Rain and mud ruled the day in Maribor, Slovenia, for round two of the four cross UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on Saturday. The foul conditions led to an upset in the men's race, with Michal Marosi (RSP 4 Cross) beating World Champion Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox).
The incredibly sloppy conditions meant that riders were sliding and crashing in every round. A strong start at least kept a rider out of the battle behind, but was no guarantee that an error wouldn't take him out anyway. Among the top riders going out in early rounds were Michal Prokop (Agang Racing), Roger Rinderknecht, Cedric Gracia, Mickael Deldycke and Dan Atherton (Commencal).
However, Graves, defending Maribor champion Joost Wichman (RSP 4 Cross) and Tomas Slavik (RSP 4 Cross) all made it through to the final, putting Graves up against a trio of teammates.
Marosi seemed to use the same "wait and see" tactic as women's winner Griffiths (Norco World Racing) in his march to the win - he won only one heat prior to final, after barely qualifying for racing, at 59th out of 64 starters. But it was enough, and he stuck to Graves' wheel out of the gate, and was ready to pounce when a crash by Slavik forced the Australian to hesitate a bit in one of the corners. Once in front, Marosi just held on to take the win.
"That was crazy!," said the Czech rider Marosi. "It was a funny race; anyone could have been first. The course changed every time, so it was like poker, or maybe roulette. First place is so great, that who cares if [you are] wet and dirty!"
Full Results
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Elite men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
1
Michal Marosi (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
2
Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
3
Joost Wichman (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
4
Tomas Slavik (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
5
Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)
6
Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team
7
Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team
8
David Graf (Swi)
9
Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal
10
Premek Tejchman (Cze)
11
William Evans (GBr)
12
Felix Beckeman (Swe)
13
Reto Schmid (Swi)
14
Luka Novak (Slo)
15
Hannes Slavik (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria
16
Daniel Fülle (Ger)
17
Mickael Deldycke (Fra)
18
Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing
19
Petrik Brückner (Ger)
20
Zdenek Plasil (Cze)
21
Adrian Weiss (Swi) Scott 11
22
Andreas Dotzauer (Ger)
23
Stepan Novotny (Cze)
24
Sidney Gerber (Swi)
25
Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)
26
Tomas Haluza (Cze)
27
Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing
28
Livio Zampieri (Ita)
29
Jurg Meijer (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
30
Kieran Mcavoy (GBr)
31
Werner Muther (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team
32
Piotr Paradowski (Pol)
33
Cédric Gracia (Fra)
34
Florian Gottschlich (Ger)
35
Jakub Hnidak (Cze)
36
Matej Stapic (Slo)
37
Petr Muhlhans (Cze)
38
Gabor Vigh-Kiss (Hun)
39
Jakub Riha (Cze)
40
Duncan Ferris (GBr)
41
Jakub Pytlik (Cze)
42
Wyn Masters (NZl) Kenda-Playbiker
43
Dale Russell (GBr)
44
Kristjan Medvescek (Slo)
45
Edoardo Franco (Ita) Kenda-Playbiker
46
Matija Stupar (Slo)
47
Lovro Dejak (Slo)
48
Marko Runst (Ger)
49
Michal Prokop (Cze) Agang Racing
50
Barry Nobles (USA)
51
Mitch Ropelato (USA) Ex Drinks
52
Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK
53
Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr)
54
Jan Novak (Cze)
55
Giacomo Fantoni (Ita)
56
Aiko Göhler (Ger)
57
Tom Dowie (GBr)
58
Francesco Gargaglia (Ita)
59
Benjamin Ehrlich (Ger)
60
Dominik Gladen (Ger)
61
Benjamin Kistner (Swi)
62
Scott Roberts (GBr)
63
Will Longden (GBr)
64
Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Blackmountain Morewood United
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Teams
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
Header Cell - Column 3
1
RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
96
pts
2
Norco World Team
40
Row 1 - Cell 3
3
Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team
38
Row 2 - Cell 3
4
Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
35
Row 3 - Cell 3
5
Suspension Center
30
Row 4 - Cell 3
6
Commencal
14
Row 5 - Cell 3
7
RC Alpine Commencal Austria
6
Row 6 - Cell 3
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Elite men - World cup individual standings after two rounds
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
Header Cell - Column 3
1
Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
225
pts
2
Tomas Slavik (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
160
Row 1 - Cell 3
3
Michal Marosi (Cze) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
131
Row 2 - Cell 3
4
Joost Wichman (Ned) RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
125
Row 3 - Cell 3
5
Michal Prokop (Cze) Agang Racing
75
Row 4 - Cell 3
6
Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)
64
Row 5 - Cell 3
7
Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)
60
Row 6 - Cell 3
8
Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team
55
Row 7 - Cell 3
9
Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal
50
Row 8 - Cell 3
10
Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team
40
Row 9 - Cell 3
11
Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK
40
Row 10 - Cell 3
12
David Graf (Swi)
25
Row 11 - Cell 3
13
Mickael Deldycke (Fra)
20
Row 12 - Cell 3
14
Premek Tejchman (Cze)
17
Row 13 - Cell 3
15
Sidney Gerber (Swi)
17
Row 14 - Cell 3
16
William Evans (GBr)
14
Row 15 - Cell 3
17
Felix Beckeman (Swe)
11
Row 16 - Cell 3
18
Clément Doby (Fra)
11
Row 17 - Cell 3
19
Reto Schmid (Swi)
8
Row 18 - Cell 3
20
Petr Muhlhans (Cze)
8
Row 19 - Cell 3
21
Hannes Slavik (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria
8
Row 20 - Cell 3
22
Luka Novak (Slo)
6
Row 21 - Cell 3
23
Daniel Fülle (Ger)
2
Row 22 - Cell 3
24
Marek Pesko (Svk)
2
Row 23 - Cell 3
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Teams - World Cup standings after two rounds
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
Header Cell - Column 3
1
RSP 4 Cross Racing Team
160
pts
2
Suspension Center
75
Row 1 - Cell 3
3
Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
75
Row 2 - Cell 3
4
Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team
54
Row 3 - Cell 3
5
Norco World Team
40
Row 4 - Cell 3
6
Commencal
32
Row 5 - Cell 3
7
Agang Racing
30
Row 6 - Cell 3
8
Rocky Mountain UK
20
Row 7 - Cell 3
9
RC Alpine Commencal Austria
12
Row 8 - Cell 3
10
2Stage Factory
5
Row 9 - Cell 3
11
Thoemus Racing Team
3
Row 10 - Cell 3
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