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MTB index page for all MTB content MTB World Cup XC #2 - CDMOffenburg, Germany, April 26-27, 2008Main Page Results Previous Race World Cup Standings Race 4 - April 27: Elite men cross countryAbsalon wins again in OffenburgBy Luke Webber in Offenburg, Germany Under the perfect conditions for mountain bike racing with blue skies, dusty trail and warm temperatures Julien Absalon rode away from the field without effort underlying his class and dominance when it comes to men's cross country racing. Much like the women's race earlier in the day a long queue of riders formed before the first singletrack. An additional start loop was not enough to spread the 230-strong field and for the first lap at least a group of twenty riders headed the race including all of the favourites. The start was not Absalon's strongest, but by halfway through the first full 5km lap he was back taking control of the race. Here the main challengers emerged, along with a few less familiar faces that soon paid for their early exertions. After three laps it was easy to see what sort of race was shaping up. A lead group containing Absalon, Hermida, Schurter, Vogel and Sauser controlled the race while behind Adam Craig was flying just moments away from the top spots. Just as he was about to bridge however, Absalon put his plans forward and such was the pace, nobody could give any more. This blew the race into a small chase group of Schurter, Vogel and Hermida, trailed by Sauser and Craig. This lasted two laps until which time everyone had recovered and the racing could start once more. In this time it was possible for Frederik Kessiakoff and Burry Stander to make gains and their results would be massively helped by what followed. First, riders who pushed too hard early on had to drop their pace and second Jose Hermida had bad luck. A snapped chain and long walk to the tech zone followed, killing any chance of a top result. In less than two hours Absalon had managed to put a minute into the chasers, which were headed by Sauser. Even though he faded when the attacks went on lap five, his deep strength allowed a comeback and even a small sprint to overhaul fellow countryman Florian Vogel. Schurter's fourth place finish meant there were three Swiss in the top five. Adam Craig's week of adaptation to the Euro lifestyle, following a late fly-in to Houffalize obviously paid off, finishing top American in eighth. Todd Wells went well early on, eventually getting 23rd proving last week was no fluke. PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Luke Webber
Images by Dave McElwaine / www.trailwatch.net
Results1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 1.58.42 2 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 0.51 3 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 0.54 4 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 1.06 5 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea 1.53 6 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-IT 2.00 7 Burry Stander (RSA) GT Bicycles 2.10 8 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 2.22 9 Seamus McGrath (Can) 2.32 10 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 2.40 11 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein 2.50 12 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 2.55 13 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 2.59 14 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein 3.00 15 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 3.05 16 Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 3.22 17 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 3.26 18 Jürg Graf (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 3.30 19 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 3.35 20 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 3.36 21 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 3.38 22 Christoph Soukup (Aut) 4.24 23 Todd Wells (USA) GT Bicycles 4.42 24 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 4.48 25 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica 5.00 26 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 5.05 27 Matthias Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 5.05 28 Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5.09 29 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 5.18 30 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team 5.22 31 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi 5.48 32 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein 5.51 33 Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 5.54 34 Yader Zoli (Ita) Giant Italia Team 5.56 35 Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Team 6.04 36 Gion Manetsch (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 6.17 37 Martino Fruet (Ita) 6.54 38 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 7.11 39 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 7.14 40 Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG2-APC Presmet 7.16 41 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Full-Dynamix-IT 7.22 42 Frank Schotman (Ned) 7.26 43 Hannes Metzler (Aut) Giant Mountain Bike Team 7.39 44 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.com 7.46 45 Karl Markt (Aut) 7.54 46 Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 8.00 47 Lachlan Norris (Aus) 8.02 48 Derek Zandstra (Can) 8.06 49 Tim Bohme (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 8.15 50 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) 8.16 51 Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi 8.20 52 Pascal Meyer (Swi) 8.31 53 Ricky Federau (Can) 8.37 54 Jochen Kass (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 8.49 55 Fabian Giger (Swi) 8.59 56 Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH - SR. Suntour 9.20 57 Tony Longo (Ita) Full-Dynamix-IT 9.23 58 Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) 9.45 59 Bas Peters (Ned) 9.48 60 Lukas Kaufmann (Swi) 9.53 61 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 9.58 62 Martin Fanger (Swi) 10.05 63 Hannes Genze (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 10.14 64 Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 10.22 65 Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factory Racing 10.47 66 Patrik Gallati (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 10.51 67 Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH - SR. Suntour 10.58 68 Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 11.09 69 Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.com 11.22 70 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Versluys-Landbouwkrediet MTB Team 11.38 71 Mattias Wengelin (Swe) 11.58 72 Mannie Heymans (Nam) 12.06 73 Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita) 12.08 74 Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) Gewiss Bianchi 12.15 75 Filip Eberl (Cze) 12.17 76 Dario Alejandro Gasco (Arg) Massi 12.54 77 Christof Bischof (Swi) 13.10 78 François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 13.17 79 Sergiy Rysenko (Ukr) ISD-International 13.23 80 Till Marx (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 13.28 81 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 13.29 82 Alexander Wetterhall (Swe) 13.35 83 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 13.43 84 Nicolas Bazin (Fra) BH - SR. Suntour 14.59 85 Frank Beemer (Ned) 17.47 86 Bjorn Brems (Bel) 1 lap 87 Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus) 88 Andras Melts (Hun) 89 Cristian Cominelli (Ita) Gewiss Bianchi 90 Michael Broderick (USA) 91 Maxim Gogolev (Rus) 92 Marc Colom (Fra) 93 Thomas Litscher (Swi) 94 Alban Lakata (Aut) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 95 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW 96 Matous Ulman (Cze) 97 Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Giant Italia Team 98 Cristobal Silva (Chi) 99 Mattias Nilsson (Swe) 100 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona 101 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team 102 Pavel Boudny (Cze) 103 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 104 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis 105 Ludovic Mottet (Bel) Windose Houffalize 106 Markus Bauer (Ger) 107 Fabien Canal (Fra) Team Lapierre International 108 Shlomi Haimy (Isr) 109 Jelmer Jubbega (Ned) 110 Javier Puschel (Chi) 111 Klaus Nielsen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 2 laps 112 Rob Vangenechten (Bel) 113 Jiri Novak (Cze) 114 Arnaud Grosjean (Fra) BH - SR. Suntour 115 Taavi Selder (Est) 116 Michel Luginbuehl (Swi) 117 Sebastian Szraucner (Ger) 118 Balz Weber (Swi) Bikepark.ch BMC 119 Andriy Khripta (Ukr) 120 Anders Hovdenes (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl 121 Marco Arnold (Swi) 122 Hans Becking (Ned) Beone Mountainbiketeam 123 Robert Kircher (Aut) 124 Bilal Akgul (Tur) 125 Robert Mennen (Ger) 126 Nieck Busser (Ned) 127 Martin Bratland (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl 128 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) 129 Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Team Lapierre International 130 Jonathan Galante (Fra) 131 Guillaume Vinit (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 132 Ian Field (GBr) 133 Uwe Hochenwarter (Aut) 134 Samuele Porro (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D 135 Luka Mezgec (Slo) 136 Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl 137 Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 138 Heiko Gutmann (Ger) 139 Sebastien Carabin (Bel) 140 Felix Euteneuer (Ger) 141 Andy Eyring (Ger) 142 Niels Wubben (Ned) 143 Tobias Ullmann (Ger) Team XLC Haibike 144 Evgeniy Pechenin (Rus) Format-Udmurtia 145 Andriy Gumenyuk (Ukr) 146 Freddy Betremiaux (Fra) BH - SR. Suntour 147 Tim Ottens (Ned) Beone Mountainbiketeam 148 Erik Nellen (Ned) Beone Mountainbiketeam 149 Martin Loo (Est) Merida Biking Team 150 Sergio Pulido Rodriguez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.com 151 Nicolas Jeantet (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D 152 Sam Jurekovic (USA) 3 laps 153 Igor Bogdan (Ukr) ISD-International 154 Mitchell Peterson (USA) 155 Andi Weinhold (Ger) Teams 1 Orbea 94 pts 2 Swisspower MTB Team 89 3 Cannondale-Vredestein 37 4 Specialized Factory Racing 