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MTB World Cup #2 - B
Fort William, Scotland, May 31-June 1, 2003
Race 1 - May 31: Cross-country
Dahle and Meirhaeghe tops in Fort William
By Martin Drummond
The XC course in Leanachan Forest, Fort William, Scotland is possibly unique. It's been built as a sustainable recreational trail, designed to last for years with minimal maintenance. Which means that it'll stay dry and there's a lot of rock in it. On the weekend of the second round of the XC World Cup dryness wasn't an issue - the conditions were hot and dusty, leading to fast racing.
The women's race was once again a battle between Gunn-Rita Dahle (Merida) and her teammate Sabine Spitz, a repeat of the first round. The two women went out front from the start, ahead of a chasing group including Laurence Leboucher, Irina Kalientieva (Merida), Anna Szafraniec (Lotto-PZU), Barbara Blatter (Specialized) and Annabella Stopparo.
By lap two Dahle was well ahead, and she maintained a thirty-second lead into lap three, with Spitz and Blatter riding together in second and third, the early chase group having broken up. A late charge during the final lap brought Spitz closer and closer to Dahle but it was too little, too late and the Norwegian took the victory by eight seconds. Blatter was another 12 seconds down, with Kalientieva and Szafraniec over a minute back.
152 riders started the men's event, with Jose Marquez leading the charge up the first fire-road climb. The pack were moving at an amazing pace and kicking up spectator-choking clouds of dust - this was a race where being in front was a big advantage. The XC racer's favourite accoutrements of skinny tyres and low bars proved in many cases a poor match for the course around Leanachan Forest. It wasn't long before riders started to return forlornly back the way they'd come with multiple flats, missing saddles or in one case the seat missing from their shorts...
Some tricky descents and rocky sections were what did the damage, but the purpose-built nature of much of the course (it's to be converted into a recreational XC route) meant that there were few marginal climbs allowing a rapid pace. After two laps Jose Antonio Hermida was leading a group including defending World Cup champ Christoph Sauser (Siemens Mobile Cannondale), Lado Fumic (T-Mobile), Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized), Julien Absalon (Motorex Bianchi), Marek Galinski (Club Deportivo Orbea), Christophe Dupouey and Jean-Christophe Peraud. The riders in that group remained at the front for the whole race, although the group itself fragmented in the latter half of the race.
By the last lap, the group was down to six riders, and in the very last lap Fumic made a break, followed by Meirhaeghe. Christoph Sauser attempted to go with them but couldn't bridge the gap. With less than half a lap to go Meirhaeghe made a last desperate attempt to get ahead of Fumic. The Belgian attacked repeatedly up the final climb of the course and finally took the lead with just 2km to go. He still had to work at it, though, coming in just eight seconds ahead of the German rider.
After the race, Meirhaeghe commented, "I didn't think I was going to win, but when I got in front I knew that if I didn't blow up I'd win."
He also paid tribute to his Specialized Epic full suspension bike, crediting it with his victory. Sounds like so much marketing fluff, but Fumic commented that he'd been chasing Meirhaeghe but had been unable to keep up as the Belgian was able to sit down and keep pedalling over the rough course. Meirhaeghe enjoyed the course so much that he entered the "citizens" World Cup Chaser event the following morning just so he could ride it again...
Despite Meirhaeghe's victory, Sauser remains at the top of the series standings with 400 points. With two wins out of two, Gunn-Rita Dahle is in the lead in the women's standings with 500 points, a hundred points clear of Sabine Spitz.
Photos
Images by Rob Jones
- Filip Meirhaeghe and his new bike ,the Specialized 'Epic'
- Meirhaeghe on the Fort William circuit.
- Meirhaeghe racing on a sunny Scottish day in Fort William.
- Meirhaeghe looking happy after his first-place result.
- Meirhaeghe crosses the finish line, 8 seconds clear of second-placed Lado Fumic.
- Filip Meirhaeghe celebrates his first place on the podium.
