Absalon wins La Bresse cross country in front of home crowd
Just seven seconds separate top two places
Julien Absalon (Orbea) won the elite men's cross country World Cup in front of a home crowd in La Bresse, France. The course had been described repeatedly as "old school", and Absalon clearly liked it, taking his 25th World Cup before his home crowd.
Absalon, who lives about 10km away, rode a smart race tactically and managed to escape the bad luck that affected some of the other favorites. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) steadily worked his way up throughout the race and made a late bid to overtake Absalon, but finished second. Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida) was third, putting in a strong performance in his quest to make the Swiss Olympic team.
"It is maybe one of my best races. It's been in mind forever - the first World Cup at home is a lot of pressure, and I'm happy," said Absalon after winning on the course, which was designed by his brother Remi.
It was a dramatic finish with Absalon crashing on the final technical descent. A surging Kulhavy nearly caught the Frenchman, who quickly got back up and into action.
"It was hard. I was in good shape, but I was suffering a lot. When I saw Jaroslav in the last half lap, I was dead," said Absalon to Redbull.tv. "I was thinking I needed to go slow and not crash on that last descent, but then I lost my concentration and I crashed."
While the women's race was influenced by crashes among the favorites, the elite men's race was influenced more by mechanicals and flats. Burry Stander (Specialized) was crashed into by another rider and burped a tire not long after the start, and Marco Fontana (Cannondale) flatted while leading the race, unfortunately immediately after passing the tech zone which meant he had a long way to go for help. Moritz Milatz (BMC) also had a mechanical just after the tech zone and Manuel Fumic (Cannondale) required a wheel change. World Cup leader Nino Schurter (Scott Swisspower) sat out the race due to "stomach problems".
Swiss riders Näf and Florian Vogel (Scott-Swisspower), each vying for an Olympic spot on the Swiss team, set the early fast pace, joined by Fontana until his flat. With so far to go until the next tech zone, Fontana dropped out.
Absalon bridged up on lap two of the six-lap race. Näf dropped back first, and then Vogel, as they struggled to match the searing pace of the French champion.
Milatz, Giger and Lukas Flueckiger chased together until Milatz's mechanical. That left Giger, Vogel and Naef to form the primary chase group.
At the end of lap 4, Naef made an impressive bid for victory by attacking, then catching and passing Absalon. But Absalon wasn't about to give up a win on home turf and he surged past Naef on the climb on lap 5.
World champion and 2011 World Cup champion Kulhavy, who had been steadily working his way up through the field after a poor start, overtook a fried Naef and went in hot pursuit of Absalon. He got to within 20 seconds and almost caught Absalon on the final descent of the final lap, when the fatigued Frenchman crashed by going over the bars. Absalon almost lost the race, but recovered in time to ride across the line, celebrating in front of thousands of hometown fans. It meant Kulhavy finished just seven seconds back in second place, and Näf soloed in for third.
The absent Schurter, the only Swiss man already guaranteed a spot on the nation's Olympic team, remains the World Cup leader, with 700 points, followed by Absalon with 650 and Kulhavy at 625.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea Racing Team | 1:37:33 |
2 | Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing | 0:00:07 |
3 | Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 0:00:40 |
4 | Florian Vogel (Swi) Scott - Swisspower MTB Racing Team | 0:01:24 |
5 | Fabian Giger (Swi) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team | 0:01:41 |
6 | Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Racing | 0:02:08 |
7 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) | 0:02:20 |
8 | Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH - SR Suntour - Peisey Vallandry | 0:02:35 |
9 | Max Plaxton (Can) | 0:02:51 |
10 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing | 0:03:20 |
11 | José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 0:03:24 |
12 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing | 0:03:45 |
