Kiwi champ takes down stacked field in Swiss HC race
Anton Cooper made the big moves this weekend to win the Granichen AG stop of the Swiss Bike Cup. This HC race saw a stacked field including the reigning World Champion Nino Schurter and U-23 World Champion Sam Gaze. With the form looking good from a top-3 in the last World Cup, everything came together for Anton, who took a solid win in front of the Swiss crowd. In his own words,
"I know I've been on good form of late but I definitely wasn't expecting to win, especially over such a strong field. The temperature was crazy hot at the venue and the track was getting blown out and dusty. I arrived the day before and only had 2 laps on the track so I knew I couldn't push too hard on the descents as I was still somewhat learning the track over the first few laps of the race."
"I had a great start and was up the front from the beginning. The first few laps were a bit cat and mouse until there was just three of us left at the front of the race. Nino dropped back with just a lap to go and from there it was a battle to the line against fellow Kiwi and Under 23 World Champ Sam Gaze who I managed to get a few seconds over at the line to take the win!"
