Lukas Flückiger: The runner-up rides in a new team in 2013

29-year-old Lukas Flückiger is one of the best professional mountain bikers in the world and the third Swiss next to Nino Schurter and Fabian Giger in the top ten of the UCI world rankings. With his 2nd place at the 2012 World Championships, he has finally cemented his claim to the podium. Now he wants to secure and expand this success with a new team.

by Bruno & Rolf Fleckenstein

Cycling was introduced to him early on by his parents, who preferred to take him and his brother Mathias out on a bike ride on Sundays and thus be active in sports instead of sitting around and being lazy. When Lukas got a new bike at the age of 12, it was the starting signal for his successful career in cycling. It wasn't long before he started taking part in regional races.

The rise to the elite
He first attracted attention on the international cycling stage when he won the silver medal at the 2005 World Mountain Bike Championships in the U23 class cross country in Livigno. He was also successful at the cyclo-cross in Rennaz-Noville during this period. The likeable Aargauer has been a professional cyclist since 2007 and scored points in the same year, among other things, with 3rd place at the World Cup in Offenburg. He finished the 2008 Swiss Cross Championship in third place and in the same year he also won the international cyclo-cross Frenkendorf as well as the Grand Prix Cyclo-cross in Sion. He is one of the few riders who successfully compete in two disciplines, although to date he has enjoyed much greater success in the mountain bike cross-country discipline than in cyclo-cross.

He attributes his missed participation in the 2012 Olympics to a training error, which he noticed during the qualification and to which he immediately reacted by making appropriate changes to his preparation. Success followed at the World Championships. He reached the pinnacle of his international career so far by winning the silver medal at the 2012 Cross Country World Championships in Saalfelden, Austria, ahead of his brother Matthias and behind the winner Nino Schurter.

His brother Mathias, who is four years younger, is successful in the same sport, is just as well-known as he is and was his teammate last year. Together they formed their own brand, called "Flückiger Brothers". They were able to support each other in training sessions and races thanks to their bond and cooperation. This is also how Lukas explains the success of the 2012 World Championship in Saalfelden. But this shared love of cycling goes even further. Last fall, Lukas Flückiger and his brother Mathias organized their own cyclo-cross race called "Flückiger Cross Madiswil" for the first time. The Flückigers supported the cyclo-cross sport, which has been somewhat sidelined since mountain bike races came into existence. This race was held in Madiswil in the Oberaargau. Also the own family was involved to participate in the race. So also father Fritz Flückiger and uncle Bruno got on a bike and supported the enthusiasm of the young professionals.

New team, new luck?
Lukas has parted ways with his old team Trek World Racing and joined a new team this year, the BMC Mountain Bike Racing Team. It is a team with a top lineup. In addition to the 2-time French Olympic champion Julien Absalon, the Swiss Ralph Näf, as the current world champion in the discipline Cross Country Eliminator, is one of his teammates. They are joined by the German Moritz Milatz, European Cross Country Champion, and Julien Taramarcaz, Swiss Champion in cyclo-cross.

We conducted an interview with Lukas Flückiger at the end of February to ask him about this innovation, his goals and other cycling activities.

What is the reason for the change to the new team?

- Swiss team, closer to the pulse and the company.

- Motivation/Change

- Team Spirit

Can he learn more from his team members and BMC?
BMC will be the strongest team this year. With Absalon, Näf and Milatz, I have very strong teammates who will push me throughout the season. Everyone has their own training and racing philosophy and each can benefit and learn from the other.

Does BMC offer better development opportunities?
I live only 20 minutes ....

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