Cold temperatures and rain did not dampen the competition at the fourth round of the 4 Cross Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano in Leogang, Austria. Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) took his third win of the season to extend his lead in the men's series, while defending 2009 women's champion Anneke Beerten (Suspension Center) finally won her first World Cup of the year.
The view everyone else had of Jared Graves (Yeti-Fox ). Rob Jones photo
WOMEN'S 4-CROSS
 Anneke Beerten of Suspension Center leads Romana Labounkova in the 4-Cross finals. Rob Jones photo
In the absence of World Cup leader Jana Horakova of the Czech Republic, who is preparing for the BMX World Championships, the lead for the women's series was going to change, but would it be Beerten, local Austrian favourite Anita Molcik or Czech rider Romana Labounkova? Labounkova qualified fastest, followed by Molcik and Beerten, but all three were separated by less than a second.
Molcik crashed out in the slippery conditions in the semi final round, setting up a final with Beerten, Labounkova, Fionn Griffiths (Norco World Team) and South African Joanna Petterson. Beerten got a good start gate and led from start to finish, while Griffiths and Labounkova fought for second. The pair tangled on the last turn, allowing Petterson to squeak by for second, with Labounkova having to settle for third. Molcik won the snmall final for fifth place. The win put Beerten into the series lead, ten points ahead of the absent Horakova, with Molcik a further ten points back in third.
Anneke Beerten of Suspension Center celebrates with 2nd place Joanna Peterson. Rob Jones photo
MEN'S 4-CROSS
Michal Marosi (RSP 4-Cross Racing Team). Rob Jones photo
The men's competition came down to avoiding crashing, as top riders went out every round after slipping and sliding in the muddy conditions, as the track became more and more torn up by successive heats of racing. Former world champion Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) won the qualifying, two-tenths of a second ahead of Graves, with Swiss rider David Graf at six-tenths back. Dan Atherton (Commencal) and Joost Wichman (RSP 4 Cross) were also less than a second off the best time.
In the 1/8 final heats Atherton and Dutch rider Roger Rinderknecht both crashed out of competition, followed by Prokop in the quarter finals. Prokop's crash was possibly the most spectacular of the night, as he flew through the air like a ragdoll after hitting a jump wrong. Fortunately, he was able to walk away from the crash. Less fortunate was Graf in the semi finals, who put a foot wrong, twisting it and dislocating it badly. Competition was delayed while he was airlifted to hospital.
Wichman and his team mate Tomas Slavik won that semi final, while Graves and round two winner Michal Marosi (RSP 4-Cross) advanced through to the final in the other semi. Marosi had won the second round at Maribor in similar wet and muddy conditions, could he do it again?
Mens 4-Cross podium (l tor ) Joost Wichman RSP (4th), Tomas Slavik RSP (2nd), Jared Graves of Yeti-Fox (1st), Michal Marosi RSP (3rd), Jakub Riha (5th). Rob Jones photo
The final was Graves versus three riders from RSP 4-Cross - Wichman, Slavik and Marosi. Graves got out in front immediately with his usual fast gate, and maintained control all the way to the finish line. Wichman was closing a couple times, but made some bad line choices and nearly took out his teammates - an aggressive ride, but not in control. It hurt him in the end, as he finished fourth behind Slavik and Marosi.
"I knew things were gonna get crazy," commented Graves. "Those RSP guys, they gang up on me. It's wild racing in the mud. Always a ton of fun. Anything can happen, so I had a great time today. I think this type of course is what we need more of. I loved it from the first time I saw it. Big lines, big gaps; you can really make some time"
Graves third win now puts him 175 points ahead of Slavik, with Wichman 190 points back. These two riders have a slim mathematical chance of catching Graves for the World Cup title, but the odds are that Graves has already wrapped up the 2010 title.
RESULTS
Women
Big Final
1 Anneke Beerten (Ned) Suspension Center
2 Joanna Petterson (RSA)
3 Romana Labounkova (Cze)
4 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team
Small Final
5 Anita Molcik (Aut) Yeti
6 Katy Curd (GBr)
7 Sarsha Huntington (Aus)
8 Neza Knez (Slo) Unior Tools Team
1/4 Finals
9 Steffi Marth (Ger)
10 Lucia Oetjen (Sui) Thoemus Racing Team
11 Helene Valerie Fruhwirth (Aut) RCAlpine Commencal Austria
12 Tereza Votavova (Cze)
13 Laura Brethauer (Ger)
14 Neven Steinmetz (USA)
15 Lea Schleifenbaum (Ger)
Men
Big Final
1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
2 Tomas Slavik (Cze) Rsp 4 Cross Racing Team
3 Michal Marosi (Cze) Rsp 4 Cross Racing Team
4 Joost Wichman (Ned) Rsp 4 Cross Racing Team
Small Final
5 Jakub Riha (Cze)
6 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre
7 Filip Polc (Svk) Ms Evil Racing
8 David Graf (Sui)
1/4 Finals
9 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)
10 Quentin Derbier (Fra)
11 Cédric Gracia (Fra)
12 Tom Dowie (GBr)
13 Michal Prokop (Cze) Agang Racing
14 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team
15 Jakub Hnidak (Cze)
16 Richard Levinson (Aus)
1/8 Finals
17 Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal
18 Adam Stasek (Cze)
19 Jurg Meijer (Ned) Rsp 4 Cross Racing Team
20 Sidney Gerber (Sui)
21 Jules Grimaldi (Fra)
22 Adrian Kiener (Sui)
23 Roger Rinderknecht (Sui)
24 Andreas Dotzauer (Ger)
25 Lukas Mechura (Cze)
26 Hannes Slavik (Aut) Rc Alpine Commencal Austria
27 Petr Muhlhans (Cze)
28 Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr)
29 David Habicht (Aus)
30 Scott Roberts (GBr)
31 Ghislain Ricci (Fra)
32 Simon Waldburger (Sui)
1/16 Finals
33 William Evans (GBr)
34 Giacomo Fantoni (Ita)
35 Stepan Novotny (Cze)
36 Matej Stapic (Slo)
37 Nico Seidel (Ger)
38 Bartosz Giemza (Pol)
39 Stefan Scherz (Ger)
40 Lukasz Baran (Pol)
41 Basil Weber (Sui)
42 Kristjan Medvescek (Slo)
43 Piotr Paradowski (Pol)
44 Thomas Krainer (Aut)
45 Kai Wendschuh (Ger)
46 Mariusz Jarek (Pol)
47 Mirco Weiss (Sui) Scott 11
48 Fabian Kuttel (Sui)
49 Robert Kulesza (Pol)
50 Felix Beckeman (Swe)
51 Stefan Kiser (Sui) Thoemus Racing Team
52 Arne Tschugg (Ger)
53 Benjamin Kistner (Sui)
54 Tomas Brozik (Cze)
55 Jakub Pytlik (Cze)
56 Robert Simecek (Cze)
57 Johnny Magis (Bel)
58 Daniel Fülle (Ger)
59 Gabor Vigh-Kiss (Hun)
60 Werner Muther (Sui) Thoemus Racing Team
61 Mitch Ropelato (USA) Ex Drinks
62 Martin Söderström (Swe)
63 Peter Prajczer (Hun)
64 Premek Tejchman (Cze)
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