Alessa Hotz wins European Championship bronze in Artistic Cycling

Success for the artistic cycling club in Baar at the weekend: the Hotz sisters finished third and fourth at the European Championships – despite the additional stress of high school exams.

The European elite of indoor artistic cycling (Hallenradsport) met last weekend in Amorbach, Germany. The sisters Alessa and Mirina Hotz provided the sporting highlights from the perspective of artistic cycling club in Baar (Kunstrad Baar). Both had already impressed in the European Championship qualifiers (we reported at the time).

In the qualification, Mirina Hotz became engaged in a highly dramatic internal duel with her teammate Sina von Rotz. In the end, a mere 0.15 points decided the competition in favour of Mirina Hotz. The qualification was a more straightforward affair for Alessa Hotz, the reigning vice world champion,.

The performance of the two girls from Baar was also remarkable because of the additional pressures they faced alongside their sport. Mirina Hotz is currently in the midst of her high school graduation exams (Maturität), while Alessa Hotz is completing her studies at the Zug Teacher Training College (Pädagogischen Hochschule Zug) in these weeks, aiming to become a primary school teacher. The fact that both impressed on the international stage despite exam stress and professional commitments underscores their mental strength.

Improvement in the freestyle section
Mirina Hotz got off to a strong start in Amorbach, delivering a flawless freestyle routine and scoring 158.23 points In the preliminary round. This put her ahead of competitors from Italy, Hungary and Austria, among others, and earned her a well-deserved place in the final. Alessa Hotz performed slightly below her potential in the preliminary round (169.53 points), but also qualified confidently for the final of the top four in Radball.

Alessa Hotz on the shoulders of her sister Mirina   
Alessa Hotz and her bicycle           Photos: Daniel Kretschmar
 

There, Alessa Hotz delivered the promised response. She improved compared to the preliminary round, presented a composed freestyle routine, incorporating tactical elements, and achieved 174.73 points. This secured her the European Championship bronze medal. Lara Füller from Germany became European Champion (194.13 points), ahead of her compatriot Jana Pfann (192.68 points).

Mirina Hotz wasn't quite able to replicate her strong preliminary round performance in the final. Nevertheless, she finished the competition in an excellent fourth place (153.67 points). Reaching the final was already a remarkable achievement for the cyclist from Baar and capped off a strong European Championship weekend for the Baar artistic cycling team.

The Hotz sisters have little time to rest, as World Cup competitions in Germany and Hungary are on the schedule for the coming weeks. The main goal of the season follows in the autumn: the World Championships at the end of October in Derby, Great Britain.