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MTB World Cup DH #1 - CDM
Maribor, Slovenia, May 9-11, 2008
2007 results Schedule Start List
Maribor opens World Cup gravity races
By Luke Webber in Pohorje, Slovenia
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Maribor opens the downhill and four cross events this weekend following on from the initial three cross country rounds in Belgium, Germany and Spain.
After Sea Otter the biggest test of the year so far was the World Championship recce event in Val de Sol, Italy seven days ago. Unfortunately, that race confirmed the devastating news of 2007 - when it comes to downhill Sam Hill is the man to beat. He destroyed the field by nearly five seconds there and already has qualified first here in Maribor. The course is a rider's favourite and remains largely the same as last year.
Out of the start the descent heads into a wooded section over roots, before turning back to the open giving great views across Pohorje. These give way to the most brutal section of the track however, with a large rock garden littered with drops and gaps. Line choice here is critical and could win or lose the race. Conditions are currently perfect with warm temperatures and a cooling breeze. Under tyre it is dusty, but hard packed with some loamy sections in the woods emerging.
Unlike the downhill which is set to be dominated by one rider, the four cross races are the most open in years. This is due in part to BMX making its Olympic debut and the absence of multiple champion Michael Prokop, Jared Graves and most notably of all perhaps, reigning World Champion Jill Kintner.
This, accompanied by a switch of teams by Brian Lopes from factory crew GT to small independents Ibis, has added a real unpredictability to the racing. So far in qualifying it is Dan Atherton leading the way, with Kamil Tartarkovic the nearest chaser over a second down. Romain Salidini is third and in his first full World Cup season Ross Milan takes the final top spot. Lopes could only manage sixth but when the gate drops with three other riders in the mix, anything can happen.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Luke Webber / www.lukewebber.com
- A world cup rider enjoys the view from the local freeride park.
- The race itself doesn't start until further down the mountain.
- From the gate the downhill heads straight over a large double - just out of shot.
- Gee Atherton tackles one of the man made drops of which there are few on this predominantly natural course.
- Another of the open trails, this time overlooking Maribor.
- The rock garden really is that big, with some wheel swallowing holes.
- Emmiline Ragot qualified third yesterday and will hope to rival Sabrina Jonnier and Tracy Moseley, who finished first and second respectively.
Schedule
Start list
Downhill Elite men 1 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Iron Horse 2 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS-Intense Factory-Racing 3 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 4 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 5 Marc Beaumont (GBr) Team Bike Radar 8 Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 9 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre DH Powered By Saab Salomon 11 Mickael Pascal (Fra) Msc Bikes 12 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Iron Horse 13 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Santa Cruz Syndicate 14 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Team Pyrenees Morewood 15 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate* 16 Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 