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Kulhavy wins World Cup in Nove Mesto

Czech rider takes first World Cup win since 2012 Olympic gold

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Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing) takes his first World Cup win since 2012 Olympic Games

Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing) takes his first World Cup win since 2012 Olympic Games
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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The men' start of the race

The men' start of the race
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team)

Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Florian Vogel (Focus XC Team)

Florian Vogel (Focus XC Team)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Stephen Ettinger (Team USA)

Stephen Ettinger (Team USA)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Kohei Yamamoto (Trek Factory Racing)

Kohei Yamamoto (Trek Factory Racing)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida Biking Team) and Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing)

Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida Biking Team) and Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team) leads Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing)

Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team) leads Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Florian Vogel (Focus XC Team) leads Julien Absalon (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team)

Florian Vogel (Focus XC Team) leads Julien Absalon (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing)

Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Julien Absalon (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team)

Julien Absalon (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing)

Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team) leads Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing)

Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team) leads Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Julien Absalon (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team)

Julien Absalon (BMC Mountainbike Racing Team)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Daniel McConnell (Trek Factory Racing)

Daniel McConnell (Trek Factory Racing)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida Biking Team)

Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida Biking Team)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Through the trees

Through the trees
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Spencer Paxson (Kona Factory Team)

Spencer Paxson (Kona Factory Team)
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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HUGE crowds cheer on Kulhavy

HUGE crowds cheer on Kulhavy
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Podium: Florian Vogel, Nino Schurter, Jaroslav Kulhavy, Julien Absalon, Mathias Fluckiger

Podium: Florian Vogel, Nino Schurter, Jaroslav Kulhavy, Julien Absalon, Mathias Fluckiger
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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Top team: BMC Mountainbike Racing Team

Top team: BMC Mountainbike Racing Team
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
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World Cup leader Jaroslav Kulhavy

World Cup leader Jaroslav Kulhavy
(Image credit: Tour of Japan)

In the past four years of the World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, there have been only two winners of the men's race - Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) took the first edition, and Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo) the last three. Once again, it came down to these two riders on Sunday, for the first round of the 2015 series.

Schurter attacked on the start loop, with Kulhavy, world champion Julien Absalon (BMC), Australian champion Dan McConnell (Trek Factory Racing) and Florian Vogel (Focus XC) the only riders to stay with him. Schurter surged again on the first full lap, and this time only Kulhavy could hang on.

Schurter appeared to be stronger, gapping Kulhavy on the climbs, but the Czech rider would always come back, possibly motivated by the cheers of thousands of his fans around the course. In the final half lap the tables were turned, when Kulhavy attacked and Schurter could not respond. The Czech rider rolled into the finishing arena to stands full of cheering fans, to win by 24 seconds.

Absalon and Vogel first dropped McConnell, and then Absalon went solo mid-race to take third ahead of Vogel, with Mathias Fluckiger (Stoeckli) taking the fifth and final podium spot.

"It was a very exciting race between me and Nino (Schurter) again," agreed Kulhavy, "and I attacked on the hardest climb and Nino stayed with me maybe 5 or 10 seconds before I got away. Then I just controlled my position to the finish. The finish was good and I didn't make any mistakes. The fans were so amazing. They helped a lot and pushed me. It was crazy. I would like to say thanks to them.

"I am really satisfied and it was my big goal this season. I have had a lot of troubles last year, a lot of health problems. So I am really satisfied. I am really, really happy. It is my biggest victory after the Olympic Games and we will celebrate tonight."

