Frenchman Absalon wins Spanish cross country season opener
By Sue George , Mountain Bike Editor published
Villar tops women's field
The Spanish Superprestigio Massi series kicked off with a round in Banyoles, near Girona, this weekend. The race drew many international stars looking for some early season fitness in advance of the upcoming Cape Epic stage race and World Cups.
The track offered demanding conditions, with lots of mud, after last week's snow.
In the men's race, Frenchman Julien Absalon took the top spot ahead of Spaniards Inaki Lejarreta Errasti, Ruben Ruzafa Cueto, Carlos Coloma Nicolas and José Antonio Hermida Ramos. Lejaretta was Absalon's closest competitor - he finished 41 seconds after the Olympic champion.
Hermida lost some time on the opening lap due to a crash. "I couldn't control my bike and I crashed, momentarily losing a shoe," said Hermida. "From then on, I worked to pass back many riders and I felt good." The Spanish start also said he was happy that his knee was doing ok after he's had a case of tendonitis over the winter.
In the elite women's race, Anna Villar won. Former World Champion Marga Fullana withdrew from the race after a problem with her dropout. Villar finished ahead of Belgian Githa Michiels, Spaniard Rocio Gamonal Ferrera, Finland's Carina Ketonen and fellow Spaniard Rocio Martin Rodriguez.
Xavi Carnicer won the Master 30+ race while Jose Luis Morales won the Masters 50+ race.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Julien Absalon (Fra) | 1:33:52 |
2 | Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) | 0:00:41 |
3 | Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) | 0:02:16 |
4 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) | 0:03:31 |
5 | José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) | 0:03:32 |
6 | Milan Spesny (Cze) | 0:04:09 |
7 | Jelmer Jubbega (Ned) | 0:04:40 |
8 | Marco Minnaard (Ned) | 0:04:41 |
9 | Kristian Hynek (Cze) | 0:05:01 |
10 | Milan Spesny (Cze) | 0:05:04 |
11 | Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Spa) | 0:06:03 |
12 | Ruben Scheire (Bel) | 0:06:06 |
13 | Ismael Ventura Sanchez (Spa) | 0:06:08 |
14 | Jimmy Tielens (Bel) | 0:06:11 |
15 | Marc Trayter Alemany (Spa) | 0:06:15 |
16 | Dries Govaerts (Bel) | 0:06:16 |
17 | Joan Llordella Prat (Spa) | 0:07:09 |
18 | Tiago Jorge Oliveira Ferreira (Por) | 0:07:23 |
19 | Tim Lammers (Ned) | 0:07:33 |
20 | Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) | 0:08:31 |
21 | David Pons (Spa) | 0:08:39 |
22 | Josep Betalu (Spa) | 0:08:40 |
23 | Daniel Bernal Enriquez (Spa) | 0:09:05 |
24 | Rob Vangenechten (Bel) | 0:09:10 |
25 | Erik Groen (Ned) | 0:09:28 |
26 | Jose Maria Sanchez (Spa) | 0:09:57 |
27 | Borja Chivato (Spa) | 0:10:11 |
28 | Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Spa) | 0:10:12 |
29 | Francesc Freixer (Spa) | 0:10:15 |
30 | Jakub Magnusek (Cze) | 0:10:25 |
31 | Isaka De La Fuente Raistrick (Spa) | 0:10:31 |
32 | Mario Luis Miranda Costa (Por) | 0:10:41 |
33 | Patxi Cia Apezteguia (Spa) | 0:11:27 |
34 | Jonas De Backer (Bel) | 0:11:49 |
35 | Diego Latasa Abancens (Spa) | 0:11:53 |
36 | Jose Luis Arce Ballesteros (Spa) | 0:11:58 |
37 | Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) | 0:12:10 |
38 | Alejandro Diaz De La Pena Lopez (Spa) | 0:12:38 |
39 | Clément Koretzky (Fra) | 0:12:47 |
40 | Jordi Carnicer (Spa) | 0:12:55 |
41 | Juan Antonio Ortigosa (Spa) | 0:13:14 |
42 | Ramon Sagues Portabella (Spa) | 0:13:21 |
43 | Umbert Almenara Verges (Spa) | 0:13:33 |
44 | Jordi Martorell (Spa) | 0:13:34 |
