Stander victorious in Windham World Cup

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The men's cross country at round six of the UCI World Cup in Windham, New York, became a case of the last man standing taking the win. A combination of heat and technical problems decimated the field, with Burry Stander (Specialized) taking only the second World Cup win of his career.

Extreme heat, plus a dry and dusty course with lots of climbing, made for hard conditions. Riders had to drink constantly, and avoid going out too hard, too early if they didn't want to "blow up".

In the men's race, a small group of favourites took the lead in the early laps of the six-lap race, including Stander, Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory), Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized), Florian Vogel (Scott - Swisspower), Sergio Mantecon (Wildwolf - Trek Pro Racing), Rudi Van Houts (Multivan Merida), José Hermida (Multivan Merida), Fabian Giger (Rabobank Giant) and Marco Fontana (Cannondale Factory).

Gradually, riders fell off the pace, either through mechanical problems (Fumic and Hermida), or because they were unable to handle the heat. World champion Kulhavy, who with a first or second place could take the World Cup lead from the absent Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower), just disappeared part way through one lap, and even his team didn't know where he went. he eventually Tweeted that he had been feeling sick before the start and was suffering from diarrhea.

It came down to three riders: Stander, Mantecon and Fontana, and then Stander upped the pace with a lap and a half to go, steadily increasing his lead on Mantecon, with Fontana holding onto third. The three finished in this order, with Stander taking his first World Cup win since 2009.

"I have always done well on this course and always been in the lead group," said Stander, "but then had problems at the end. This is a course where it is easy to crash, because it's very high speed. Easy to push too hard and get a flat tire. Today I just decided to ride my own speed and not worry about anyone else, just ride controlled. I made sure at the top of the climb that I went into the singletrack first and I could control the speed on the way down, not taking any chances. Then, yah, toward the end, I knew with the endurance coming into play and the heat it would be good for me."

American champion Todd Wells (Specialized), after struggling for much of the season after a crash prior to the opening round of the World Cup back in March, is finally seeing his form come around. He worked his way up through the field to finish fourth, with Mathias Fluckiger (Trek World Racing) taking fifth.

The absent Nino Schurter (Scott Swisspower) retained his lead in the standings, by a slim 12 points over Stander, with Jaroslav Kulhavy a distant third.

Race Notes

- Adam Craig (Rabobank Giant) rode the race on a singlespeed, finishing 37th, and getting a lot of support from the crowd. "As I wind down my World Cup career, I have a checklist of things I'd like to do, and this is one of them," he said. Craig is a former Singlespeed World Champion.

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