17 Ben Reid (Irl) 18 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 20 Andrew Neethling (RSA) GT Bicycles 21 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Msc Bikes 22 Justin Leov (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 23 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Mojo Orange 24 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 25 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Team Ghost International 26 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 27 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 28 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 29 Neil Donoghue (GBr) Team Bike Radar 30 Marco Milivinti (Ita) 31 Filip Polc (Svk) Kenda Tomac 32 Adam Brayton (GBr) Playbiker - Iron Horse 33 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) Massi 34 Alan Beggin (Ita) 35 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 36 Oscar Saiz Castane (Spa) Giant Mountain Bike Team 37 Nico Vink (Bel) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 38 Adam Vagner (Cze) 39 Dave Wardell (GBr) 40 Cédric Gracia (Fra) Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team 41 Ben Cathro (GBr) Mojo Orange 42 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn* 43 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 44 Herman Olund (Swe) 45 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 46 Mike Skinner (NZl) Playbiker - Iron Horse 47 Tom Deacon (GBr) 48 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 49 Claudio Caluori (Swi) Tomac Factory Racing 50 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 51 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 52 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 53 Mathias Haas (Aut) 54 Samuel Zbinden (Swi) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 55 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 56 Duncan Riffle (USA) Cannondale Factory Racing 57 Sam Dale (GBr) Cannondale Factory Racing* 58 Joseph Smith (GBr) Tomac Factory Racing* 59 Mathieu Troquier (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 60 Bryn Atkinson (Aus) GT Bicycles 61 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Tomac 62 Espen Johnsen (Nor) 63 Amiel Cavalier (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 64 Scott Mears (GBr) 65 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 66 Nick Beer (Swi) IXS Sports Division Racing Team 67 Nathan Rankin (NZl) Playbiker - Iron Horse 68 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 69 Robin Wallner (Swe) 70 Frank Schneider (Ger) 71 Andreas Sieber (Ger) Solid Aclass Factory Team 72 Matej Charvat (Cze) 73 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis 74 Markus Schwab (Swi) 75 Claudio Cozzi (Ita) 76 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 77 Patrik Kotrla (Cze) 78 Greg Okeefe (Irl) 79 Krisztian Halasz (Hun) 80 Daniel Wolfe (Irl) 81 Erik Irmisch (Ger) 82 Jan Cestnik (Slo) 83 Mario Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 84 Ninoslav Ruzicka (Cro) 85 Jan Javornik (Svk) 86 Jorge Aguin Castro (Spa) 87 Wyn Masters (NZl) 88 Marcel Vasko (Svk) 89 Mario José Jarrin Molina (Ecu) 90 Jonty Neethling (RSA) 91 Bostjan Volf (Slo) 92 Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn 93 Tim Eaton (Aus) 94 David Smith (GBr) 95 Maciej Kucbora (Pol) 96 Falco Ruppert (Ger) 97 Bangert Cole (USA) 98 Andras Jako (Hun) 99 Mauro Sirotic (Cro) 100 Renato Ventura (Por) 101 Joe Barnes (GBr) 102 Marco Fidalgo (Por) 103 Steve Smith (Can) 104 Matej Drnovsek (Slo) 105 Ivan Brajkovic (Cro) Mammoth 106 Marcel Beer (Swi) IXS Sports Division Racing Team 107 Andre Wagenknecht (Ger) 108 Mario Hohnjec (Cro) Mammoth 109 Lars Peyer (Swi) Suspension Center 110 Tobias Sieber (Ger) 111 Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 112 Rowen Sorrell (GBr) 113 Andraz Jersin (Slo) 114 Patrick Meyer (Swi) IXS Sports Division Racing Team 115 Livio Zampieri (Ita) 116 Ralph Jones (GBr) 117 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team* 118 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Sport Promotion 119 Martin Kafka (Svk) 120 Peter Novacik (Svk) 121 Michal Marosi (Cze) 122 Ewan Doherty (Irl)* 123 Chris Hutchens (GBr) Mojo Orange 124 Erik Kallstrom (Swe) 125 Igor Jadlovsky (Svk) 126 Rostislav Stencel (Cze) Max Cursor 127 Tommy Folkoy (Nor) 128 Benny Strasser (Ger) IXS Sports Division Racing Team 129 Matus Paulovic (Svk) 130 Simon Charvat (Cze) 131 Richard Lee (Aus) 132 Thomas Jeandin (Swi) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 133 Philip Ashbridge (GBr) 134 Florent Wolter (Fra) Sport Promotion 135 Nino Dusak (Cro) Mammoth 136 Richard Cunynghame (GBr) 137 Luca Bertocchi (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse 138 Will Longden (GBr) Team Bike Radar 139 Dario Zampieri (Ita) 140 Ondrei Barta (Cze) 141 Guilhem Andre (Fra) Team Sunn 142 Dusan Leposa (Slo) 143 Maxime Remy (Fra) Team Sunn 144 Nino Antic (Cro) 145 Martin Mikulenka (Cze) 146 Jörg Neuhart (Aut) 147 Tibor Kolozsvari (Hun) 148 Arnau Sugranes Mateu (Spa) Msc Bikes 149 Geritt Beytagh (USA) 150 Arkadiusz Perin (Pol) 151 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) 152 Walter Martinschitz (Aut) 153 Alexander Evans (GBr) 154 Toni Berg (Fin) 155 Quentin Derbier (Fra) 156 Jakub Fiser (Cze) 157 Marco Bugnone (Ita) 158 Arnaud Delente (Fra)* 159 Ruben Garcia Ramon (Spa) Motril-Sierra Nevada Bike Park 160 Michal Wiesenganger (Svk) 161 Massimo Rosson (Ita) 162 Stephen Beattie (Irl) 163 Zan Jurca (Slo) 164 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze) 165 Jordi Bago (Spa) 166 Gergely Veres (Hun) 167 Tobias Meister (Aut) 168 Martin Strasser (Aut) 169 Paolo Viola (Ita) Pro-Bike Riding Team 170 Oyvind Maehle (Nor) 171 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK 172 Tine Mahkovec (Slo) Team Scott Lactat 173 Christian Daxner (Aut) 174 Jiri Placek (Cze) Max Cursor 175 Fergus Lamb (GBr) 176 Robert Smith (GBr) Reverse Components 177 Nicolas Gspan (Swi)* 178 Roland Seereiner (Aut) Team Scott Lactat 179 Matthieu Gallean (Fra) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 180 Liam Mason (GBr) Printexpress UK Mtb Team 181 Thomas Warmuth (Aut) 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/Rsp 182 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse 183 Ben Baker (GBr) Printexpress UK Mtb Team 184 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 185 John Holbrook (GBr) Reverse Components 186 Roman Roschi (Swi) Suspension Center* 187 Pierre Laurent Bucci (Fra) Corsica Fed Consulting 188 Sacha Robert (Swi) Suspension Center 189 Valentin Juillard (Fra) Team Sunn* 190 Mads Weidemann (Den) 191 Matej Laktis (Svk)* 192 Liam Little (GBr) Reverse Components 193 Martin Frei (Swi) 194 Pavel Cep (Cze) 195 Kristof Lenssens (Bel) 196 Quentin Leroy (Fra) 197 Sasa Merljak (Slo) Solid Aclass Factory Team 198 James Hughes (GBr) Reverse Components 199 Gernot Ruppert (Ger)* 200 Dave Goris (Bel)* 201 Niklas Wallner (Swe)* 202 Kalin Rahnev (Bul) 203 Rade Curcic (Srb) Team Scott Lactat 204 Jan Savr (Cze) 205 Jack Geoghegan (GBr)* 206 Vittorio Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop* 207 Edoardo Franco (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse* 208 Chris Boice (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 