Paralympics: Road race – Recher narrowly misses medal – Stöckli finishes 8th – Sport

• Handbiker Fabian Recher (H4) narrowly missed a medal in the Paralympic road race.
• Sandra Stöckli took 8th place in the category H1 – H4.
• Benjamin Früh (H1 – H2) is lapped, in the end this is enough for him to finish in 6th place.

Fabian Recher had long been hoping for a medal at the Paralympic road race in Paris. The day after finishing 6th in the time trial, the Swiss rider stayed with the leading group. After Jetze Plat (NED) and Thomas Frühwirth (AUT) had broken away, they defended their bronze position for a long time. But a crash with Belgian Jonas Van de Steene proved fatal for the 25-year-old.

Although he was able to continue, unlike the Belgian, he lost more and more time. The Pole Rafal Wilk then grabbed the bronze medal. Recher finally finished fifth, just over a minute behind third place. Gold went to Plat, who triumphed in Paris for the third time, and Frühwirth took silver.

Morning postponement

In the morning, the handbikers had to wait an hour before they could start the road race. Due to heavy rain, the organizers had decided to postpone it.

Sandra Stöckli achieved a top ranking in the women's race. After finishing 10th in the time trial, she finished 8th in the road race. The Swiss rider lost almost 7 minutes to the dominant winner Lauren Parker (AUS), who outclassed the competition by 4:11 minutes and more. “We had a lot of water on the road. “I felt like I was in a car wash,” she said, describing the difficult conditions. However, the conditions were the same for everyone.

Early finish in 6th place

In the men's road race, Benjamin Früh had no chance in the fight for the medals, as expected. The 32-year-old (H1) competed against H2 athletes in the starting field who are less physically restricted than he is. The Zurich native was lapped and had to drop out after 28 kilometers – as the last of his direct competitors in the H1 category. In the final reckoning, Früh came in 6th place.