Absalon back to winning ways in Houffalize

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Julien Absalon (Orbea) scored a decisive victory at the second round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium, letting all his rivals know that the two-time defending Olympic champion is on track for his title defence later this summer in London. Absalon's victory was his third at Houffalize.

"Houffalize is incredible, all the spectators, lots of fans from France and Belgium behind me, so maybe that is why I push like this," said Absalon. "I am really happy because it is always special to win in Houffalize."

Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower), the winner of round one last month in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, jumped out in front on the opening start lap, but Absalon bridged up to him on the first of five laps and then set the pace on all the remaining climbs as the duo distanced themselves from the rest of the field.

Initially, Schurter and Absalon were joined by Manuel Fumic (Cannondale), Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) and Burry Stander (Specialized), but the others could not match the pace of the two top riders and fell back. 

Schurter was clearly riding the descents better, opening gaps every time, but Absalon would always close them. For Absalon, this was a problem - the final tricky descent before the paved finish straight was less than 200 metres from the line. Clearly, he had to drop Schurter before that last downhill.

"Nino was so fast on that last downhill," said Absalon. "I saw his line that he kept on taking, and after that I did the same (line). I knew there was no chance to win the sprint, because on that downhill he took maybe 20 metres each lap, so that is why I attacked before."

"I was feeling good, but I was thinking: 'Okay, I need to attack Nino before the last lap, because I know he is always strong on the last lap'. I knew there was no chance to win because I knew he is faster than me on the last downhill. So my tactic was to go before that, so I attacked on the climbs of the fifth lap."

Marco Fontana (Cannondale Factory) took third, just ahead of Burry Stander (Specialized).  Manuel Fumic (Cannondale) completed the podium in fifth place.

World champion Kulhavy had a tough day and fell back mid-race.  He started to feel better near the end and move back up, but a flat tire brought those efforts to a halt.

Schurter continues to lead the World Cup with 450 points, followed by Absalon at 400 points. Stander sits in third place with 350 points.

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