Braithwaite wins iXS European Downhill Cup race in Ilmenau
Series pays Ilmenau, Germany a visit
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For the first time since 2008, the iXS European Downhill Cup returned to university town of Ilmenau, Germany. The race, in its 14th edition, is also known as the "Absolute Abfahrt".
363 participants from 11 countries, including as far away as New Zealand, competed on a new course, which was in almost perfect condition, although it proved to be a hard ride due to the dry weather as the loose soil did not offer much traction. The route was wide enough that chosing the fastest lines was a difficult challenge.
Brit Thomas Braithwaite (Hope Technology) proved to be the rider most comfortable with the conditions. After qualifying fastest, he was the last rider to start in the finals for the first time in his career.
He stood up well to the pressure, winning the race with an advantage of 2.7 seconds and a time of 2:05. Local hero Rick Balbierer (BerGaMont) came in as surprise second with Johannes Sütter (ProPain) in third.
The elite women's category was won by Miriam Ruchti (dr-gravity union), who continued her winning streak in Ilmenau as she had already won the last two races held here. Harriet Rücknagel (OnTheEdge) finished in second and Sandra Rübesam (Giant Germany) in third, which meant that the podium was exactly the same as in 2008.
Unfortunately, Antje Kramer (Axo Giant) got injured during the practice sessions and will not be able to race next week's German Championships to be held in Rittershausen.
The under17 category was won by Riku Länsiö (HyPy), who edged out Matthew Scott (Uplift Scotland) and Julian Hibben (Rose/dr-gravity union). Finishing in second allowed Matthew Scott to further extend his overall lead.
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The fastest master's class rider was Hynek Cizinský (MAD), beating Heinz Hostettler (BanditBike.ch) for the win. After having posted the fastest time in the seeding run, Wilfred van de Haterd (NOX Cycles) finished in third, which puts him in the overall lead.
The next round of the iXS European Downhill Cup will take place on August 14-15. It will be the first time the series visits Czechia in Spicák.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 0:02:05.40 |
| 2 | Rick Balbierer (Ger) | 0:00:02.75 |
| 3 | Johannes Sutter (Ger) | 0:00:03.35 |
| 4 | Andreas Sieber (Ger) | 0:00:03.47 |
| 5 | Josua Hein (Ger) | 0:00:04.05 |
| 6 | Daniel Wolfe (Irl) | 0:00:04.16 |
| 7 | Tommy Kiesewetter (Ger) | 0:00:04.65 |
| 8 | Tommy Herrmann (Ger) | 0:00:06.27 |
| 9 | Richard Leacock (NZl) | 0:00:06.35 |
| 10 | Frank Schneider (Ger) | 0:00:06.38 |
| 11 | Frank Hedwig (Ger) | 0:00:06.40 |
| 12 | Felix Wunderlich (Ger) | 0:00:06.67 |
| 13 | Christian Muller (Ger) | 0:00:07.40 |
| 14 | Andre Wagenknecht (Ger) | 0:00:07.59 |
| 15 | Roman Roschi (Swi) | 0:00:07.76 |
| 16 | Freddie King (NZl) | 0:00:07.79 |
| 17 | Erik Irmisch (Ger) | 0:00:07.87 |
| 18 | Martin Frei (Swi) | 0:00:07.92 |
| 19 | Joe Barnes (GBr) | 0:00:08.08 |
| 20 | Andreas Krieger (Ger) | 0:00:08.17 |
| 21 | Robin Van Goubergen (Bel) | 0:00:08.29 |
| 22 | Alasdair Maclennan (GBr) | 0:00:08.39 |
| 23 | Dominik Mai (Ger) | 0:00:08.56 |
| 24 | Jasper Jauch (Ger) | 0:00:08.63 |
| 25 | Manuel Schatz (Ger) | 0:00:08.85 |
| 26 | Gerard Wolfe (Irl) | 0:00:09.05 |
| 27 | Kevin Falko Dewinski (Ger) | 0:00:09.33 |
| 28 | Fabian Heim (Ger) | 0:00:09.58 |
| 29 | Rene Schmidt (Ger) | 0:00:09.59 |
| 30 | Michael Schnell (Ger) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
| 31 | Philipp Bünnemann (Ger) | 0:00:09.94 |
| 32 | Jordan Doig (GBr) | 0:00:10.05 |
| 33 | Janick Lieberherr (Swi) | 0:00:10.16 |
| 34 | Ronan Taylor (GBr) | 0:00:10.55 |
| 35 | James Rennie (NZl) | 0:00:10.77 |
| 36 | James Hoggan (NZl) | 0:00:11.49 |
| 37 | Marcel Basener (Ger) | 0:00:11.61 |
| 38 | Mark Scott (GBr) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
| 39 | Stefan Bax (Ger) | 0:00:11.91 |
| 40 | Wolfgang Eysholdt (Ger) | 0:00:12.58 |
| 41 | Marvin Lenz (Ger) | 0:00:13.18 |
