Kabush finally claims World Cup win

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Canadian champion Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) finally make that step to the top of the podium on home soil in round six of cross-country series of the Mountain Bike World Cup. Kabush won in the most grueling conditions of the season in Bromont, Canada.

Julien Absalon (Orbea) continues to lead the men despite finishing a distant 17th after suffering mechanical problems.

"To win here, in my own country, it still hasn't sunk in," said Kabush. "I knew I was riding well, after finishing third a week earlier, and this course really suited me, so I was confident that I could go head to head with Julien.

"This win is the biggest of my career, because with Julien so strong, for anyone to win a World Cup is very hard."

The race began under worse conditions than the women with officials reducing the distance by one lap to six. The rain and 50-plus women racers earlier in the day had churned up the mud, making the climb an even harder grind than usual. The mud also began to impact equipment, with most riders experiencing brake failure at some point in the race as brake pads wore away in the gritty mud..

Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida) got off to his usual fast start, and was joined quickly by Absalon, with Kabush steadily making his way up towards the front. Näf dropped back from Absalon on lap two, to be passed by Kabush.

Kabush joined the Olympic champion near the top of the climb, just before Absalon broke his chain. The break put him out of contention as he lost nearly 40 places before rejoining the race.

Kabush was alone at the front. Näf was in a chase group behind with Kabush's teammate Jose Hermida, Florian Vogel (Scott-Swisspower) and Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower). Kabush continued to ride further away from the chasers to finish over 90 seconds in front of Hermida.

Näf held finished in third ahead of Vogel and Lukas Flückiger (Trek World Team). Both Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Team) and Adam Craig (Giant) moved up in the latter half of the race to finish ninth and tenth.

Sam Schultz (Subaru-Gary Fisher) was on the racing very well, but a flat dropped him out of contention.

Brakes were a problem for many riders. "In the final lap and a half I started to lose my brakes completely, and trying to ride through the technical parts became very, very dangerous. I had to slow down a lot, and I think otherwise I could have stayed in second," said Näf.

Hermida, the winner of round one in South Africa, said he also suffered from brake problems. "I was lucky that my brakes stopped working early in the race rather than late, because I stopped then in the technical area and was able to catch people later in the race when their brakes failed," he said.

"I didn't have any of the mechanical problems the other riders were having, so I really have to think my team and the mechanics. I went with the hardtail and the mud tires, and I was able to ride everything with no problems," said Kabush.

Stander has nearly locked up the Under-23 title with his seventh place in Bromont (it would take consecutive wins in the final two races by second placed Alexis Vuillermoz and Stander to get no points).

Absalon's lead in the series standings dropped a few points after his 17th place, however, he is still an almost uncatchable 412 points in front of Hermida. Stander is 20 points behind Hermida.

Kabush moved up the standings from 24th before Mont Ste Anne, to 14th before Bromont and now seventh. In the final two rounds there is likely to be a three-way battle for third between Hermida, Näf and Stander, who are separated by 50 points. And the same for fifth between Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak Ergon), Schurter and Kabush, who are only 40 points apart.