13 | Martin Gujan (Swi) Cannondale Factory Racing | 0:03:46 |
14 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Wildwolf - Trek Pro Racing | 0:04:15 |
15 | Mathias Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing | 0:04:42 |
16 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Wildwolf - Trek Pro Racing | 0:05:32 |
17 | Stéphane Tempier (Fra) TX Active Bianchi | 0:05:43 |
18 | Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team | 0:05:46 |
19 | Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 0:05:47 |
20 | Martino Fruet (Ita) | 0:05:51 |
21 | Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) | 0:06:05 |
22 | Martin Fanger (Swi) Giant Swiss SR -Suntour | 0:06:08 |
23 | Emil Lindgren (Swe) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team | 0:06:10 |
24 | Burry Stander (RSA) Specialized Racing | 0:06:21 |
25 | Liam Killeen (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:06:26 |
26 | Jochen Kass (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 0:06:52 |
27 | Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Cannondale Factory Racing | 0:06:54 |
28 | Marek Konwa* (Pol) Milka-Superior MTB Racing Team | 0:06:59 |
29 | Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) Specialized Racing | 0:07:05 |
30 | Andras Parti (Hun) Euroone-Waberer's-Cube MTB Team | 0:07:24 |
31 | Jürg Graf (Swi) Bskgraf Rollmat-Koba MTB Team | 0:07:37 |
32 | Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Elettroveneta - Corratec | 0:07:44 |
33 | Karl Markt (Aut) Felt Oetztal X - Bionic Team | 0:07:59 |
34 | Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru - Trek | 0:08:06 |
35 | Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Milka-Superior MTB Racing Team | 0:08:28 |
36 | Stephen Ettinger (USA) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:08:55 |
37 | Michele Casagrande (Ita) Elettroveneta - Corratec | 0:09:33 |
38 | Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team | 0:09:50 |
39 | Fabien Canal (Fra) GT Skoda Chamonix | 0:09:59 |
40 | Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop | 0:10:02 |
41 | Henk Jaap Moorlag* (Ned) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team | 0:10:07 |
42 | Milan Spesny (Cze) S&H Superior MTB Team | 0:10:16 |
43 | Lachlan Norris (Aus) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | |
44 | David Fletcher (GBr) Orange Monkey-Cannondale | 0:10:18 |
45 | Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) Versluys Team | 0:10:24 |
46 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) | 0:10:38 |
47 | Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru - Trek | 0:10:44 |
48 | Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Wildwolf - Trek Pro Racing | 0:10:59 |
49 | Alexis Chenevier (Fra) Scott Les Saisies | 0:11:10 |
50 | Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Racing | 0:11:11 |
51 | Marek Galinski (Pol) JGB - 2 Professional MTB Team | 0:11:29 |
52 | Adam Craig (USA) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team | 0:11:37 |
53 | Sergji Rysenko (Ukr) Isd MTB Team | 0:12:01 |
54 | Umberto Corti (Ita) Team Cbe Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. | 0:12:22 |
55 | Ruben Almeida (Por) | 0:12:28 |
56 | Hannes Metzler (Aut) | 0:12:32 |
57 | Jérémy Huguenin (Swi) Giant Swiss SR -Suntour | 0:12:34 |
58 | Piotr Brzozka (Pol) JGB - 2 Professional MTB Team | 0:12:44 |
59 | Marc Bassingthwaighte (Nam) | 0:12:52 |
60 | Uwe Hochenwarter (Aut) Muskelkater Genesis Team | 0:12:58 |
61 | Shlomi Haimy (Isr) Focus MIG Team | 0:13:35 |
62 | Kevin Pauwels (Bel) | 0:14:42 |
-1lap | Martin Loo (Est) Hard Rock Canossa Merida | |
-1lap | Spencer Paxson (USA) Kona | |
-1lap | Sebastien Carabin (Bel) Versluys Team | |
-1lap | Hans Becking (Ned) Milka-Superior MTB Racing Team | |
-1lap | Patrik Gallati (Swi) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | |
-1lap | Kazuhiro Yamamoto (Jpn) | |
-1lap | Simon Scheiber (Aut) Felt Oetztal X - Bionic Team | |
-1lap | Pascal Schmutz (Swi) | |
-1lap | Paolo Cesar Montoya Cantillo (CRc) | |
-1lap | Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Lapierre International | |
-1lap | David Joao Serralheiro Rosa (Por) | |
-2laps | Tiago Jorge Oliveira Ferreira (Por) Bi&Esse - Infotre Protek | |
-2laps | Pascal Hossay (Bel) Merida Wallonie Mountain Bike Team | |
-2laps | Benjamin Wittrup Justesen (Den) | |
-2laps | Javier Eduardo Puschel (Chi) | |
