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MTB World Cup XC #3 - CDM

Madrid, Spain, May 3-4, 2008

2007 results     Schedule     Preview    Start List  

Schedule

  • Race 1 - May 3: Juniors, Masters & Citizens cross country (non-World Cup event),
  • Race 2 - May 3: Time Trial,
  • Race 3 - May 4: Elite women cross country,
  • Race 4 - May 4: Elite men cross country,

Madrid completes opening races

By Luke Webber in Madrid, Spain

Absalon tests the conditions
Photo ©: Luke Webber
(Click for larger image)

The Casa de Campo on the western fringes of Madrid will complete the third of three opening rounds of the cross country mountain bike world cup. For the second week running a dry track and hot, sunny conditions greet riders, but the course is substantially different than the one which presented itself in Offenburg.

A hard, cracked surface with a lot of "marbles" on top is presenting problems for many riders - while this course is very fast and smooth, with only one steep descent and climb, tyre choice is not simple. On many corners grip is lacking and the sight of a sliding rider is a common one.

The 8km loop winds around Madrid's city park, with a flat and uninspiring first half mainly on doubletrack with no sections of note. From halfway, the course starts to improve with some singletrack sections and punchy climbs, but there is little in the way of a bumpy surface. The weather forecast suggests conditions will not change.

A panoramic, from the course to Madrid.
Photo ©: Luke Webber
(Click for larger image)

For the women's race last week's winner and leader of the World Cup, Irina Kalentieva will not start. Following Offenburg she was suffering a sore throat, something which has still not cleared entirely. This clears the way somewhat for countrywoman Marga Fullana to impress at her home race, while Marie Helene Premont will also be a big favourite. Ren Chengyuan has started poorly in the last two races and will not be hoping for a repeat performance this weekend. If everything goes to plan on lap one and her performance mirrors her comebacks in Houffalize and Offenburg it could be a runaway victory.

In the men's race it seems there is nobody who can stop Julien Absalon. Already on the course completing three laps this morning, the flying Frenchman looks in great form to make it three from three. The followers from the previous two races remain the same. Jose Hermida, will be hoping for better luck on his home course after snapping a chain last week while vying for a top three finish. Christoph Sauser and under-23 Nino Schurter will also be in the hunt for the top position. With an improved grid position Burry Stander may also be in with a chance following last week’s spectacular result.

It is not such great news for American Adam Craig however. Following an encouraging start to the season Craig faced a setback on Thursday, crashing hard while training on the trails in the nearby mountains. His left side is badly cut and this will affect any podium aspirations for Sunday's race.

Full reports and updates on Cyclingnews will follow on Sunday.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Dave McElwaine / www.trailwatch.net

