(Photos and Story by Rob Jones)
Elite Women
Catharine Pendrel (Canada) on her way to gold
Catharine Pendrel brought Canada it's first elite cross-country world title since Roland Green a decade ago, and the first women's title since Alison Sydor 15 years ago. Defending world champion Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) fought back from a flat tire early in the race to finish second, while Eva Lechner (Italy) took the bronze. All in all, it was a stellar race for Canada, with three riders in the top -ten - Emily Batty finished eighth and Marie-Helene Premont ninth.
Defending champion Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) had to settle for silver
Pendrel came into the race as the favorite, having won the last two World Cups, and with her usual rival Julie Bresset having raced earlier in the week in the Under 23 category (which she won, easily). However, Wloszczowska had shown that she would be a contender when she finished second to Pendrel in the last World Cup two weeks earlier.
Eva Lechner (Italy) took bronze
The two riders quickly dropped the rest of the field, and were slightly clear by the end of the start loop, as they started six laps of the 4.8 kilometer circuit. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flessjaa (Norway), Lechner and Irina Kalentieva (Russia) came through 15 seconds back. By the end of the lap, the gap was up to nearly 30 seconds on Lechner, with Kalentieva and Dahle Flesjaa a further 10 seconds back, and Batty having moved up to sixth at 1:20.
Pendrel, who was faster in the slippery, rooty sections, attacked her rival at the top of the final climb before the technical descent into the finish, initial opening a small gap, which suddenly began to grow rapidly after Wloszczowska suffered a rear flat and had to run over a kilometer to the tech zone.
This put Pendrel firmly in control by mid-race, as Lechner moved up to second, but nearly a minute down. Wloszczowska joined Dahle Flessja on the third lap after a quick wheel change, and caught and passed Lechner by lap four, but Pendrel was now over a minute up. The gap stayed steady through the fifth lap, with the Polish and Italian working together on the flats and the climbs, until Wloszczowska finally dropped Lechner near the end of the lap to take possession of the silver medal position.
Canada's Catharine Pendrel wins
The Polish rider was giving it everything, and it showed: the gap dropped to 35 seconds with half a lap to go. However, Pendrel managed to get to the top of the final climb with 30 seconds in hand, and her victory was assured.
"I was definitely kind of nervous knowing Maja was coming back for me," agreed Pendrel. "At the beginning of the race I realized that Maja and I were riding very equally. She was climbing exceptionally well and so I tried to get a gap on that descent and that's where Maja flatted. She was able to come back from that and that she started to bring in the time so I knew she was motivated."
"I had gotten an email from former Luna teammate and former World Champion, Alison Dunlap, and she told me that at World Championships you've got to race that last lap like it's a time trial. When she won the World Championships she went from third to first in the last lap. So I knew that I had to ride that last lap like a time trial as well, because Maja was going to ride it like a time trial."
Lea Davison (USA) was top American in 10th
"It’s been a couple of years when I've been sixth, sixth, sixth, fourth, but never a medal. I've been really consistent these past couple of years on the World Cup but I never was able to put it all together on the big day and today it really happened. I was definitely really motivated. I don't know if that any climb has ever hurt as much as that last climb. I'm so happy that it all stayed together."
Wloszczowska, commented that she will still be tied to the rainbow jersey, because her mother's company makes the clothing for Pendrel's Luna team. "It's something special to wear the rainbow jersey and I'm happy I had the opportunity to wear it, but I'm really happy about the silver. I had the greatest battle of my life coming back after I got a flat tire on the longest downhill at the end of the technical descent on the third lap. I rode on the flat tire for 1-1.5 kilometers, so I lost a minute or a minute and a half. I think someone gave me a flat tire today though, because Catharine has had a great season and she deserved to win."
Maja Wloszczowska, Catharine Pendrel, Eva Lechner
Women's Quotes:
Lea Davison (10th) – “My leg cramped up on lap three so I kind of took it back a couple of notches and tried to conserve then. Then when one leg felt better the other one started cramping. So I was a little bit on damage control but it makes sense because this course is so muscular that it really takes a toll. But I was able to push through it so I was really happy with that. I was definitely hoping for top-10. I think if I’d got a better start then I could have done more but it is what is and I’m happy with it.”
