Swiss-born Ariane Kleinhans returned to home soil for the third round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, which took place in Lenzerheide in the Swiss Alps from July 4 to 5.
Kleinhans, who finished 22nd in the women’s race, used the event as part of her preparations for the Swiss National XC Championships in two weeks’ time.
She has been an adoptive South African since moving here in 2010 to live with her husband Erik.
“I had a really good race, I am super happy with my result for my first ever World Cup XC race,” said Kleinhans.
“I came into this race in excellent shape from my preparations for Marathon Wold Champs the week before. It fell perfectly into the calendar.”
She said the technical sections had been a huge wake-up call and that the 30-degree temperatures had added to the challenge.
“I had a great start and found myself in the top 15 going into the first singletrack, right behind my Epic partner, Annika Langvad.”
Riding along champion cyclist and RECM teammate James Reid helped her keep a steady tempo throughout.
Reid achieved his best ever result in a World Cup, finishing in 39th place.
“It was a much better day than I expected as the start was shocking. There was a big crash and I got held up behind some riders,” he said.
According to Reid there were a lot of roots and dust on the course, which made it very tricky in some parts but his legs felt good.
He started picking off rider by rider and rose to 35th place before a small crash set him back four spots in the rankings.
“Top 40 was a huge surprise – it is my best result ever in a World Cup and I am looking forward to the next race in Italy. A big goal is SA champs in Stellenbosch in mid-July.”
For more information go to UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
