For Giuliana Zübner and Magdalena Müller, the start of the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup this weekend (2 March) will be a very special day. For the first time in the young history of the series – launched in 2018 – a tournament will take place in the country they represent: Italy.
Giuliana Zübner and Magdalena Müller live in Germany but have Italian roots and represent this country – which does not have a strong culture of competitive artistic cycling – on the international stage.
Growing up, Müller was a member of RV Mochenwangen and now belongs to RSV Schleissheim. She finished sixth at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, last August, and was fifth overall in the 2023 UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup.
Zübner is a member of the club Märkisch Buchholz and will be making a return to competition on Saturday. She last competed at a UCI World Championships in 2019, finishing eighth. A year earlier, Giuliana and her sister Isabella finished sixth in the Pairs Women category.
Welcome to Tarquinia
This weekend’s Italian venue is the coastal town of Tarquinia, about 80km north of Rome. It is a first for Italy thanks to the collaboration between Luigi Bielli, Technical Commissioner of the Italian indoor cycling team, and the people in charge of the club ASD Polisportiva Tarquinia.
Tarquinia Mayor Alessandro Giulivi is delighted to welcome 72 athletes, representing 13 nations: “It is great that we are hosting this beautiful sporting event, which will take place in Italy for the first time.”
Singles: Kohl and Dandlthe athletes to beat
In the Single Men, seven-time UCI World Champion, world record holder and multiple and reigning UCI World Cup winner Lukas Kohl (Kirchehrenbach/GER) will fend off the attacks of three other competitors from Germany. UCI World Championships silver medallist Philipp-Thies Rapp (Tailfingen/GER), bronze medallist Emilio Arellano (Oberjesingen/GER), who is competing for Spain, and UCI World Cup newcomer Simon Köcher (Öschelbronn/GER). They all want to put Kohl under pressure.
A lot of excitement is to be expected in the Single Women competition, in which there are three Germans at the top. Defending UCI World Cup overall winner and UCI World Champion Ramona Dandl (Bruckmühl/GER) will start as third favourite. In front of her, 2023 UCI World Championships silver medallist Lara Füller (Poppenweiler/GER) and 2022 UCI World Champion Jann Pfann (Bruckmühl/GER) will start with slightly higher freestyle values. The 2023 UCI World Championships bronze medallist Lorena Schneider (Höchst/AUT), who is competing in her first UCI World Cup season, and Alessa Hotz (Baar/SUI), who finished fourth in last year’s UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup, have outside chances of upsetting the hierarchy.
Changes in Pairs
German athletes are also in the lead in the Pairs categories, although the defending champions of the Pairs Open, UCI World Championship silver medallists Nico Rödiger and Lea-Victoria Styber (Langenselbold/GER) will not compete in Tarquinia. Four-time UCI World Champions Max Hanselmann and Serafin Schefold (Öhringen/GER) are seeded number one and will be challenged by UCI World Cup newcomers Alexander Stark and Daniel Stark (Bernlohe/GER).
In the Pairs Women, the UCI World Champions Helen Vordermeier and Selina Marquardt (GER) have ended their careers. However, the 2023 UCI World Cup winners, Annice Niedermayer and Jessie Hasmüller (Denkendorf/Magstadt – GER), will have to deal with new strong competition: Henny Kirst and Antonia Bärk (RSF Bonn-Duisdorf/GER) will start together again after a year of going their separate ways, and will immediately apply pressure in Italy.
Tight in the teams competitions
Meanwhile, there will be no room for mistakes in the ACT 4 competition. The top four teams are separated by just three points at the start. The reigning UCI World Cup winners Tijem Karatas, Annika Rosenbach, Stella Rosenbach and Milena Schwarz (Mainz-Ebersheim/GER), as well as reigning UCI World Champions Vanessa Hotz, Stefanie Moos, Flavia Schürmann and Carole Ledergerber (Baar/SUI) will need to be in their best shape to counter the challengers.
The challenges will come from UCI World Cup newcomers Wiednitz (GER) with Anna Kathleen Buchwald, Nadine Jenchen, Charlott Boden, Hannah Schulze as well as the 2023 UCI World Cup runners-up Stefanie Haas, Valerie Unternährer, Selina Niedermann, Sarah Manser (Uzwil/SUI).
The 2024 UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup
Round 1: March 2nd, Tarquinia, Italy
Round 2: June 15th, Hohenems, Austria
Round 3: August 11th, Hong Kong, China
Final: November 2nd, Oberbüren, Switzerland