Heather Irminger (11th) – “I got stuck behind four different crashes and then on the start climb I was moving up and my chain fell off and someone fell in front of me again and I was dead last going up the start lap. I feel like I had ‘medal’ legs today, like I feel like I could have medaled. I can’t wait to see those lap times. I’m a mix of really really frustrated and totally stoked all at once because I felt exactly the way I wanted to today and everything went great except the luck I had was just unreal at the start.”
Results:
Maja Wloszczowska, Catharine Pendrel, and Eva Lechner enjoy their bubbly
Elite Women, 31.8 km (start loop + 6 laps)
1 Catharine Pendrel (Canada)
2 Maja Wloszczowska (Poland)
3 Eva Lechner (Italy)
4 Irina Kalentieva (Russian Federation)
5 Nathalie Schneitter (Switzerland)
6 Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Norway)
7 Rosara Joseph (New Zealand)
8 Emily Batty (Canada)
9 Marie-Helene Premont (Canada)
10 Lea Davison (United States of America)
11 Heather Irmiger (United States of America)
12 Alexandra Engen (Sweden)
13 Blaza Klemencic (Slovenia)
14 Katerina Nash (Czech Republic)
15 Mary Mcconneloug (United States of America)
16 Vera Andreeva (Russian Federation)
17 Sabine Spitz (Germany)
18 Elisabeth Osl (Austria)
19 Cécile Ravanel (France)
20 Georgia Gould (United States of America)
21 Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Poland)
22 Katrin Leumann (Switzerland)
23 Karen Hanlen (New Zealand)
24 Tanja Zakelj (Slovenia)
25 Sabrina Enaux (France)
26 Katarzyna Solus-Miskowiez (Poland)
27 Sarah Koba (Switzerland)
28 Rie Katayama (Japan)
29 Laura Metzler (France)
30 Jean Ann Berkenpas (Canada)
31 Catherine Vipond (Canada)
32 Magdalena Sadlecka (Poland)
33 Janka Stevkova (Slovakia)
34 Esther Süss (Switzerland)
35 Amanda Sin (Canada)
36 Elisabeth Brandau (Germany)
37 Marielle Saner-Guinchard (Switzerland)
38 Nina Homovec (Slovenia)
39 Qinglan Shi (People's Republic of China)
40 Katherine Compton (United States of America)
41 Noelia Rodriguez (Argentina)
42 Judy Freeman (United States of America)
43 Adelheid Morath (Germany)
44 Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic)
45 Krista Park (United States of America)
46 Katherine O'shea (Australia)
47 Nataliya Krompets (Ukraine)
48 Annika Langvad (Denmark)
49 Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Spain)
50 Anja Gradl (Germany)
51 Laura Lorenza Morfin Macouzet (Mexico)
52 Maaris Meier (Estonia)
53 Lee Craigie (Great Britain)
54 Viviana Andrea Maya Tabares (Colombia)
55 Sandra Santanyes Murillo (Spain)
56 Roberta Kelly Stopa (Brazil)
57 Alexandra Gabriela Serrano Rodriguez (Ecuador)
58 Elisa Maria Garcia (Chile)
59 Yu Xin (People's Republic of China)
60 Gabriela Vargas (Chile) -
DNS Lene Byberg (Norway)
DNS Anna Szafraniec (Poland)
DNS Anna Villar Argente (Spain)
DNS Hanna Klein (Germany)
DNS Pavlina Sulcova (Czech Republic)
DNS Carina Kirssi (Finland)
DNS Ann Berglund (Sweden)
DNS Andrea Kirsic (Croatia)
DNS Liliana Alejandra Uzcategui Vasquez (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
Elite Men
Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic) leading on the climb
Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic) completed his perfect season by taking the Elite men's cross-country title at the world championships on Saturday, but not without the hardest battle of the year against Nino Schurter, who was trying to give host Switzerland the win. Schurter took the silver medal, with four-time champion Julien Absalon (France) finishing third. North American's had one of their strongest days of the
season, with Todd Wells (USA) finishing seventh, and Geoff Kabush
(Canada) tenth.
