Julien Absalon (Orbea) displayed fine form and well-honed technical skills
as he dominated the elite men's cross country at the World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne.
On the very first lap, he attacked his competition and left them behind to race
for second.
French national champion Julien Absalon
(Orbea) takes the victory
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
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Absalon wasn't originally planning on racing at Mont-Sainte-Anne. "After
my bad race at worlds [where he DNF'ed - ed.], I changed my mind. I decided
that it'd be better to do the World Cup here to keep racing on an international
level and boost my confidence."
"I'm happy to win here - it's good for the mind with the Olympics in four
weeks," said Absalon, who was wearing the French National Champion's jersey
after winning the title again last weekend.
Some surged early and some took the long, steady approach on six laps of a
demandingly technical course with plenty of steep climbing, but in the end it
was Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) taking a solid second place after a largely
solo ride throughout the race. U23 Racer Burry Stander (GT Bicycles) raced to
a third place finish, picking off riders on his way.
Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) finished second
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
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From the gun, it was Absalon followed by Jose Antonio Hermida (Multivan Merida).
"I attacked in the first half to get in the front, so I could choose my
lane and go where I wanted," said Absalon of his strategy. The win was
a big boost for his confidence. "Before the world championships, it was
difficult for me with back problems and lots of pressure. Now I'm in good shape."
Behind them were Jaroslav Kulhavy, Martin Gujan (Athleticum-MTB-Team), Lukas
Flückiger (Athleticum-MTB-Team), Kabush, Seamus McGrath, Burry Stander
(GT Bicycles), Max Plaxton (Rocky Mountain) and Adam Craig (Giant).
Kabush worked his way to the front of the chase at the beginning of lap two
and eventually passed Hermida on lap three.
"My strategy was to go into the first climb at the front. I think I fell
back to sixth or eighth. I stayed smooth and didn't fight too much on the first
laps," said Kabush. "In the technical singletrack at the top of the
first climb, I closed 20 or 30 seconds there in five minutes."
Jose Antonio Herminda Ramos (Multivan
Merida)
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
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"I had to see what I could do to power back to Absalon. I thought he might
tire a bit on his hardtail today, but he proved not to," said Kabush, who
rode a dual suspension while many of the men rode hardtails.
The Canadian had the course dialled in. "I think I had more laps on the
course than anyone after nationals last week." It helped him on his way
to his best-ever finish at Mont-Sainte-Anne. Kabush has gotten second at a World
Cup just once before - in 2005 at Angel Fire, New Mexico.
Hermida went from being in second to third to wondering whether he would finish
the race after he crashed on the third lap.
"It was the crash of my life. I went flying and my bike landed far away.
It had no seat afterward - it broke in the crash. My helmet was lost, too. I
just sat for a few minutes or more, and they gave me water."
"I really thought I would have to quit the race. I've crashed in my life
many times, but that was definitely one of the scariest ones - I just started
flying and hit my head," said Hermida, still shaken after the finish.
He resumed racing, riding without a seat to the tech zone, where he got a new
one installed. Eventually he started to come around and worked his way back
up from 16th to 11th. "I banged my shoulder and knee - I think they will
be painful later," he said after crossing the line.
Julien Absalon (Orbea) riding uphill
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
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Stander surprised himself with a third place in the middle of a pre-Beijing
training block. "I had a rough first lap. I was pretty much riding into
everything which wasn't the plan. I think I've been riding too much on the road."
Stander found his rhythm in the second lap when he was in ninth place, and
slowed a bit before feeling good on the climbs on the third lap and starting
to pick off racers on his way to a third place.
Riding a consistent pace throughout, Adam Craig (Giant Bicycles) kept passing
riders who had gone out too hard and couldn't maintain their pace. On the last
lap, he got a little extra help from Lady Luck and passed two more riders who
suffered late race mechanicals.
Craig deliberately started conservatively, in 11th on the first lap. "Riding
here is hard on you, but I was riding the good stuff all relaxed. I kept it
smooth and conservative - that's how you ride fast at this race."
Adam Craig (Giant) riding in eighth place
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
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"I wasn't climbing all that well so all the guys who were pinning it Euro
style were bouncing around on everything on the descents. Once they started
cracking, they started messing up," said Craig, who worked to pick them
off one by one.
Lukas Flückiger (Athleticum) earned the final spot on the podium with
a fifth place.
