Graves grabs another in style

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Cold temperatures and rain did not dampen the competition at the fourth round of the four cross  Mountain Bike World Cup in Leogang, Austria. Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) took his third win of the season to extend his lead in the men's series.

The men's competition came down to avoiding crashing, as top riders went out every round after slipping and sliding in the muddy conditions. The track became more and more torn up by successive heats of racing.

Former World Champion Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) won the qualifying, two-tenths of a second ahead of Graves, with Swiss rider David Graf at six-tenths back. Dan Atherton (Commencal) and Joost Wichman (RSP 4 Cross) were less than a second off the best time.

In the 1/8 final heats, Atherton and Dutch rider Roger Rinderknecht both crashed out of competition, followed by Prokop in the quarter finals. Prokop's crash was possibly the most spectacular of the night, as he flew through the air like a rag doll after hitting a jump wrong. Fortunately, he was able to walk away from the crash.

Less fortunate was Graf in the semi-finals.  He put a foot wrong, twisting it and dislocating it badly. Competition was delayed while he was airlifted to hospital. Wichman and his teammate Tomas Slavik won that semi-final, while Graves and round two winner Michal Marosi (RSP 4 Cross) advanced through to the final in the other semi.

Marosi had won the second round at Maribor in similar wet and muddy conditions.

The final was Graves versus three riders from RSP 4 Cross: Wichman, Slavik and Marosi. Graves got out in front immediately with his usual fast gate, and maintained control all the way to the finish line.

Wichman was closing a couple times, but made some bad line choices and nearly took out his teammates - an aggressive ride, but not in control. It hurt him in the end, as he finished fourth behind Slavik and Marosi.

"I knew things were gonna get crazy," said Graves. "Those RSP guys, they gang up on me. It's wild racing in the mud."

"It's always a ton of fun. Anything can happen, so I had a great time today. I think this [type of course] is what we need more of. I loved it from the first time I saw it. Big lines, big gaps; you can really make some time."

Graves' third win now puts him 175 points ahead of Slavik in the World Cup series, with Wichman 190 points back. These two riders have a slim mathematical chance of catching Graves for the World Cup title, but the odds are that Graves has already wrapped up the 2010 title.

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