MTB World Cup XC #3 & DH #2 - CDM

Champéry, Switzerland, June 9-10, 2007

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Race 3 - June 9: Elite Men 4X

Lopes stays cool

By Rob Jones in Champéry, Switzerland

Brian Lopes (GT)
Photo ©: Rob Jones

Just like the women's race was suspended due to the downpour, the men's had to wait a while for their turn. And just like in the women's event, it was a GT Bikes member in the name of Brian Lopes, who came out victorious.

Lopes, who qualified fastest, world champion Michal Prokop (Author), Filip Polc (Gravity Group) and Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) made up the men's final. Lopes was easily the quickest out of the gate for each run until the Final, when Prokop nipped him.

However, Prokop took too much speed into the first corner and had to brake, going wide, which allowed Lopes to sneak through and open a gap on the other three. Prokop soon got back on track to take second, ahead of Polc, who passed Atherton through the final corner for third.

"It was a little bit of work, definitely, to get the win. Prokop is fast, but I just let the race come to me. Prokop got the jump, but he had to hit the brakes, and I got the inside and let it go. After that it was just a matter of laying down some horsepower. I was running flat pedals, which allowed my to put my foot down through the corners, and I think that made a difference from the guys who had to clip and unclip.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com

Brian Lopes (GT) qualified fastest.
'Splat' was a common sound heard today in the 4X.
Frenchman Cédric Gracia.
Brian Lopes (GT) coped best in the soggy conditions.
One of many crashes in the men's 4X.
World champion Michal Prokop (Author)
Prokop was fastest out of the gate, but couldn't seal the deal.
The men's 4X podium (l-r): Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal), Michal Prokop (Author), Brian Lopes (GT), Filip Polc (Gravity Group) and Jared Graves.

Results

Final

1 Brian Lopes (USA) GT
2 Michal Prokop (Cze) Author
3 Filip Polc (Svk) Gravity Group
4 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal

Small final

5 Jared Graves (Aus)
6 Jakub Hnidak (Cze)
7 Mickael Deldycke (Fra)
8 Thomas Todtli (Sui)

1/4 Finals

9 Bryn Atkinson (Aus)
10 Michael Hannah (Aus) Cannondale The Cut
11 Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team
12 Cédric Gracia (Fra)
13 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain Uk
14 Jurg Meijer (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team
15 Romain Saladini (Fra)
16 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost International Racin

1/8 Finals

17 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) Kona Les Gets
18 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal
19 Matej Vitko (Svk)
20 William Evans (GBr)
21 Elias Somvi (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse
22 Sidney Gerber (Sui)
23 Arne Tschugg (Ger)
24 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lu (Esp)
25 Reto Schmid (Sui)
26 Matej Stapic (Slo)
27 Roger Rinderknecht (Sui)
28 Joey Van Veghel (Ned)
29 Nigel Page (GBr) Stendec Racing
30 Dimitri Jeziorek (Fra)
31 Nicolas Gspan (Sui)
32 Stephen Taylor (GBr) Stendec Racing

1/16 Finals

33 Dominik Gspan (Sui)
34 Manuel Rauch (Sui)
35 Dale Holmes (GBr)
36 Adrian Kiener (Sui)
37 Robin Wallner (Swe)
38 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger)
39 Grzegorz Borodajko (Pol)
40 Daniel Yeomans (GBr)
41 Carmine Falco (Fra)
41 Rudiger Jahnel (Aut)
43 Georg Sieder (Aut)
44 Tilen Frank (Slo)
45 Jakub Pytlik (Cze)
46 Stefan Scherz (Ger)
47 Peter Fernbach (Aut) Arbö Rsp Downhill Racing
48 Zdenek Nasinec (Cze)
49 Georg Engel (Aut)
50 Reon Boe (NZl)
51 Martin Frei (Sui)
52 Ludovic Gadois (Fra)
53 Steve Atkins (GBr)
54 Thomas Warmuth (Aut) Team Hotec / Rsp
55 Guido Dracone (Ita)
56 James Norton (GBr) Stendec Racing
57 Ghislain Ricci (Fra)
58 Duncan Ferris (GBr)
59 Jordan Gould (GBr) Stendec Racing
60 Peter Roschner (Aut)
60 Martin Ogden (GBr) Stendec Racing
62 Tom Dowie (GBr)
63 Luke Strom (Aus) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro
64 Richard Cunynghame (GBr) Mtb-DirectCoUk

Qualifications

65 Will Longden (GBr) Team Mbuk Santacruz
66 Daniel Prijkel (Ned)
67 Premek Tajchman (Cze)
DNS Joost Wichman (Ned) Gravity Group
DNS Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra)
DNS Andrew Neethling (RSA)
DNS Michael Garcia (Ned)
DNS Dave Wardell (GBr) Gt / Burgtec
DNS Greg Minnaar (RSA) Team G-Cross Honda
DNS Chris Kovarik (Aus) Ms-Intense Factory-Racing