World Cup race in Lenzerheide is always among the loudest as Swiss are on the very top of XCO game and their riders always racing for the top spots. But the fans support all riders, so Tanja Žakelj also had a loud reception along the course. She again did very good and took 26th place.
Today Lenzerheide was flooded with Swiss fans that created perfect atmosphere on the venue. That helped Tanja as well as she was doing better and better with each of the laps. Final result is not as good as it was in Leogang, but this is the terrain that is not up to her liking. At the start of the race she was just behind the top-30, on the end she was sprinting for the 25th place, but hat to settle with 26th.
Tanja Žakelj after the race: “Another good day of racing, I’m now carrying these good feelings from one World Cup venue to another and see that I’m competitive. It’s true that the gap is big, the women at the front are absolutely flying and I can’t even imagine how to be that fast and how to get to that level. I’m doing everything I can to be as fast as possible and as good as possible.
Lenzerheide is at the altitude of about 1500 meters, this is why I was a little bit careful and focused on resting and proper activation. And to race at my best of course! The track was very fast, at the same time it’s very technical track with lots of changes of pace. This is maybe not to my best liking as it takes a great absolute power and constant sprinting. For me it was especially hard in the first part of the race when others still had fresh legs. When they started loosing power I was still at my own pace and I took some places. Finish of the race was just fine, another very nice World Cup result.”
Tanja is in a very good position. She’s relaxed, but strong and determined for the races. This brings her good result, we’re sure the next one will come in a week time – World Cup Andorra is starting in just couple of days.
Photos: Grega Stopar
