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MTB World Cup XC #3 & DH #2 - CDM

Champéry, Switzerland, June 9-10, 2007

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Race 2 - June 9: Elite Men Cross Country, 49.9km

Swiss lighten up home race

By Rob Jones in Champéry, Switzerland

Julien Absalon (Orbea)
Photo ©: Rob Jones
(Click for larger image)

For the men's eight lap (plus start loop) race, the Swiss came out swinging - at one point, seven of the top-10 riders were Swiss, led by U23 World Cup leader and world champion Nino Schurter (Swisspower). A group consisting of Schurter, Sauser, Absalon and Roel Paulissen (Vredestein-Cannondale) established the lead bunch, with Schurter and Sauser setting the pace.

Just behind, Schurter's teammates, Florian Vogel and Thomas Frischknecht, were riding with Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida), Ralph Naef (Multivan Merida), and Cedric Ravanel (Lapierre).

On lap two, it began to rain, and for both Absalon and Sauser this changed the race dynamics completely. "I was pleased when it started raining," admitted Absalon. "I could see that I was stronger on the climbing parts, but the Swiss riders were better in the descents. When it began to rain, that made it so slippery that they could no longer go so fast in the technical parts."

Sauser had exactly the opposite view. "When the rain came, I was thinking &^$#%^! It changes things a lot, and you had to ride like you were on eggs. I knew it would be better for him, but then everything has to be perfect to win against Julien."

The rain stopped on lap four, and by that time, Absalon and Sauser had a one minute lead on Schurter and Paulissen, with Naef a further minute back. Sauser tried an attack on lap six, but Absalon was able to come back, and then on the seventh lap Absalon launched his own attack. Sauser was caught back, but then made a rare mistake on the downhill. "It was a stupid mistake," said Sauser. "I got my pedal stuck in a root," which allowed Absalon to open up the winning gap that he extended to 50 seconds by the finish.

Christophe Sauser (Specialized)
Photo ©: Rob Jones
(Click for larger image)

Schurter dropped Paulissen on lap seven to take third, with Naef finishing off an impressive fifth behind Paulissen after he worked his way up from 35th at the start. American Adam Craig (Giant) had what was probably the most impressive ride of the race to finish 10th, after starting in 63rd.

"What can I say; 'It's June, this is when I get in shape.' " commented Craig. "I was able to move up pretty quick(ly) initially - this course is a lot like the local race series in Bangor, Maine, so it was just like racing on home turf."

Race Notes

- Absalon now has a substantial lead over Sauser in the World Cup - 700 points to 490, with Hermida 10 points behind Sauser.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com

