In a stunning upset, Australia's Jared Graves was defeated for the men's 4-Cross title at the world championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, beaten by Czech rider Tomas Slavik in the final turn of the race. Graves' team mate Caroline Buchanan was more successful, defending her title ahead of Jana Horakova of the Czech Republic.
Mont-Sainte-Anne returned to the old-style way of holding the 4-Cross late at night under lights. A crowd well into the thousands covered both sides of the course from top to bottom.
WOMEN'S 4-CROSS FINALS
Caroline Buchanan (Australia).
In the women's race, all of the favourites except Anneke Beerten (Netherlands) made it through the first quarter final round. In the semi finals, World Cup champion Anita Molcik (Austria) was the next favourite to get knocked out, leaving Buchanan, Horakova, her Czech team mate Romana Labounkova and young British rider Katy Curd for the medal heat.
Caroline Buchanan (Australia) and Jana Horakova (Czech Republic).
Buchanan didn't leave anything to chance, going to the front out of the gate, jumping the big double after the third corner - the only woman to do so - and then holding off a late charge by Horakova. Canada's lone entry, Anne Laplante, finished ninth
"The lights were a problem," Buchanan commented. "It's good that I knew the course, because when you went through the first corner you couldn't really see anything. Having the others close behind really pushed me to keep going hard. Everything just went my way tonight."
Jana Horakova, Caroline Buchanan, Romana Labounkova.
Buchanan revealed that this will likely be her last 4-Cross competition until after the 2012 Olympics, where she hopes to race BMX.
MEN'S 4-CROSS FINALS
Jared Graves (Australia) and Roger Rinderknecht (Switzerland).
In the the men's race, there were no surprises through the first two rounds, with all the top riders advancing to the semi finals. Graves and Roger Rinderknecht (Netherlands) advanced to the medal race from one final, with Slavik and his team mate Michal Prokop from the other.
Roger Rinderknecht (Switzerland).
Tomas Slavik (Czech Republic).
In the final, it look to be Graves all the way. The World Cup champion took the lead out of the gate, and was leading comfortably through the first three corners. However, Slavik was keeping him in reach and, on the final corner, went wide. Graves took the inside line through the rock garden, slowing enough for Slavik to overtake him for the final straight.
"After Michal Prokop has been world champion [in 2002], it's an honour for me," said Slavik. "That's the dream of everyone to be a world champion. I saw the line is pretty fast to go to the outside. Jared left me three metres on the outside line, and you don't get many chances to be world champion, so I just tried it."
Tomas Slavik (Czech Republic) and Michal Prokop (Czech Republic).
Men's podium: Jared Graves, Tomas Slavik, Michal Prokop.
Graves admitted that Slavik's move caught him by surprise. "I hadn't seen any passes going on lower down the course. I should have paid more attention on other races on the big screen. Tomas made a great race, there's nothing else I could have done, I don't think. As we saw tonight, 4-Cross isn't always just about the start."
Jared Graves (Australia).
MONT-SAINTE-ANNE 4-CROSS RESULTS
WOMEN
Big Final
1 Caroline Buchanan (Australia)
2 Jana Horakova (Czech Republic)
3 Romana Labounkova (Czech Republic)
4 Katy Curd (Great Britain)
Small Final
5 Luana Maria De Souza Oliveira (Brazil)
6 Anita Molcik (Austria)
7 Sarsha Huntington (Australia)
8 Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain)
1/4 Finals
9 Anne Laplante (Canada)
10 Anneke Beerten (Netherlands)
11 Neza Knez (Slovenia)
12 Lucia Oetjen (Switzerland)
13 Joanna Petterson (South Africa)
14 Steffi Marth (Germany)
15 Angelika Hohenwarter (Austria)
16 Neven Steinmetz (United States Of America)
MEN
Big Final
1 Tomas Slavik (Czech Republic)
2 Jared Graves (Australia)
3 Michal Prokop (Czech Republic)
4 Roger Rinderknecht (Switzerland)
Small Final
5 Joost Wichman (Netherlands)
6 Johannes Fischbach (Germany)
7 Barry Nobles (United States Of America)
8 Filip Polc (Slovakia)
1/4 Finals
9 Romain Saladini (France)
10 Nico Seidel (Germany)
11 Felix Beckeman (Sweden)
12 Kamil Tatarkovic (Czech Republic)
13 Blake Carney (United States Of America)
14 Jurg Meijer (Netherlands)
15 Randal Huntington (Australia)
16 Scott Beaumont (Great Britain)
1/8 Finals
17 Daniel Franks (New-Zealand)
18 David Habicht (Australia)
19 Matt Zdriluk (Canada)
20 Erik Nelson (United States Of America)
21 Camilo Andres Sanchez Paez (Colombia)
22 Michal Marosi (Czech Republic)
23 Matej Stapic (Slovenia)
24 Jakub Riha (Czech Republic)
25 Aurélien Giordanengo (France)
26 Hannes Slavik (Austria)
27 David Graf (Switzerland)
28 Petr Muhlhans (Czech Republic)
29 Kye Walstrom (Canada)
30 Richard Levinson (Australia)
31 Drew Pautler (Canada)
32 Ross Milan (United States Of America)