Results

#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic)1:33:27
2Nino Schurter (Switzerland)0:00:24
3Julien Absalon (France)0:01:16
4Florian Vogel (Switzerland)0:02:02
5Mathias Flückiger (Switzerland)0:02:37
6Ralph Naef (Switzerland)0:02:59
7Andrea Tiberi (Italy)0:03:04
8Thomas Litscher (Switzerland)0:03:13
9Manuel Fumic (Germany)0:03:45
10José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain)0:03:53
11Daniel Mcconnell (Australia)0:04:17
12Lukas Flückiger (Switzerland)0:04:31
13Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy)0:04:37
14Matthias Stirnemann (Switzerland)0:05:03
15Fabian Giger (Switzerland)0:05:14
16Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain)0:05:18
17Bart De Vocht (Belgium)0:05:19
18Reto Indergand (Switzerland)
19Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spain)0:05:23
20David Joao Serralheiro Rosa (Portugal)0:05:39
21Stephen Ettinger (United States Of America)0:05:50
22Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic)0:06:05
23Derek Zandstra (Canada)
24Hugo Drechou (France)
25Martin Loo (Estonia)0:06:25
26Raphael Gagne (Canada)0:06:43
27Jan Skarnitzl (Czech Republic)0:06:46
28Mario Luis Miranda Costa (Portugal)0:06:48
29Leandre Bouchard (Canada)0:06:50
30Jeff Luyten (Belgium)0:06:52
31Maxime Marotte (France)0:06:59
32Michal Lami (Slovakia)0:07:06
33Ruben Scheire (Belgium)0:07:19
34Frank Beemer (Netherlands)0:07:24
35Karl Markt (Austria)0:07:26
36Anton Sintsov (Russian Federation)
37Rourke Croeser (South Africa)0:07:31
38Timofei Ivanov (Russian Federation)0:07:32
39Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy)
40Tom Meeusen (Belgium)0:07:52
41Simon Stiebjahn (Germany)0:08:09
42Daniele Braidot (Italy)0:08:17
43Catriel Andres Soto (Argentina)0:08:26
44Nicola Rohrbach (Switzerland)0:08:31
45Marc Stutzmann (Switzerland)
46David Valero (Spain)0:08:32
47Andrea Righettini (Italy)
48Shlomi Haimy (Israel)0:08:33
49Michiel Van Der Heijden (Netherlands)0:08:35
50Martin Gujan (Switzerland)0:08:39
51Jiri Novak (Czech Republic)0:08:41
52Martin Gluth (Germany)0:08:53
53Jordan Sarrou (France)0:09:08
54Martin Fanger (Switzerland)0:09:10
55Mirko Tabacchi (Italy)
56Martino Fruet (Italy)0:09:12
57Kerry Werner (United States)0:09:14
58Luca Braidot (Italy)0:09:32
59Wolfram Kurschat (Germany)0:09:36
60Philip Buys (South Africa)0:09:47
61Nicholas Pettina (Italy)0:09:58
62Marvin Gruget (France)0:10:03
63Marcel Wildhaber (Switzerland)0:10:07
64Geoff Kabush (Canada)0:10:22
65Spencer Paxson (United States)0:10:29
66Ricardo Paulo Reis Marinheiro (Portugal)0:10:30
67Adam Morka (Canada)0:10:36
68Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Colombia)0:10:41
69Moritz Milatz (Germany)0:10:44
70Filip Eberl (Czech Republic)0:10:49
71Sebastien Carabin (Belgium)0:11:02
72Kohei Yamamoto (Japan)0:11:10
73Gregor Raggl (Austria)0:11:40
74Hans Becking (Netherlands)0:11:53
75Markus Bauer (Germany)0:12:00
76Matthys Beukes (South Africa)0:12:05
77Cristian Cominelli (Italy)
78Ricardo Pscheidt (Brazil)0:12:12
79Matthias Wengelin (Sweden)0:12:14
80Rubens Valeriano (Brazil)0:12:19
81Maximilian Holz (Germany)0:12:50
82Zsolt Juhasz (Hungry)0:12:53
83Maximilian Vieider (Italy)0:13:00
84Daniel Eymann (Switzerland)0:13:33
85Michele Casagrande (Italy)0:13:58
86Julien Trarieux (France)0:14:03
87James Reid (South Africa)0:14:16
88Simon Gegenheimer (Germany)
89Cameron Ivory (Australia)
90Paolo Cesar Montoya Cantillo (Costa Rica)
91Erik Groen (Netherlands)
92Evan Guthrie (Canada)
93Tomas Paprstka (Czech Republic)
94Marek Konwa (Poland)
95Michael Stünzi (Switzerland)
96Sergji Rysenko (Ukraine)
97Miguel Martinez (France)
98Gerrit Rosenkranz (Germany)
99Jason Bouttell (Great Britain)
100Evgenii Pechenin (Russia)
101Fabian Paumann (Switzerland)
102Markus Preiss (Austria)
103Jan Nesvadba (Czech Republic)
104Ever Alejandro Gomez (Bolivia)
105Patricio Maximiliano Farias Diaz (Chile)
106Russell Finsterwald (United States)
107Jorgen Flion (Belgium)
108Zdenek Vobecky (Czech Republic)
109Rotem Ishay (Israel)
110Cole Oberman (United States)
111Steffen Thum (Germany)
112Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Germany)
113Marco Ponta (Italy)
114Sebastian Alejandro Miranda Maldonado (Chile)
115Steven James (Great Britain)
116Jan Withaar (South Africa)
117Oleksandr Gerashchenko (Ukraine)
118Matiss Preimanis (Latvia)
119Christopher Maletz (Germany)
120Michal Malík (Czech Republic)
121Zhen Wang (China)
122Matthias Grick (Austria)
123Lysander Kiesel (Germany)
124Luciano Caraccioli (Argentina)
125Milan Damek (Czech Republic)
126Daniel Grossi Soares De Souza (Brazil)
127Kornel Osicki (Poland)
128Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chile)
129David Flaten (United States)
130Emmanuel Castillo (Mexico)
131Kirill Kazantsev (Kazakhstan)
132Artyom Golovaschenko (Kazakhstan)
133Daniel Castillo (Mexico)
134Noe Alejandro Rodriguez Acevedo (Mexico)
135George-Vlad Sabau (Romania)
136Stéphane Tempier (France)
137Raymond Hobeika (Lebanon)
DNFHenrique Avancini (Brazil)
DNFPavel Skalicky (Czech Republic)
DNFEmil Lindgren (Sweden)
DNFMartin Haring (Slovakia)
DNFKevin Van Hoovels (Belgium)
DNFIsmael Ventura Sanchez (Spain)
DNFSascha Weber (Germany)
DNFKristian Hynek (Czech Republic)
DNFJulian Schelb (Germany)
DNFJonas De Backer (Belgium)
DNSRudi Van Houts (Netherlands)
DNSAndras Parti (Hungry)

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