Marathon World Championships - CM

Oisans, France, August 13, 2006

2005 Results Results Past winners

Results

In Oisans, France, Multivan-Merida teammates Ralph Näf and Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa won their respective Marathon World Championships.

While Dahle outclassed her competitors, winning by a margin of more than eight minutes, Näf rode a tactically perfect race, distancing second-placed Colombian Leonardo Paez by about a minute. At the finish, Näf could not believe his victory, having tears in his eyes as he was interviewed by TV stations. He had controlled the men’s race from the start, riding with Thomas Frischknecht and Christoph Sauser in the very beginning. Frischknecht had to let the leaders go early on, and Sauser even dropped out of the race due to a mechanical. So it was Colombia’s marathon specialist Leonardo Paez who joined Näf in leading the race – but he could not match the Swiss rider’s speed on the descents. "Everything went perfectly for me: The course, the weather and the tactics all simply fitted in", Näf said at the finish.

Dahle-Flesjaa dominated her race in her trademark fashion: After just thirty minutes of racing, she had already built up a solid three-minutes lead, which she continued to expand to eight minutes. "I was everything but sure about my pace during the race. Due to the relentless cold I never knew exactly how far I could push myself", the Norwegian said. The victory in Oisans is Dahle-Flesjaa's sixth world championship title in total and her third marathon gold medal.

Both riders will be competing at next week's MTB World Championships in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Men
 
1 Ralph Näf (Switzerland)                     4.13.57
2 Leonardo Paez Leon (Colombia)                  0.53
3 Roel Paulissen (Belgium)                       7.06
4 Massimo De Bartolis (Italy)                    8.20
5 Johann Pallhuber (Italy)                       8.21
6 Thomas Frischknecht (Switzerland)              8.37
7 Bart Brentjens (Netherlands)                   9.01
8 Andreas Kugler (Switzerland)                   9.07
9 Thomas Dietsch (France)                        9.09
10 Alban Lakata (Austria)                       11.16
11 Karl Platt (Germany)                         11.45
12 Jose Antonio Ramos Hermida (Spain)           11.46
13 Karl Markt (Austria)                         12.33
14 Martin Kraler (Austria)                      14.01
15 Johnny Cattaneo (Italy)                      15.03
16 Ivan Gutierrez Alvarez (Spain)               15.27
17 Thomas Stoll (Switzerland)                   16.00
18 Silvio Bundi (Switzerland)                   16.19
19 Martino Fruet (Italy)                        17.08
20 Marti Labarta Gispert (Spain)                18.21
21 Jérome Chevalier (France)                    24.49
22 Julio-Humberto Silva Caro (Colombia)         25.11
23 Marzio Deho (Italy)                          27.31
24 Ramon Bianchi (Italy)                        28.06
25 Jairo-Salazar John Botero (Colombia)         29.34
26 Heinz Verbnjak (Austria)                     30.33
27 Andreas Dilger (Germany)                     31.03
28 Ramses Bekkenk (Netherlands)                 31.37
29 Alejandro De La Pena Lo Diaz (Spain)         31.57
30 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Sweden)                  32.32
31 Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (France)             32.45
32 Thomas Spichtig (Switzerland)                34.00
33 Roman Peter (Switzerland)                    34.56
34 Mario Rojas (Colombia)                       34.57
35 Thomas Zahnd (Switzerland)                   35.16
36 Samuele Pisu (Italy)                         36.23
37 Roman Rametsteiner (Austria)                 37.46
38 Olivier Maignan (France)                     38.13
39 Iñaki Errasti Lejarreta (Spain)              38.50
40 Lucien Peterhans (Switzerland)               39.19
41 Benjamin Schmieg (Germany)                   40.07
42 Kevin Evans (South Africa)                   41.21
43 Daniel Gathof (Germany)                      41.48
44 Thibault Legastelois (France)                41.57
45 Vincent Lombardi (France)                    42.43
46 Eero Jappinen (Finland)                      43.18
47 Sébastien Hansen (France)                    43.47
48 Thomas Trunschka (Czech Republic)            44.04
49 Claudio Fiechter (Switzerland)               44.09
50 Julian Becera (Colombia)                     44.56
51 Sam Baeten (Belgium)                         45.06
52 Marcus Kaufmann (Germany)                    46.30
53 Daniel Duske (Germany)                       47.03
54 Nicolas Vermeulen (Belgium)                  47.53
55 Nicolas Roux (France)                        48.59
56 Moritz Milatz (Germany)                      49.31
57 Stefan Sahm (Germany)                             
58 Marton Blazso (Hungary)                      49.52
59 Guillaume Philippe (France)                  50.03
60 Abraao Azevedo (Brazil)                      50.26
61 Leon De Jong (Netherlands)                   52.01
62 Thomas Girardi (Switzerland)                 55.38
63 Normann Crochet-Colin (France)             1.00.55
64 Ross Adams (Great Britain)                 1.01.45
65 Paolo Alberati (Italy)                     1.02.48
66 Joris Massaer (Belgium)                    1.03.07
67 Jan Mateju (Czech Republic)                1.06.04
68 Eric David (France)                        1.09.09
69 Ed Nicoll (Great Britain)                  1.09.28
70 Wilco Verwegen (Netherlands)               1.09.58
71 Eric Achard (France)                       1.10.28
72 Kris Janssens (Belgium)                    1.16.00
73 Milan Spolc (Czech Republic)               1.20.01
74 Peter Coddens (Belgium)                    1.20.22
75 Jon Richardson (New Zealand)               1.20.52
76 Balazs Burgermeister (Hungary)             1.22.04
77 Michael Borup (Denmark)                    1.22.39
78 Gabor Bogar (Hungary)                      1.24.55
79 Rudy Megevand (France)                     1.25.23
80 Chris Murley (Great Britain)               1.28.26
81 Eric Weber (France)                        1.32.05
82 Smolins Ervins (Latvia)                    1.32.43
83 Etienne Hautavoine (France)                1.35.33
84 Didzis Praulins (Latvia)                   1.39.22
85 Timothy Carleton (Canada)                  1.39.39
86 Xavier Charbonneau (France)                1.40.34
87 Jonathan Cormier (France)                  1.41.07
88 Bart Spierings (Netherlands)               1.41.23
89 Christophe Girod (France)                  1.44.15
90 Ludovic Valentin (France)                  1.44.43
91 Julien Rizzi (France)                      1.56.00
92 Pierre Jarlot (France)                     1.57.04
93 Tom Hoekman (Netherlands)                  1.57.29
94 Bob Hannes (Belgium)                       2.06.46
95 Willy Moons (Belgium)                      2.06.47
96 Benoit Valentin (France)                   2.08.41
OTL Tom Scheper (Belgium)                            
DNF Roland Stauder (Italy)                           
DNF Frederic Frech (France)                          
DNF Riis Peter Andersen (Denmark)                    
DNF Dario Acquaroli (Italy)                          
DNF Hannes Genze (Germany)                           
DNF Sandro Spaeth (Switzerland)                      
DNF Carsten Bresser (Germany)                        
DNF Christoph Sauser (Switzerland)                   
DNF Balz Weber (Switzerland)                         
DNF Diemer Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark)                  
DNF Peter Ven (Belgium)                              
DNF Friedemann Schmude (Germany)                     
DNF Toms Veinbergs (Latvia)                          
DNF Calle Friberg (Sweden)                           
DNF Steven Godeau (Belgium)                          
DNF Nicolas Thiervoz (France)                        
DNF Juergen Kotulla (Germany)                        
 