Results
Men 1 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Specialized 1.53.15 250 pts 2 Lado Fumic (Ger) Team-T-Mobile 0.08 200 3 Julien Absalon (Fra) Motorex Bianchi 0.19 170 4 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Siemens Mobile 0.29 150 5 Jose Antonio Hermida (Spa) Motorex Bianchi 0.30 130 6 Marek Galinski (Pol) Club Deportivo 0.37 95 7 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) 1.03 90 8 Christophe Dupouey (Fra) 2.41 85 9 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) 2.42 80 10 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Siemens Mobile 2.49 75 11 Christoph Soukup (Aut) 2.59 71 12 Roland Green (Can) Trek-Volkswagen 3.19 67 13 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) 3.21 63 14 Michael Weiss (Aut) 3.22 62 15 Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team-T-Mobile 3.44 61 16 Marcin Karczynski (Pol) Lotto-Pzu S.A. 4.18 60 17 Carlos Coloma (Spa) Club Deportivo 4.21 59 18 Liam Killeen (GBr) 4.23 58 19 Erwin Bakker (Ned) 5.02 57 20 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Team-T-Mobile 5.13 56 21 Marc Golz (Ger) Team-T-Mobile 55 22 Bart Brentjens (Ned) Team-T-Mobile 5.15 54 23 Todd Wells (USA) 5.21 53 24 José Marquez (Spa) 5.26 52 25 Carsten Bresser (Ger) Team-T-Mobile 5.48 51 26 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Club Deportivo 5.52 50 27 Peter Riis Andersen (Den) 6.34 49 28 Christian Poulsen (Den) 7.05 48 29 Martino Fruet (Ita) 7.09 47 30 Ralph Naef (Swi) Merida Internat 7.14 46 31 Balz Weber (Swi) 7.18 45 32 Radim Korinek (Cze) 7.56 44 33 Bas Peters (Ned) 7.56 43 34 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) 8.09 42 35 Massimo De Bertolis (Ita) 8.13 41 36 Johann Pallhuber (Ita) Siemens Mobile 8.34 40 37 Craig Gordon (Aus) 8.38 39 38 Daniel Soler (Swi) 8.44 38 39 Alejandro Diaz De La Pena (Spa) Maxxis-Megamo 9.12 37 40 Marco Bui (Ita) 9.29 36 41 Pavel Elsnic (Cze) Ceska Sporiteln 9.35 35 42 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Motorex Bianchi 9.41 34 43 Ziranda Madrigal (Mex) 9.55 33 44 Jorg Scheiderbauer (Aut) 10.01 32 45 Rune Hoydahl (Nor) 10.15 31 46 Antonio Ortiz (Spa) 10.18 30 47 Thys Al (Ned) 10.27 29 48 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) 10.28 28 49 Torsten Marx (Ger) 11.02 27 50 Tim Heemskerk (Ned) 11.08 26 51 Josh Fleming (Aus) 11.12 25 52 Iouri Trofimov (Rus) 11.28 24 53 Lukas Mueller (Swi) 11.35 23 54 Martin Gujan (Swi) 11.51 22 55 Michal Talavasek (Cze) 12.14 21 56 Matthias Mende (Ger) 12.24 20 57 Jimmy Tielens (Bel) 12.40 19 58 Andreas Dilger (Ger) 12.55 18 59 Nick Craig (GBr) 13.03 17 60 Carl Decker (USA) 13.12 16 61 Simon Richli (Swi) 13.21 15 62 Jiri Vavra (Cze) 13.45 14 63 Flavio Derungs (Swi) 14.10 13 64 Eloj Gispert Labarta (Spa) 14.28 12 65 Thomas Spichtig (Swi) 14.45 11 66 