After victories in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) four weeks ago, the early leaders of the Single Men, Pair Women and ACT4 competitions further confirmed their dominance in Bruckmühl (Germany) with second wins at the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup.
Meanwhile, new winners in the Single Women and Pair Open competitions did not manage to dislodge the leaders of the overall 2023 UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup.
Single Women: Local heroes deliver
Focus in the Single Women's competition was on the two local stars from RKB Bruckmühl, reigning UCI World Champion Jana Pfann and silver medalist Ramona Dandl. Twenty-year-old Pfann is taking part in the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup for the first time this year, while Dandl is defending her overall 2022 win. Competition is close: Pfann was victorious in the opening round a few weeks ago in Frankfurt/Main (Germany), while Dandl prevailed at their home event last weekend. She won with 189.33 points ahead of Pfann (187.99) and Alessa Hotz (Baar/SUI) with 174.37. Pfann remains in the lead in the overall standings.
Single Men: Kohl confirms
Germany’s six-time UCI World Champion Lukas Kohl (Kirchehrenbach) remained undefeated despite making an unusual mistake during his multiple spinning jumps that found him standing on the ground. However, his strong score of 200.03 points was still the highest of the second UCI World Cup round, meaning Kohl hasn't lost a competition since 2016. The last athlete to beat him, former UCI World Champion (in 2014 and 2015) Michael Niedermeier (Bruckmühl), provided the commentary for the livestream of the latest UCI World Cup round.
With 188.92 points, Spain’s Emilio Arellano (RSV Oberjesingen) finished second again ahead of two Germans Marcel Jüngling (Dornheim) and Philipp-Thies Rapp (Tailfingen) who competed closely for third spot with 188.71 and 186.24 points respectively.
Pair Women: not the easiest day
The top contenders did not have their best day in the Pair Women competition, as the three highest-placed couples each received significant deductions for their presentations. With 111.97 points, the 2021 UCI World Champions from Germany, Helen Vordermeier and Selina Marquardt (Stuttgart/Magstadt) nevertheless confirmed their lead in the overall standings with their second win of the season ahead of the newcomers in the elite class, fellow Germans Anna-Sophia von Schneyder and Anika Papok (RV Lottstetten) who scored 108.96. The Swiss pair of Larissa Tanner and Simona Lucca (Stäfa/Dürnten) scored 107.07 points to finish third again.
Pair Open & ACT4: UCI World Champions to the fore
Second place in Bruckmühl with 155.52 points was enough for the mixed German team of Nico Rödiger and Lea-Victoria Styber (Langenselbold) to continue wearing the leaders’ jerseys in the Pair Open. The day's victory went to the multiple UCI World Champions Max Hanselmann and Serafin Schefold (Öhringen/GER - 159.10). In the overall standings, however, they are somewhat behind Rödiger/Styber. Third, both on the day and in the overall standings are Nina Stapf and Patrick Tisch (Denkendorf/ Magstadt), who scored 149.51 in Round 2.
Meanwhile, the ACT4 UCI World Champions in (Tijem Karatas, Annika Rosenbach, Stella Rosenbach and Milena Schwarz from the German club RV Mainz-Ebersheim) did not have a perfect presentation, but won with 221.85 points, clearly ahead of the Swiss quartet of Stefanie Haas, Valerie Unternährer, Selina Niedermann and Sarah Manser (Uzwil - 219.11). Third came Jasmin Hauke, Judith Kania, Hanna Kasper and Nicole Weichenhain (Steinhöring - 209.82).
Action from the 2nd round of the 2023 UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup