Gegenheimer wins men's eliminator at Hafjell World Cup

The final round of the eliminator series at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Hafjell, Norway, offered some of the most exciting racing of the season, with multiple lead changes in almost every race. While neither of the World Cup leaders won their respective final, each won the overall title, with Alexandra Engen (Ghost Factory) taking the women's title and Daniel Federspiel (Otztal Scott) the men's.

The tough circuit started with a steep climb before traversing the ski slopes and then taking the riders through a series of BMX jumps. From here they dropped into a rock garden, went up another short and steep climb, and then dropped down to the final finishing straight.

The men's race for the overall title was over after Federspiel made it through the first round, assuring himself of at least the single point he needed to clinch the title. He did not stop at that point, making his way into the final, along with top rival Simon Gegenheimer of Germany, Mathias Wengelin (Swedish National) and Andres Soto (Wild Wolf Trek).

Federspiel did not contest the final, content to take a victory lap to celebrate his title. At the front, Gegenheimer and Wengelin battled all lap for the race win, with the German champion finally taking the victory.

"I am so happy," said Gegenheimer. "I have been waiting so long for the first victory. After the Worlds I was a bit disappointed with my result and now I am super happy. It is a great final to the season. It was the toughest race of the year. The first uphill you had to do a lot of technical and then the second uphill it was really tough. The World Cup (overall) was close, but I lost it in the first half of the season."

"It was an amazing season, I have reached all of my goals," said Federspiel. "I won the Austrian Championship, the European Championship, silver medal in the world championship and now the overall World Cup. It was an amazing feeling."

"Yes, it is very special, it was one of my big goals this season. This was a good race from the qualification to the final. In the final I have much respect, because in the (semi) final it was so fast to the finish and with Kenta (Gallagher) it was nearly a crash. But now I finish in fourth place and I am super happy. I had fun."

Federspiel won the overall series with 183 points, followed by Gegenheimer with 159 and Fabrice Mels (Salcano Alanya) with 106.

Full Results

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Elite men eliminator
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)60pts
2Matthias Wengelin (Swe)40Row 1 - Cell 3
3Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Wild Wolf Trek Pro Racing30Row 2 - Cell 3
4Daniel Federspiel (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team25Row 3 - Cell 3
5Kenta Gallagher* (GBr) Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team20Row 4 - Cell 3
6Fabrice Mels* (Bel) Salcano Alanya18Row 5 - Cell 3
7Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) Team Bulls16Row 6 - Cell 3
8Patrick Lüthi* (Swi)14Row 7 - Cell 3
9Krystof Bogar* (Cze)12Row 8 - Cell 3
10Axel Lindh* (Swe)10Row 9 - Cell 3
11Andy Eyring (Ger)8Row 10 - Cell 3
12Sebastian Carstensen Fini° (Den)6Row 11 - Cell 3
13Philip Buys (RSA)4Row 12 - Cell 3
14Timofei Ivanov (Rus) Forward - Udmurtia3Row 13 - Cell 3
15Jeroen Van Eck* (Ned) MPL Specialized MTB Team2Row 14 - Cell 3
16Sebastian Kartfjord (Nor)1Row 15 - Cell 3
17Julien Trarieux* (Fra)Row 16 - Cell 2 Row 16 - Cell 3
18Ola Kjören (Nor) Team Herbalife 24 RaumerrittetRow 17 - Cell 2 Row 17 - Cell 3
19Titouan Perrin Ganier* (Fra) Focus/Rotor/Coaching-System.FrRow 18 - Cell 2 Row 18 - Cell 3
20Simon Scheiber (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing TeamRow 19 - Cell 2 Row 19 - Cell 3
21Sondre Kristiansen* (Nor) Merida NtgRow 20 - Cell 2 Row 20 - Cell 3
22Gregor Raggl* (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing TeamRow 21 - Cell 2 Row 21 - Cell 3
23Ricardo Paulo Reis Marinheiro* (Por)Row 22 - Cell 2 Row 22 - Cell 3
24Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Controltech NeviRow 23 - Cell 2 Row 23 - Cell 3
25Torjus Bern Hansen° (Nor) Team Herbalife 24 RaumerrittetRow 24 - Cell 2 Row 24 - Cell 3
26Nicolo Ferrazzo* (Ita)Row 25 - Cell 2 Row 25 - Cell 3
27Johan J. Stroemberg (Nor)Row 26 - Cell 2 Row 26 - Cell 3
28Fredrik Haraldseth* (Nor)Row 27 - Cell 2 Row 27 - Cell 3
29Sergji Rysenko (Ukr) Cycling Club Roma MTB TeamRow 28 - Cell 2 Row 28 - Cell 3
30Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) Versluys TeamRow 29 - Cell 2 Row 29 - Cell 3
31Tomasz Drozdz (Pol) JBG - 2 Professional MTB TeamRow 30 - Cell 2 Row 30 - Cell 3
32Rik Jansen° (Ned)Row 31 - Cell 2 Row 31 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite men eliminator World Cup final standings
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Daniel Federspiel (Aut)183pts
2Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)159Row 1 - Cell 3
3Fabrice Mels* (Bel)106Row 2 - Cell 3
4Miha Halzer (Slo)95Row 3 - Cell 3
5Catriel Andres Soto (Arg)86Row 4 - Cell 3
6Kenta Gallagher* (GBr)84Row 5 - Cell 3
7Christian Pfäffle* (Ger)60Row 6 - Cell 3
8Marcel Wildhaber (Swi)56Row 7 - Cell 3
9Titouan Perrin Ganier* (Fra)48Row 8 - Cell 3
10Fabien Canal (Fra)45Row 9 - Cell 3
11Andy Eyring (Ger)42Row 10 - Cell 3
12Thomas Litscher (Swi)41Row 11 - Cell 3
13Matthias Wengelin (Swe)40Row 12 - Cell 3
14Philip Buys (RSA)36Row 13 - Cell 3
15Simon Stiebjahn (Ger)28Row 14 - Cell 3
16Patrick Lüthi* (Swi)28Row 15 - Cell 3
17Raphael Gagne (Can)25Row 16 - Cell 3
18Stefan Peter (Swi)23Row 17 - Cell 3
19Martin Gluth* (Ger)20Row 18 - Cell 3
20Thibault Geneste (Fra)20Row 19 - Cell 3
21Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi)16Row 20 - Cell 3
22Mirco Widmer (Swi)16Row 21 - Cell 3
23Krystof Bogar* (Cze)12Row 22 - Cell 3
24Lehvi Braam° (Ned)12Row 23 - Cell 3
25Axel Lindh* (Swe)12Row 24 - Cell 3
26Jeroen Van Eck* (Ned)12Row 25 - Cell 3
27Kevin Miquel* (Fra)10Row 26 - Cell 3
28Jan Nesvadba* (Cze)8Row 27 - Cell 3
29Sebastian Carstensen Fini° (Den)6Row 28 - Cell 3
30Gregor Raggl* (Aut)4Row 29 - Cell 3
31Heiko Gutmann (Ger)4Row 30 - Cell 3
32Timofei Ivanov (Rus)3Row 31 - Cell 3
33Erik Groen (Ned)2Row 32 - Cell 3
34Sebastian Kartfjord (Nor)1Row 33 - Cell 3
35Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel)1Row 34 - Cell 3
36Julian Schelb* (Ger)1Row 35 - Cell 3

 

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