Federspiel powers to Val di Sole eliminator win

In the third round of the eliminator at the Mountain Bike World Cup, overall leader Daniel Federspiel (Otztal Scott) won his second World Cup of the year.

The Val di Sole, Italy course was very different from the preceding two rounds, with a steep climb followed by jumps and banked turns on a four cross circuit, and finally a long grass straightaway to the finish. The winning tactic - for those who were strong enough - was to reach the top of the climb in first place, and then open a gap in the four cross section.

Federspiel only qualified seventh. However, while other riders slowed after multiple races up the climb, the Austrian rider seemed to get stronger, winning both his quarter and semi-final rounds.

In the final, Federspiel was joined by Slovenian Mika Halzer, Germany's Simon Gegenheimer and Fabrice Mels (Salcano Alanya). Federspiel had a strong start in the final, opening a gap by the top of the climb and cruising to the win. Halzer had to come from behind to take second, just ahead of Gegenheimer, with Mels finishing fourth.

"That uphill was really tough," said Federspiel. "So I ran a little bit of tactics all through the heats, trying to save my power for the upcoming [final] heats, and then in the final, I attacked on the uphill, and it was great."

Federspiel now leads the overall World Cup men's standings with 140 points after three rounds, followed by Halzer with 95 points and Gegenheimer with 74.

Full Results