Results - 47.9km

1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea                                   2.12.44
2 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized                              0.50
3 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                         2.21
4 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein                      2.49
5 Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team                    3.17
6 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International                3.41
7 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team    3.49
8 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                   4.18
9 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)                                          4.27
10 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team                      4.51
11 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein                       5.06
12 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                        5.13
13 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein                     5.19
14 Jader Zoli (Ita) ASD KTM International Team                    5.45
15 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International                6.03
16 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) ASD KTM International Team        6.04
17 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum MTB Team                      6.34
18 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea                            6.43
19 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea                             7.02
20 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger)                                         7.08
21 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Versluys-Landbouwkrediet                7.22
22 Martin Gujan (Swi)                                             7.25
23 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW                                  7.28
24 Seamus Mcgrath (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood                    7.36
25 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team                         8.13
26 Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Team                          8.51
27 Jürg Graf (Swi) Scott Allianz Suisse                           8.53
28 Silvio Bundi (Swi) Giant/Athleticum                            8.57
29 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi                          9.05
30 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                9.22
31 Marek Galinski (Pol) CC-Polsat-Polkowice                       9.33
32 Christoph Soukup (Aut)                                         9.47
33 Rene Tann (Ger)                                                9.50
34 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin Bike Team                       9.57
35 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica                10.09
36 Hannes Metzler (Aut)                                          10.10
37 Balz Weber (Swi) Bikepark.Ch Tui                              10.20
38 Ludovic Dubau (Fra) Team New Cycling                          10.24
39 Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike          10.28
40 Bas Peters (Ned)                                              10.35
41 Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team                        10.41
42 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Cannondale-Vredestein                10.46
43 Till Marx (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                           10.49
44 Martino Fruet (Ita)                                           10.54
45 Matthias Flückiger (Swi)                                      11.04
46 Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi                              11.19
47 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Gewiss Bianchi                            12.28
48 Burry Stander (RSA)                                           12.36
49 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea                                12.47
50 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita)                                   12.58
51 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier               13.37
52 Yury Trofimov (Rus)                                           15.02
One lap down
53 Gion Manetsch (Swi)                                                
54 Christof Bischof (Swi) Bikin'cyprus Int'l MTB Team                 
55 Miha Solar (Slo)                                                   
56 Alexandre Moos (Swi) BMC Racing                                    
57 Alban Lakata (Aut) Trek-VW                                         
58 Sergiy Rysenko (Ukr)                                               
59 Marc Trayter Alemany (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica                      
60 Michael Broderick (USA)                                            
61 Fabian Giger (Swi)                                                 
62 Lukas Kaufmann (Swi)                                               
63 Tony Longo (Ita)                                                   
64 Marc Colom (Fra)                                                   
65 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze)                                                
Two laps down
66 Gareth Montgomerie (GBr)                                           
67 Maxim Gogolev (Rus)                                                
68 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour                                 
69 Guillaume Vinit (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier                      
70 Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) Beone Mountain bike team                      
71 Michael Weiss (Aut) Bikin'cyprus Int'l MTB Team                    
72 Patrik Gallati (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                           
73 Dario Alejandro Gasco (Arg) Massi                                  
74 Denis Vorontsov (Rus)                                              
75 Ivan Planzer (Swi)                                                 
76 François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier               
77 Wilko Rochow (Ger)                                                 
78 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team                               
79 Jelmer Jubbega (Ned) Cannondale-Vredestein                         
80 Daniel Suter (Swi)                                                 
81 Andreas Moser (Swi)                                                
82 Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Team Lapierre International          
83 Yannick Bernasconi (Swi)                                           
Three laps down
84 Andreas Kugler (Swi) Fischer-BMC                                   
85 Torsten Marx (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                      
86 Robert Mennen (Ger)                                                
87 Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita)                                              
88 Luka Kodra (Slo)                                                   
89 Frank Schotman (Ned)                                               
90 Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita)                                            
91 Marcel Wildhaber (Swi)                                             
92 Shaun Lewis (Aus)                                                  
93 Michel Luginbuehl (Swi)                                            
94 Tobias Witzak (Ger)                                                
95 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Massi                              
96 Dries Govaerts (Bel)                                               
97 Robert Gehbauer (Aut) Multivan Merida Biking Team                  
98 Vivien Legastelois (Fra) Team Lapierre International               
99 Karl Markt (Aut)                                                   
100 Clinton Robert Avery (NZl)                                        
101 Umberto Corti (Ita)                                               
102 Jiri Novak (Cze)                                                  
103 Andras Melts (Hun)                                                
Four laps down
104 Dylan Cooper (Aus)                                                
105 Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn)                                              
106 Oleksandr Yakymenko (Ukr)                                         
107 Maxime Marotte (Fra)                                              
108 Yevgeniy Yakovlev (Kaz)                                           
109 Tom Meeusen (Bel)                                                 
110 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus)                                            
111 Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team                     
112 Lachlan Norris (Aus)                                              
113 Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                              
114 Andi Weinhold (Ger)                                               
115 Marcus Roy (NZl)                                                  
116 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi)                                             
117 Ivan Schalbetter (Swi)                                            
118 Axel Bult (Ned)                                                   
119 Peter Coddens (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team                         
120 Bjorn Brems (Bel) Dolphin Bike Team                               
121 Romain Lejeune (Fra) Team New Cycling                             
Five laps down
122 Nuno Oliveira (Por)                                               
123 Daniel Schütz (Swi)                                               
124 Andriy Gumenyuk (Ukr)                                             
125 Daniel Braunsteins (Aus)                                          
126 Oliver Aviles Gilabert (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica                   
127 Anthony O'Boyle (GBr) Mojo Orange                                 
128 Marco Cellini (Ita)                                               
129 Ivan Grabovskyy (Ukr)                                             
130 Jules Chabanon (Fra) Team New Cycling                             
131 Daniel Marques (Por)                                              
Six laps down
132 Tim Bohme (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                        
133 Roman Zhientaev (Kaz)                                             
134 Sid Taberlay (Aus) Dolphin Bike Team                              
135 Kristian Hynek (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB                         
136 James Fraser-Moodie (GBr)                                         
Seven laps down
137 Marios Athanasiades (Cyp) Bikin'cyprus Int'l MTB Team     
        
