Federspiel powers to Val di Sole eliminator win

In the third round of the eliminator at the Mountain Bike World Cup, overall leader Daniel Federspiel (Otztal Scott) won his second World Cup of the year.

The Val di Sole, Italy course was very different from the preceding two rounds, with a steep climb followed by jumps and banked turns on a four cross circuit, and finally a long grass straightaway to the finish. The winning tactic - for those who were strong enough - was to reach the top of the climb in first place, and then open a gap in the four cross section.

Federspiel only qualified seventh. However, while other riders slowed after multiple races up the climb, the Austrian rider seemed to get stronger, winning both his quarter and semi-final rounds.

In the final, Federspiel was joined by Slovenian Mika Halzer, Germany's Simon Gegenheimer and Fabrice Mels (Salcano Alanya). Federspiel had a strong start in the final, opening a gap by the top of the climb and cruising to the win. Halzer had to come from behind to take second, just ahead of Gegenheimer, with Mels finishing fourth.

"That uphill was really tough," said Federspiel. "So I ran a little bit of tactics all through the heats, trying to save my power for the upcoming [final] heats, and then in the final, I attacked on the uphill, and it was great."

Federspiel now leads the overall World Cup men's standings with 140 points after three rounds, followed by Halzer with 95 points and Gegenheimer with 74.

Full Results

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Elite men eliminator
#Rider Name (Country) Team
1Daniel Federspiel (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team
2Miha Halzer (Slo)
3Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)
4Fabrice Mels* (Bel) Salcano Alanya
5Philip Buys (RSA)
6Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott Swisspower MTB Racing Team
7Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Wild Wolf Trek Pro Racing
8Fabien Canal (Fra) Asptt Definitive Tec
9Titouan Perrin Ganier* (Fra) Focus/Rotor/Coaching-System.Fr
10Jeroen Van Eck* (Ned) MPL Specialized MTB Team
11Andy Eyring (Ger)
12Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) Team Bulls
13Gregor Raggl* (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team
14Stefan Peter* (Swi) Strübi MTB Kader
15Axel Lindh* (Swe)
16Julian Schelb* (Ger)
17Ludek° Seller (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna Specialized Junior MTB Team
18Matthias Wengelin (Swe)
19Heiko Gutmann (Ger)
20Marco Schätzing (Ger)
21Kenta Gallagher* (GBr) Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team
22Pascal Schmutz (Swi) Goldwurst-Power / Stöckli
23Martino Fruet (Ita)
24Christian Pfäffle* (Ger)
25Miguel Martinez (Fra)
26Louis Bendixen° (Den)
27Thibault Geneste* (Fra) Newcycling
28Pascal Meyer (Swi) JB Felt Team
29Andrea Righettini* (Ita) Focus XC Italy Team
30Antoine Bouqueret* (Fra) Scott La Clusaz
31Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi)
32Urban Ferencak* (Slo) Calcit Bike Team
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite men eliminator World Cup standings after round 3
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Daniel Federspiel (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team140pts
2Miha Halzer (Slo)95Row 1 - Cell 3
3Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)74Row 2 - Cell 3
4Kenta Gallagher* (GBr) Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team60Row 3 - Cell 3
5Christian Pfäffle* (Ger)60Row 4 - Cell 3
6Thomas Litscher (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team41Row 5 - Cell 3
7Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott Swisspower MTB Racing Team36Row 6 - Cell 3
8Fabien Canal (Fra) Asptt Definitive Tec29Row 7 - Cell 3
9Fabrice Mels* (Bel) Salcano Alanya28Row 8 - Cell 3
10Andy Eyring (Ger)28Row 9 - Cell 3
11Raphael Gagne (Can)25Row 10 - Cell 3
12Philip Buys (RSA)24Row 11 - Cell 3
13Stefan Peter* (Swi) Strübi MTB Kader23Row 12 - Cell 3
14Thibault Geneste* (Fra) Newcycling20Row 13 - Cell 3
15Titouan Perrin Ganier* (Fra) Focus/Rotor/Coaching-System.Fr18Row 14 - Cell 3
16Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Wild Wolf Trek Pro Racing16Row 15 - Cell 3
17Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi)16Row 16 - Cell 3
18Mirco Widmer (Swi) Giant Dealerteams16Row 17 - Cell 3
19Lehvi Braam° (Ned) Netherlands12Row 18 - Cell 3
20Jeroen Van Eck* (Ned) MPL Specialized MTB Team10Row 19 - Cell 3
21Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) Team Bulls9Row 20 - Cell 3
22Martin Gluth* (Ger)8Row 21 - Cell 3
23Jan Nesvadba* (Cze)6Row 22 - Cell 3
24Gregor Raggl* (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team4Row 23 - Cell 3
25Heiko Gutmann (Ger)4Row 24 - Cell 3
26Axel Lindh* (Swe)2Row 25 - Cell 3
27Erik Groen (Ned) Feenstra Felt Powered By Kenda2Row 26 - Cell 3
28Julian Schelb* (Ger)1Row 27 - Cell 3

 

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