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MTB World Cup XC #4 & DH #3 - CDM
Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, Canada, June 22-24, 2007
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Race 6 - June 24: Elite Women 4X
Beerten wins as Kintner crashes
By Mike Badyk and Rob Jones
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Anneke Beerten (Bikepark.Ch) was the victor in a crash-marred World Cup 4X at Mont-Sainte-Anne, her second World Cup victory of the year. The main culprit was between the first and second corners below the start. From a sweeping left turn the racers had to gain speed to clear a triple jump, followed immediately by a high, bermed right turn. Many racers went down in this section, and it had to be considered a significant factor during the entire evening.
As defending World Champion, all eyes were on Jill Kintner (GT). This year Anneke Beerten has been giving her some competition, winning the first round in Vigo, Spain. Kintner came back to win the second round in Champery, Switzerland. However, Kintner didn't have an easy evening this time around. In the first round Kintner was bumped by Melissa Buhl and lost the lead. Kintner managed to work her way up to second to go through to the Final, but Buhl was disqualified.
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Beerten won her first round, setting the stage for the final against Kintner, Mio Suemasa and Fionn Griffiths (Norco). It didn't take long to decide the outcome when Kintner crashed in the first corner while leading. Beerten cruised to the win with Griffiths taking her second, second place of the day, and Kintner recovering to take third.
"This is just fantastic," said an ecstatic Beerten. "It was just incredible. Fionn was good but Jill too - to beat them is great. I took it a little easy in the first corner but Jill kept on sliding. As she slid away I got full on the gas. Second win this year! I'm very happy."
Beerten was asked about the section of the course where so many riders went down. "There was like a triple jump that was really difficult," she explained. "A lot of people were casing it or jumping into it and that's why there were a lot of crashes. I had a lot of confidence in it. I felt pretty good the whole week so I knew where to pass and where to take it easy."
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Kintner, the defending World Champion, wasn't happy with her third place finish. "I hate to lose easy finals," she said. "I keep beating myself. I just pushed too hard and my front wheel washed out. I'm not quite sure what I need to do to stop this from happening. It's just frustrating."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Frank Bodenmuller/PhotoSport International www.mtbsector.com
- Americans Jill Kintner and Melissa Buhl come together early on.
- Jill Kintner hits the dirt...hard.
- World Champion Jill Kintner takes a fall in the final.
- Despite going on to finish third Jill Kintner was less than impressed with her race.
- What could have been: A clearly disappointed Jill Kintner.
- Jill Kintner on the podium.
- The Netherlands Anneke Beerten (Bikepark.Ch Tui) celebrates her second World Cup win of the season.
- Podium (L-R): Johanna Petterson, Fionn Griffiths, Anneke Beerten, Jill Kintner, and Mio Suemasa.
Results
1 Anneke Beerten (Ned) Bikepark.Ch Tui 42.48 2 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) 44.19 3 Jill Kintner (USA) 40.03 4 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) 44.11 5 Johanna Petterson (RSA) 45.18 6 Elisa Canepa (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse 50.13 7 Tara Llanes (USA) 42.36 8 Melissa Buhl (USA) 42.59 9 Neven Steinmetz (USA) 51.22 DNS Jessica Vogt (USA)
