2008 MATATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Villabassa, Italy
Race info and photos off uci.ch
Two weeks after winning his first world title in the Cross-Country Olympic discipline, Specialized's Christoph Sauser intended to do the impossible--win both the XC Olympic and the Marathon Cross-Country World's titles in the same year. And for the final miles it looked like he might do it too. It was obvious that Roel Paulissen (Bel) and Christoph Sauser (Swi) were going to battle tooth and nail for the checkers. The Swiss, still riding on a high after winning two weeks ago in Val Di Sole (Cross-Country Olympic World Championships), had announced prior to the marathon start that he aimed to win another World Champion Jersey today.
Also winner of the 2007 Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, Sauser was the logical favorite at the start. For Paulissen, it was the chance of a lifetime. The 32-year-old Belgian had never won the rainbow jersey in the past. Although his country has a long cycling tradition, only Filip Meirhaeghe had previously won a World Championships (XCO in 2003).
Despite the hours of effort, the two men had to sprint for victory. In the final straight, they clipped each other and crashed a few feet from the photographers! Sauser was first back onto his bike to cross the line whereas Paulissen had to finish on foot.
But tension mounted between the two men who had been Cannondale teammates until 2005. The commissaries, judging that Sauser caused the crash, declared Paulissen new World Champion while the Swiss rider was demoted! World Champion without having crossed the line first... What a strange day for Paulissen!
While most believed that the Colombian Leo Paez would climb onto the third step of the podium, he was overtaken by Urs Huber (Swi) at the very end.
In the women's race, Gunn Rita-Dahle (Nor) will also remember this day for a long time. She was ill last year and missed most of the season. She won her last World Champion title in 2006. Today, on the Italian singletrack of Villabassa, she was reunited with the rainbow jersey, the eighth of her career, dominating Germany's Sabine Spitz and Norway's Pia Sundstedt.
Proving once again on what an enigma the sport of mountain bike marathon racing is, on the other side of the globe the U.S. National Championship was scheduled on top of the World Marathon Championships. So there was not one American rider at the Marathon World's. This is really not that big of a deal because U.S. participation in the MA World's has been very spotty at best. In total there were 138 male Euro's and 59 women. The men raced for 74.6 miles, while the women covered 55.1 miles.
MARATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
1. Roel Paulissen (Bel)...Cannondale-Vredestein...4.46.56...15.6 mph av
2. Christoph Sauser (Swi)...Specialized...same time
3. Urs Huber (Swi)...+5.00
4. Hector Paez (Col)...8.17
5. Ralph Naf (Swi)...9.14
6. Lukas Buchli (Swi)...10.31
7. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi)...SwissPower...11.58
8. Johnny Cattaneo (Ita)...13.37
9. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe)...Full-Dynamix-It...14.08
10. Sandro Spath (Swi)...15.19
WOMEN
1. Gunn-Rita Dahle (Nor)...Multivan Merida...4.09.57...13.2 mph av
2. Sabine Spitz (Ger)...Central Ghost...+1.44
3. Pia Sundstedt (Fin)...3.39
4. Esther Suss (Swi)...11.53
5. Erika Dicht (Swi)...13.35
6. Elena Gaddoni (Ita)...16.34
7. Anna Ferrari (Ita)...18.35
8. Marielle Saner (Swi)...Bikepark.ch BMC...19.22
9. Antonia Wipfli (Swi)...21.42
10. Katrin Schwing (Ger)...Dolphin-Trek...24.20
On the uci.ch websiter there is a great 4 shot sequence of the finish crash between Sauser and Paulissen. Here is the direct link:
http://www.uci.ch/Modules/EAlbum/ALBUM/default.asp?MenuId=MTU0NjY