Switzerland sends a small team, not women, to cyclocross world championships
Similar to the Netherlands and Belgium, the Swiss Cycling Federation has decided to send a heavily reduced team to the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, this month and will not have riders for elite, U23 or junior women.
Only seven riders will fly in the red and white colors of Switzerland at the World Cup, with their greatest hope in Kevin Kuhn, who is 15th in the UCI ranking of elite men. Four men’s U23 riders will travel to the USA and only one rider for the men’s junior race.
In the announcement, Swiss Cycling referred to the host city as “in the northwest of the sparsely populated US state of Arkansas” and said, “The journey is relatively long and arduous; there are fewer flights than usual due to the pandemic. So it’s not surprising that that some athletes have stated that they will not participate. “
The Belgian Wout van Aert does without the World Cup in order to prepare for the road season with Jumbo-Visma. Mathieu van der Poel, the reigning elite men’s champion, is injured and will not travel to Arkansas with the smaller-than-normal Dutch delegation.
The best Swiss women – Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing CX) and up-and-coming junior Monique Halter, who won the Swiss junior title this year – have ended their cyclocross season in preparation for the mountain bike season.
Neff, who won the gold medal in the women’s cross-country mountain bike race at the Tokyo Olympics, and national champion Alessandra Keller are training with the national team in South Africa this month.
Neff took part in the UCI Cyclocross World Cup Swing last fall with three races in the USA, fourth place in Waterloo was her best result of the campaign. She won her opening event at the Trek Cup on the same track, a C2 level race.
Switzerland for the UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2022
Elite men: Kevin Kuhn, Gilles Mottiez
U23 men: Dario Lillo, Loris Rouiller, Jan Sommer, Lars Sommer
Juniors: Jan Christians
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