Attacking raid nets Freiburghaus the eliminator victory

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The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup put a new face on the top step of the podium of the eliminator at Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic on Friday. A brillant mid-race attack by Sepp Freiburghaus (Thoemus Racing) caught all of his rivals off guard, allowing the Swiss rider to take the win.

Australian Paul van der Ploeg (Felt Oetztal X-Bionic) was considered the favourite for the men, after qualifying first and finishing second here last year. His powerful sprint afforded him the ability to come from behind on the long finishing straight.

In the final, Freiburghaus and van der Ploeg were joined by Mirco Widmer (Giant Swiss SR Suntour), Germany's Martin Gluth, Marcel Wildhaber (Scott-Swisspower) and Marek Konwa (Milka-Superior).

Significantly, round one winner Brian Lopes and cross country stars Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida), Manuel Fumic (Cannondale) and Marco Fontana (Cannondale) did not make the final.

In the final, at the far side of the course on the only climb, Freiburghaus attacked, immediately gaining 10 metres on his rivals, who all looked at each other, with none willing to take the initiative and lead the chase. Coming into the final straightaway, Freiburghaus was still well in front and cruised across the line while van der Ploeg led the rest of the group in, shaking his head. Widmer took third.

"It was pretty tactical in the climb," said Freiburghaus, "and so I changed my tactic for the final. I tried with an attack on the climb, and then got a gap. On this eliminator it was very important to have a good tactic. If you were in the lead for the whole round, you had a problem when you came with four or five guys onto this straight finish. I am very happy to bring it to the line."

"It was a brilliant move by Sepp [Freiburghaus]," said van der Ploeg. "I was thinking 'oh damn' when he attacked, but that was it, that was the move. I would have liked to have won, of course, but I'm happy to be on the podium again."

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