The Austrian team RC Höchst II (Simon König and Florian Fischer) emerged victorious at the first UCI Cycle-ball World Cup event of 2016, and the 125th since the competition began, In the small German community of Großkoschen, the Austrians defeated German Cup winners RVS Obernfeld (André and Manuel Kopp) 7-2 in the final to secure their eighth win as a pair – König’s 17th in total – and claim the white leaders’ jersey.
Both Höchst II and Obernfeld flawlessly navigated their way through the qualifying rounds to reach the semi-finals as undefeated group winners. Obernfeld beat Großkoschen 2-0 in an all-German last four encounter as Höchst II swept aside Dornbirn 5-2 in the Austrian derby. Hosts and wildcards Großkoschen (Norman Tuppatsch / Tobias Kolba) once again sprung a surprise in front of their home crowd, progressing to the semi-finals before being narrowly defeated by Obernfeld. Although the German second-tier team then drew 5-5 with the newly formed Dornbirn pair (Martin Lingg / Daniel König) to force the encounter into extra-time, the Austrians’ eventual 8-6 victory once again denied the local heroes a podium place. Fifth place was taken by seasoned Czech campaigners Jiri Hrdlicka and Pavel Loskot (SC Svitavka), who defeated German Bundesliga side RSC Schiefbahn (Sven Holland-Moritz / Marius Hermanns) 5-2 in the match for fifth place. After stepping in to replace Eberstadt, Schiefbahn stuttered in their first match, losing 3-2 to eventual second-from-bottom Czech team TJ Start Plzen.
2016 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup #2: Ludwigslust (June 4)
Ludwigslust, in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is the UCI Cycle-ball World Cup’s most northerly venue. Although SV Wanderlust Lüblow will be staging their first ever World Cup event, the club has plenty of international experience, having previously hosted the 2010 U19 UEC European Championships and the 2008 UEC Cycle-ball European Cup.
The two teams currently occupying second and third place respectively –Obernfeld and Dornbirn – will be in with a chance of taking the overall World Cup lead in Ludwigslust, while reigning UCI World Cup Champions RS Altdorf will make their entry into this year’s UCI World Cup.
RS Altdorf are four-time overall UCI Cycle-ball World Cup winners and former UCI World Champions. Roman Schneider and Dominik Planzer have been playing together since 2008, and won their first ever UCI World Cup Final in March that year. Schneider has competed in 54 tournaments with five different partners to date, while Planzer is about to take part in his 45th World Cup event. Main results
2012 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships – 1st 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup – 1st 2011, 2014, 2015 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships – 2nd 2013 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships – 3rd 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014 Swiss Championships – 1st 2010 – 2013 Swiss Cup – 1st