By Rob Jones in Offenburg
The Nissan cross-country World Cup starts up again on Sunday with round two in Offenburg, Germany, after an unusual one month gap from race number one in Houffalize, Belgium. The gap means that no one can really predict a winner for either the men's or women's races.
All the top riders are in attendance for both men and women, and clearly World Cup leader Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida), Julien Absalon (Orbea), Christoph Sauser (Specialized) and Roel Paulissen (Cannondale-Vredestein) are all riding well. Ralph Naef (Multivan Merida) is unlikely to be a contender, since he has been sick recently and, after getting no points in Houffalize will start well back in 81st place. Only one North American has cracked the top-30; Canada's Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) is 12th in the World Cup, and is currently ranked number one in the UCI world rankings. Todd Wells (GT) is the top American in 36th place.
"It is hard, very unusual" agrees Hermida. "I think we all took a small break after Houffalize, and then started to build up, because now we have many races in a row. I think we have all been racing each other, but who has been holding back? I know that I have held back a little in some races. So, it will be difficult to say who is the strongest right now."
The women's field is in a similar situation. China's Chengyuan Ren holds the number one plate ahead of world champion Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida). Dahle Flesjaa is coming back from illness, so it will be interesting to see if she can take her usual position at the front.
Another rider expecting to do well is Canada's Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Haywood). Premont finished in sixth at Houffalize, but it was her first race of the year, and she said a week ago after winning a Canadian race that she is much improved. Georgia Gould (Luna) will also be one to watch - her first ever European World Cup was Houffalize, and she had an impressive ride up from 40th to finish 8th. Starting on the front line, she could do well.
Read the entire MTB XC World Cup #2 preview here.