35 5 GT Bicycles 32 6 Full-Dynamix-IT 26 7 Giant Mountain Bike Team 24 8 Team Lapierre International 19 9 Athleticum-MTB-Team 19 10 Giant Italia Team 18 11 Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 13 12 Team Maxxis 12 13 Multivan Merida Biking Team 10 14 ECP-TAU Ceramica 6 15 fumic.brothers.international 5 Overall World Cup standings after two events 1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 500 pts 2 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 360 3 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 350 4 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea 270 5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale - Vredestein 240 6 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 228 7 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team LaPierre International 225 8 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 186 9 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-IT 182 10 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale - Vredestein 178 11 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida MTB Team 178 12 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 175 13 Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB Team 169 14 Seamus Mcgrath (Can) 160 15 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 153 16 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale - Vredestein 152 17 Todd Wells (USA) Giant Bicycles 150 18 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 148 19 Jürg Graf (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 144 20 Burry Stander (RSA) Giant Bicycles 129 21 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 126 22 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin Trek MTB Team 120 23 Christoph Soukup (Aut) 120 24 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team 116 25 Yader Zoli (Ita) Giant Italia Team 104 26 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 95 27 Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida MTB Team 94 28 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 86 29 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 80 30 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing 78 31 Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic Brothers International 76 32 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 75 33 Matthias Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB Team 73 34 Hannes Metzler (Aut) Giant Mountain Bike Team 67 35 Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida MTB Team 64 36 Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 62 37 Martino Fruet (Ita) 61 38 Tony Longo (Ita) Full-Dynamix-IT 61 39 Milan Spesny (Cze) MBT 58 40 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica 56 41 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic Brothers International 54 42 Tim Bohme (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 53 43 Gion Manetsch (Swi) Athleticum-MTB Team 52 44 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin Trek MTB Team 48 45 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB Team 48 46 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Full-Dynamix-IT 47 47 Karl Markt (Aut) 47 48 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi 44 49 Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG2-APC Presmet 39 50 Frank Schotman (Ned) 39 51 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.com 38 52 Till Marx (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 38 53 Michael Weiss (Aut) 32 54 Ricky Federau (Can) 31 55 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) 30 56 Jochen Kass (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 29 57 Bas Peters (Ned) 28 58 Marc Trayter Alemany (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica 28 59 Davy Coenen (Bel) 27 60 Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 26 61 Patrik Gallati (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 25 62 Lachlan Norris (Aus) 21 63 Derek Zandstra (Can) 20 64 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) 18 65 Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi 17 66 Andreas Kugler (Swi) Fischer-BMC 17 67 Pascal Meyer (Swi) 16 68 Fabian Giger (Swi) 13 69 Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH - SR. Suntour 12 70 Torsten Marx (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 12 71 Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) 10 72 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Versluys-Landbouwkrediet MTB Team 10 73 Lukas Kaufmann (Swi) 8 74 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru Gary Fiser 8 Team standings 1 Orbea 183 pts 2 Swisspower MTB Team 151 3 Cannondale-Vredestein 112 4 Specialized Factory Racing 67 5 Giant Mountain Bike Team 53 6 GT Bicycles 52 7 Team Lapierre International 47 8 Multivan Merida Biking Team 44 9 Athleticum-MTB-Team 42 10 Full-Dynamix-IT 33 11 Team Maxxis 31 12 Giant Italia Team 29 13 Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 18 14 Topeak Ergon Racing Team 17 15 ECP-TAU Ceramica 6 16 Fumic.Brothers.International 5 17 Scott Valloire Galibier 1 |
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