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World Cup XC # 2 - B
Madrid, Spain, May 8, 2005
Race 1 - Women
Dahle back on top
By Rob Jones in Madrid
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As expected, Madrid was hot, dusty and fast for the second round of the Mountain Bike Cross Country World Cup. World and Olympic champions Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida) and Julien Absalon (Bianchi Agos) won their respective races, with Dahle taking the leader's jersey from Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Business Objects), while Absalon took his second straight win, to solidify his lead in the men's standings.
Premont, who, two weeks ago in Spa, Belgium had become the first woman to beat Dahle since 2002, knew that Madrid was not suited to her. "This is a fast road type course, and I prefer a more technical course; it is my least favourite course of the series here. I asked Gunn-Rita on the line how she liked the course, and she said she liked it, so I thought 'Oh no!' "
The course was indeed to Dahle's liking. After letting Premont lead through much of the first lap of the five lap race, the Norwegian went to the front on the steepest climb and powered away. For the next couple of laps the gap grew steadily, to over a minute by the start of the last lap. Then, Dahle backed off a bit to be more careful, and Premont was able to close to 42 seconds by the finish line.
Dahle said that the "biggest difference was my legs - Two weeks ago I had no feeling in my legs, but today I could feel that my legs were good. This is a hard, hard course, very fast, and no room to make any errors. But this will not be the end (of the battle with Premont), I think I will have to battle Marie-Helene all season."
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Behind the two leaders it was a race of attrition. Premont's team mate Alison Sydor initially held third, but is still recovering from having been ill, and having raced the Marathon World Cup in Italy the weekend before. She was overtaken first by Dahle's team mate Irina Kalentieva and Spanish favourite Marga Fullana (K2-Zero RH+). Sabine Spitz (Specialized) bridged up to the duo, and then Kalentieva and Spitz got away from Fullana in the last lap when the Spaniard crashed. Spitz made sure she went into the final section first, and Kalentieva couldn't come by her at the line.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com
- Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Business Objects) still recovering from iIlness and racing the Marathon World Cup.
- Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida) took the front on the second lap of a course that suited her.
- Kelli Emett was one of several US women who'd made the trip over to Spain.
- Nicole Cooke (Great Britain) hopes to compete in both road and MTB at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida) - very happy to be back on top of her game.
- The women's podium - Irina Kalentieva (Multivan Merida), Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain Business Objects), Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida), Sabine Spitz (Specialized), Lene Byberg (Multivan Merida)
Results
1 Gunn-Rita Dahle (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team 1.42.49 2 Marie-Helene Premont (Can) Rocky Mountain Business Objects 0.42 3 Sabine Spitz (Ger) Specialized Factory Racing 1.07 4 Irina Kalentieva (Rus) Multivan Merida Biking Team 1.09 5 Lene Byberg (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team 1.48 6 Margarita Fullana (Spa) K2-Zero Rh+ 2.01 7 Alison Sydor (Can) Rocky Mountain Business Objects 2.29 8 Mary Mcconneloug (USA) Seven Cycles 3.20 9 Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Lotto 3.44 10 Ivonne Kraft (Ger) 4.01 11 Annabella Stropparo (Ita) 4.09 12 Katrin Schwing (Ger) 4.45 13 Katrin Leumann (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 4.55 14 Petra Henzi (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 5.07 15 Bernardine Boog Rauwerda (Ned) 5.11 16 Adelheid Morath (Ger) 5.44 17 Anna Szafraniec (Pol) Lotto 5.59 18 Kiara Bisaro (Can) Gears Racing / Smith 6.00 19 Maroussia Rusca (Swi) Univega Pro Cycling Team 6.14 20 Saskia Elemans (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team 6.36 21 