Nino Schurter (Switzerland) lead at the end of every lap, except the final
Kulhavy, after winning five of seven World Cups this season, looked to be an unstoppable force. Switzerland decided an all out attack was the best way to counter, and Schurter with team mate Florian Vogel did just that on the start loop of the seven lap race. The three quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field. Vogel dropped back to a chase group by the end of the first lap, with Absalon, defending champion Jose Hermida (Spain), Maxime Marotte (France). Marotte flatted mid-race, putting him out of medal contention.
Schurter could manage to gap Kulhavy on the climbs, but the Czech never appeared to be struggling much, and closed it up on the descents each time. While the two were testing each other, Absalon and Hermida joined them on the fourth lap, just as it started to rain, making the rooty, technical sections that much more slippery.
Julien Absalon (France)
The fifth lap saw Schurter attack once again, as Kulhavy seemed to be having problems in the slippery conditions. Absalon and then Hermida were dropped, with Absalon taking over third for good when Hermida flatted.
Lap six finally saw Kulhavy take control, and halfway through the lap he was ten seconds up on Schurter, and over seconds ahead of Absalon. Hermida was alone in fourth, but a minute back. The Czech rider proved that he had been holding back thus far in the race, as he began the final lap 24 seconds ahead of Schurter, and doubled that by the end of the final lap. Normally emotionless, Kulhavy appeared somewhat overwhelmed as he grabbed a Czech flag and rolled across the finish line.
"The beginning of the race was very hard for me because Nino was very strong on the climb," Kulhavy explained, "and I was dead there. But during the race I felt better and ended up feeling good. I attacked Nino after the drop because I felt really strong in the flat and then Nino was 10 seconds, 20 seconds behind me and I felt good so I kept going. I think the 29" bike was the best choice for this course. Maybe in the corners it's a little slower but over the technical parts and on the flats it was an advantage."
Schurter was philosophical about losing, "Kulhavy was just stronger than me today but it was one of my most exciting races since it was in front of a home crowd. We [Florian Vogel and I] always try to ride together but we never choose a tactic before the race. If we have the chance we work together but unfortunately today he couldn't follow."
"At one point I was 5-6 seconds ahead of Jaroslav but I didn't attack on the technical descent because I knew Jaroslav was fast on the flats and would catch me."
Absalon admitted that his days of domination are over, "I did see the rain and think that this could be my chance to win but it's no longer possible for me to gain time on the descents. Finished are the days when I could gain 30 seconds on a downhill. Nino and Jaroslav are too good technically for that to happen. Now we all have similar splits on the downhill sections of the course."
"To win now you have to have the perfect race, and to beat Jaroslav you must be in peak shape as well. I fell during my second lap and had to work hard to bridge the gap after that so I used a lot of energy then. I also had slick tires like many of the other riders which made it difficult in the rain."
Todd Wells (USA) fought his way up from 40th to 7th
Wells, after a poor start, moved up steadily through the field, passing Kabush in 15th on lap four. Both riders began picking off riders in the slippery conditions of the second half of the race.
Todd Wells: “It started out horrible. I think maybe I was in 40th place after the start. And when you’re back there there’s nowhere to pass in the woods so you just have to be patient and save energy and then when the trail opens up, 5 people, 10 people, 3 people, and eventually I made it up there into the top-10. I was really hoping to get top-5 today because that is an automatic qualifier for our Olympic team but I ran out of laps - needed to be better at the beginning. The front’s a crap shoot if you’re not on the front row so today I just had bad luck at the start."
Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic) wins
Results:
Men's podium: Nino Schurter, Jaroslav Kulhavy, Julien Absalon
Elite Men, 36.6 km (start loop + 7 laps)
1 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic)
2 Nino Schurter (Switzerland)
3 Julien Absalon (France)
4 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain)
5 Lukas Flückiger (Switzerland)
6 Florian Vogel (Switzerland)
7 Todd Wells (United States of America)
8 Christoph Sauser (Switzerland)
9 Manuel Fumic (Germany)
10 Geoff Kabush (Canada)
11 Jan Skarnitzl (Czech Republic)
12 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (United States of America)
13 Mathias Flückiger (Switzerland)
14 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spain)
15 Kevin van Hoovels (Belgium)
16 Maxime Marotte (France)
17 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spain)
18 Emil Lindgren (Sweden)
19 Fabian Giger (Switzerland)
20 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy)
21 Rudi van Houts (Netherlands)
22 Max Plaxton (Canada)
23 Kohei Yamamoto (Japan)
24 Milan Spesny (Czech Republic)
25 Martin Gujan (Switzerland)
26 Derek Zandstra (Canada)
27 Jochen Kass (Germany)
28 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spain)
29 Karl Markt (Austria)
30 Stéphane Tempier (France)
31 Moritz Milatz (Germany)
32 Periklis Ilias (Greece)
33 Jiri Friedl (Czech Republic)
34 Adam Craig (United States of America)
35 Samuel Schultz (United States of America)
36 Catriel Andres Soto (Argentina)
37 Chris Jongewaard (Australia)
38 Marek Galinski (Poland)
39 Umberto Corti (Italy)
40 Sid Taberlay (Australia)
41 Rotem Ishai (Israel)
42 Anton Gogolev (Russian Federation)
43 Jeremiah Bishop (United States of America)
44 Michal Lami (Slovakia)
45 Andrea Tiberi (Italy)
46 Martin Loo (Estonia)
47 Robert Mennen (Germany)
48 Rubens Valeriano (Brazil)
49 Uwe Hochenwarter (Austria)
50 Ole Christian Fagerli (Norway)
51 David Joao Serralheiro Rosa (Portugal)
52 Carl Jones (New Zealand)
53 Andras Parti (Hungary)
54 Alban Lakata (Austria)
55 Daniel McConnell (Australia)
56 Adam Morka (Canada)
57 Hannes Metzler (Austria)
58 Michele Casagrande (Italy)
59 Sergji Rysenko (Ukraine)
60 Evgeniy Pechenin (Russian Federation)
61 Oleksandr Gerashchenko (Ukraine)
62 Tiago Jorge Oliveira Ferreira (Portugal)
63 Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Colombia)
64 Eddie Andres Rendon (Colombia)
65 Robert Gehbauer (Austria)
66 Spencer Paxson (United States of America)
67 Matous Ulman (Czech Republic)
68 Michael Broderick (United States of America)
69 Ken Onodera (Japan)
70 Wolfram Kurschat (Germany)
71 Matt Hadley (Canada)
72 Tony Longo (Italy)
73 Mario Alberto Rojas Rojas (Colombia)
74 Marc Bassingthwaighte (Namibia)
75 Luciano Caraccioli (Argentina)
76 Edivando Cruz de Souza (Brazil)
77 Kazuhiro Yamamoto (Japan)
78 Benjamin Wittrup Justesen (Denmark)
79 Seiya Hirano (Japan)
80 Lachlan Norris (Australia)
81 Klaus Nielsen (Denmark)
82 Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chile)
83 Dani Simcic (Croatia)
84 Paolo Cesar Montoya Cantillo (Costa Rica)
85 Chun Hing Chan (Hong-Kong, China)
86 Philip Buys (South Africa)
87 Weisong Tong (People's Republic of China)
88 Claus Plaut Guzman (Chile)
89 Emmanuel Valencia Guadarrama (Mexico)
90 Andrew Watson (Canada)
91 Sang Hoon Na (Republic of Korea)
DNF Hakan Yildirim (Turkey)
DNF Christoph Soukup (Austria)
DNF Magnus Darvell (Sweden)
DNF Georgios Pattes-Toumanis (Greece)
DNF Alexey Medvedev (Russian Federation)
DNF Javier Eduardo Puschel (Chile)
DNF Anton Sintsov (Russian Federation)
DNF Burry Stander (South Africa)
DNF Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain)
DNF Liam Killeen (Great Britain)
DNF Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spain)
DNF Dario Alejandro Gasco (Argentina)
DNS Jukka Vastaranta (Finland)
DNS Szilard Buruczki (Hungary)
DNS Bojan Djurdjic (Serbia)
DNS Gonzalo Eduardo Aravena Garcia (Chile)
DNS Ruben E Parra (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
DNS Antonio Guzman (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
DNS Adrian Brzozka (Poland)
DNS Dmitry Medvedev (Russian Federation)
U23 Men XC
Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) went to the front and stayed there
Thomas Litscher gave host country Switzerland their
second cross-country gold medal of the Mountain Bike World Championships
in the Under23 Men's race with a dominating performance.
Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) wins
Marek Konwa (Poland) took the silver medal and Henk Jaap Moorlag of the
Netherlands held off two chasing Swiss riders to take bronze.
Marek Konwa (Poland)
Litscher came into the race as the favorite, after racing to multiple
top-15 placings among the Elite field at the World Cup. He broke away on
the start loop, and was not seriously challenged for the rest of the
six lap race, setting the fastest splits in all but one lap. Under 23
World Cup champion Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy) attempted to stay with
Litscher through the start loop and first lap, which may have been a
mistake - when other riders bridged up to him in the middle of the race,
he had nothing left to follow when they attacked on the climbs.
Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy)
Konwa spent the early part of the race in fifth and sixth place and
suffered a mechanical that required a pit stop, before surging mid-race
with a strong effort in laps three and four - the second fastest split
on lap three and the fastest on lap four. He had moved up with Moorlag,
but the Dutch rider couldn't match his speed on lap four, although both
caught and dropped Kerschbaumer on that lap.
Henk Jaap Moorlag (Netherlands) caught and passed a tiring Gerhard Kerschbaumer
"I broke my seatpost on the downhill before the feed zone," said Konwa.
"I went without a seatpost for a bit and then they changed it very fast.
My legs felt very good so I passed the three riders. I am very happy
because I always have a mechanical problem but I was able to overcome
this one."
Thomas Litscher starts his last lap
The medal positions were set by the start of lap five,
and Litscher rolled into a packed arena of Swiss fans to take the Under
23 title, in his final year in the category.
“My goal for the start loop was to not go too fast but to go in the
front", explained Litscher, "because when you're behind there's much
more risk for crashes. I felt strong and the Swiss crowds were so crazy
and loud I barely felt my legs. I was first in the downhill and I got a
gap after the first downhill. I waited for Kerschbaumer because alone
it's very hard on this course. I thought Kerschbaumer could follow me on
the technical sections but after the second downhill I was alone and
then I went off alone and concentrated very hard throughout all the
technical sections and built a lead up that way."
Results:
(U23 Men, 31.8 km, start loop + 6 laps):
1 Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) 1:32:30
2 Marek Konwa (Poland) at 1:42
3 Henk Jaap Moorlag (Netherlands) 2:13
4 Matthias Stirnemann (Switzerland) 3:33
5 Reto Indergand (Switzerland) 4:17
6 Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy) 5:00
7 Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Germany) 5:13
8 Diego Rosa (Italy) 5:27
9 Sebastien Carabin (Belgium) 5:35
10 Jordan Sarrou (France) 6:03
11 Michiel Van Der Heijden (Netherlands) 6:46
12 Ruben Scheire (Belgium) 7:05
13 Timofei Ivanov (Russian Federation) 7:13
14 Nicholas Pettina (Italy) 7:42
15 Paul Van Der Ploeg (Australia) 7:58
16 Andy Eyring (Germany) 8:06
17 Luca Braidot (Italy) 8:34
18 Piotr Brzozka (Poland) 8:46
19 Jérémy Huguenin (Switzerland) 9:07
20 Marcel Fleschhut (Germany) 9:14
21 Marek Rauchfuss (Czech Republic) 9:29
22 Zsolt Juhasz (Hungary) 9:33
23 Fabien Canal (France) 9:46
24 Sherman Paiva (Brazil) 10:04
25 Henrique Avancini (Brazil) 10:12
26 Kenta Gallagher (Great Britain) 10:14
27 Dmytro Titarenko (Ukraine) 10:41
28 Shlomi Haimy (Israel) 10:42
29 Leandre Bouchard (Canada) 10:48
30 Matej Nepustil (Czech Republic) 11:02
31 Rourke Croeser (South Africa) 11:09
32 James Reid (South Africa) 11:10
33 Kerry Werner (United States of America) 11:11
34 Jan Nesvadba (Czech Republic) 11:27
35 Tomas Paprstka (Czech Republic) 11:44
36 Dirk Peters (New Zealand) 11:51
