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Huge surprise at the 2008 Maribor 4-cross with the Spanish victory of Rafael Alvarez. The German duo of Guido Tschugg and Johannes Fischbach are second and third. Among the women, Anneke Beerten won without any problem ahead of Anita Molcik (4 Element Yeti) and Fionn Griffith (Norco World).
 
Spanish Mountain biking history is rich of victories. Riders like Misser, Gonzales and Vasquez have all won major international races in downhill, but an Iberian rider had never won a 4-cross. The damage is fixed. After a suspenseful event (Lopes and Wichman were eliminated prematurely) and in the absence of Prokop and Graves (committed in Denmark for BMX) a big change in the hierarchy was expected. Driven by several thousands of spectators massed along the track, Alvarez had smooth runs. Even if he had to let Guido Tschugg pass in the quarter and semi finals, the brilliant Spaniard earned his ticket to the final. Winner here last year, Romain Saladini fails in the semi finals. None of the top five of the last final World Cup overall standings figured in final run! "It's incredible! I have seen all the runs that I was not too bad and I hoped to go as far as possible” said Alvarez who won eight times the Spanish BMX national title.
 
Regarding the Women, Anneke Beerten, winner of the last year’s World Cup didn’t have to work hard. The Dutch rider of Team MS-Intense won her sixth World Cup round and got the leader's jersey. The Austrian Anita Molcik is second while Fionn Griffith is third.
 
MARIBOR WORLD CUP 4X RESULTS
1. Rafael Alvarez (Spn)
2. Guido Tschugg (Ger)
3. Johannes Fischbach (Ger)...Ghost Int
4. Tomas Slavik (Cze)
5. Cedric Gracia (Fra)...Commencal-Furious
6. Romain Saladini (Fra)...Sunn
7. Mickael Deldycke (Fra)
8. Jurg Meijer (Ned)
9. Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)...Suzuki-Rb
10. Tomas Haluza (Cze)
18. Ross Milan (USA)...Yeti-Fox Shox
33. Brian Lopes (USA)...Oakley-Ibis
36. Michael Haderer (USA)...Fox-Yeti
WOMEN
1. Anneke Beerten (Ned)...Ms-Intense
2. Anita Molcik (Aut)...4 Element Yeti
3. Fionn Griffiths (GBr)...Norco
4. Melissa Buhl (USA)...KHS
5. Lucia Oetjen (Swi)
6. Helene Fruhwirth (Aut)
7. Eva Castro (Spn)
8. Diana Marggraff (Ecu)
9. Kathleen Pruitt (USA)
10. Marielle Jonker (Ned)