DNF Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team                   
DNF Oliver Beckingsale (GBr)                                          
DNF Todd Wells (USA)                                                  
DNF Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica                    
DNF Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International                     
DNF Sven Nys (Bel)                                                    
DNF Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood                          
DNF Dariusz Batek (Pol) Halls Professional MTB Team                   
DNF Jochen Kass (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                      
DNF Martin Kraler (Aut) Gewiss Bianchi                                
DNF Marcin Karczynski (Pol) Halls Professional MTB Team               
DNF Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona Les Gets                                  
DNF Olivier Maignan (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                              
DNF Martin Fanger (Swi)                                               
DNF Simon Richardson (GBr)                                            
DNF Quincy Vens (Bel)                                                 
DNF Joris Boillat (Swi)                                               
DNF Andreas Tiberi (Ita) KTM International Team                       
DNF Zaher El Hage (Lib)                                               
DNF Calle Friberg (Swe)                                               
DNS Philip Spencer (GBr) Subaru-Gary Fisher                           
DNS Jeff Hall (USA)              

World Cup Standings after three rounds

1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea                                       700 pts
2 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized                               490
3 Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team     480
4 Cedric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International                 420
5 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein                       380
6 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein                         340
7 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                    300
8 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                          290
9 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea                               280
10 Lukas Fluckiger (Swi) Athleticum MTB Team                       268
11 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Versluys-Landbouwkrediet MTB Team        242
12 Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team                    210
13 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea                             205
14 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein                      200
15 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)                                          185
16 Jader Zoli (Ita) ASD KTM International Team                     178
17 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin Bike Team                        166
18 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Cannondale-Vredestein                  166
19 Marek Galinski (Pol)                                            160
20 Yury Trofimov (Rus)                                             151
21 Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Team                           150
22 Jurg Graf (Swi)                                                 146
23 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International                 144
24 Torsten Marx (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                   142
25 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team                          139
26 Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team                          134
27 Silvio Bundi (Swi)                                              127
28 Balz Weber (Swi) Bikepark.Ch Tui                                126
29 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Asd Ktm International Team         125
30 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team                       121
31 Martin Gujan (Swi)                                              120
32 Gion Manetsch (Swi)                                             107
33 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW                                   106
34 Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team                 106
35 Geoff Kabush (Can)                                              102
36 Hannes Metzler (Aut)                                             98
37 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr)                                         98
38 Till Marx (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                              97
39 Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team Bulls                                     96
40 Stephane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi                            92
41 Todd Wells (USA)                                                 90
42 Bas Peters (Ned)                                                 88
43 Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) Full-Dynamix-R.S.M.              87
44 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger)                                           85
45 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                          85
46 Rene Tann (Ger)                                                  82
47 Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls                                      80
48 Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike             79
49 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                  73
50 Sid Taberlay (Aus) Dolphin Bike Team                             72
51 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea                                   69
52 Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica                   68
53 Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International                    66
54 Burry Stander (RSA)                                              62
55 Seamus Mcgrath (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood                      58
56 Sven Nys (Bel)                                                   58
57 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica                   56
58 Ludovic Dubau (Fra) Team New Cycling                             56
59 Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood                         54
60 Martino Fruet (Ita)                                              51
61 Michael Weiss (Aut) Bikin'cyprus Int'l MTB Team                  46
62 Christoph Soukup (Aut)                                           42
63 Tony Longo (Ita)                                                 38
64 Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita)                                            38
65 Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi                                 37
66 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita)                                      37
67 Matthias Fluckiger (Swi)                                         36
68 Dariusz Batek (Pol) Halls Professional MTB Team                  36
69 Francois Bailly Maitre (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier             34
70 Christof Bischof (Swi) Bikin'cyprus Int'l MTB Team               32
71 Jochen Kass (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                     32
72 Massimo De Bertolis (Ita) Full-Dynamix-R.S.M.                    32
73 Alban Lakata (Aut) Trek-VW                                       31
74 Martin Kraler (Aut) Gewiss Bianchi                               30
75 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                          28
76 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier                  26
77 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze)                                              25
78 Tim Bohme (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                       25
79 Karl Markt (Aut)                                                 23
80 Bjorn Brems (Bel) Dolphin Bike Team                              23
81 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Gewiss Bianchi                               21
82 Maxim Gogolev (Rus)                                              16
83 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team                             14
84 Miha Solar (Slo)                                                 13
85 Alexandre Moos (Swi) BMC Racing                                  12
86 Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita)                                          12
87 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Massi                            11
88 Sergiy Rysenko (Ukr)                                             10
89 Pascal Meyer (Swi)                                               10
90 Marc Trayter Alemany (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica                     9
91 Michael Broderick (USA)                                           8
92 Jerome Chevallier (Fra)                                           8