Baar bicyclists are full of anticipation for the biggest stage

Starting this Friday, the athletes will compete for medals in the Artistic Cycling and Cycle Polo World Championships in Basle. The elite quartet team of women artistic cyclists from Baar will be at the start for the first time ever. By winning the gold medal at the recent Swiss Championships, Stefanie Moos, Vanessa Hotz, Saskia Grob and Elena Fischer secured a starting position for the World Championships. "This is of course a highlight for all of us. We just want to enjoy the World Championships experience and give a good performance in front of our home crowd, "says Stefanie Moos (22), who grew up and lives in Baar.

The title competitions will take place from Friday, 6th December until Sunday, 8th December in the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, where 15 athletes from Switzerland will compete in the artistic cycling and cycle polo disciplines. In the hierarchy of indoor cycling (the collective term for artistic cycling and cycle polo), the Swiss are competing against the Austrians for second place, while Germany is the undisputed world leader. Artistic cycling includes categories for soloists, duets, quartets and sextets, with a riding surface that is 14 meters long and 11 meters wide in international competitions. The duration of the presentation is a maximum of 5 minutes. A free programme includes 25 exercises, and each exercise will be given a basic score according to the level of difficulty. This number will then be included in the overall judgment. The choice of accompaniment music is up to the participants.

Cycle polo (German: Radball) is played in teams with a 600-gram ball. Each player rides a special bike, with the ball usually carried along using the front wheel. In the most popular cycle polo variant, a team consists of two players. A two-ball bike game lasts twice 7 minutes. You can catch the ball with your hands if you are in your own penalty area, which is only allowed for one player per team. Otherwise, you can only play with your hands on the handlebars and your feet on the pedals.

Vanessa Hotz, Saskia Grob, Stefanie Moos and Elena Fischer (from the front left in a clockwise direction) will start in a World Championships for the first time.

The primary school teacher - who teaches in Hünenberg – nearly missed the start: She was suffering from pneumonia, which was also the reason for the team cancelling their appearance at the Nations Cup held in Baar on the penultimate weekend. “This is our first World Championships participation.” says Vanessa Hotz (22) from Baar, who is studying veterinary medicine at the University of Zurich, and she is convinced that they will achieve a positive result if they can build on their good and consistent performance during the season. Does the team hope to win a medal? "That always has to be the goal. The important thing is that we are ready on Day X and are able to call on our strengths.” explains Hotz.

There is no lack of experience in the team, because the four young women have been active in artistic cycling for between nine and twelve years, and have won various medals as a youth team at Swiss Championships and at the European Championships.

The big event will also be a highlight in her career for Saskia Grob (22) from Allenwinden: "To start for Switzerland in Switzerland is a dream. Everything else is just an encore," says the medical student. What fascinates her about this sport? Elena Fischer (23), who grew up and lives in the city of Lucerne, says: "The combination of acrobatics, balance, endurance, mental challenge and coordination is a major challenge. Working on the bike as a team is certainly the most appealing aspect.”

And their goals for the World Championships? The polygraph Fischer formulates this openly: "We want to perform a free programme with which we can be satisfied." The Baar team is coached by Claudia von Rotz, Patricia Kottmann (she is also national coach) and Eliana Thalmann.