Cyclist Antonia Niedermaier goes into the World Cup race as an insider tip. However, she cannot achieve her performance. The cold is affecting her – and so is the death of the Swiss woman Muriel Furrer.
The death of Muriel Furrer took a toll on German cycling talent Antonia Niedermaier. The 21-year-old burst into tears during the World Cup race on Saturday and later cried at the finish. Niedermaier’s teammates reported this. “It was mainly mental. It really took a toll on me,” said Niedermaier on ZDF.
The mountain specialist also thought about her own past. Niedermaier had a serious fall at the Giro Donne last year when she was cleared by Urska Zigart from Slovenia. The German fell on her face but escaped without any fractures. When Furrer fell, the thoughts came back. “When the news came that she had died, a lot came together. It was very close to my heart,” said Niedermaier.
Fear on the track
During the race, Niedermaier had the death of Furrer, who died a day later at the age of 18 from the fall injuries she suffered on Thursday, in his mind. “I was scared the whole time on the track because of what happened this week. I drove carefully,” she said. In the end, Niedermaier took 18th place and won bronze in the U23 classification.
Niedermaier was also affected by the cold and constant rain. “It was super hard and super cold right from the start,” reported the U23 world champion in the time trial. “I could barely grab my bottle or gels. In the end I couldn’t shift gears because my hands were so cold.” In the end, the Bavarian was satisfied with her medal tally; in addition to bronze and gold in the junior category, she won silver in the mixed team time trial.
Help for Lippert
For the hoped-for medal, the German team relied on Liane Lippert. “We were more motivated to do something with Liane in the elite. She was protected at the beginning. I did my job and was then able to take care of the U23s,” said Niedermaier. Lippert missed bronze in the sprint by just a few centimeters. The title went to Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) ahead of Chloe Dygert (USA) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy).
Source: Stern
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