37 Pavel Priadein (Russian Federation) 12:03
38 Markus Bauer (Germany) 12:18
39 Ivan Smirnov (Russian Federation) 12:35
40 Julian Schelb (Germany) 12:58
41 Jack Hinkens (United States of America) 13:11
42 Jeremy Martin (Canada) 13:52
43 Mario Luis Miranda Costa (Portugal) 14:53
44 Marc Metzler (Switzerland) -1 Lap
45 Kornel Osicki (Poland) -1 Lap
46 Trenton Day (Australia) -1 Lap
47 Jonas Pedersen (Denmark) -1 Lap
48 Daniel Eymann (Switzerland) -1 Lap
49 Olof Jonsson (Sweden) -1 Lap
50 Mitchell Bailey (Canada) -1 Lap
U23 Women
Day two of the Mountain Bike World Championships in
Champery, Switzerland was France Day, with the rouge, blanc et bleu
tri-color taking both cross-country world titles contested. Julie
Bresset, as expected, easily took the Under 23 Women's title.
Julie Bresset (France)
Annie Last (Great Britain)
Bresset pushed her lead out over a minute by the halfway mark, but Last
fought back to bring it below a minute with two laps to go, only to see
her rival increase it again to 90 seconds by the finish. Behind them,
Ferrand-Prevot was a distant 5:47 off the pace of Bresset for the bronze
medal. only 14 riders finished on the same lap as the winner, out of
44 starters.
Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France)
"After yesterday's success in the team relay I managed to refocus and
get really into this race," explained Bresset. "A race is never won
before the finish so I really had to focus. I was completely
concentrated right until I passed the finish line. You can't think
about other things during the race. I only allowed myself to relax as I
crossed the finish line."
Canadian Andreanne Pichette was the top North American, in 22nd place,
four spots ahead of Canadian national champion Mikaela Kofman, who
competed despite a broken nose and fractured rib, suffered in a training
crash earlier in the week.
Results:
Medal winners: Annie Last, Julie Bresset, Pauline Ferrand Prevot
U23 Women, 27 km (start loop + 5 laps)
1 Julie Bresset (France)
2 Annie Last (Great Britain)
3 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France)
4 Helen Grobert (Germany)
5 Anne Terpstra (Netherlands)
6 Yana Belomoyna (Ukraine)
7 Vivienne Meyer (Switzerland)
8 Lisa Mitterbauer (Austria)
9 Fanny Bourdon (France)
10 Lorraine Truong (Switzerland)
11 Kajsa Snihs (Sweden)
12 Ekaterina Anoshina (Russian Federation)
13 Jitka Skarnitzlova (Czech Republic)
14 Elisabeth Sveum (Norway)
15 Katherine O'Neill (New Zealand)
16 Mona Eiberweiser (Germany)
17 Kseniya Kirillova (Russian Federation)
18 Mariske Strauss (South Africa)
19 Noga Korem (Israel)
20 Rebecca Henderson (Australia)
21 Michelle Hediger (Switzerland)
22 Andréanne Pichette (Canada)
23 Karolina Kalasova (Czech Republic)
24 Yue Bai (People's Republic of China)
25 Sabrina Maurer (Switzerland)
26 Mikaela Kofman (Canada)
27 Paula Gorycka (Poland)
28 Marta Tereshchuk (Ukraine)
29 Candice Neethling (South Africa)
30 Laura Valentina Abril Restrepo (Colombia)
31 Jill Behlen (United States of America)
32 Weronika Rybarczyk (Poland)
33 Laura Bietola (Canada)
34 Irina Slobodyan (Ukraine)
35 Ines Carolina Gutiérrez (Argentina)
36 Minyan Hang (People's Republic of China)
37 Daniela Rojas (Chile)
38 Raiza Goulao Henrique (Brazil)
39 Luana Machado (Brazil)
40 Kaila Hart (United States of America)
DNF Barbara Benko (Hungary)
DNF Kathrin Stirnemann (Switzerland)
DNF Serena Calvetti (Italy)
DNF Samara Sheppard (New Zealand)
DNS Jovana Crnogorac (Serbia)
DNS Rebecca Beaumont (Canada)
Junior Men
Victor Koretzky (France) enjoyed the muddy condition
Rain overnight had soaked the extremely technical course, and it made
the numerous rooty sections treacherous, particularly in the Junior
race, which went first. On the opening lap, riders were crashing and
sliding through the course. One rider who wasn't was Koretzky, who took
the lead on the first lap after the start loop.