-2laps | Lukas Kaufmann (Swi) Team Fujibikes Rockets | |
-2laps | Daniel Eymann (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team | |
-2laps | Severin Disch (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team | |
-2laps | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott - Swisspower MTB Racing Team | |
-2laps | Ludovic Dubau (Fra) Team Newcycling | |
-2laps | Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3Roxracing | |
-2laps | Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) | |
-2laps | Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chi) | |
-2laps | Michael Broderick (USA) | |
-2laps | Seiya Hirano (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team | |
-2laps | Lukas Sablik (Cze) Rubena Auto-Mencik Specialized | |
-2laps | Vitalii Zubchenko (Ukr) Isd MTB Team | |
-2laps | Dariusz Batek (Pol) | |
-2laps | Jonas Baumann (Swi) Wheeler - IXS Team | |
-2laps | Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) | |
-3laps | Davy Huygens (Bel) | |
-3laps | Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Felt Oetztal X - Bionic Team | |
-3laps | Sid Taberlay (Aus) | |
-3laps | Simon Seehofer (Aut) | |
-3laps | Marco Schätzing (Ger) | |
-3laps | Brice Scholtes (Bel) Merida Wallonie Mountain Bike Team | |
-3laps | Tim Lemmers (Ned) Feenstra Stevens Bike Team | |
-3laps | Sandro Soncin (Swi) | |
-3laps | Bojan Djurdjic (Srb) Salcano Factory Team | |
-3laps | Steffen Thum (Ger) | |
-3laps | Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) | |
-3laps | Weisong Tong (Chn) | |
-3laps | Pascal Meyer (Swi) | |
-3laps | Artyom Golovaschenko (Kaz) | |
-3laps | Klaus Nielsen (Den) | |
-3laps | Dennis Ebert (Ned) | |
-3laps | Philip Buys (RSA) | |
-4laps | Robby De Bock (Bel) | |
-4laps | Besik Gavasheli (Geo) | |
DNF | Geoff Kabush (Can) Scott-3Roxracing | |
DNF | Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) Rubena Auto-Mencik Specialized | |
DNF | Moritz Milatz (Ger) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | |
DNF | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Lapierre International | |
DNF | Jiri Novak (Cze) | |
DNF | Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea Racing Team | |
DNF | Daniel Geismayr (Aut) | |
DNF | Andy Eyring (Ger) | |
DNF | Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | |
DNF | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Cannondale Factory Racing | |
DNF | Christoph Soukup (Aut) | |
DNF | Oleksandr Gerashchenko (Ukr) Isd MTB Team | |
DNF | Giancarlo Sax (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team | |
DNF | Adam Morka (Can) | |
DNF | John Whittington (GBr) | |
DNF | Kirill Kazantsev (Kaz) | |
DNF | Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) | |
DNF | Robert Mennen (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team | |
DNF | Sven Nys (Bel) | |
DNF | Tom Meeusen (Bel) | |
DNS | Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott - Swisspower MTB Racing Team | |
DNS | Cédric Ravanel (Fra) GT Skoda Chamonix | |
DNS | Alban Lakata (Aut) Topeak Ergon Racing Team | |
DNS | Brian Lopes (USA) | |
DNS | Heiko Gutmann (Ger) | |
DNS | Miha Halzer (Slo) Energijateam.Com | |
DNS | Florian Thie (Swi) | |
DNS | Arnould Jeremy (Fra) |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Specialized Racing | 68 | pts |
2 | Multivan Merida Biking Team | 64 | |
3 | Cannondale Factory Racing | 41 | |
4 | Orbea Racing Team | 40 | |
5 | Trek World Racing | 37 | |
6 | Rabobank Giant Offroad Team | 36 | |
7 | Wildwolf - Trek Pro Racing | 32 | |
8 | Scott - Swisspower MTB Racing Team | 30 | |
9 | BH - SR Suntour - Peisey Vallandry | 23 | |
10 | TX Active Bianchi | 14 | |
11 | Topeak Ergon Racing Team | 13 | |
12 | Giant Swiss SR -Suntour | 9 | |
13 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 6 | |
14 | Milka-Superior MTB Racing Team | 3 | |
15 | Euroone-Waberer's-Cube MTB Team | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nino Schurter (Swi) | 700 | pts |
2 | Julien Absalon (Fra) | 650 | |
3 | Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) | 625 | |
4 | Burry Stander (RSA) | 568 | |
5 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) | 470 | |
6 | Fabian Giger (Swi) | 440 | |
7 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) | 410 | |
8 | José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) | 405 | |
9 | Ralph Naef (Swi) | 395 | |
10 | Florian Vogel (Swi) | 390 | |
