days, the podium was completely British. But this really wasn’t a surprise: After all, the British should be familiar with rain… Brendan Fairclough extended his narrow lead in his final run and set the weekend’s best time of 3:05.335 minutes. Joseph Connell (GBR - SC-Intense) came in second, while odds-on favorite Steve Peat ended up in third place. The small field of starters in the Elite Women category was dominated by Alba Wunderlin (SUI - Stützrädli), followed by Géraldine Fink (SUI) and Lea Rutz (SUI - Never Freeze).
All in all, it was an exciting weekend and it can be seen as a first test run for some really big events in the future. In the end, bad weather also belongs to the sport even if it might be exhausting sometimes. Big ups go to the Trailworks team and their advisers Steve Peat and Claudio Caluori and we can look forward to more downhill action at a perfect new venue of the annual agenda. After a short break, the iXS Swiss Downhill Cup will return with round three in August in Anzére. Stay with us for more.
Photos: © Thomas Dietze
Source: http://www.ixsdownhillcup.com
