A record 18 nations were represented at the third round of the 2025 UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup, which took place in Puteaux, France, this weekend. The suburb in the western suburb of Paris also welcomed more athletes than ever before at a UCI World Cup round for the speciality.
Another first in Puteaux was the participation of the event’s chief organiser Valentine Rieb in both the individual and Act 4 events.
“It’s a great honour to host a UCI World Cup round in Puteaux,” says Valentine Rieb. “It shows that France is beginning to make its mark in this demanding discipline.”
The organiser-cum-athlete was very pleased with her performance. In Single Women, the organiser-cum-athlete improved her previous best result by three places, to eighth. And in Act 4, along with Alexane Leclerc, Justine Martz and Thérèse Rietsch, she narrowly missed setting a new personal best. It was the first time this line-up had competed together: Rietsch stepping in at short notice to replace an injured Alice Rieb. The team comprised athletes from three different clubs (CSM Puteaux, VCE Dorlisheim and STEP Geispolsheim).
Act4: standout performances
The Act4-Team from Uzwil/SUI stood out in terms of performance. Reigning UCI World Champions Stefanie Haas, Valerie Unternährer, Selina Niedermann, and Sarah Manser once again achieved a top result with 236.63 points. Meanwhile, UCI World Championship silver medallists Tijem Karata, Milena Schwarz, Stella Rosenbach and Annika Rosenbach (Mainz-Ebersheim/GER) finished third on the day - behind RMSV Edelweiss Aach (227.07) - but their 215.22 points were sufficient to keep their overall lead in the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup.
The French national team (88.90 points) still has a long way to go before they can match the performances of these top teams, but there is great progress to be celebrated. For many years, France didn't field a team at all. But the current national coach, Jean-Philippe Martz, a former active handball player and father of Justine Martz, took over four years ago and is central to the rebuilding artistic cycling in his country.
Rapp tops German trio in Single Men
In Single Men, the silver medallist from the 2024 UCI World Championships Philipp-Thies Rapp (Tailfingen/GER) confirmed his consistently good form.
He once again scored over the 200-point mark, despite a mistake. Jonas Bitter (Trillfingen/181.71 points) and Simon Köcher (Öschelbronn/174.04) couldn't keep up with Rapp, but they once again ensured an all-German podium. Hungarian Csaba Varga (Romhany) led the international chasing field with a score of 157.62, finishing fourth on the day. He secures the same place in the overall ranking.
UCI World Champions take Pairs Open win
The German dominance continued in the Pairs Open. While all three German pairs could be considered to have had a bad day, their lead over the following nations, Czechia, Belgium, and France, was still significant.
Reigning UCI World Champions Nico Rödiger and Lea-Victoria Styber (Langenselbold) prevailed with 125.84 points, followed closely by brothers Alexander and Daniel Stark (Bernlohe) with 120.31 points. 2024 UCI World Championships silver-medallists Niklas Kreuzmann and Celine Stapf (Soden/100.85) took third place, while Pavel Šin and Vojtěch Blazeck from Brno, Czechia finished fourth (81.53 points).
Two Swiss duos on Pair Women podium
In the Pair Women event, reigning UCI World Champions Henny Kirst and Antonia Bärk (Bonn-Duisdorf/138.97 points) emerged winners, and UCI World Championships runners-up Kim Schlüter and Neele Jodeleit (Knetterheide/130.17) held on to second place. Another Swiss pair - Saskia Seitz and Vivienne Kuemin (Baar/100.77) – finished a surprising third, achieving their first medal in their second UCI World Cup appearance.
Dandl confirms Single Women UCI World Cup lead
The women's individual podium, on the other hand, featured an all-German podium. The 2023 UCI World Champion and UCI World Cup leader, Ramona Dandl (Bruckmühl), won with 187.63 points, ahead of reigning UCI World Champion Lara Füller (Poppenweiler/185) and Veronika Koch (Hausham/177.03).
The action from Round 3 can be enjoyed here.
The 2025 UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup Final will be held on 15 November in Öschelbronn, Germany, one week after the UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships in Göppingen, Germany.