The heartbeat-finish of the K1M-race at the Worldcup in Wildwater Racing at Augsburg on Saturday afternoon ended in a tie.
50.03 seconds was the time that brought Björn Beerschwenge, a 25-year old student from Cologne, Germany, to the top rank of the 15 participants in the final race. And in the very next race Nejc Znidarcic of Slovenia, who in 2011 had achieved the title of World Champion on this very course, tied that time right down to the one-hundreth second. So the two of them shared first place at the medal ceremony.
But in the Worldcup-ranking the two of them lay wide apart. After three out of four Worldcup racing days, Znidarcic holds number one position with 276 points, just two points ahead of his Slovenian team colleague Simon Oven. Björn Beerschwenge, who did not start in the first two Worldcup races in Muothatal, ranks 50th.
The first day of the Worldcup finals offered exciting races under a sunny summer sky. Local hero Normen Weber of Kanu Schwaben Augsburg finished his last international sprint race in C1M with first place. Quentin Dazeur (France) and Ondrej Rolenc (Czech Republic) had to be content with positions two and three. In the World Cup-ranking however, both of them are slightly ahead of Weber.
So the Classic races on the 4.8 kilometer stretch of the river Lech between Landsberg and Kaufering on Sunday will finaly decide how this years Worldcup-ranking in Wildwater Racing will turn out.