45 | Xavier Bosch (Spa) | 0:13:55 |
46 | Adelino Moll Mut (Spa) | 0:14:03 |
47 | Llibert Mill Garcia (Spa) | 0:14:19 |
48 | Jakub Silar (Cze) | 0:14:35 |
49 | Jose Manuel Benito (Spa) | 0:14:42 |
50 | Daniel Guasch Tur (Spa) | 0:15:19 |
51 | Christian Collados (Spa) | 0:15:28 |
52 | Milton Javier Ramos Gamez (Spa) | 0:16:13 |
53 | Josep Puigpinos (Spa) | 0:16:14 |
54 | Jesus Bacaicoa (Spa) | 0:16:16 |
55 | Yago Sardina Carrillo (Spa) | 0:16:24 |
56 | Alex Salazar (Spa) | 0:16:43 |
57 | Lucas Arcos (Spa) | 0:17:09 |
58 | Joan Marc Perarnau Garcia (Spa) | 0:17:26 |
59 | Enrique Morcillo (Spa) | 0:17:36 |
60 | Xavier Vinyas (Spa) | 0:17:39 |
61 | Carlos Portilla Parrilla (Spa) | 0:18:05 |
62 | Sergi Boix (Spa) | 0:18:26 |
63 | Pierre Pous (Fra) | 0:18:29 |
64 | Pablo Bravo Alonso (Spa) | 0:18:30 |
65 | Albert Aubet (Spa) | 0:18:54 |
66 | Jose Anton Rodriguez (Spa) | 0:19:34 |
67 | Raul Vitoria (Spa) | 0:19:50 |
68 | Jose Angel Gonzalez (Spa) | 0:20:04 |
69 | Guillem Marti (Spa) | 0:20:37 |
70 | Alejandro Olid (Spa) | 0:20:47 |
71 | Aitor Tur (Spa) | 0:20:51 |
72 | Albert Codinach (Spa) | 0:20:54 |
73 | Rafel Sastre (Spa) | |
74 | Juan Antonio Ruiz (Spa) | 0:21:06 |
75 | Raul Mena (Spa) | 0:22:09 |
76 | Ever Alejandro Gomez (Bol) | 0:22:32 |
77 | Oscar Berral (Spa) | 0:22:33 |
78 | Jofre Prunera (Spa) | 0:23:17 |
79 | Salvador Moll (Spa) | 0:23:20 |
80 | Mickael Campourcy (Spa) | 0:24:01 |
81 | Vicente Solbes (Spa) | 0:24:06 |
82 | Jose Antonio Lopez (Spa) | 0:24:47 |
83 | Jose Luis De Abajo (Spa) | |
84 | Joseba Leon Gutierrez (Spa) | 0:24:48 |
85 | Victor Selles (Spa) | 0:26:21 |
86 | Jordá Cullell (Spa) | 0:26:46 |
87 | Raul Cots (Spa) | 0:28:23 |
88 | Jody Burnett (Spa) | |
89 | David Peñaloza (Spa) | |
90 | Alex Marrase (Spa) | |
91 | Jesus E. Hernandez (Spa) | |
92 | Erik Melon (Spa) | |
93 | Noel Trillo Flores (Spa) | |
94 | Albert Bargallo (Spa) | |
95 | Roger Serrano (Spa) | |
96 | Alvaro Olasolo Don (Spa) | |
97 | Sergi Guell (Spa) | |
98 | Frco Javier Pascual (Spa) | |
99 | Ramon Lozano (Spa) | |
100 | Victor Rodriguez (Spa) | |
101 | Ruben Morcillo (Spa) | |
102 | Albert Oller Piferrer (Spa) | |
103 | Carlos Javier Gaspar (Spa) | |
104 | José Villanueva (Spa) | |
105 | Oscar Sabiote (Spa) | |
106 | Fco. Javier Vargas (Spa) | |
107 | Albert Carreras (Spa) | |
108 | Josep Chavarria (Spa) | |
109 | Daniel Perez (Spa) | |
110 | Borja Murillo Caballero (Spa) | |
111 | Cristian Navarro (Spa) | |
112 | Julio Pintado (And) | |
113 | Eduard Figueras (Spa) | |
114 | Vladimir Loginov (Rus) | |
115 | Matias Adrover (Spa) | |
116 | Jordi Espinar (Spa) | |
117 | José Manuel Blanco (Spa) | |
118 | Marcos Segura (Spa) | |
119 | Albert Mendoza (Spa) | |
120 | Sergi Pujabet (Spa) | |
121 | José Albano Alvarez (Spa) | |
122 | Pau Bosch (Spa) | |
123 | Oriol Domenech (Spa) | |
124 | Marc Coll (Spa) | |
125 | Francisco Lopez (Spa) | |
126 | Florian Prudhomme (Fra) | |
127 | Sergio Muñoz (Spa) | |
128 | Santiago Jurado (Spa) | |
129 | Gerard Colomer (Spa) | |
130 | Oriol Aguilera (Spa) | |
131 | Vincent Thomas (Fra) | |
132 | Xavier Clopes (Spa) | |
133 | Zeuxis Romero (Spa) | |
134 | Galderic Jover (Spa) | |
135 | Alejandro Moral (Spa) | |
136 | Josep Juanola (Spa) | |
137 | Eloi Preckler (Spa) | |
138 | Bernat Costa Pérez (Spa) | |
139 | Ismael Rosillo (Spa) | |
140 | Ricardo Gutierrez (Spa) | |
141 | Joan Ramio (Spa) | |
142 | Marc Donadeu (Spa) | |
143 | Guillaume Guilbaud (Fra) | |
144 | Gerard Arenos (Spa) | |
145 | Raül Gallego (Spa) | |
DNF | Fco. Javier Macias (Spa) | |
