Reporting off nissan-ucimtbworldcup.com
It was in front of an enraptured crowd that the pack set off for six laps of the cross-country circuit in St. Felicien, Canada. Very quickly Julien Absalon and Jose Hermida established a convincing lead over the chasing pack of Joel Paulissen, Fredrik Kessiakoff, Ralf Naef, Nino Schurter and Balz Weber. The pair increased the gap after each lap and it appeared to be coming down to an amazing battle between the two rivals.
But it wasn't to be. Hermida suffered a mechanical and was forced to change a chain one-
and-a-half laps before the finish. In a frantic burst on the last lap, Hermida caught up and left behind Kessiakoff and Naef, who had overtaken him while he changed the chain, to finish 1:18 behind the invincible Absalon.
With this win current Olympic and World Champion Julien Absalon takes out the fourth
Mountain Bike World Cup race in a row and secures his victory in the final 2007 World Cup
XC overall standings.
WOMEN
One week after her victory in Mt-Sainte-Anne, the Russian rider Irina Kalentyeva took out
the cross-country race in St. Felicien. In sunny conditions and to the cheers of the crowd, 72 participants set off for five laps of a technical and physical 4 mile circuit. Local favorite Marie-Helene Premont had the best start. However, Irina Kalentyeva, leader of the World Cup series since Mt-Sainte-Anne, kept careful watch and wasn't going to let the Canadian get away with anything. In the fourth lap, Kalentyeva decided to take things in hand and quickly established a comfortable lead over Premont who admitted "Kalentyeva was definitely stronger." Despite her disappointment, Premont displayed a big smile at the
finish line and thanked the crowd for its support during the race. Sabine Spitz crossed
the line in third place in front of the Americans Willow Koerber and Georgia Gould.
With one race remaining and an almost insurmountable 174 points over Premont, Kalentyeva is almost assured the 2007 World Cup XC Series Women's title. But we'll have to wait two-and-a-half months for that to happen. The World Cup XC Series begins its annual sabbatical so riders can prepare for the September 3-9, 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships in Fort William, Scotland. The final 2007 World Cup XC will be in Maribor, Slovenia on September 15.
ST. FELICIEN WORLD CUP XC RESULTS
1. Julien Absalon (Fra)...Orbea...2:07:05
2. Jose Hermida (Spa)...Multivan Merida...+1:18
3. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe)...Cannondale-Vredestein...1:55
4. Ralph Naef (Swi)...Multivan Merida...2:50
5. Jakob Fuglsang (Den)...Cannondale-Vredestein...3:00
6. Nino Schurter (Swi)...Swisspower...4:37
7. Balz Weber (Swi)...Bikepark...4:41
8. Wolfram Kurschat (Ger)...MBC Bochum...4:53
9. Lado Fumic (Ger)...Fumic.Brothers.Int...5:15
10. Adam Craig...Giant...5:39
20. Geoff Kabush (Can)...Maxxis...7:26
24. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski...Subaru-Gary Fisher...8:16
47. Carl Decker...Giant...13:16
48. Michael Broderick...Kenda-Seven...13:17
60. Todd Wells...GT-Hyundai...+16:00
72. Samuel Schultz...Subaru-Gary Fisher...-1 lap
78. Colin Cares...U.S. National...-1 lap
83. Sam Jurekovic...U.S. National...-4 laps
DNF Jeff Hall...Salsa
WOMEN
1. Irina Kalentyeva (Rus)...Topeak-Ergon...2:02:02
2. Marie-Helene Premont (Can)...Rky Mnt Haywood...+1:00
3. Sabine Spitz (Ger)...Ghost...3:15
4. Willow Koerber...Subaru-Gary Fisher...3:24
5. Georgia Gould...Luna Chix...3:33
6. Ren Chengyuan (Chn)...Chinese National...4.42
7. Katerina Nash (Cze)...Luna Chix...5:49
8. Lene Byberg (Nor)...Specialized...6:15
9. Mary McConneloug...Kenda-Seven...6:45
10. Cécile Ravanel (Fra)...Lapierre...7:19
20. Heather Irmiger...Subaru-Gary Fisher...9:29
27. Susan Haywood...Trek-VW...12:32
31. Lea Davison...Trek-VW...+14:42
51. Kathy Sherwin...Titus...-1 lap
58. Chloe Forsman...Luna Chix...-1 lap
62. Sara Bresnick...Lynskey...-1 lap
66. Sabra Davison...-1 lap