Julien Absalon wins 32nd World Cup in Mont-Ste-Anne

Julien Absalon (BMC) took his second World Cup win of the season on Sunday in Mont-Ste-Anne, Canada, moving into the overall lead in the World Cup standings, with the absence of former leader Nino Schurter, who elected to skip the event for different Olympic preparations.

Mont-Ste-Anne is the oldest and one of the most storied venues on the World Cup circuit. It always offers a demanding circuit, with steep climbs and rooty, rocky descents. This year, MSA is the final major competition before the Olympic cross-country, and some Olympic-bound riders decided not to attend.

The men's race saw a group of five riders establish themselves at the front in the early laps. Absalon, Mathias Fluckiger (Stoeckli Pro), Victor Koretzky (BH-SR Suntour-KMC), Matthias Stirnemann (Moebel Maerki MTB) and Jordan Sarrou (BH-SR Suntour-KMC) quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field. Koretzky attacked on lap four, with Absalon leading the chase. The Swiss riders, Fluckiger and Stirnemann fell off the pace, and then Absalon attacked with a lap and a half to go, quickly dropping Koretzky to solo in for the 32nd World Cup win of his career.

"In the beginning I was not able to go it alone," explained Absalon, "so I was sitting on the wheels of the others. I thought it was best to wait for a good moment during the last part of the race because it is so hard a course - if you start too fast it is hard to finish fast, and I like to finish fast. It was a good opportunity for me without Nino [Schurter] and Jaroslov [Kulhavy] here to take an advantage in the overall standings. So, it was a good win and also important for me to do this last test two weeks before the Olympics."

Absalon moved in to the leader's jersey, with 1060 points. Schurter drops to second, 160 points back, followed by Maxime Marotte (BH-SR Suntour-KMC) at 798 points.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team1:29:37
2Victor Koretzky (Fra) BH-SR Suntour-KMC0:00:44
3Mathias Fluckiger (Swi) Stöckli Pro Team0:00:52
4Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team0:00:54
5Jordan Sarrou (Fra) BH-SR Suntour-KMC0:01:02
6Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team0:01:19
7Ondrej Cink (Cze) Multivan Merida Biking Team0:01:26
8Stephane Tempier (Fra) Bianchi Countervail0:01:36
9David Valero Serrano (Spa) MMR Factory Racing Team0:02:11
10Reto Indergand (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:02:46
11Lukas Fluckiger (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:03:15
12Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Cannondale Factory Racing XC0:03:25
13Florian Vogel (Swi) Focus XC Team0:03:26
14Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-SR Suntour-KMC0:03:30
15Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Trek Factory Racing XC0:03:42
16Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing XC0:03:55
17Martin Fanger (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:03:57
18Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Scott-Odlo MTB Racing TeamRow 17 - Cell 2
19Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Col)0:04:25
20Rudi Van Houts (Ned) CST Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team0:04:44
21Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) MMR Factory Racing Team0:04:59
22Daniel McConnell (Aus) Trek Factory Racing XC0:05:10
23Christian Pfaffle (Ger)0:05:19
24Fabian Giger (Swi) Kross Racing Team0:05:30
25Hugo Drechou (Fra) Calvisson VTT0:05:52
26Stephen Ettinger (USA)0:06:03
27Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) Kross Racing Team0:06:16
28Martin Gluth (Ger) Novus OMX Pro Team0:06:23
29Gregor Raggl (Aut) Haibike Oetztal Pro Team0:06:45
30Howard Grotts (USA) Specialized RacingRow 29 - Cell 2
31Florian Chenaux (Swi)0:06:47
32Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing0:07:19
33Martin Loo (Est)0:07:23
34Shlomi Haimy (Isr) Novus OMX Pro Team0:07:41
35Evan Guthrie (Can)0:07:44
36Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) Trek Factory Racing XC0:07:51
37Karl Markt (Aut) Haibike Oetztal Pro Team0:08:51
38Leandre Bouchard (Can)0:09:09
39Grant Ferguson (GBr) CST Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team0:09:29
40Jeremy Martin (Can)0:10:04
41Russell Finsterwald (USA) SRAM/TLD Racing0:10:05
42Martin Gujan (Swi) Wheeler Pro Team0:10:21
43Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Ger) Focus XC Team0:10:33
44Keegan Swenson (USA)0:10:41
45Raphael Gagne (Can)0:10:43
46Geoff Kabush (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing0:11:57
47Davis Ross (Can)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Steffen Thum (Ger) Rose Vaujany Fueled by UltrasportsRow 47 - Cell 2
49Thomas Litscher (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking TeamRow 48 - Cell 2
50Evan Mcneely (Can)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Nicholas Beechan (USA)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) Rose Vaujany Fueled by UltrasportsRow 51 - Cell 2
53Andrew L'esperance (Can)Row 52 - Cell 2
54Thomas Sampson (USA)Row 53 - Cell 2
55Sergji Rysenko (Ukr) BPS MTB TeamRow 54 - Cell 2
56Alex Wild (USA)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Ernie Watenpaugh (USA)Row 56 - Cell 2
58William Melone (USA)Row 57 - Cell 2
59Christopher Hamlin (USA)Row 58 - Cell 2
60Ian Gielar (USA)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Noah Tautfest (USA)Row 60 - Cell 2
DNFMoritz Milatz (Ger)Row 61 - Cell 2
DNFPablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) MMR Factory Racing TeamRow 62 - Cell 2
DNFLuiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Bra)Row 63 - Cell 2
DNFJeff Luyten (Bel)Row 64 - Cell 2

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