209 Yannick Colomb (Fra)* 210 Dertell Dennis (Swe)* 211 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Factory Racing 212 Joshua Button (Aus) 213 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 214 Patrik Zolei (Hun) 215 Hynek Hajek (Cze) 216 Didar Amin (Bul) 217 Andras Szecskay (Hun) 218 Zunjic Dino (Cro) 219 Rok Podbevsek (Slo) 220 Anton Nastev (Bul) 221 Rossen Kovachev (Bul) 222 Tomas Toth (Svk) 223 Chris Kilmurray (Irl) 224 Mike Haderer (USA) 225 Mario Kranz (Lie)* 226 Luca Pittino (Ita) Pro-Bike Riding Team 227 Janick Lieberherr (Swi) IXS Sports Division Racing Team* 228 Kévin Danh Pha (Fra) Team Pyrenees Morewood 229 Bernard Kerr (GBr)* 230 David Kennan (Irl)* 231 Ryan Condrashoff (USA) 232 Martin Markov (Bul) 233 Scott Laughland (GBr) Reverse Components* 234 Alexander Mikowitsch (Aut) Team Scott Lactat 235 John Hauer (USA) GT Bicycles 236 Thomas Power (Irl) 237 Ben Mullen (Irl) 238 Balazs Veres (Hun) 239 Ben Ineson (GBr) Reverse Components* 240 Chris Heath (USA) 241 Walter Zeidler (Aut) 242 Elias Vonier (Aut)* 243 Rhys Willemse (Aus) Tomac Factory Racing* 244 Martin Buck (Swi)* 245 Lucas Meyer (Swi) IXS Sports Division Racing Team* 246 Heikki Hall (USA) 247 Bertrand Gilles (Bel)* 248 John Swanguen (USA) MS-Intense Factory-Racing 249 Cody Warren (USA) 250 Tim Hammar (Swe)* 251 Sam Shucksmith (GBr)* 252 Janko Zubcevic (Cro) 253 Paul Aston (GBr) Solid Aclass Factory Team 254 Curtis Keene (USA) 255 Jaka Seme (Slo)* 256 Blair Christmas (NZl) 257 Marco Fernandez Garcia (Spa) Motril-Sierra Nevada Bike Park* 258 Rutar Nejc (Slo) Team Scott Lactat 259 Geoffrey Arthur Ulmer (USA) Playbiker - Iron Horse* 260 Laurie Dinham (Aus) Tomac Factory Racing* 261 Martin Hanak (Cze)* 262 Markus Olkkonen (Fin) 263 Aki Färm (Fin) 264 Michael Matt (Aut)* 265 Andrew Phillips (GBr) Reverse Components* 266 Alistair Parkin (GBr) Reverse Components* 267 Radek Machycek (Cze)* 268 Danny Hart (GBr) Lapierre DH Powered By Saab Salomon* 269 Stuart Jenkinson (GBr) Printexpress UK Mtb Team 270 Attila Kovacs (Hun) 271 Kevin Mollard (Fra)* 272 Seanan O'riordan (Irl)* 273 Aleksanar Iliev (Bul) 274 Alastair Wilson (GBr)* 275 Félix Groizard (Fra)* 276 Ivan Oziol (Fra)* 277 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) 278 Martin Chenicek (Cze) Suzuki-Rb 279 Robin Hagen (Swi) Tomac Factory Racing* 280 Fabrizio Grilli (Ita) Pro-Bike Riding Team 281 Emyr Davies (GBr) Reverse Components* 282 Gareth Brewin (GBr)* 283 Aku Hjelm (Fin) 284 Lorenzo Dal Re (Ita) Surfing Shop* 285 Adam Toth (Hun)* 286 Petr Heinik (Cze) Suzuki-Rb 287 Camille Blanchard (Fra) Team Sunn* 288 Scurria Leoluca ° (Ita) Surfing Shop 289 David Hosang (Swi) Suspension Center* 290 Erik Kimel (Cze)* 291 Brad Benedict (USA) 292 Nicklas Fastegaard (Nor) 293 Alejandro Lozano (Spa) Motril-Sierra Nevada Bike Park 294 Nathan Vials (GBr) Reverse Components* 295 Walter Jammernegg (Aut) Elite women 1 Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis 2 Tracy Moseley (GBr) Kona 4 Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center 6 Céline Gros (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 7 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) MS-Intense Factory-Racing 8 Helen Gaskell (GBr) 9 Floriane Pugin (Fra) Playbiker - Iron Horse 10 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team 11 Rachel Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 12 Claire Buchar (Can) 13 Helene Fruhwirth (Aut) 14 Petra Bernhard (Aut) 15 Daniela Bossard (Swi) 16 Elisa Canepa (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse 17 Diana Marggraff (Ecu) 18 Miriam Ruchti (Swi) Sport Promotion 19 Jaymie Mart (Bar) 20 Katarina