Andrey Fonseca took the first ever World Championships medal for Costa Rica
Koretzky was clearly enjoying the muddy conditions, setting the fastest
lap times for the first three laps of the four lap race. He had been a
member of the gold medal winning Team Relay squad less than 24 hours
earlier. He was chased initially by team mate Maxime Urruty and Costa
Rica's Andrey Fonseca, until Urruty suffered mechanical problems on the
third lap and had to run half a lap to the pits.
Fonseca moved into second behind Koretzky after the start loop and
looked to have a lock on the silver medal, however, one of the favorites
was chasing furiously behind. Anton Cooper, the young revelation from
New Zealand who won the last two World Cup races for Juniors, had shaken
off a poor start that saw him fall into the 20s and was sprinting up
through the field.
He moved into 13th after lap one, then eighth, sixth and fifth by the
start of the last lap. At this point he was 28 seconds behind Fonseca
and 2:06 behind Koretzky. Koretzky rolled into the finish arena to loud
cheers from the large French contingent.
Victor Koretzky (France) wins
"When I saw my lap time from yesterday's relay it was
encouraging for today’s race," commented Koretzky. "It was not an easy
ride. I didn't have a great start and I was only seventh or eighth after
the start loop. So I was really back and I had to fight my way back up
in the standings. I gained time in the technical parts of the course and
then I took off on my own."
While the French team celebrated, everyone else turned their attention
to the battle for silver. Less than 90 seconds later, Cooper and
Fonseca burst into view together, with Cooper out sprinting the Costa
Rican in the final 50 meters to take the silver medal.
Anton Cooper (New Zealand) had a bad start and charged his way up to 2nd
"I'm not sure where I was after the first lap, I hear around
twenty-first," explained Cooper. "It's not ideal to be there at World
Champs. So it was a fight right from the start. I did have a good start
out in the front straight but then riders came from everywhere and I was
just sitting in the middle up that climb a few rows back and then it
strung out in the single track. Not an ideal start but it's probably
the best race I've ever ridden in terms of how I fought to come back and
I'm pretty proud of that."
For Fonseca, it was disappointing to lose the battle for silver, but
also exhilarating to take the first ever mountain bike medal for his
country. "I'm not able to express what I'm feeling. It's amazing. I'm
so emotional. You cannot imagine what it means for our country and our
federation. To be on the podium at all is a great moment for me. It's
really wonderful and I'm very proud of my country. It's the first time
we're on the podium for mountain biking."
USA's Howard Grotts finished 8th
Top North American was Team USA's Howard Grotts in eighth place, at his
first world championships. "I had a really good start and then I made
some mistakes here and there, and then I caught back up again. So I was
just yo-yoing back and forth. But I'm pretty happy with my race."