Images by Luke Webber / www.lukewebber.com

Start list

Elite men

1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea                                             
2 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing                      
3 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                                
4 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea                                     
5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein                             
6 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                                
7 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International                       
8 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team                              
9 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-It                               
10 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein                              
11 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team          
12 Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team                                
13 Seamus Mcgrath (Can)                                                  
14 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis                                        
15 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein                            
16 Todd Wells (USA) GT Bicycles                                          
17 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea                                   
18 Jürg Graf (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                                   
19 Burry Stander (RSA) GT Bicycles                                       
20 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea                                        
21 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team            
22 Christoph Soukup (Aut)                                                
23 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team                     
24 Yader Zoli (Ita) Giant Italia Team                                    
25 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                         
26 Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team                       
27 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)                                                
28 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team                        
29 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team                       
30 Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International                         
31 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier                       
32 Matthias Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team                          
33 Hannes Metzler (Aut) Giant Mountain Bike Team                         
34 Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team                          
35 Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                  
36 Martino Fruet (Ita) Italian National Team                             
37 Tony Longo (Ita) Full-Dynamix-It                                      
38 Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Team                                 
39 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica                          
40 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International                       
41 Tim Bohme (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                            
42 Gion Manetsch (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team                               
43 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team          
44 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team                             
45 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Full-Dynamix-It                                   
46 Karl Markt (Aut)                                                      
47 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi                                 
48 Frank Schotman (Ned)                                                  
49 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.Com               
50 Till Marx (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                                   
51 Michael Weiss (Aut)                                                   
52 Ricky Federau (Can)                                                   
53 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus)                                                
54 Jochen Kass (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                          
55 Bas Peters (Ned)                                                      
56 Marc Trayter Alemany (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica                           
57 Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls                                           
58 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Versluys-Landbouwkrediet MTB Team              
59 Cristobal Silva (Chi) Chilean National Team                           
60 Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team            
61 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                       
62 Yury Trofimov (Rus)                                                   
63 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-Vw                                         
64 Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain                                      
65 Javier Puschel (Chi) Chilean National Team                            
66 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze)                                                   
67 Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team Bulls                                          
68 Michael Broderick (USA)                                               
69 Alban Lakata (Aut) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team              
70 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team                                  
71 Ji Jianhua (Chn) Chinese National Team                                
72 Derek Zandstra (Can)                                                  
73 Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica                          
74 Lachlan Norris (Aus)                                                  
75 Andreas Kugler (Swi) Fischer-BMC                                      
76 Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) Gewiss Bianchi                        
77 Balz Weber (Swi) Bikepark.Ch BMC                                      
78 Kristian Hynek (Cze)                                                  
79 Christof Bischof (Swi)                                                
80 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong National Team                          
81 Rene Tann (Ger)                                                       
82 Dario Alejandro Gasco (Arg) Massi                                     
83 Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) Beone Chainreaction Mountainbiketeam           
84 Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn)                                                  
85 Silvio Bundi (Swi) Giant Mountain Bike Team                           
86 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                               
87 Torsten Marx (Ger) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                         
88 Bjorn Brems (Bel) Beligan National Team                               
89 Marc Colom (Fra)                                                      
90 Magnus Darvell (Swe)                                                  
91 Robert Gehbauer (Aut) Multivan Merida Biking Team                     
92 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis                                    
93 Klaus Nielsen (Den) Team ALB-Gold Mountainbike                        
94 Denis Vorontsov (Rus)                                                 
95 Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita)                                                 
96 Matous Ulman (Cze)                                                    
97 Alexey Medvedev (Rus)                                                 
98 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona                                                
99 Juan Ped Trujillo Hernandez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.Com             
100 Olivier Maignan (Fra)                                                
101 Patrik Gallati (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team                             
102 Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi                                     
103 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona                                              
104 Dries Govaerts (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team                           
105 Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                                 
106 Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Giant Italia Team                                
107 Luis Leao Pinto (Por)                                                
108 Tim Wijnants (Bel) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team             
109 Pascal Meyer (Swi)                                                   
110 Gareth Montgomerie (GBr)                                             
111 Roman Rametsteiner (Aut)                                             
112 Frank Beemer (Ned) Dutch National Team                               
113 Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factory Racing                        
114 Jesus Rojas (Ven)                                                    
115 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                                   
116 Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus)                                             
117 Umberto Corti (Ita) Team Cbe Tecnoimpianti A.S.D                     
118 Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Team Lapierre International            
119 Cristian Cominelli (Ita) Gewiss Bianchi                              
120 Ludovic Mottet (Bel) Windose Houffalize                              
121 Nikolay Zagulyaev (Rus)                                              
122 Jérome Chevallier (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                               
123 Lee Williams (GBr)                                                   
124 Anders Hovdenes (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl                              
125 Dmitry Medvedev (Rus)                                                
126 Ruud Rentmeester (Ned)                                               
127 Jo Thorson Nordskar (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl                          
128 Ian Field (GBr)                                                      
129 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Msc Bikes                                    
130 Arnaud Grosjean (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                                 
131 Patxi Cia Apezteguia (Spa)                                           
132 Oriol Morata Abril (Spa)                                             
133 Martin Fanger (Swi)                                                  
134 Shlomi Haimy (Isr) Israeli National Team                             
135 Dror Pekatch (Isr) Subaru-Gary Fisher                                
136 Nathan Haas (Aus)                                                    
137 Mitchell Peterson (USA)                                              
138 Vivien Legastelois (Fra) Team Lapierre International                 
139 Samuele Porro (Ita) Team Cbe Tecnoimpianti A.S.D                     
140 Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                                  
141 Jose Anto De Segovia Botella (Spa)                                   
142 Lukas Kaufmann (Swi) Swiss National Team                             
143 Sergio Pulido Rodriguez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.Com                
144 Josef Kamler (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB                              
145 Davide Marques (Por)                                                 
146 David Rosa (Por)                                                     
147 Tobias Ullmann (Ger) Team XLC Haibike                                
148 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team                         
149 Sebastien Carabin (Bel) Beligan National Team                        
150 Freddy Betremiaux (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                               
151 Nicolas Jeantet (Ita) Team Cbe Tecnoimpianti A.S.D                   
152 Vladislavs Neroznaks (Lat) Latvian National Team                     
153 Severin Disch (Swi) Swiss National Team                              
154 Laurent Mineur (Bel) Beligan National Team                           
155 David Escolar Ballesteros (Spa) Sunshine Racers Asv Nals             
156 Nick Daems (Bel) Beligan National Team                               
157 Joel Martinez Fernandez (And) Andorran National Team                 
158 Milton Javier Ramos Gamez (Hon) Honduras National Team               
 