Women
 
1 Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Norway)            4.25.29
2 Petra Henzi (Switzerland)                      8.08
3 Elsbeth Van Rooij-Vink (Netherlands)          14.57
4 Dolores Maechler-Rupp (Switzerland)           16.22
5 Pia Sundstedt (Finland)                       19.58
6 Daniela Louis (Switzerland)                   21.51
7 Esther Süss (Switzerland)                     28.29
8 Andrea Kuster (Switzerland)                   29.51
9 Blaza Klemencic (Slovenia)                    30.52
10 Eva Hubena (Czech Republic)                  32.39
11 Jennifer O'connor (New Zealand)              40.04
12 Elizabeth Scalia (Great Britain)             40.37
13 Katrin Schwing (Germany)                     43.41
14 Fabienne Heinzmann (Switzerland)             44.36
15 Maria Asa Erlandsson (Sweden)                51.44
16 Ivanda Eiduka (Latvia)                       58.37
17 Tania Raats (South Africa)                   59.00
18 Cristina Sabria Mascarreras (Spain)        1.00.07
19 Helene Marcouyre (France)                  1.00.40
20 Laurence Leboucher (France)                1.08.32
21 Alexa Hüni (Germany)                       1.10.44
22 Yolande Villiers De (South Africa)         1.16.10
23 Rosemary Barnes (Australia)                1.17.50
24 Sandrine Guirronnet (France)               1.19.51
25 Julyana Rodrigues Machado (Brazil)         1.25.07
26 Uta Wesemann (Italy)                       1.26.00
27 Josie Beggs (United States Of America)     1.27.01
28 Monika Derntl (Austria)                    1.28.23
29 Sara Macdonald (New Zealand)               1.35.29
30 Marion Valette (France)                    1.40.36
31 Kristy Mantz (United States Of America)    1.50.49
32 Christina Sergeant (New Zealand)           1.58.02
OTL Corine Cavazzana (France)                        
DNF Renata Bucher (Switzerland)                      
DNF Annette Griner (Germany)

Past winners

Women
 
2005 Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Norway)
2004 Gunn-Rita Dahle (Norway)
 
Men
 
2005 Thomas Frischknecht (Switzerland) 
2004 Massimo de Bertolis (Italy)