Before stepping on the plane to Beijing's Olympic games, Ralph Näf renewed his contract with the Multivan Merida Biking Team for two additional years. Therefore, Näf, who hails from Switzerland's Thurgau region will compete in the familiar colors of his race team until at least 2010.
He joined the team in 2003, and has played a role in developing the fully-suspended 96 racing model. Besides making his country's very competitive Olympic squad, Näf recently won stage two of the Transschwarzwald, a stage race for mountain bikers in Germany's Schwarzwald region, on his way to taking over the overall lead. However, he will withdraw from the race as he is scheduled to depart for Beijing before the race's end.
