Austria collected one silver and three bronze medals. Switzerland finished with one runner-up position and two third places. The newcomer to the medal table for 2021 was Spain with a third position.
Artistic Cycling Single Men: Kohl leads the way
Four-time UCI World Champion Lukas Kohl (Kirchehrenbach/GER) secured his fifth successive title with a legendary display in the Final-4. For the twist jump – probably one of the most complex elements, in which the athlete, with his hands on the handlebars, swings his body several times around the bike – he doubled the required five revolutions to ten.
“I have to do five, they were good. And then the spectators carried me with their enthusiasm around every further turn. Without the thunderous applause, I certainly wouldn't have made the ten,” said the UCI World Champion.
With 210.07 points Kohl achieved a new championship record.
His closest rival Max Maute (Tailfingen/GER) joined the audience, who paid homage to Kohl's routine with a standing ovation.
Silver medallist Max Maute had impressed in the preliminary round, and opened his championship debut with 198 points. But in the Final-4 he missed the jump from the saddle onto the handlebars named after his father, Dieter Maute. “That annoyed me above all because usually this exercise always works very well.”
With 184.17 points scored, it was still close for second place. "I really trembled again for a short time," Maute said. "Of course I would have liked to repeat my performance from the morning in the final. But I'm glad it was enough for silver."
Behind the German duo, a young Spaniard was making a name for himself. At just 18 years of age, Emilio Arellano followed in the footsteps of his father José, who had ended his career exactly 20 years ago as a two-time UCI World Championship silver medallist and three-time bronze medallist.
With his 182.37 points, Emilio came very close to the runner-up rank. This may have been his first UCI World Championship appearance, but he already knew the Porsche Arena: “Ten years ago, I was an U11 at the Stuttgart Champions Trophy,” recalls Emilio. “It was great that I made it to the medal round right away. The fact that I have now won bronze is actually unbelievable."
Fourth place went to Jakub Masek from the Czech Republic. He had worked his way up two places in the preliminary round and thus secured participation in the Final. On Saturday he had already taken fourth place together with Tomas Gruna in the Pair Open category.
Artistic Cycling Pair Women: a day of emotions
The local women's duo of Selina Marquardt and Helen Vordermeier claimed the rainbow jersey. The German team from Oberjesingen (Marquardt) and host city Stuttgart (Vordermeier) had not been expecting such a result. “We can't believe it,” said Selina Marquardt, “It feels so unreal.”
Despite having only been a team since 2018, it was a perfect routine from Marquardt/Vordermeier that carried them to the rainbow jersey in the final. They had presented 137 points as the penultimate starters of their category in the Final-4. Home advantage paid off for the duo with the support of their own fans cheering them on.
It was a different scene as tears flowed from the favourite pair, Caroline Wurth and Sophie-Marie Wöhrle (Gutach/GER). In the preliminary round, they had dominated with 140 points – but it was not to be in their opener in the Final-4. During the handstand/headstand on one bicycle, Caroline had to start twice and shortly afterwards both athletes stood on the ground. The resulting 128 points meant another second place – for the third time in a row.
“Of course, we are deeply disappointed that we have not won the title again,” said the silver medallists. “When a few hours have passed, it will be over and tomorrow the world will look different again.”
Yet the emotions of the third-placed Austrian pair of Rosa Kopf and Svenja Bachmann were different again. The bronze medal they secured was also achieved for a third consecutive time. "That was our declared goal," says Rosa.
Their deduction of only around eight points was the smallest in the Final-4. However, their difficulty level was lower, so their result of 121.31 points was enough for third place. More could hardly have been possible in Stuttgart as the two students can only train together on weekends. "We still have some potential for improvement," they say, confirming that they will compete again next year.
Cycle ball: “I’m in a cloud”
The cousins Bernd and Gerhard Mlady (Stein/GER) won gold with a 5:2 victory in the Final against the Swiss Waibel brothers, Severin and Benjamin. In the semi-finals the Swiss duo had surprisingly eliminated the highly fancied Austrian pair, who went on to finish third.
In the Mladys’ semi-final against the Czech Republic, the German fans had to tremble until the last second, when the 5:4 success was wrapped up. Rarely has a UCI World Championship tournament been so finely balanced. Even the top teams made slip-ups against the supposedly ‘smaller’ teams, making for an intense and attractive tournament.
“Yes, it was hard for us to get in here. But in the end, our performance level was even above that of Dornbirn, where we became UCI World Champions for the first time in 2017," said Bernd Mlady. Gerhard continued: “Standing on the podium is indescribable. I feel like I'm on a cloud.”
Austria's serial winner Patrick Schnetzer (seven UCI World Championship titles) also commented: “We are satisfied with bronze and delivered our best match in the match for bronze.”
The Swiss men Severin and Benjamin Waibel were glowing silver: "Half of our village was here – and the second half of the inhabitants of Pfungen followed the UCI World Championships at home on the livestream."
2021 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships results: indoor cycling and cycle-ball.