Nina Göhl (Ger) 6.54 22 Kelli Emett (USA) 7.12 23 Cristina Mascarreras Sabria (Spa) 7.48 24 Susan Haywood (USA) 7.58 25 Patricia Sinclairs (Can) 8.06 26 Joseph Rosara (NZl) 8.07 27 Sonia Foote (NZl) 8.33 28 Nicole Cooke (GBr) 8.58 29 Magdalena Sadlecka (Pol) Lotto 9.23 30 Elena Giacomuzzi (Ita) 9.40 31 Séverine Hansen (Fra) 9.56 32 Robyn Wong (NZl) 10.47 33 Franziska Roethlin (Swi) Univega Pro Cycling Team 10.52 34 Laura Turpijn (Ned) 10.54 35 Bärbel Jungmeier (Aut) 11.27 36 Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Spa) 11.33 37 Eva Lechner (Ita) Colnago Cap Arreghin 11.35 38 Sandra Klose (Ger) 11.47 39 Jenny Copnall (GBr) Subaru-Gary Fisher 11.52 40 Asa Erlandsson (Swe) 12.04 41 Ruth Moll Marques (Spa) 12.42 42 Sarka Chmurova (Cze) Max Cursor 13.25 43 Elina Sophocleous (Cyp) Bikin'cyprus Int. 14.23 44 Nadja Walker (Swi) Athleticum-Mtb-Team 14.37 45 Sandra Walter (Can) 14.55 46 Cecile Rode (Fra) Orbea 15.21 47 Catherine Delfosse (Bel) Massi-Abarth 15.35 48 Katy Middlehurst (GBr) 15.36 49 Nina Homovec (Slo) 16.00 50 Caroline Jackson (GBr) 16.43 51 Emma Colson (Aus) 16.56 52 Lucia Vazquez Crespo (Spa) 17.19 53 Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Lapierre International 17.43 54 Anna Villar (Spa) Massi-Abarth 18.46 1 lap behind 55 Carmen Gonzalez-Simarro (Spa) Massi-Abarth 56 Mercé Tussel (Spa) Massi-Abarth 57 Petra Hofs (Ned) 58 Ursula Serrano Pimentel (Spa) 59 Beth Mccluskey (Irl) 60 Beth Serrano Muntal (Spa) 61 Elisabeth Allione (Fra) Massi-Abarth 62 M. Del Carmen Hernan Ureña (Spa) 63 Ruth Mcgavigan (GBr) 2 laps behind 64 Vanesa Fernandez Vidueira (Spa) 65 Sophie Johnson (GBr) 66 Isabel De Pablos (Spa) DNF Sandra Santanyes Murillo (Spa) DNF Sonia Campos (Por) DNF Daniella Louis (Aus) DNF Caroline Besseyrias (Fra) DNF Maria Ostergren (Swe) DNS Ann-Christin Bettenhausen (Ger) World Cup Standings after round 2 1 Gunn-Rita Dahle (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team 450 pts 2 Marie-Helene Premont (Can) Rocky Mountain Business Objects 450 3 Sabine Spitz (Ger) Specialized Factory Racing 320 4 Irina Kalentieva (Rus) Multivan Merida Biking Team 320 5 Maja Wsoszczowska (Pol) Lotto 210 6 Lene Byberg (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team 192 7 Margarita Fullana (Spa) K2-Zero Rh+ 190 8 Mary Mcconneloug (USA) 175 9 Bernardine Boog-Rauwerda (Ned) 146 10 Annabella Stropparo (Ita) 138 11 Katrin Leumann (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 138 12 Ivonne Kraft (Ger) 123 13 Adelheid Morath (Ger) 121 14 Petra Henzi (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 119 15 Katrin Schwing (Ger) 118 16 Anna Szafraniec (Pol) Lotto 118 17 Nicole Cooke (GBr) 111 18 Kiara Bisaro (Can) Gears Racing / Smith 110 19 Magdalena Sadlecka (Pol) Lotto 102 20 Barbel Jungmeier (Aut) 99 21 Severine Hansen (Fra) 98 21 Robyn Wong (NZl) 98 23 Cristina Mascarreras Sabria (Spa) 94 23 Sonia Foote (NZl) 94 25 Alison Sydor (Can) Rocky Mountain Business Objects 90 26 Maroussia Rusca (Swi) Univega Pro Cycling Team 90 27 Cecile Rode (Fra) 90 28 Elena Giacomuzzi (Ita) 86 29 Laura Turpijn (Ned) 85 30 Saskia Elemans (Ned) 84 31 Sabrina Enaux (Fra) 80 32 Nina Homovec (Slo) 76 33 Asa Erlandsson (Spa) 75 34 Jenny Copnall (GBr) 73 35 Maria Oestergren (Swe) 71 36 Nadja Walker (Swi) 70 37 Sarka Chmurova (Cze) Max Cursor 69 38 ? 67 39 Elina Sophocleous (Cyp) Bikin'cyprus Int. 62 40 Evelyn Staffler (Ita) 56 41 Nina Goehl (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 55 42 Kelli Emett (USA) 54 43 Susan Haywood (USA) 52 44 Patricia Sinclairs (Can) 51 45 Joseph Rosara (NZl) 50 46 Elisabeth Osl (Aut) 50 47 Sarah Koba (Swi) 47 48 Maaris Meier (Est) Alexela Pro Team 46 49 Daniela Louis (Swi) 44 50 Franziska Roethlin (Swi) Univega Pro Cycling Team 43 51 Trish Sinclair (Can) 42 52 Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Spa) 40 53 Eva Lechner (Ita) Colnago Cap Arreghin 39 54 Sandra Klose (Ger) 38 55 Arielle Van Meurs (Ned) 37 56 Ruth Moll Marques (Spa) 35 57 Maria Osl (Aut) 34 58 Petra Hofs (Ned) 32 59 Sandra Walter (Can) 31 60 Beth Mc Cluskey (Irl) 31 61 Hazel Wakefield (GBr) 30 62 Catherine Delfosse (Bel) Massi-Abarth 29 63 Katy Middlehurst (GBr) 28 64 Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) 27 65 Caroline Jackson (GBr) 26 66 Laurence Leboucher (Fra Heijdens-Ten Tusscher 26
