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MTB World Cup Cross Country #2 & Four Cross #1 2010

Date range:
April 30 - May 2, 2010

May 1, Elite men four cross:

World Champion Graves cruises to win

By:
Rob Jones
Published:
May 1, 2010, 21:39,
Updated:
May 2, 2010, 16:57

Czechs take second, third in four cross World Cup opener

Australia's Jared Graves leading in final.

Australia's Jared Graves leading in final.

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Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox), the current World Champion, 2009 World Cup champion and defending Houffalize champion easily repeated to take the win in the first round of the 2010 four cross World Cup.  The victory also gave him the lead in the men's series.

The Houffalize World Cup is run at night, under lights, with fans pouring into the small Ardennes village to hang out course side, drink the local Chouffe beer, and eat frites.

The spectators are there to cheer any daring pass, and, of course, the inevitable crashes. The race course was almost unchanged from last season. However, dry weather had turned the track into a dust bowl, with the final rider of any foursome almost completely obscured by billowing dust. Loose gravel made every corner treacherous, and there were multiple crashes.

"On those first two turns you had to be careful," said Graves, "because anything could happen there. A good start definitely helps on this course, but you still aren't completely safe, because there are plenty of spots to get passed. It is definitely good to start the season off with a win, because it takes the pressure off, so I'm pretty happy right now."

Graves was untouchable in the men's heats, often three or four bike lengths clear of his competitors by the first corner. He was joined in the final by Tomas Slavik (RSP 4 Cross Racing), Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) and Dutch mainstay Roger Rinderknecht. Once again, Graves got the holeshot, with the two Czech riders Slavik and Prokop bumping elbows through the first couple of corners before Slavik finally pulled ahead in the lower half of the run for second place.

Full Results

Big Final
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team    
2 Tomas Slavik (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team    
3 Michal Prokop (Cze) Agang Racing    
4 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)    
Small Final
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
5 Joost Wichman (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team    
6 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain Uk    
7 Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal    
8 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team    
1/4 Finals
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
9 Mickael Deldycke (Fra)    
10 Sidney Gerber (Swi)    
11 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)    
12 Clément Doby (Fra)    
13 Petr Muhlhans (Cze)    
14 Michal Marosi (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team    
15 Hannes Slavik (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria    
16 Marek Pesko (Svk)    
1/8 Finals
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
17 David Graf (Swi)    
18 Premek Tejchman (Cze)    
19 Adam Stasek (Cze)    
20 Jurg Meijer (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team    
21 Petrik Brückner (Ger)    
22 Nico Vink (Bel)    
23 Kristof Lenssens (Bel)    
24 Florian Gottschlich (Ger)    
25 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing    
26 Lukas Mechura (Cze)    
27 Martin Söderström (Swe)    
28 Pascal Seydoux (Swi)    
29 Stepan Novotny (Cze)    
30 Lukasz Baran (Pol)    
31 Aiko Göhler (Ger)    
32 Jan Novak (Cze)    
1/16 Finals
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
33 Jakub Riha (Cze)    
34 Jakub Hnidak (Cze)    
35 Matthieu Faury (Fra)    
36 Nico Seidel (Ger)    
37 Daniel Prijkel (Ned)    
38 Jake Ward (GBr)    
39 Jakub Pytlik (Cze)    
40 Benoit Bresset (Fra)    
41 Stephen Simms (GBr)    
42 Bernard Kerr (GBr) Norco World Team    
43 Duncan Ferris (GBr)    
44 Benoît Quaegebeur (Fra)    
45 Kieran Mcavoy (GBr)    
46 Richard Norton (GBr)    
47 Will Longden (GBr)    
48 Laurent Georges (Bel)    
49 Johnny Magis (Bel)    
50 Scott Roberts (GBr)    
51 Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr)    
52 William Evans (GBr)    
53 Renato Rufener (Swi)    
54 Maximilian Wrstala (Ger)    
55 Felix Beckeman (Swe)    
56 Benjamin Kistner (Sui)    
57 Jeremy Morland (Fra)    
58 Ziga Knez (Slo) Unior Tools Team    
59 Werner Muther (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team    
60 Ludovic Gadois (Fra)    
61 Dominik Gladen (Ger)    
62 Ghislain Ricci (Fra)    
63 Stefan Scherz (Ger)    
64 Joey Van Veghel (Ned)    
Teams
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 RSP 4 Cross Racing Team 64  pts
2 Suspension Center 45  
3 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 40  
4 Agang Racing 30  
5 Rocky Mountain UK 20  
6 Commencal 18  
7 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 16  
8 RC Alpine Commencal Austria 6  
9 2Stage Factory 5  
10 Thoemus Racing Team 3  
World Cup standings for Individuals after one round
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 125  pts
2 Tomas Slavik (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team 100  
3 Michal Prokop (Cze) Agang Racing 75  
4 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi) 60  
5 Joost Wichman (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team 50  
6 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK 40  
7 Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal 30  
8 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 25  
9 Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 20  
10 Sidney Gerber (Swi) 17  
11 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) 14  
12 Clément Doby (Fra) 11  
13 Petr Muhlhans (Cze) 8  
14 Michal Marosi (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team 6  
15 Hannes Slavik (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria 4  
16 Marek Pesko (Svk) 2  
World Cup standings for Teams after one round
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 RSP 4 Cross Racing Team 64  pts
2 Suspension Center 45  
3 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 40  
4 Agang Racing 30  
5 Rocky Mountain UK 20  
6 Commencal 18  
7 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 16  
8 RC Alpine Commencal Austria 6  
9 2Stage Factory 5  
10 Thoemus Racing Team 3