The elite men's field will be fast so soon after Worlds(Image credit: Didier Weemaels)
Irina Kalentieva (Russia) is focused(Image credit: Didier Weemaels)
By Rob Jones
One week after the mountain bike world championships in Scotland, the final event on the World Cup schedule is taking place September 14-16 in Maribor, Slovenia. Maribor is a new venue for the cross-country, but it held a gravity World Cup for four years previously: 1999 - 2002. The downhill World Cup was well attended in the past, attracting upwards of 25,000 spectators, and the weather forecast is excellent for the entire weekend - sunny and mid-20s Celsius. Organizers are predicting 30,000-plus spectators.
The venue is to the south of Maribor, at the ski slopes of Pohorje, that face north towards the city in the valley. Maribor is in the northeast corner of Slovenia next to Austria, and is the second largest urban centre in the country (after the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana). Originally an industrial centre, it is reinventing itself as an academic and cultural city.
The cross-country will take place Saturday, on a circuit that is just under five kilometres. Unlike the world championships last weekend - with groomed trails and one long climb/descent - the Pohorje course is highly technical, with lots of roots and tight, twisty turns.
For the opening lap, the riders will be sent up a gravel fire road to spread them out - on the regular lap it is a rooty, singletrack climb for much of the main ascent, so not many opportunities to pass. At the top, the riders immediately lose all the altitude they gained. The first part of the descent is technical and wooded, before moving out to open grassy slopes. At the bottom the riders pass through the feed/tech zone and do a second short, sharp technical climb and descent, before making a slight uphill run to the finish line.
The top riders are all in attendance from the Worlds, and the racing should be intense, since it is a final chance to score high UCI points for world (and Olympic) rankings.
Julien Absalon (Orbea) has already mathematically won the men's World Cup, however, he is scheduled to race a full suspension bike for the first time in a World Cup, and his sponsor is likely very anxious for a dually win. Christoph Sauser (Specialized) was one of the strongest riders last week, but a broken shoe put him out of contention for a medal, so he is likely very hungry for a win. Sauser's team-mate Liam Killeen is also here - after a respectable 44th place last week (he started 112th). Killeen was encouraged by his returning form following an illness.
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The Belgians and the Germans are set up for an interesting battle in the men's race - cyclo-cross star Sven Nys stated earlier that the Worlds would be his last mountain bike race, but then he finished 15th, meeting Olympic qualification criteria. Belgium is also only a few points ahead of Germany for the final three starting spots in Beijing, so Nys is back on a mountain bike this weekend. Italian road star Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) is also here, making his bid for an Olympic spot.
On the women's side, newly minted world champion Irina Kalentyeva (Topeak-Ergon) has all but clinched the women's title, so might be expected to take it easy, however, she is anxious to show off her new rainbow stripes, and the course suits her.
