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MTB World Cup XC #9 & DH #7 - CDM

Schladming, Austria, September 11-14, 2008

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Race 3 - September 12: Elite men 4X

Protest delays finals

By Luke Webber in Schladming

The clouds rolled into the Schladming valley.
Photo ©: Luke Weber
(Click for larger image)

Under heavy rains and in the most bizarre circumstances, the four cross World Cup Finals will not be remembered for close racing or a battle to the final, but rather for Roger Rinderknecht's protests.

In the semi-finals, Rinderknecht claimed Romain Saladini (Team Sunn) cut a flag and was not penalised - dumping the Swiss rider from the finals. What followed was an official protest and then an unofficial one, which consisted of Rinderknecht walking up the start straight and refusing to let the final start.

After 15 minutes, the decision was finally taken that the original result would stand and Rinderknecht was to ride in the small final only - a race he ran away with, crossing the line with his hands over his eyes, still clearly angry about a decision which cost him a shot at the win.

More controversially, it was Saladini who went on to win the final in a thrilling race. Within the first 50 meters Jakub Hindak and Joost Wichman (Cannondale Factory Racing) collided, leaving Dan Atherton (Animcal Commencal) to pass Saladini on the first corner. The Frenchman Saladini, however, had in mind Atherton's weakness - a longer sweeping bend halfway down the track, on which Atherton had been struggling all night. Saladini made his move here and despite a desperate attempt on the lower reaches of the course, Atherton could not overtake him for the win.

Alvarez completed the clean sweep with his final podium
Photo ©: Luke Weber
(Click for larger image)

The battle for the overall World Cup series was decided far earlier in the evening. When Rafa Alvarez took an early exit in the quarter finals, there were rumours the World Champion's luck had run out. Obviously not enjoying the rain and sporting a black jacket for the heats, the pressure fell to title contender Guido Tschugg.

Paired against Atherton and Cedric Gracia (Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team) - who had been racing aggressively all night - Tschugg was bullied out of the race in the first corner as Gracia made an impossible pass from fourth to second. By the finish, Hnidak had profited from Gracia and Tschugg's battle which ultimately benefited neither rider.

Alvarez, in his first international campaign, has captured the clean sweep in four cross by winning both the World Championship and World Cup. Next year it will be interesting to see if his dominant form continues with the return of Michal Prokop and Jared Graves.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Luke Weber

Results

Big Final

1 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn                           
2 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal                       
3 Joost Wichman (Ned) Cannondale Factory Racing             
4 Jakub Hnidak (Cze)                                        
 
Small final

5 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)                                  
6 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) Suzuki-RB                          
7 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra)                                
8 Jurg Meijer (Ned)                                         
 
1/4 finals

9 Cédric Gracia (Fra) Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team     
10 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa)                       
11 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team             
12 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Team Ghost International        
13 Guido Tschugg (Ger)                                      
14 Matej Vitko (Svk)                                        
15 David Graf (Swi)                                         
16 Lukasz Baran (Pol)                                       
 
1/8 finals

17 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK                   
18 Quentin Derbier (Fra)                                    
19 Rastislav Pirman (Svk) 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/Rsp         
20 Lewis Lacey (GBr)                                        
21 Filip Polc (Svk) Kenda Tomac                             
22 Marek Pesko (Svk)                                        
23 Felix Beckeman (Swe)                                     
24 Will Longden (GBr) Team BikeRadar                        
25 Pascal Seydoux (Swi)                                     
26 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team            
27 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger)                                   
28 Lukas Mechura (Cze) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense        
29 Florian Gottschlich (Ger)                                
30 Joey Van Veghel (Ned)                                    
31 Adrian Weiss (Swi) Tomac Factory Racing                  
32 Markus Sedlak (Aut)                                      
 
1/16 finals

33 John Swanguen (USA) MS-Intense Factory-Racing            
34 Tomas Slavik (Cze)                                       
35 Peter Prajczer (Hun)                                     
36 Adrian Kiener (Swi)                                      
37 Tilen Frank (Slo) Team Scott Lactat                      
38 David Axelsson (Swe)                                     
38 Georg Engel (Aut)                                        
40 Bernard Kerr (GBr)                                       
41 Tom Dowie (GBr)                                          
42 Nico Vink (Bel) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team    
43 Matej Stapic (Slo) Team Enduro Mulisha                   
44 Krisztian Meszaros (Hun)                                 
45 Werner Muther (Swi)                                      
46 Stephen Taylor (GBr)                                     
47 Robert Kulesza (Pol)                                     
48 Duncan Ferris (GBr)                                      
49 Hannes Slavik (Aut)                                      
50 Tomas Haluza (Cze)                                       
51 Stepan Tumpach (Cze)                                     
52 Adam Stasek (Cze)                                        
53 Thomas Bubla (Aut)                                       
54 Martin Frei (Swi)                                        
55 Pascal Furrer (Swi)                                      
56 Grzegorz Borodajko (Pol)                                 
57 Luka Novak (Slo) Team Enduro Mulisha                     
58 Lukas Jaeger (Swi)                                       
59 James Norton (GBr)                                       
60 Zdenek Nasinec (Cze)                                     
60 Walter Zeidler (Aut)                                     
60 Stefan Maderthaner (Aut)                                 
63 Mathieu Troquier (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team         
64 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team           