World Champion Christoph Sauser (Swisspower) did not start the race after being
injured in a crash yesterday. A trip to the hospital afterward got him five
stitches in his leg.
"It would have been interesting to have Sauser in the race," said
Absalon, "but it was a bad crash for him yesterday. I hope we will race
in Bromont next weekend." That's where the next round of the World Cup
will head August 1-3.
Results
1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 2.07.44
2 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 2.33
3 Burry Stander (RSA) GT Bicycle 4.53
4 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 5.17
5 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 5.37
6 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 6.20
7 Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 7.03
8 Seamus Mcgrath (Can) 7.34
9 Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factory Racing 8.30
10 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 9.32
11 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 9.39
12 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 10.09
13 Hannes Metzler (Aut) Giant Mountain Bike Team 10.45
14 Derek Zandstra (Can) 11.09
15 Bas Peters (Ned) 12.23
16 Michael Broderick (USA) 12.24
17 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW 12.30
18 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis 13.02
19 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 14.06
20 Raphael Gagne (Can) Rocky Mountain 14.33
21 Christoph Soukup (Aut) 14.48
22 Peter Glassford (Can) 15.25
23 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 15.49
24 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 17.27
25 Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain 18.05
26 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona 18.13
27 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) 18.38
28 Matthew Hadley (Can) 18.50
29 Todd Wells (USA) GT Bicycle 26.16
30 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team 32.06
Behind one lap
31 Anders Hovdenes (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl
32 Karl Markt (Aut)
33 Connor Mcconvey (Irl)
34 Stefan Widmer (Can)
35 Julien Fillion (Can)
36 Ola Kjören (Nor)
37 Andrew Watson (Can)
38 Josef Kamler (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB
39 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein
40 Spencer Paxson (USA)
41 Matous Ulman (Cze)
42 Adam Snyder (USA)
43 Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour
44 Francis Morin (Can)
45 Calle Friberg (Swe)
46 Eric Batty (Can)
47 Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chi)
48 Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour
49 Ryan Atkins (Can)
50 Kenji Takeya (Jpn)
51 Kyle Douglas (Can)
Behind two laps
52 Frank Schotman (Ned)
53 Ross Schnell (USA) Trek-VW
54 Jonathan Boulanger (Can)
55 Martin Fanger (Swi)
56 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team
57 Daniel Sessford (Can)
58 Tad Elliot (USA)
59 Craig Richey (Can)
60 Freddy Betremieux (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour
61 Martin Loo (Est) Merida Biking Team
62 Leni Trudel (Can)
Behind three laps
63 Martin Lazarski (Can)
64 Ethan Gilmour (USA)
65 John Gray (NZl)
66 Troy Wells (USA)
67 Mitchell Peterson (USA)
68 Pablo Roberto Voigt Rodriguez (Mex)
69 Timothy Madgwick (NZl)
Teams
1 Athleticum-MTB-Team 52 pts
2 Team Maxxis 48
3 Giant Mountain Bike Team 48
4 Orbea 40
5 GT Bicycles 34
6 Subaru-Gary Fisher 28
7 Specialized Factory Racing 22
8 Multivan Merida Biking Team 20
9 Topeak Ergon Racing Team 19
10 Rocky Mountain 17
11 Trek-VW 14
12 Kona 13
13 Team Lapierre International 12
14 Merida Biking Team 1
World Cup standings after six rounds
1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 1090 pts
2 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 855
3 Burry Stander (RSA) GT Bicycle 709
4 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 635
5 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 626
6 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 583
7 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 578
8 Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 534
9 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 528
10 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 524
11 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea 520
12 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein 490
13 Christoph Soukup (Aut) 482
14 Todd Wells (USA) GT Bicycle 478
15 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 458
16 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein 441
17 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-It 387
18 Seamus Mcgrath (Can) 386
19 Jürg Graf (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 376
20 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 340
21 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 340
22 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 308
23 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein 299
24 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 294
25 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team 284
26 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 253
27 Hannes Metzler (Aut) Giant Mountain Bike Team 251
28 Tony Longo (Ita) Full-Dynamix-It 231
29 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 223
30 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.Com 220
