Rinderknecht wins with aggressive ride
Graves takes fourth to secure World Cup title
Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) locked up the men's overall four cross title despite finishing fourth behind Swiss champion Roger Rinderknecht, at round five of the World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy.
A large crowd came out in the warm evening sun of the Italian Dolomite Mountains to cheer on the 64 men who had made it through qualifying to contest the heats competition. The track was the same as used for the World Championships in 2008, with most contests decided within the first two corners.
Rinderknecht had the rare distinction of beating Graves for the number one seed in qualifying. Both riders advanced steadily to the final by winning all of their heats, and were joined by Tomas Slavik (RSP 4 Cross) and Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) in the men's final.
Out of the gate, through the first corner and the small jumps of the second straight, Graves had a clear lead on Rinderknecht, but coming out of the second corner, the World Cup leader and World Champion had suddenly dropped to fourth.
Video showed afterward that Rinderknecht and Graves had clashed in the corner, with the Swiss rider on the inside coming up on Graves and sticking his elbow right up into the Australian's throat. Just the rough and tumble of four cross or a foul? Officials did not sanction it, and Graves didn't protest, so Rinderknecht took the win, ahead of Slavik and Prokop, with Graves rolling in fourth.
Graves was nonetheless angry with the move by Rinderknecht. "He stepped over the line, I think. It's all part of racing, but that was pretty dodgy."
With Graves' only potential rival for the overall title, Slavik, finishing second, Graves now has 535 points to Slavik's 400. With 125 points for a win, it means that the Australian has won the men's title with one race remaining.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team |
---|---|
1 | Roger Rinderknecht (Swi) |
2 | Tomas Slavik (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team |
3 | Michal Prokop (Cze) Agang Racing |
4 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team |
5 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team |
6 | Joost Wichman (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team |
7 | Quentin Derbier (Fra) |
8 | Robert Kulesza (Pol) |
9 | Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK |
10 | Jakub Hnidak (Cze) |
11 | Jakub Riha (Cze) |
12 | Peter Prajczer (Hun) |
13 | Petr Muhlhans (Cze) |
14 | Johnny Magis (Bel) |
15 | Michael Mechura (Cze) |
16 | Simon Waldburger (Swi) |
17 | Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) |
18 | Michal Marosi (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team |
19 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) |
20 | Sidney Gerber (Swi) |
21 | Duncan Ferris (GBr) |
22 | Daniel Prijkel (Ned) |
23 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Blackmountain Morewood United |
24 | Premek Tejchman (Cze) |
25 | Scott Roberts (GBr) |
26 | Will Longden (GBr) |
27 | William Evans (GBr) |
28 | Aiko Göhler (Ger) |
29 | Jakub Pytlik (Cze) |
30 | Livio Zampieri (Ita) |
31 | Nico Seidel (Ger) |
32 | Richard Cunynghame (GBr) |
33 | Reto Schmid (Swi) |
34 | Jelle Van Den Elzen (Ned) |
35 | Adrian Kiener (Swi) |
36 | Kristjan Medvescek (Slo) |
37 | Piotr Paradowski (Pol) |
38 | Tom Dowie (GBr) |
39 | Renato Rufener (Swi) |
40 | Vincent Rasera (Fra) |
41 | Attila Kovacs (Hun) |
42 | Lukasz Baran (Pol) |
43 | Markus Sedlak (Aut) |
44 | Andrej Bratina (Slo) |
45 | Jules Grimaldi (Fra) |
46 | Rick Schubert (Ger) |
47 | Quentin Geynet (Fra) US Cagnes VTT |
48 | Daniel Fülle (Ger) |
49 | Pascal Seydoux (Swi) |
50 | Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr) |
51 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team |
52 | Hannes Slavik (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria |
53 | Benjamin Kistner (Swi) |
54 | Marko Runst (Ger) |
55 | Felix Beckeman (Swe) |
56 | Werner Muther (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team |
57 | Adrian Weiss (Swi) Scott 11 |
58 | Fabian Kuttel (Swi) |
59 | Gabor Vigh-Kiss (Hun) |
60 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Commencal Superiders |
61 | Lee Feery (GBr) |
62 | Iakov Auster (Rus) |
63 | Luca Fusani (Ita) |
64 | Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | RSP 4 Cross Racing Team | 55 | pts |
2 | Suspension Center | 40 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Agang Racing | 30 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 26 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 22 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Rocky Mountain UK | 14 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Thoemus Racing Team | 10 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | RC Alpine Commencal Austria | 3 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 535 | pts |
2 | Tomas Slavik (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team | 400 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Joost Wichman (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team | 325 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Michal Prokop (Cze) Agang Racing | 233 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Michal Marosi (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team | 206 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Roger Rinderknecht (Swi) | 205 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) | 134 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 111 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 100 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 67 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Jakub Riha (Cze) | 64 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK | 64 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | David Graf (Swi) | 58 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Quentin Derbier (Fra) | 49 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 46 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 30 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Lukas Mechura (Cze) | 30 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) | 28 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Robert Kulesza (Pol) | 25 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
20 | Jurg Meijer (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team | 25 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
21 | Jakub Hnidak (Cze) | 21 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
22 | Mickael Deldycke (Fra) | 20 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
23 | Premek Tejchman (Cze) | 17 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
24 | Sidney Gerber (Swi) | 17 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
25 | Petr Muhlhans (Cze) | 16 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
26 | William Evans (GBr) | 14 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
27 | Peter Prajczer (Hun) | 11 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
28 | Tom Dowie (GBr) | 11 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
29 | David Habicht (Aus) | 11 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
30 | Felix Beckeman (Swe) | 11 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
31 | Clément Doby (Fra) | 11 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
32 | Reto Schmid (Swi) | 8 | Row 31 - Cell 3 |
33 | Hannes Slavik (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria | 8 | Row 32 - Cell 3 |
34 | Johnny Magis (Bel) | 6 | Row 33 - Cell 3 |
35 | Luka Novak (Slo) | 6 | Row 34 - Cell 3 |
36 | Michael Mechura (Cze) | 4 | Row 35 - Cell 3 |
37 | Simon Waldburger (Swi) | 2 | Row 36 - Cell 3 |
38 | Richard Levinson (Aus) | 2 | Row 37 - Cell 3 |
39 | Daniel Fülle (Ger) | 2 | Row 38 - Cell 3 |
40 | Marek Pesko (Svk) | 2 | Row 39 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | RSP 4 Cross Racing Team | 377 | pts |
2 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 181 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Suspension Center | 175 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Agang Racing | 98 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 90 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Norco World Team | 70 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Team Sunn Montgenevre | 46 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Commencal | 44 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Rocky Mountain UK | 40 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Thoemus Racing Team | 28 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | MS Evil Racing | 18 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | RC Alpine Commencal Austria | 15 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | 2Stage Factory | 5 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Unior Tools Team | 3 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
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