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