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MTB World Cup XC #6 & DH #5 - CDM
Maribor, Slovenia, September 14-16, 2007
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Race 2 - September 15: Elite Women Cross Country
Liu wins final cross country in Slovenia
By Rob Jones in Maribor
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In the elite women's event, Lui Ying became only the second Chinese woman to win a World Cup, while there were no surprises in the overall standings with recently crowned world champion Irina Kalentyeva (Topeak-Ergon) winning the overall title.
Georgia Gould (Luna) took an aggressive lead on the opening climb, looking to get into the singletrack descent first. She was successful, and was followed by Sabine Spitz (Ghost), Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) and Kalentyeva. Lui had been caught behind a crash at the start, and made an impressive surge up to the front group on the second lap; recording the fastest lap of the race in the process.
A lap later, and the lead group was down to four - Premont, Kalentyeva, Spitz and Lui, with Gould slowly going backwards. Premont took the lead early in the lap, but by the end it was Lui attacking, with the others unable to match her pace. This was an echo of the world championships a week earlier, when the Chinese rider also put in a massive attack, only to fade in the final lap and finish with the bronze medal.
This time, there was no fading, as she steadily extended her lead over Kalentyeva and Spitz, with Premont riding the climb a little slower than the other two. However, Premont was just conserving her energy, and on the fourth lap she went by Spitz, and then on the fifth surged again, passing Kalentyeva in the final half lap to take second.
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"I wanted to save something for the last lap, because I knew that would be important," explained Premont. "I started to go harder on the first climb and then caught Irina before the second technical climb. After that I gave it everything in the final descent and the flat part to the finish."
Both Premont and Kalentyeva were collapsed over their handlebars for minutes after the race, while Lui still looked fresh enough for another lap. Her team mate Ren Chengyuan, who won the U23 title, also had a remarkable race; finishing fifth after a poor start which put her back in the high teens on lap two.
Lui was slightly more animated with her win than usual, cracking a smile as she crossed the line (but no arms in the air, much to the chagrin of photographers). "The crash at the start made it hard for me, because there were too many riders to be able to pass quickly. Maybe I could have been better without the crash."
The question is: How much better than first do you need to be?
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In the women's final overall rankings, Premont took second behind Kalentyeva, followed by Ren, Spitz and Marga Fullana (Spiuk) - the latter absent in Maribor after receiving a 15 day suspension for high haematocrit at the world championships.
Race notes
- Kalentyeva was happy to win the World Cup title, but the rainbow stripes she took last week "that means much more, because it was always my dream to win. But the World Cup is very tough to win, because you always have to be in the top-three. This year was quite different, with Gunn-Rita (Dahle-Flesjaa - Multivan-Merida) and Marga (Fullana) missing; I think next year will be more interesting!"
- While many of the top riders head off to Beijing for the test event next weekend, neither Kalentyeva or Premont will attend. For Kalentyeva it is because Russia is not ranked high enough to receive an invite ("It is finished for me this year, now I fly home to visit my parents," she explained.). For Premont it was by choice: "I am too busy with school (she is a graduate student in pharmaceutical studies) and it is a very long trip for two days. There is lots of time next year to see the course; I think I will go by myself maybe in March to see the course."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com
- Georgia Gould (Luna) led the field out.
- Sabine Spitz (Ghost) and Irina Kalentieva (Topeak).
- Catherine Pendrel had a poor start.
- The women's pack heads up the climb on lap one.
- Ying Liu (China) didn't fade and went on to take her first World Cup win.
- Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain Haywood) took second place.
- Irina Kalentieva (Topeak) took third.
- Petra Henzi (Fischer-BMC) finished just off the podium in seventh.
- Ren Chengyuan (China) won the U23 overall.
- Kiara Bisaro (Opus) took 19th spot.
- Sandra Walter (Xo Felt) finished way down the order in 45th spot.
- Szafraniec and Sadlecka from the Polish Halls team.
- Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain Haywood) led early in the second lap.
- Sabine Spitz (Ghost)
- Russian Irina Kalentieva (Topeak)
- Ying Liu (China)
- Maroussia Rusca struggling on the climb
- Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fisher) took 22nd.
- America's Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher) took 15th place.
- Ren Chengyuan (China) took fifth spot.
- Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain Haywood) took second place.
- American Georgia Gould (Luna)
- New Zealand's Rosara Joseph
- Austrian Elisabeth Osl (Tonis Pro Team Kirchberg)
- Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher)
- Mary McConneloug (Kenda Seven) took 14th spot.
- Lene Byberg
- Tereza Hurikova
- Lui Ying (China)
- German Sabine Spitz (Ghost)
- Marie-Helene Premont
- Jingjing Wang (China)
- Laura Turpijn
- America Kelli Emmett (Giant)
- Lui Ying (China) becomes the second Chinese rider this year to win a World Cup.
- Overall World Cup podium, Marga Fullana finished fifth but is on a 15 day suspension.
- Round World Cup podium (L-R): Sabine Spitz, Marie-Helene Premont, Lui Ying, Irina Kalentieva, Ren Chengyuan.
Results
1 Ying Liu (Chn) China 1.37.06 2 Marie-Helene Premont (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood 0.43 3 Irina Kalentieva (Rus) Topeak 0.52 4 Sabine Spitz (Ger) Ghost International Racing 1.37 5 Ren Chengyuan (Chn) China 2.11 6 Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Womens MTB 3.28 7 Petra Henzi (Swi) Fischer-BMC 3.52 8 Rosara Joseph (NZl) New Zealand 4.09 9 Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Tonis Pro Team Kirchberg 4.21 10 Catherine Pendrel (Can) Norco 5.00 11 Lene Byberg (Nor) Specialized 5.23 12 Jingjing Wang (Chn) China 5.37 13 Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Womens MTB Team 5.43 14 Mary McConneloug (USA) Kenda Seven 6.28 15 Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 6.56 16 Anna Szafraniec (Pol) Halls Professional Mtb 7.06 17 Katrin Leumann (Swi) 7.17 18 Magdalena Sadlecka (Pol) Halls Professional Mtb 8.06 19 Kiara Bisaro (Can) Opus 9.05 20 Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Team Lapierre International 9.34 21 Anna Enocsson (Swe) Ghost International Racing 9.41 22 Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 9.48 23 Maroussia Rusca (Swi) 9.51 24 Nina Homovec (Slo) 9.57 25 Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna Mtb 10.11 26 Laura Turpijn (Ned) 10.30 27 Bernardine Boog-Rauwerda (Ned) 11.31 28 Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) 11.47 29 Janka Stevkova (Svk) 11.59 30 Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Pintatim Full-Dynamix 12.25 31 Cécile Rode Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 12.46 32 Tanja Zakelj (Slo) 13.48 33 Ivonne Kraft (Ger) 14.06 34 Arielle Van Meurs (Ned) 14.12 35 Eva Lechner (Ita) 14.32 36 Sarah Koba (Swi) 14.48 37 Katrin Schwing (Ger) 15.32 38 Kelli Emmett (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 16.01 39 Kaytee Boyd (NZl) 16.12 40 Hanna Klein (Ger) 16.35 41 Wendy Simms (Can) Kona Les Gets 17.28 42 Natalya Krompets (Ukr) 17.55 43 Liliya Zaytseua (Ukr) 18.00 44 Francisca Campos Salas (Chi) 18.07 45 Sandra Walter (Can) 18.38 46 Jaqueline Mourao (Bra) 19.42 47 Alexandra Engen (Swe) 20.11 48 Asa Maria Erlandsson (Swe) Subaru-Gary Fisher 21.15 49 Maaris Meier (Est) 21.45 50 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) 22.55 51 Emma Colson (Aus) 23.13 52 Darinka Bresar (Slo) 24.00 53 Tarja Owens (Irl) 24.06 54 Sandra Dolcerocca (Den) 25.16 Two laps behind 55 Maddie Horton (GBr) 56 Marie Kunst (Den) 57 Ana Zupan (Slo) 58 Theresa Richardson (USA) DSQ Julie Krasniak (Fra) Team Lapierre International DNF Maria Osl (Aut) Tonis Pro Team Kirchberg DNF Evelyn Staffler (Ita) DNF Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Pol) Halls Professional Mtb Team DNF Katherine O'Shea (Aus) DNS Daniela Bunzli (Chi) DNS Bettina Schmid (Swi) Fischer-BMC Final World Cup Standings Individual 1 Irina Kalentyeva (Rus) 1174 pts 2 Marie-Helene Premont (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood 1040 3 Ren Chengyuan (Chn) 918 4 Sabine Spitz (Ger) Ghost International Racing Team 910 5 Margarita Fullana (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica 700 6 Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 654 7 Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Womens Mtb Team 645 8 Ying Liu (Chn) 622 9 Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna Mtb 533 10 Jingjing Wang (Chn) 489 11 Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Womens Mtb Team 479 12 Mary Mc Conneloug (USA) 472 13 Petra Henzi (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 455 14 Ivonne Kraft (Ger) 446 15 Lene Byberg (Nor) 437 16 Cecile Rode Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 420 17 Kiara Bisaro (Can) 410 18 Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Tonis Pro Team Kirchberg 376 19 Catherine Pendrel (Can) 363 20 Anna Enocsson (Swe) Ghost International Racing Team 360 21 Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team 360 22 Laura Turpijn (Ned) 348 23 Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 344 24 Anna Szafraniec (Pol) Halls Professional Mtb Team 312 25 Rosara Joseph (NZl) 308 26 Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Pintatim Full-Dynamix 304 27 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) 294 28 Sandra Walter (Can) 291 29 Nina Homovec (Slo) 280 30 Susan Haywood (USA) Trek-Vw 280 31 Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Team Lapierre International 272 32 Nina Gohl (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 268 33 Katrin Leumann (Swi) 265 34 Magdalena Sadlecka (Pol) Halls Professional Mtb Team 245 35 Maroussia Rusca (Swi) 240 36 Eva Lechner (Ita) 238 37 Renata Bucher (Swi) 209 38 Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Halls Professional Mtb Team 190 39 Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) 188 40 Wendy Simms (Can) Kona Les Gets 187 41 Elsbeth Van Rooij-Vink (Ned) Beone Mountainbiketeam 166 42 Bernardine Boog-Rauwerda (Ned) 147 43 Katrin Schwing (Ger) 133 44 Janka Stevkova (Svk) 127 45 Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) Luna Womens Mtb Team 123 46 Tanja Zakelj (Slo) 121 47 Jaqueline Mourao (Bra) 113 48 Helene Marcouyre (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour 113 49 Mical Dyck (Can) 110 50 Arielle Van Meurs (Ned) 108 51 Sarah Koba (Swi) 100 52 Tory Thomas (Aus) 89 53 Amanda Sin (Can) 86 54 Maria Osl (Aut) Tonis Pro Team Kirchberg 86 55 Dellys Starr (Aus) 83 56 Lea Davison (USA) Trek-Vw 78 56 Laura Lorenza Morfin (Mex) 78 58 