Federspiel powers to Val di Sole eliminator win
By Tour of Japan published
Austrian dominates final and leads World Cup overall
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
# | Rider Name (Country) Team |
---|---|
1 | Daniel Federspiel (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team |
2 | Miha Halzer (Slo) |
3 | Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) |
4 | Fabrice Mels* (Bel) Salcano Alanya |
5 | Philip Buys (RSA) |
6 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott Swisspower MTB Racing Team |
7 | Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Wild Wolf Trek Pro Racing |
8 | Fabien Canal (Fra) Asptt Definitive Tec |
9 | Titouan Perrin Ganier* (Fra) Focus/Rotor/Coaching-System.Fr |
10 | Jeroen Van Eck* (Ned) MPL Specialized MTB Team |
11 | Andy Eyring (Ger) |
12 | Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) Team Bulls |
13 | Gregor Raggl* (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team |
14 | Stefan Peter* (Swi) Strübi MTB Kader |
15 | Axel Lindh* (Swe) |
16 | Julian Schelb* (Ger) |
17 | Ludek° Seller (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna Specialized Junior MTB Team |
18 | Matthias Wengelin (Swe) |
19 | Heiko Gutmann (Ger) |
20 | Marco Schätzing (Ger) |
21 | Kenta Gallagher* (GBr) Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team |
22 | Pascal Schmutz (Swi) Goldwurst-Power / Stöckli |
23 | Martino Fruet (Ita) |
24 | Christian Pfäffle* (Ger) |
25 | Miguel Martinez (Fra) |
26 | Louis Bendixen° (Den) |
27 | Thibault Geneste* (Fra) Newcycling |
28 | Pascal Meyer (Swi) JB Felt Team |
29 | Andrea Righettini* (Ita) Focus XC Italy Team |
30 | Antoine Bouqueret* (Fra) Scott La Clusaz |
31 | Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi) |
32 | Urban Ferencak* (Slo) Calcit Bike Team |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Daniel Federspiel (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team | 140 | pts |
2 | Miha Halzer (Slo) | 95 | |
3 | Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) | 74 | |
4 | Kenta Gallagher* (GBr) Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team | 60 | |
5 | Christian Pfäffle* (Ger) | 60 | |
6 | Thomas Litscher (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team | 41 | |
7 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott Swisspower MTB Racing Team | 36 | |
8 | Fabien Canal (Fra) Asptt Definitive Tec | 29 | |
9 | Fabrice Mels* (Bel) Salcano Alanya | 28 | |
10 | Andy Eyring (Ger) | 28 | |
11 | Raphael Gagne (Can) | 25 | |
12 | Philip Buys (RSA) | 24 | |
13 | Stefan Peter* (Swi) Strübi MTB Kader | 23 | |
14 | Thibault Geneste* (Fra) Newcycling | 20 | |
15 | Titouan Perrin Ganier* (Fra) Focus/Rotor/Coaching-System.Fr | 18 | |
16 | Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Wild Wolf Trek Pro Racing | 16 | |
17 | Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi) | 16 | |
18 | Mirco Widmer (Swi) Giant Dealerteams | 16 | |
19 | Lehvi Braam° (Ned) Netherlands | 12 | |
20 | Jeroen Van Eck* (Ned) MPL Specialized MTB Team | 10 | |
21 | Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) Team Bulls | 9 | |
22 | Martin Gluth* (Ger) | 8 | |
23 | Jan Nesvadba* (Cze) | 6 | |
24 | Gregor Raggl* (Aut) Ötztal Scott Racing Team | 4 | |
25 | Heiko Gutmann (Ger) | 4 | |
26 | Axel Lindh* (Swe) | 2 | |
27 | Erik Groen (Ned) Feenstra Felt Powered By Kenda | 2 | |
28 | Julian Schelb* (Ger) | 1 |

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