Home Cyclingnews TV   News  Tech   Features   Road   MTB   BMX   Cyclo-cross   Track    Photos    Fitness    Letters   Search   Forum  

Recently on Cyclingnews.com


Mont Ventoux
Photo ©: Sirotti

 MTB index page for all MTB content

MTB World Cup XC #6 & DH #4 - CDM

Mont Sainte Anne, Canada, July 25-27, 2008

Main Page    Results    Previous Race   Next Race    World Cup Standings

Race 2 - July 26: Elite women 4X

World champion Buhl wins

By Sue George in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Québec

Melissa Buhl (KHS) was happy
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
(Click for larger image)

Clad in her rainbow striped jersey, Melissa Buhl (KHS) advanced through the semi-finals and went on to win the finals in the elite women's race. She defeated Mio Suemasa (MS-Intense Factory Racing), Fionn Griffiths (Norco World Team) and Anneke Beerten in the big final. Beerten crashed in the final, but managed to get up and ride to the finish.

"I had an outside lane choice which gave me a disadvantage from the start," said the American winner Buhl. "I had a lot of track to make up there. Anneke had a good start but then she slid out." The turn in question one was the only turn with two options, according to Buhl.

"If you stayed below the lower rock," said Buhl, "you could get on the inside. Problem was we ran out of real estate, and I almost missed the blue gate. It was a bit of a scramble, but I'm glad I didn't miss it and was able to get out." On that turn, where Beerten crashed, Buhl came underneath to make a pass. "I was in front of her when she crashed. I'm not sure what happened."

Mio Suemasa (MS-Intense)
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
(Click for larger image)

"It happened so quickly," said last year's winner Beerten. "Melissa came under me hard, and maybe I went by, but it is 4X and it happens."

The Dutch woman was clearly disappointed. "I'm bummed because I felt really good in qualifications when I was able to do all the jumps. I really wanted to go for it." Fortunately, she was ok after her crash, during which she hit her head and suffered a minor ankle injury.

After Beerten's crash, Buhl rode away to the finish. Suemasa chased her, but couldn't make up ground despite her best efforts.

"It was a good run although I was bummed to see my team-mate crash during it. She just washed out. I just couldn't catch Melissa," said Suemasa, but she didn't blame Beerten's crash. "I did not get slowed down by the crash."

World Champions Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lu and Melissa Buhl
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
(Click for larger image)

The weather caused the 4X qualifications to be postponed from Friday evening until Saturday and they were sandwiched between the downhill finals and the 4X finals. Plenty of rain in the days previous had super saturated the course with water, which caused damage like ruts and mud holes and soft approaches to jumps. Some of the jumps' approaches were covered with plywood for a more solid take-off.

"We were all kind of thinking that we weren't going to race 4X, but I'm glad we did," said Buhl, who had expressed doubt about competing earlier in the day along with concerns about safety on the damaged course. Organizers had personnel working early Saturday to make repairs.

"For the level of water they got, they did a good job with what they had," said Buhl. "The changes they made were really smart - they listened to the riders. It was good racing.

Anita Molcik (4 Elements Yet) won the small final ahead of Caroline Buchanan, Eva Castro Fernandez and Neven Steinmetz.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Dave McElwaine/www.trailwatch.net

Results

1 Melissa Buhl (USA)                                        0.50.28
2 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) MS-Intense Factory-Racing            
3 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team                 
4 Anneke Beerten (Ned) MS-Intense Factory-Racing         
5 Anita Molcik (Aut) 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/RSP           
6 Caroline Buchanan (Aus)                                
7 Eva Castro Fernandez (Spa)                                0.03.33
8 Neven Steinmetz (USA)                                     0.05.19

Teams

1 MS-Intense Factory-Racing             50 pts
2 Team Sunn                             35
3 Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team     26
4 Norco World Team                      25
5 Suzuki-Rb                             22
6 Animal Commencal                      20
7 Kenda Tomac                           18
8 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/RSP             15
9 Tomac Factory Racing                   5


World Cup Standings after four events

1 Anneke Beerten (Ned) MS-Intense Factory-Racing           680 pts
2 Melissa Buhl (USA)                                       420
3 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) MS-Intense Factory-Racing              340
4 Anita Molcik (Aut) 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/Rsp             310
5 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team                   300
6 Jana Horakova (Cze) Suzuki-RB                            250
7 Rachel Seydoux (Swi)                                     150
8 Diana Marggraff (Ecu)                                     70
9 Romana Labounkova (Cze)                                   60
10 Lucia Oetjen (Swi)                                       60
11 Caroline Buchanan (Aus)                                  40
12 Eva Castro Fernandez (Spa)                               40
13 Katarina Tothova (Cze)                                   40
14 Helene Valerie Fruhwirth (Aut)                           40
15 Angelika Hohenwarter (Aut)                               20
16 Neven Steinmetz (USA)                                    10
17 Sarsha Huntington (Aus)                                  10

Team standings

1 MS-Intense Factory-Racing            195 pts
2 Suzuki-Rb                             98
3 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/RSP             96
4 Animal Commencal                      90
5 Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team     84
6 Norco World Team                      75
7 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team       64
8 Team Sunn                             55
9 Team Ghost International              54
10 Cannondale Factory Racing            42
11 Kenda Tomac                          40
12 Rocky Mountain UK                    16
13 Team Bike Radar                       9
14 Tomac Factory Racing                  5
15 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense         5