Tothova (Cze) 21 Anita Molcik (Aut) 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/Rsp 22 Dalma Kiss (Hun) 23 Pascaline Reusser (Swi) 24 Sandra Rubesam (Ger) 25 Joanna Petterson (RSA) 26 Maria Michalogiannaki (Gre) 27 Kathleen Pruitt (USA) 28 Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Suspension Center 29 Aimee Dix (GBr) Mojo Orange 30 Myriam Nicole (Fra)* 31 Helena Boskova (Svk) 32 Birgit Braumann (Aut) 33 Anais Pajot (Fra) Team Sunn* 34 Katarina Pialova (Svk) 35 Leoni-Caro. Dickerhoff (Ger) IXS Sports Division Racing Team* 36 Katarina Siskova (Svk) 37 Katy Curd (GBr) 38 Sophie Borderes (Fra) *indicates junior 4x Elite men 65 Brian Lopes (USA) 66 Filip Polc (Svk) 68 Romain Saladini (Fra) 69 Guido Tschugg (Ger) 70 Scott Beaumont (GBr) 71 Joost Wichman (Ned) 72 Dan Atherton (GBr) 73 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) 74 Jurg Meijer (Ned) 75 Will Longden (GBr) 76 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) 78 Ross Milan (USA) 79 Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 80 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 83 Sidney Gerber (Swi) 84 Reto Schmid (Swi) 85 Michal Marosi (Cze) 86 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 87 Tomas Slavik (Cze) 88 Joey Van Veghel (Ned) 89 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger) 90 Livio Zampieri (Ita) 91 Matej Vitko (Svk) 92 Lewis Lacey (GBr) 93 William Evans (GBr) 94 Tilen Frank (Slo) 95 Premek Tejchman (Cze) 96 Peter Prajczer (Hun) 97 Daniel Yeomans (GBr) 98 Lukasz Baran (Pol) 99 Daniel Prijkel (Ned) 100 Quentin Derbier (Fra) 101 Nicolas Siedl (Aut) 103 Thomas Bubla (Aut) 105 Tomas Haluza (Cze) 107 Mitchell Scarr (Aus) 108 Nathan Rennie (Aus) 110 Peter Fernbach (Aut) 111 Ludovic Gadois (Fra) 112 Adrian Weiss (Swi) 113 Alejandro Lozano (Spa) 114 Jakub Koutny (Cze) 115 Nicolas Gspan (Swi) 116 Robert Kulesza (Pol) 117 Martin Frei (Swi) 118 Federico Mattia Gemme (Ita) 119 Dave Wardell (GBr) 121 Adrian Kiener (Swi) 122 Mirco Weiss (Swi) 123 Federico Ravizzini (Ita) 124 Dario Zampieri (Ita) 126 Radim Kvacek (Cze) 127 Lars Peyer (Swi) 128 Luka Verstovsek (Slo) 129 Markus Sedlak (Aut) 130 Thomas Tokarczyk (USA) 131 Gabor Vigh-Kiss (Hun) 132 Michael Robert Haderer (USA) 133 Kyle Strait (USA) 135 Miran Vauh (Slo) 140 Attila Kovacs (Hun) 141 Robert Simecek (Cze) 142 Thomas Warmuth (Aut) 143 Peter Roschner (Aut) 144 Thomas Krainer (Aut) 146 Krisztian Meszaros (Hun) 147 Peter Novacik (Svk) 148 Bernard Kerr (GBr) 153 Lukas Mechura (Cze) 154 Mathieu Faury (Fra) 155 Thomas Schäfer (Ger) 156 Zdenek Nasinec (Cze) 158 Adrian Hanko (Ger) 159 Gabor Patay (Hun) 160 Martin Buck (Swi) 161 Milan Prischetzky (Hun) 162 Jakub Pytlik (Cze) 163 Rastislav Pirman (Svk) 164 Frédéric Lange (Bel) 165 Walter Zeidler (Aut) 166 Sascha Vetsch (Swi) 167 Ziga Knez (Slo) 168 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) 170 Marek Pesko (Svk) 171 Miroslav Jirka (Cze) 172 Hannes Slavik (Aut) 174 Ales Rogozan (Cze) 175 Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr) 176 Luka Novak (Slo) 177 Matej Stapic (Slo) 178 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa) 179 Luka Strnad Peterca (Slo) Elite women 17 Anneke Beerten (Ned) 18 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) 19 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) 20 Melissa Buhl (USA) 21 Eva Castro Fernandez (Spa) 22 Anita Molcik (Aut) 23 Elisa Canepa (Ita) 24 Diana Marggraff (Ecu) 25 Helene Fruhwirth (Aut) 26 Lucia Oetjen (Swi) 27 Katarina Tothova (Cze) 29 Angelika Hohenwarter (Aut) 30 Marielle Jonker (Ned) 31 Tereza Votavova (Cze) 34 Kathleen Pruitt (USA) 35 Joanna Petterson (RSA)