Qualifications

65 Fabian Kuttel (Swi)                                      
66 Peter Roschner (Aut)                                     
67 Ales Rogozan (Cze)                                       
68 Nico Seidel (Ger)                                        
69 Piotr Paradowski (Pol)                                   
70 Mirco Weiss (Swi)                                        
71 Nicolas Gspan (Swi)                                      
72 Frans Sjoblom (Swe)                                      
73 Jakub Koutny (Cze)                                       
74 Bostjan Pisanec (Slo)                                    
75 Ole Hahn (Ger)                                           
76 Stepan Novotny (Cze)                                     
77 Michael Garcia (Ned)                                     
78 Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr)                            
79 Jordan Gould (GBr)                                       
80 Martin Buck (Swi)                                        
81 Sorin Mircea Parau (Rom)                                 
82 Jan Poric (Slo)                                          
83 Nikolay Pukhir (Rus)                                     
84 Sergey Maltsev (Rus)                                     
DNF Ziga Knez (Slo)                                         
DNS Matthew Simmonds (GBr)                                  
DNS Oskar Harnstrom (Swe)    

Teams 

1 Suzuki-RB                                                 
2 Team Sunn                                                 
3 Animal Commencal                                          
4 MS-Intense Factory-Racing                                 
5 Cannondale Factory Racing                                 
6 Norco World Team                                          
7 Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team                         
8 Solid Aclass Factory Team                                 
9 Team Ghost International                                  
10 Suspension Center    

World Cup final standings              

1 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa)                       895 pts
2 Guido Tschugg (Ger)                                      830
3 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal                      755
4 Cédric Gracia (Fra) Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team    610
5 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn                          590
6 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team       500
7 Joost Wichman (Ned) Cannondale Factory Racing            465
8 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Team Ghost International        445
9 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) Suzuki-RB                         395
10 Filip Polc (Svk) Kenda Tomac                            210
11 Tomas Slavik (Cze)                                      205
12 Brian Lopes (USA)                                       200
13 Sam Willoughby (Aus)                                    200
14 Jurg Meijer (Ned)                                       185
15 Luke Madill (Aus)                                       150
16 Rastislav Pirman (Svk) 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/Rsp        120
17 Jakub Hnidak (Cze)                                      120
18 Thomas Hubert (Aus)                                     120
19 Michal Prokop (Cze)                                     120
20 Mickael Deldycke (Fra)                                  120
21 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)                                100
22 Leigh Darrell (Aus)                                     100
23 John Swanguen (USA) MS-Intense Factory-Racing            80
24 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger)                                   75
25 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK                   75
26 Ross Milan (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team         70
27 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra)                               60
28 Will Longden (GBr) Team BikeRadar                        55
29 Quentin Derbier (Fra)                                    50
30 Fabien Cousinie (Fra)                                    35
31 Tomas Haluza (Cze)                                       35
32 Dave Wardell (GBr)                                       30
33 Thomas Tokarczyk (USA)                                   30
34 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team             30
35 Terrence Scarr (Aus)                                     30
36 Sidney Gerber (Swi)                                      25
37 Tim Dunn (Aus)                                           25
38 Joey Van Veghel (Ned)                                    20
39 Dominik Gspan (Swi)                                      20
40 Matej Vitko (Svk)                                        15
41 William Evans (GBr)                                      15
42 Ludovic Gadois (Fra)                                     15
43 Hans Lambert (Can) Norco World Team                      15
44 Lewis Lacey (GBr)                                        10
45 Erik Nelson (USA)                                        10
46 Michael Garcia (Ned)                                     10
47 David Graf (Swi)                                         10
48 Thomas Twentyman (Aus)                                   10
49 Miroslav Jirka (Cze)                                     10
50 Cody Eichhorn (Aus)                                       5
51 Lukas Mechura (Cze) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense         5
52 Adrian Weiss (Swi) Tomac Factory Racing                   5
53 Lukasz Baran (Pol)                                        5
54 Frans Sjoblom (Swe)                                       5
55 Livio Zampieri (Ita)                                      5
 
Teams

1 MS-Intense Factory-Racing                                350 pts
2 Suzuki-RB                                                168
3 Animal Commencal                                         151
4 4 Elements Yeti/Hotec/RSP                                146
5 Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team                        141
6 Norco World Team                                         122
7 Team Sunn                                                113
8 Team Ghost International                                 109
9 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team                          104
10 Cannondale Factory Racing                                94
11 Kenda Tomac                                              70
12 Rocky Mountain UK                                        28
13 Team Bike Radar                                          19
14 Solid Aclass Factory Team                                10
15 Tomac Factory Racing                                      5
16 Suspension Center                                         5
17 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense                             5