Elite women

1 Irina Kalentieva (Rus) Topeak Ergon Racing Team                        
2 Chengyuan Ren (Chn) Chinese National Team                              
3 Marie-Helene Premont (Can) Rocky Mountain                              
4 Margarita Fullana (Spa) Massi                                          
5 Sabine Spitz (Ger) Central Ghost Pro Team                              
6 Ying Liu (Chn) Chinese National Team                                   
7 Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Womens MTB Team                               
8 Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) Colnago Cap Arreghini                        
9 Lene Byberg (Nor) Specialized Factory Racing                           
10 Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB                            
11 Catherine Pendrel (Can) Luna Womens MTB Team                          
12 Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Team Ghost International                          
13 Petra Henzi (Swi) Fischer-BMC                                         
14 Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Giant Italia Team                               
15 Kiara Bisaro (Can)                                                    
16 Mary Mc Conneloug (USA)                                               
17 Katrin Leumann (Swi) Swiss National Team                              
18 Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team             
19 Jingjing Wang (Chn) Chinese National Team                             
20 Esther Süss (Swi) Swiss National Team                                 
21 Wendy Simms (Can) Kona                                                
22 Cécile Rode Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International                 
23 Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Womens MTB Team                              
24 Sandra Walter (Can)                                                   
25 Laura Turpijn (Ned)                                                   
26 Adelheid Morath (Ger)                                                 
27 Marielle Saner-Guinchard (Swi) Bikepark.Ch BMC                        
28 Nina Homovec (Slo)                                                    
29 Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Team Lapierre International                       
30 Laurence Leboucher (Fra)                                              
31 Tanja Zakelj (Slo)                                                    
32 Susan Haywood (USA) Trek-Vw                                           
33 Maria Osl (Aut) Sunshine Racers Asv Nals                              
34 Maroussia Rusca (Swi) Swiss National Team                             
35 Anna Villar Argente (Spa) Massi                                       
36 Nina Wrobel (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team                         
37 Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                              
38 Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                               
39 Ivonne Kraft (Ger)                                                    
40 Eva Lechner (Ita) Colnago Cap Arreghini                               
41 Janka Stevkova (Svk) Slovakian National Team                          
42 Yolanda Speedy (RSA)                                                  
43 Dellys Starr (Aus)                                                    
44 Bernardine Boog-Rauwerda (Ned)                                        
45 Francisca Campos Salas (Chi) Massi                                    
46 Alexandra Engen (Swe)                                                 
47 Emiliy Batty (Can)                                                    
48 Laura Loren Morfin Macouzet (Mex) Mexican National Team               
49 Mical Dyck (Can)                                                      
50 Arielle Van Meurs (Ned)                                               
51 Amanda Sin (Can)                                                      
52 Séverine Hansen (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                                  
53 Kaytee Boyd (NZl)                                                     
54 Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Spa)                                           
55 Helene Marcouyre (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                                 
56 Daniela Bunzli Rojas (Chi) Chinese National Team                      
57 Ksenia Chernykh (Rus)                                                 
58 Evelyn Staffler (Ita) Colnago Cap Arreghini                           
59 Laura Metzler (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour                                    
60 Vera Andreeva (Rus)                                                   
61 Emma Colson (Aus)                                                     
62 Katrin Schwing (Ger) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team            
63 Elsbeth Van Rooij-Vink (Ned) Beone Chainreaction Mountainbiketeam     
64 Stephanie Wiedner (Aut)                                               
65 Githa Michiels (Bel)                                                  
66 Sandra Araujo (Por)                                                   
67 Oxana Rybakova (Rus)                                                  
68 Caroline Mani (Fra)                                                   
69 Ruth Moll Marques (Spa)                                               
70 Daniela Campuzano (Mex)                                               
71 Tory Thomas (Aus)                                                     
72 Zoe King (Aus)                                                        
73 Rowena Fry (Aus)                                                      
74 Sandra Santanyes Murillo (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.Com                
75 Kristien Nelen (Bel)                                                  
76 Cristina Mascarreras Sabria (Spa) Conor - Camping La Siesta           
77 Bettina Schmid (Swi) Fischer-BMC                                      
78 Evgenia Belozerova (Rus)                                              
79 Asa Maria Erlandsson (Swe) Subaru-Gary Fisher                         
80 Alison Sydor (Can) Rocky Mountain                                     
81 Mercé Tusell Quevedo (Spa) Massi                                      
82 Therese Rhodes (Aus)                                                  
83 Katherine O'shea (Aus)                                                
84 Ekaterina Melnikova (Rus)                                             
85 Kate Potter (Aus)                                                     
86 Rocio Martin Rodriguez (Spa)                                          
87 Julie Bresset (Fra) Breiz Mountain                                    
88 Susan Butler (USA)                                                    
89 Nicole Lechl (Ger) Team XLC Haibike