| 42 | Mark Balbierer (Ger) | 0:00:13.29 |
| 43 | Benjamin Prescher (Ger) | 0:00:13.30 |
| 44 | Randy Van Goubergen (Bel) | 0:00:13.32 |
| 45 | Daniel Jahn (Ger) | 0:00:13.88 |
| 46 | Markus Hillmann (Ger) | 0:00:14.06 |
| 47 | Daniel Vogt (Ger) | 0:00:14.38 |
| 48 | Jonathan Debus (Ger) | 0:00:14.61 |
| 49 | Marcel Grau (Ger) | 0:00:14.69 |
| 50 | Christoph Schnettler (Ger) | 0:00:14.75 |
| 51 | Fabian Fader (Ger) | 0:00:14.76 |
| 52 | Jelmer Aeschlimann (Swi) | 0:00:14.78 |
| 53 | Ian Schaad (Swi) | 0:00:15.16 |
| 54 | Benjamin Oluoch (Ger) | 0:00:15.27 |
| 55 | Michael Jolk (Ger) | 0:00:15.34 |
| 56 | Merlin Lotz (Ger) | 0:00:15.38 |
| 57 | Oliver Morris (GBr) | 0:00:15.41 |
| 58 | Robin Seifahrt (Ger) | 0:00:15.46 |
| 59 | Felix Heine (Ger) | 0:00:16.04 |
| 60 | Joseph Nation (NZl) | 0:00:16.31 |
| 61 | Roel Vernelen (Bel) | 0:00:16.40 |
| 62 | Karsten Wegerhoff (Ger) | 0:00:17.01 |
| 63 | Primoz Ravnik (Slo) | 0:00:17.33 |
| 64 | Malte Stoehr (Ger) | 0:00:17.35 |
| 65 | Oliver Berger (Ger) | 0:00:17.36 |
| 66 | Toni Tillmann (Ger) | 0:00:17.61 |
| 67 | Christoph Isecke (Ger) | 0:00:17.91 |
| 68 | Cornelius Pachmann (Ger) | 0:00:17.98 |
| 69 | Sven Unger (Ger) | 0:00:18.16 |
| 70 | Nicolas Cherik (Swi) | 0:00:18.53 |
| 71 | Robin Moelders (Ger) | 0:00:18.55 |
| 72 | Matteo Mertens (Ger) | 0:00:18.82 |
| 73 | Jonas Linnemann (Ger) | 0:00:18.83 |
| 74 | Christian Schaumburg (Ger) | 0:00:19.02 |
| 75 | Fabio Gangi (Ita) | 0:00:19.09 |
| 76 | Max Kruse (Ger) | 0:00:19.31 |
| 77 | Marco Hermann (Ger) | 0:00:19.61 |
| 78 | David Lischka (Ger) | 0:00:20.13 |
| 79 | Johannes Haegele (Ger) | 0:00:20.17 |
| 80 | Daniel Rossmann (Ger) | 0:00:20.19 |
| 81 | Marcel Lauxtermann (Ger) | 0:00:20.25 |
| 82 | Arie Schindler (Ger) | 0:00:20.61 |
| 83 | Florian Hachmann (Ger) | 0:00:20.89 |
| 84 | Andre Guenther (Ger) | 0:00:20.96 |
| 85 | Christian Vogt (Ger) | 0:00:21.90 |
| 86 | Sam Baker (NZl) | 0:00:22.01 |
| 87 | Jochen Rehwald (Ger) | 0:00:22.09 |
| 88 | Tristan Pfarr (Ger) | 0:00:22.58 |
| 89 | Robin Woellner (Ger) | 0:00:22.69 |
| 90 | Johannes Schorr (Ger) | 0:00:23.13 |
| 91 | Henning Schipper (Ger) | 0:00:24.52 |
| 92 | Philipp Gerken (Ger) | 0:00:25.09 |
| 93 | Philipp Börner (Ger) | 0:00:25.93 |
| 94 | Max Fischer (Ger) | 0:00:25.99 |
| 95 | Tilmann Herrnberger (Ger) | 0:00:26.33 |
| 96 | Mario Kranz (Lie) | 0:00:27.02 |
| 97 | Florian Drexel (Ger) | 0:00:27.56 |
| 98 | Felix Diehl (Ger) | 0:00:27.60 |
| 99 | Sebastian Gerk (Ger) | 0:00:31.45 |
| 100 | Pascal Klehr (Ger) | 0:00:32.39 |
| 101 | Marc-Oliver Vaccaro (Ger) | 0:00:33.73 |
| 102 | Felix Herdzina (Ger) | 0:00:34.32 |
| 103 | Peer Gumin (Ger) | 0:00:36.90 |
| 104 | Sven Liebscher (Ger) | 0:00:37.13 |
| 105 | Sebastian Sternemann (Ger) | 0:00:40.29 |
| 106 | Hermes Schade (Ger) | 0:00:41.21 |
| 107 | Jan Smetana (Ger) | 0:00:42.38 |
| 108 | Alexander Klein (Ger) | 0:00:44.38 |
| 109 | Martin Young (GBr) | 0:00:49.90 |
| 110 | Arne Dehn (Ger) | 0:00:58.80 |
| 111 | Gino Schlifske (Ger) | 0:01:29.46 |
| 112 | Nino Antic (Cro) | 0:01:48.35 |
| DNF | Marc Jersch (Ger) | Row 112 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Marcus Neumann (Ger) | Row 113 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Dave Goris (Bel) | Row 114 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Falco Ruppert (Ger) | Row 115 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Daniel Karl (Ger) | Row 116 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Thilo Kemper (Ger) | Row 117 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Maximilian Bender(Ger) | Row 118 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Miriam Ruchti (dr-gravity union) |
| 2 | Harriet Rücknagel (OnTheEdge) |
| 3 | Sandra Rübesam (Giant Germany) |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Riku Länsiö (HyPy) |
| 2 | Matthew Scott (Uplift Scotland) |
| 3 | Julian Hibben (Rose/dr-gravity union) |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hynek Cizinský (MAD) |
| 2 | Heinz Hostettler (BanditBike.ch) |
| 3 | Wilfred van de Haterd (NOX Cycles) |