11 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) | 385 | |
12 | Christoph Sauser (Swi) | 364 | |
13 | Stéphane Tempier (Fra) | 364 | |
14 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) | 331 | |
15 | Maxime Marotte (Fra) | 314 | |
16 | Moritz Milatz (Ger) | 290 | |
17 | Rudi Van Houts (Ned) | 284 | |
18 | Martin Gujan (Swi) | 280 | |
19 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) | 272 | |
20 | Emil Lindgren (Swe) | 242 | |
21 | Mathias Flückiger (Swi) | 236 | |
22 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) | 227 | |
23 | Max Plaxton (Can) | 212 | |
24 | Jochen Kass (Ger) | 212 | |
25 | Liam Killeen (GBr) | 206 | |
26 | Geoff Kabush (Can) | 192 | |
27 | Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) | 190 | |
28 | Karl Markt (Aut) | 189 | |
29 | Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) | 187 | |
30 | Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) | 166 | |
31 | Samuel Schultz (USA) | 162 | |
32 | Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) | 160 | |
33 | Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) | 152 | |
34 | Thomas Litscher (Swi) | 148 | |
35 | Marek Konwa* (Pol) | 143 | |
36 | Michele Casagrande (Ita) | 135 | |
37 | Henk Jaap Moorlag* (Ned) | 127 | |
38 | Milan Spesny (Cze) | 124 | |
39 | Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) | 114 | |
40 | Tony Longo (Ita) | 111 | |
41 | Martin Fanger (Swi) | 108 | |
42 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) | 105 | |
43 | Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) | 104 | |
44 | Fabien Canal (Fra) | 103 | |
45 | Sven Nys (Bel) | 100 | |
46 | Martino Fruet (Ita) | 98 | |
47 | Jürg Graf (Swi) | 98 | |
48 | Jiri Novak (Cze) | 91 | |
49 | Stephen Ettinger (USA) | 90 | |
50 | Todd Wells (USA) | 83 | |
51 | Chris Jongewaard (Aus) | 82 | |
52 | Derek Zandstra (Can) | 76 | |
53 | Andrea Tiberi (Ita) | 70 | |
54 | Matous Ulman (Cze) | 68 | |
55 | Andras Parti (Hun) | 63 | |
56 | Uwe Hochenwarter (Aut) | 56 | |
57 | Cédric Ravanel (Fra) | 53 | |
58 | Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) | 53 | |
59 | Jeremiah Bishop (USA) | 52 | |
60 | Piotr Brzozka (Pol) | 51 | |
61 | Umberto Corti (Ita) | 48 | |
62 | Lukas Sablik (Cze) | 42 | |
63 | Lachlan Norris (Aus) | 41 | |
64 | Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) | 40 | |
65 | Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) | 40 | |
66 | Marek Galinski (Pol) | 37 | |
67 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) | 34 | |
68 | Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi) | 30 | |
69 | Robert Mennen (Ger) | 30 | |
70 | Philip Buys (RSA) | 30 | |
71 | Adam Craig (USA) | 29 | |
72 | Alban Lakata (Aut) | 29 | |
73 | Periklis Ilias (Gre) | 27 | |
74 | David Fletcher (GBr) | 24 | |
75 | Patrik Gallati (Swi) | 24 | |
76 | Kristian Hynek (Cze) | 20 | |
77 | Jérémy Huguenin (Swi) | 20 | |
78 | Alexis Chenevier (Fra) | 19 | |
79 | Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus) | 16 | |
80 | Sergji Rysenko (Ukr) | 15 | |
81 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) | 14 | |
82 | Ruben Almeida (Por) | 13 | |
83 | Hannes Metzler (Aut) | 12 | |
84 | Kevin Pauwels (Bel) | 11 | |
85 | Michal Lami (Svk) | 10 | |
86 | David Joao Serralheiro Rosa (Por) | 10 | |
87 | Sebastien Carabin (Bel) | 10 | |
88 | Marc Bassingthwaighte (Nam) | 9 | |
89 | Martin Loo (Est) | 8 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Specialized Racing | 295 | pts |
2 | Cannondale Factory Racing | 238 | |
4 | Multivan Merida Biking Team | 227 | |
3 | Scott - Swisspower MTB Racing Team | 194 | |
6 | Orbea Racing Team | 134 | |
5 | Rabobank Giant Offroad Team | 131 | |
7 | Trek World Racing | 119 | |
10 | Wildwolf - Trek Pro Racing | 83 | |
8 | TX Active Bianchi | 74 | |
9 | BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 59 | |
12 | BH - SR Suntour - Peisey Vallandry | 59 | |
11 | Felt Oetztal X - Bionic Team | 39 | |
13 | Scott-3Roxracing | 35 | |
14 | Elettroveneta - Corratec | 24 | |
15 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 20 | |
20 | Topeak Ergon Racing Team | 17 | |
16 | Subaru - Trek | 11 | |
21 | Giant Swiss SR -Suntour | 10 | |
17 | Rubena Auto-Mencik Specialized | 8 | |
18 | Lapierre International | 6 | |
19 | S&H Superior MTB Team | 5 | |
Milka-Superior MTB Racing Team | |||
Euroone-Waberer's-Cube MTB Team |
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