Severine Hansen (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour 73 59 Esther Suss (Swi) 69 60 Natalya Krompets (Ukr) 65 61 Evelyn Staffler (Ita) 64 62 Elena Gaddoni (Ita) 58 63 Emiliy Batty (Can) 57 64 Alexandra Engen (Swe) 55 65 Yolanda Speedy (RSA) 50 66 Liliya Zaytseva (Ukr) 47 67 Julie Krasniak (Fra) Team Lapierre International 44 68 Kelli Emmett (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 43 69 Jennifer Smith (NZl) 43 70 Sandra Dolcerocca (Den) 41 71 Francisca Campos Salas (Chi) 40 72 Hanna Klein (Ger) 38 73 Jenny Copnall (GBr) Subaru-Gary Fisher 36 74 Rie Katayama (Jpn) 35 75 Asa Maria Erlandsson (Swe) Subaru-Gary Fisher 34 76 Maureen Guichardot (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 34 77 Julie Sanders (Can) 33 78 Jean Ann Mc Kirdy (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood 30 79 Chloe Forsman (USA) Luna Womens Mtb Team 30 80 Alison Sydor (Can) Rocky Mountain Haywood 30 81 Kaytee Boyd (NZl) 29 82 Bettina Schmid (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 28 83 Kathy Sherwin (USA) 27 84 Sarka Chmurova (Cze) Max Cursor 27 85 Emma Colson (Aus) 26 86 Catherine Vipond (Can) 25 87 Kathleen Villeneuve (Can) 22 88 Caroline Villeneuve (Can) 21 89 Rocio Gamonal Ferrera (Spa) Bh-Sr. Suntour 21 90 Patricia Sinclair (Can) 20 91 Maaris Meier (Est) 19 92 Ruth Moll Marques (Spa) Bh-Sr. Suntour 19 93 Caroline Mani (Fra) 19 94 Nadja Roschi (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 19 95 Jenna Zander (USA) 17 96 Pavla Havlikova (Cze) 17 97 Darinka Bresar (Slo) 16 98 Laura Metzler (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour 16 99 Tarja Owens (Irl) 15 100 Sandra Santanyes Murillo (Spa) Massi 14 101 Ksenia Chernykh (Rus) 13 102 Maddie Horton (GBr) 13 103 Amy Hunt (GBr) 13 104 Erika Gramiselli (Bra) 12 105 Marie Kunst (Den) 12 106 Barbel Jungmeier (Aut) 12 107 Ana Zupan (Slo) 11 108 Saskia Elemans (Ned) 11 109 Theresa Richardson (USA) 10 110 Amy-Jane Mundy (RSA) 9 111 Franziska Roethlin (Swi) 8 112 Inbar Ronen (Isr) 8 Under 23 1 Ren Chengyuan (Chn) 918 pts 2 Ying Liu (Chn) 622 3 Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna Mtb 533 4 Elisabeth Osl (Aut) Tonis Pro Team Kirchberg 376 5 Nina Homovec (Slo) 280 6 Eva Lechner (Ita) 238 7 Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) 188 8 Tanja Zakelj (Slo) 121 9 Natalya Krompets (Ukr) 65 10 Emiliy Batty (Can) 57 11 Alexandra Engen (Swe) 55 12 Liliya Zaytseva (Ukr) 47 13 Julie Krasniak (Fra) Team Lapierre International 44 14 Francisca Campos Salas (Chi) 40 15 Hanna Klein (Ger) 38 16 Chloe Forsman (USA) Luna Womens Mtb Team 30 17 Bettina Schmid (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 28 18 Catherine Vipond (Can) 25 19 Caroline Mani (Fra) 19 20 Nadja Roschi (Swi) Fischer-Bmc 19 21 Darinka Bresar (Slo) 16 22 Laura Metzler (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour 16 23 Amy Hunt (GBr) 13 24 Ana Zupan (Slo) 11 Team 1 Luna Womens Mtb Team 230 pts 2 Ghost International Racing Team 230 3 Rocky Mountain Haywood 193 4 Subaru-Gary Fisher 173 5 Spiuk-Tau Ceramica 130 6 Multivan Merida Biking Team 112 7 Ceska Sporitelna Mtb 106 8 Halls Professional Mtb Team 97 9 Team Lapierre International 93 10 Fischer-Bmc 89 11 Tonis Pro Team Kirchberg 77 12 Beone Mountainbiketeam 36 13 Pintatim Full-Dynamix 34 14 Trek-VW 34 15 Kona Les Gets 2
