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MTB World Cup XC #3 & 4X #2 - CDM - CDM
Houffalize, Belgium, May 2-3, 2009
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Race 4 - May 2: Elite men four cross
Graves gets Houffalize glory
By Rob Jones in Houffalize
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The four cross is a new event for the Houffalize World Cup venue, which lived up to its history of providing exciting racing with numerous lead changes and crashes. Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) took his second consecutive win to cement his overall series lead.
With wide open turns, the term "hole shot" meant less than usual. "You could see by the number of crashes that guys were taking chances," said Graves. "There was no one line, which made it very hard to protect a lead, and a fast start wasn't that meaningful."
One rider that was impacted by the crashes was men's UCI World Champion Rafael Alvarez de Lara Lucas (Specialized), who was run into from behind coming out of the first corner by someone trying to cut the corner. His day was over after his front wheel resembled a pretzel following the crash.
Despite the mayhem Graves was clearly the class of the men's field, unbeaten through all the rounds, constantly jumping away out of the gate and then holding off late attempts to catch him. By the time the men reached the quarter finals, Graves had a shadow - Dan Atherton (Animal Commencal), who finished second to Graves in the quarterfinals, semifinals and the medal final. Roger Rinderknecht (GT) and Joost Wichman (RSP) rounded out the final four.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com
- Riders were in a mad scramble after a crash in the first corner.
- Romain Saladini, Dan Atherton, David Graf and Daniel Prijkel go for it in their run.
- Things got busy in the corners during the men's race.
- Jared Graves was unstoppable in every heat.
- Podium (L-R): Joost Wichman, Dan Atherton, Jared Graves, Roger Rinderknecht and Romain Saladini.
- Jared Graves poses with the podium girls.
Results
1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 2 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 3 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi) GT Bicycles 4 Joost Wichman (Ned) 5 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn 6 Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 7 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 8 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) 9 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 10 Quentin Derbier (Fra) 11 Joey Van Veghel (Ned) 12 Lukas Mechura (Cze) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 13 Michal Prokop (Cze) 14 Jurg Meijer (Ned) 15 Matej Vitko (Svk) 16 Adam Stasek (Cze) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 17 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 18 Lewis Lacey (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 19 Matthieu Faury (Fra) 20 Florian Gottschlich (Ger) 21 Tom Dowie (GBr) 22 Daniel Prijkel (Ned) 23 Adrian Kiener (Swi) 24 Ludovic Gadois (Fra) Team Vario Racing 25 David Graf (Swi) 26 Bernard Kerr (GBr) 27 William Evans (GBr) 28 Jakub Riha (Cze) 29 Will Longden (GBr) 30 Stefan Scherz (Ger) 31 Dominik Gladen (Ger) 32 Oliver Fuhrmann (Ger) 33 Gracia Cédric (Fra) 34 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 35 Duncan Ferris (GBr) 36 Thomas Schäfer (Ger) Solid Aclass Factory Team 37 Radim Kvacek (Cze) 38 Lukas Jaeger (Swi) 39 Sidney Gerber (Swi) 40 Kevin Locquet (Fra) 41 Marek Pesko (Svk) 42 Reto Schmid (Swi) 43 Scott Roberts (GBr) 44 Petr Muhlhans (Cze) 45 Jan Ersek (Svk) 46 Jan Novak (Cze) 47 Laurent Georges (Bel) 48 Werner Muther (Swi) 49 Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 50 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK 51 Johnny Magis (Bel) 52 Nico Seidel (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 53 Aiko Göhler (Ger) 54 Pascal Seydoux (Swi) 55 David Axelsson (Swe) 56 Jeremy Morland (Fra) 57 Martin Frei (Swi) 58 Kristof Lenssens (Bel) 59 Randal Huntington (Aus) 60 Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr) 61 Ziga Knez (Slo) 62 Jordan Gould (GBr) 63 Jens Völker (Ger) 64 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa) Specialized Factory Racing Teams 1 Animal Commencal 53 pts 2 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 40 3 GT Bicycles 30 4 Suspension Center 30 5 Team Sunn 22 6 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 19 7 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 9 World Cup Standings after two rounds Individual 1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 250 pts 2 Roger Rinderknecht (Swi) GT Bicycles 135 3 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 120 4 Michal Prokop (Cze) 108 5 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn 100 6 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa) Specialized Factory Racing 75 7 Joost Wichman (Ned) 68 8 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 45 9 Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 40 10 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 40 11 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 30 12 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK 30 13 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) 25 14 Quentin Derbier (Fra) 17 15 Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 17 16 Lukas Mechura (Cze) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 15 17 Joey Van Veghel (Ned) 14 18 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger) 14 19 Darryn Stow (RSA) 11 20 Jurg Meijer (Ned) 6 21 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 6 22 Matej Vitko (Svk) 4 23 Adam Stasek (Cze) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 2 24 Premek Tejchman (Cze) 2 Team 1 Suspension Center 80 pts 2 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 80 3 Animal Commencal 67 4 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 47 5 Team Sunn 44 6 GT Bicycles 30 7 Norco World Team 30 8 Specialized Factory Racing 30 9 Rocky Mountain UK 18 10 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 15 11 MS Evil Racing 7