Results:
Podium: Anton Cooper, Victor Koretzky, Andrey Fonseca
Junior Men, 22.2 km (start loop + 4 laps)
1 Victor Koretzky (France)
2 Anton Cooper (New Zealand)
3 Andrey Fonseca (Costa Rica)
4 Grant Ferguson (Great Britain)
5 Dominic Zumstein (Switzerland)
6 Kevin Panhuyzen (Belgium)
7 Lorenzo Samparisi (Italy)
8 Howard Grotts (United States of America)
9 Maxime Urruty (France)
10 Christian Pfäffle (Germany)
11 Thibault Geneste (France)
12 Lars Forster (Switzerland)
13 Loic Doubey (France)
14 Andri Frischknecht (Switzerland)
15 Fredrik Fang Liland (Norway)
16 Michael Mayer (Austria)
17 Ben Zwiehoff (Germany)
18 Edoardo Bonetto (Italy)
19 Boris Cara (Belgium)
20 Rok Korosec (Slovenia)
21 Florian Chenaux (Switzerland)
22 Matteo Olivotto (Italy)
23 Brendon Davids (South Africa)
24 Luis Rojas (Argentina)
25 Romain Seigle (France)
26 Martin Frey (Germany)
27 Mathew Waghorn (New Zealand)
28 Sondre Kristiansen (Norway)
29 Fabien Doubey (France)
30 Louis Wolf (Germany)
31 Tom Bradshaw (New Zealand)
32 Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spain)
33 Gert Heyns (South Africa)
34 Nicolas Scheire (Belgium)
35 Frantisek Lami (Slovakia)
36 Thomas Neron (Canada)
37 Pieter Geluykens (Belgium)
38 Miguel Londono Naranjo (Colombia)
39 Nigel Mcdowell (New Zealand)
40 Alexey Krylov (Russian Federation)
41 Tobias Spescha (Switzerland)
42 Jack Haig (Australia)
43 Andres Alpizar (Costa Rica)
44 Artem Shevtsov (Ukraine)
45 William Alexi (Brazil)
46 Didier Bats (Belgium)
47 Guy Niv (Israel)
48 Thijs Zuurbier (Netherlands)
49 Alexandre Vialle (Canada)
50 Mark Kuyan (Russian Federation)
51 Kevin Ingratta (Argentina)
52 Jozef Bebcak (Slovakia)
53 Karl Henrik Nordbakken (Norway)
54 Toki Sawada (Japan)
55 Egor Kropachev (Russian Federation)
56 Martin Stosek (Czech Republic)
57 Milan Dolezal (Czech Republic)
58 Peteris Janevics (Latvia)
59 Richard Cypress Gorry (United States of America)
60 Billy Sewell (Australia)
61 Emil Linde (Sweden)
62 Valentin Berset (Switzerland)
63 Michal Kowalczyk (Poland)
64 Aaron Beck (Germany)
65 Dmitry Andreev (Russian Federation)
66 Alexander Meyland (Australia)
67 Christoph Mick (Austria)
68 Gregor Dimic (Slovenia)
69 Gonçalo Duarte Basilio Amado (Portugal)
70 Peter Fenyvesi (Hungary)
71 Ruslan Boredskiy (Russian Federation)
72 Omer Shubi (Israel)
73 Nikita Chubukov (Russian Federation)
74 Sebastian Anguita (Chile)
75 Marc-Antoine Nadon (Canada)
76 Casey Williams (United States of America)
77 Diogo Andre Figueiredo (Portugal)
78 Robi Sujevic (Croatia)
79 Gergo Meggyesi (Hungary)
80 Konrad Gorzelak (Poland)
81 Christos Loizou (Cyprus)
82 Daniel Mcdonald (Australia)
83 Felipe Rodrigo Garry Rojas (Chile)
84 Radim Kovar (Czech Republic)
85 Christopher Aitken (Australia)
DNF Jens Schuermans (Belgium)
DNF Keegan Swenson (United States of America)
DNF Luke Roberts (South Africa)
DNF Luiz Cocuzzi (Brazil)
DNF Matthew Sumpton (Great Britain)
DNF Malte Finke (Germany)
DNF Nicolas Sessler (Brazil)
DNF Bartlomiej Wawak (Poland)
DNF Antonio Santos Ridao (Spain)
DNF Jochen Weisenseel (Germany)
DNF Elias Hagspiel (Austria)
DNF Bence Szalontay (Hungary)
DNS Sandro Munoz (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
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