31 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 219
32 Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Team 212
33 Yader Zoli (Ita) Giant Italia Team 208
34 Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team 200
35 Karl Markt (Aut) 197
36 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 196
37 Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factory Racing 190
38 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 176
39 Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 171
40 Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 165
41 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Full-Dynamix-It 161
42 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 160
43 Bas Peters (Ned) 158
44 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 152
45 Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 149
46 Sven Nys (Bel) 130
47 Gion Manetsch (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 128
48 Matthias Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 127
49 Andreas Kugler (Swi) Fischer-BMC 125
50 Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 123
51 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 118
52 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) ECP-Tau Ceramica 106
53 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi 105
54 Jochen Kass (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 103
55 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW 99
56 Michael Weiss (Aut) 99
57 Derek Zandstra (Can) 98
58 Anders Hovdenes (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl 98
59 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) 96
60 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis 95
61 Michael Broderick (USA) 92
62 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team 92
63 Tim Bohme (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 89
64 Martino Fruet (Ita) 86
65 Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 82
66 Frank Schotman (Ned) 78
67 Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) ECP-Tau Ceramica 78
68 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 75
69 Raphael Gagne (Can) Rocky Mountain 66
70 Peter Glassford (Can) 62
71 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 60
72 Connor Mcconvey (Irl) 59
73 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team 58
74 Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi 57
75 Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain 56
76 Till Marx (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 55
77 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona 54
78 Matthew Hadley (Can) 50
79 Josef Kamler (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 48
80 Marc Colom (Fra) 47
81 Kristian Hynek (Cze) 42
82 Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour 41
83 Fabian Giger (Swi) 41
84 Lachlan Norris (Aus) 41
85 Christof Bischof (Swi) 40
86 Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG2-APC Presmet 39
87 Stefan Widmer (Can) 38
88 Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour 37
89 Julien Fillion (Can) 36
90 Ola Kjören (Nor) 34
91 Alban Lakata (Aut) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 34
92 Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) 34
93 Martin Fanger (Swi) 33
94 Andrew Watson (Can) 32
95 Ricky Federau (Can) 31
96 Sid Taberlay (Aus) 30
97 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) 30
98 Ian Bibby (GBr) 29
99 Spencer Paxson (USA) 28
100 Marc Trayter Alemany (Spa) ECP-Tau Ceramica 28
101 Matous Ulman (Cze) 27
102 Klaus Nielsen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 27
103 Davy Coenen (Bel) 27
104 Adam Snyder (USA) 26
105 Mattias Wengelin (Swe) 26
106 Dario Alejandro Gasco (Arg) Massi 26
107 Patrik Gallati (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 25
108 Francis Morin (Can) 24
109 Calle Friberg (Swe) 23
110 Eric Batty (Can) 22
111 Andras Parti (Hun) 22
112 Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chi) 21
113 Alexander Wetterhall (Swe) 21
114 Ryan Atkins (Can) 19
115 Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) Beone Chainreaction Mountainbiketeam 19
116 Kenji Takeya (Jpn) 18
117 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour 18
118 Kyle Douglas (Can) 17
119 Ian Wilkinson (GBr) 17
120 Pascal Meyer (Swi) 16
121 Ross Schnell (USA) Trek-VW 15
122 Bjorn Brems (Bel) 15
123 David Lozano Riba (Spa) MSC Bikes 15
124 Jonathan Boulanger (Can) 14
125 Javier Eduardo Puschel (Chi) 14
126 Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus) 14
127 Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Team Lapierre International 13
128 Alejandro Diaz De La Pena Lopez (Spa) 13
Team standings
1 Orbea 405 pts
2 Swisspower MTB Team 318
3 Cannondale-Vredestein 231
4 GT Bicycles 224
5 Athleticum-MTB-Team 195
6 Specialized Factory Racing 185
7 Giant Mountain Bike Team 173
8 Multivan Merida Biking Team 137
9 Team Maxxis 128
10 Team Lapierre International 118
11 Full-Dynamix-IT 117
12 Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 59
13 Subaru-Gary Fisher 44
14 Topeak Ergon Racing Team 40
15 Fumic.Brothers.International 39
16 Cemelorca-Seguros10.Com 37
17 Giant Italia Team 37
18 Merida Biking Team 19
19 Ecp-Tau Ceramica 18
20 Rocky Mountain 17
21 Trek-VW 14
22 Kona 13
23 Fischer-BMC 10
24 Gewiss Bianchi 1
25 Scott Valloire Galibier 1
(cyclingnews.com
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