DNF | David Lozano Riba (Spa) | |
DNF | Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) | |
DNF | Hugo Drechou (Fra) | |
DNF | Frederic Balaguer (Fra) | |
DNF | Luis Alberto Costa Leao Pinto (Por) | |
DNF | David Escolar Ballesteros (Spa) | |
DNF | José Carlos Macias Bonano (Spa) | |
DNF | Oriol Morata Abril (Spa) | |
DNF | Arnau Planas (Spa) | |
DNF | Cristofer Bosque (Spa) | |
DNF | Juan Jose Martinez (Spa) | |
DNF | Xavier Jornet (Spa) | |
DNF | Jordi Sanmartin (Spa) | |
DNF | Enric Martorell (Spa) | |
DNF | Ruben Trillo (Spa) | |
DNF | Pablo Carrera (Spa) | |
DNF | Adrià Valls (Spa) | |
DNF | Diego Fernandez (Spa) | |
DNF | Ivan Segarra (Spa) | |
DNF | Alejandro Castrillo (Spa) | |
DNF | Fco. Daniel Gonzalez (Spa) | |
DNF | Eusebio Lopez (Spa) | |
DNF | Alberto Perez (Spa) | |
DNF | Hugo Vazquez (Spa) | |
DNF | Miguel Saez (Spa) | |
DNF | Bernat Canellas (Spa) | |
DNF | Marc Plans Beltran (Spa) | |
DNF | Yohan Trimoulet (Fra) | |
DNF | Xavier Clua (Spa) | |
DNF | Alvaro Herrera (Spa) | |
DNF | Enric Vidal (Spa) | |
DNF | Marc Casellas (Spa) | |
DNF | Sebastien Moya (Fra) | |
DNF | Alejandro Gonzalez (Spa) | |
DNF | Miguel Angel Rubio (Spa) | |
DNF | Samuel Ruiz (Spa) | |
DNF | Jose Manuel Padilla (Spa) | |
DNF | Antonio Moreno (Spa) | |
DNF | Pablo Franco (Spa) | |
DNF | Gerardo Martinez (Spa) | |
DNF | Marc Soler (Spa) | |
DNF | David Garcia (Spa) | |
DNF | Tomas Muñoz (Spa) | |
DNF | Marcos Vasquez (Spa) | |
DNF | Antonio Guerrero Sanchez (Spa) | |
DNF | Oscar Ruiz (Spa) | |
DNF | Damia Purti (Spa) | |
DNF | Boris Ivan Campos (Chi) | |
DNF | Jordi Cunill (Spa) | |
DNF | Xavier Torres (Spa) | |
DNF | Enric Costas (Spa) | |
DNF | Sergio Borjabad (Spa) | |
DNF | José Raul Hernandez (Spa) | |
DNF | Daniel Lopez (Spa) | |
DNF | David Barroso (Spa) | |
DNF | Javier Vazquez (Spa) | |
DNF | Thomas Janin (Fra) | |
DNF | Matous Ulman (Cze) | |
DNF | Marti Samper (Spa) | |
DNF | Marc Caro (Spa) | |
DNF | Javier Garcia (Spa) | |
DNF | David Caceres (Spa) | |
DNF | Judith Sanchez (Spa) |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Anna Villar Argente (Spa) | 1:37:14 |
2 | Githa Michiels (Bel) | 0:02:15 |
3 | Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Spa) | 0:04:09 |
4 | Carina Ketonen (Fin) | 0:04:48 |
5 | Rocio Martin Rodriguez (Spa) | 0:07:19 |
6 | Kristien Nelen (Bel) | 0:08:32 |
7 | Joana Barbosa (Por) | 0:08:55 |
8 | Cristina Mascarreras Sabria (Spa) | 0:09:45 |
9 | Olatz Odriozola Mujika (Spa) | |
10 | Mercedes Pacios Pujalo (Spa) | 0:10:13 |
11 | Mercé Tusell Quevedo (Spa) | 0:10:46 |
12 | Maroa Calleja (Spa) | 0:11:46 |
13 | Muriel Bouhet (Fra) | 0:12:46 |
14 | Lourdes Torrescasana (Spa) | |
15 | Lucia Vazquez (Spa) | 0:14:34 |
16 | Beatriz Gallego Carbajo (Spa) | 0:15:20 |
17 | Mariana Catedra Fernando (Spa) | 0:18:31 |
18 | Valentine Segrestan (Fra) | |
19 | Nuria Espinosa (Spa) | |
20 | Maria Elena Amoros (Spa) | |
21 | Marta Antolino De Celis (Spa) | |
22 | Maria Del Mar Sancho Bauza (Spa) | |
23 | Rosa Maria Riera Trtias (Spa) | |
24 | Clara Soms (Spa) | |
25 | Vanesa Fernandez Vidueira (Spa) | |
26 | Ingrid Carbones (Spa) | |
DNF | Audrey Lanouziere (Fra) | |
DNF | Margarita Fullana Riera (Spa) | |
DNF | Merce Petit (Spa) | |
DNF | Raquel Serra (Spa) | |
DNF | Noemia Lopes (Spa) | |
DNF | Marta Viladoms (Spa) | |
DNF | Esther Hernandez (Spa) | |
DNF | Maria Jorda (Spa) |

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Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
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