Juan Chinchilla Ramirez Jose*ESP 14.46 10 67 Oli Beckingsae (GBr) 15.02 9 68 Daniel Eriksson (Swe) 16.01 8 69 Zak Toogood (GBr) 16.07 7 70 Florian Vogel (Swi) 16.28 6 71 Alfonso Sanchis (Spa) 16.35 5 72 Simon Richardson (GBr) 16.46 4 73 Robin Seymour (Irl) 17.13 3 74 Reto Manetsch (Swi) 17.44 2 75 Maarten Wijnants (Bel) 17.59 1 76 Lubos Kondis (Svk) Ceska Sporiteln 18.08 77 Franz Hofer (Ita) Siemens Mobile 18.31 78 Adam Craig (USA) 18.40 79 S. Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) 18.41 80 Elliot Baxter (GBr) 18.54 81 Jose Guadalupe Cruz (Mex) 19.27 82 Thomas Nicke (Ger) 19.48 83 Magnus Darvell (Swe) 19.56 84 Davy Coenen (Bel) Be-One 20.25 85 Paul Oldham (GBr) 20.47 86 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) 21.00 87 Michael Broderick (USA) 22.08 88 Jiang Xueli (Chn) 22.34 89 Dave Collins (GBr) 22.46 90 Steve Farmer (GBr) 22.55 91 Juan Trujillo (Spa) 23.55 92 Xiaojun Shao (Chn) at 1 lap 93 Lain Nimmo (GBr) 94 Klaus Nielsen (Den) 95 Ivan Ordonez Ortiz (Mex) 96 Don Travers (Irl) 97 Ivan Seledkov (Rus) 98 Philip Cooper (GBr) 99 Zan Yanzhong (Chn) 100 Jamie Newall (GBr) 101 Ricardo Figueiredo (Por) 102 James Fraser-Moodie (GBr) 103 William Bjergfelt (GBr) 104 Dan Israel Castillo (Mex) 105 Damien Bynens (Bel) 106 Chris Murley (GBr) 107 Christopher Minter (GBr) 108 Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) 109 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) at 2 laps 110 Jody Burnett (GBr) 111 Andras Melts (Hun) 112 Jonathan Mcbain (GBr) 113 Dror Pekatz (Isr) 114 Roger Aiken (Irl) 115 Glen Kinning (Irl) 116 John Mason (Irl) 117 Drew Mackenzie (Can) 118 Finlay Pretsell (GBr) 119 Chris Cole (GBr) at 3 laps DNF Dario Acquaroli (Ita) DNF Silvio Bundi (Swi) DNF Ivan Alvarez (Spa) DNF Jochen Kass (Ger) Team-T-Mobile DNF Siegfried Bauer (Aut) DNF Tomas Vokrouhlik (Cze) DNF Sid Taberlay (Aus) DNF Marten Tjallingii (Ned) DNF Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) Maxxis-Megamo DNF Salvador Barriga (Mex) DNF Milan Spesny (Cze) DNF Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita) DNF Karl Platt (Ger) DNF Valentin Girard (Swi) DNF Pavel Boudny (Cze) DNF Barrie Clarke (GBr) DNF Andreas Kugler (Swi) DNF Philip Tavell (Swe) Merida Internat DNF Ronny Poelvoorde (Bel) DNF Ian Longville (Aus) DNF Florian Eschenbach (Ger) DNF Christof Bischof (Swi) DNF Jody Crawforth (GBr) DNF Calle Friberg (Swe) DNF Frank Lehmann (Ger) DNF Philip Spencer (GBr) DNF Adrian Lansley (GBr) DNF Michael Carlsson (Swe) DNF James Mcclusky (Irl) DNF Armando Zacarias (Mex) DNS Cedric Ravanel (Fra) Club Deportivo DNS Marc Hanisch (Ger) DNS Trent Lowe (Aus) Women 1 Gunn-Rita Dahle (Nor) Merida Internat 1.47.25 250 pts 2 Sabine Spitz (Ger) Merida Internat 0.08 200 3 Barbara Blatter (Swi) Specialized Mou 0.20 170 4 Irina Kalentieva (Rus) Merida Internat 1.32 150 5 Anna Szafraniec (Pol) Lotto-Pzu S.A. 1.54 130 6 Jimena Florit (Arg) 2.20 95 7 Ivonne Kraft (Ger) 2.39 90 8 Maja Wlosczowska (Pol) Lotto-Pzu S.A. 3.14 85 9 Marie-Helene Premont (Can) 3.42 80 10 Chrissy Redden (Can) 3.56 75 11 Mary Mcconneloug (USA) 3.56 71 12 Annabella Stropparo (Ita) 4.03 67 13 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) 4.17 63 14 Magdalena Sadlecka (Pol) Lotto-Pzu S.A. 4.18 62 15 Alla Epifanova (Rus) Ceska Sporiteln 5.12 61 16 Katrin Leumann (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 5.25 60 17 Alison Dunlap (USA) Luna Women´S Mt 5.28 59 18 Hilde Van Deun (Bel) 5.30 58 19 Anna Enocsson (Swe) Merida Internat 5.32 57 20 Kiara Bisaro (Can) 5.40 56 21 Petra Henzi (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 5.47 55 22 Elena Giacomuzzi (Ita) 5.51 54 23 Severine Hansen (Fra) 6.10 53 24 Janet Puiggros Miranda (Spa) Club Deportivo 6.24 52 25 Nina Gohl (Ger) 6.31 51 26 Silvia Rovira (Spa) 6.46 50 27 Alison Sydor (Can) Trek-Volkswagen 6.56 49 28 Mette Andersen (Den) 7.26 48 29 Jacqueline Mourao (Bra) 7.48 47 30 Mirjam Dieleman (Ned) 8.25 46 31 Maroussia Rusca (Swi) 8.34 45 32 Elsbeth Van Rooy-Vink (Ned) 8.45 44 33 Barbel Jungmeier (Aut) 8.56 43 34 Anna Baylis (Aus) 9.07 42 35 Alexandra Hober (Ita) 9.09 41 36 Birgit Jungst (Ger) Merida Internat 9.12 40 37 Monica Brunati (Ita) 9.13 39 38 Corine Dorland (Ned) 10.20 38 39 Ilona Bublova (Cze) Merida Internat 10.46 37 40 Lisa Mathison (Aus) 10.49 36 41 Susan Haywood (USA) Trek-Volkswagen 11.02 35 42 Trish Sinclair (Can) 12.10 34 43 Gretchen Reeves (USA) 12.38 33 44 Janka Stevkova (Svk) 13.03 32 45 Sun Ming (Chn) 13.04 31 46 Yan Ping Ma (Chn) 13.09 30 47 Lubov Khlopovskaia (Rus) 13.11 29 48 Maaris Meier (Est) 13.12 28 49 Daniela Louis (Swi) 13.34 27 50 Helene Marcouyre (Fra) 13.46 26 51 Saskia Elemans (Ned) 14.02 52 Suzy Pryde (NZl) Specialized Mou 14.17 53 Marga Fullana (Spa) Club Deportivo 15.06 54 Tarja Owens (Irl) 16.12 55 Simonetta Marone (Ita) 16.32 56 Elina Sophokleous (Cyp) 16.44 57 Jenny Copnall (GBr) Motorex Bianchi 17.50 58 Laura Turpijn (Ned) 17.51 59 Karen Matamoros (CRc) 19.08 60 Francisca Campos (Chi) 19.21 61 Laurie Copans (Isr) 20.31 62 Regina Marunde (Ger) 21.47 63 Jenni King (Aus) 23.40 64 Rebecca Milbourn (GBr) 23.47 65 Jenny Mccauley (Irl) 24.13 66 Caroline James (GBr) 28.59 67 Ruth Mcgavigan (GBr) at 1 lap 68 Wang Yan (Chn) 69 Jennifer O'Connor (NZl) 70 Katy Middlehurst (GBr) 71 Lydia Gould (GBr) at 2 laps 72 Catherine Niblock (GBr) DNF Maria Ostergren (Swe) DNF Katrin Schwing (Ger) DNF Sonja Traxel (Swi) DNF Bernardine Boog Rauwerda (Ned) DNF Jindriska Bejstova (Cze) DNF Kelli Emmett (USA) DNF Hazel Wakefield (GBr) DNF Victoria Wilkinson (GBr) DNF Caroline Goward (GBr) DNF Li Jing (Chn) DNF Elisabeth Osl (Aut)
