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MTB World Cup XC #5 & DH #3 - CDM
Fort William, Scotland, June 6-8, 2008
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Race 2 - June 6: Elite men 4X,
Graves comes back
By Luke Webber in Fort William
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Tonight in a bright Fort William, Jared Graves (Yeti Fox) made an emphatic comeback to four cross racing with a convincing win in the finals and throughout every round. Last year on the same course, Graves suffered a devastating blowout on the final jump which saw his dream of becoming World Champion evaporate. Instead, tonight a personal score was settled and Graves stepped up as a favourite for this years Worlds in Italy.
For the Yeti Cycles rider this was the first World Cup of 2008 because he has been focussing on training for BMX at the Olympics, an event for which he has been selected. But even more surprising is that before this event Graves had not been on his mountain bike at all! In fact, the last time he rode big wheels was over eight months ago in Maribor for the World Cup Finals.
This did not put Graves off though as following a couple of easy laps on the cross country course early in the week and some four cross practice, it was business as usual. The win was not without error though, as one slip on the second bend could have cost Graves victory.
"The course got so blown out, I was just happy to keep it upright. Anything could have happened out there tonight. The corners up top were flat and slippery which made turning and accelerating tough, which are the two key elements in four cross. Halfway down I was wondering why this couldn't have come off last year, what could have been."
Conditions under tires certainly contributed to the results list and for once everyone was talking positively about the weather under the Ben. All of the tracks were dusty, cut up and in places covered in deep sand. Last week's winner Dan Atherton (Animal Commencal) was powerless to stop Graves and could only manage third. It seemed all evening that the plan would not come together and there was no perfect run in the bag this time.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Dave McElwaine/www.trailwatch.net
- Jared Graves (Yeti Fox) on the way to victory in the finals.
- Joost Wichman (Cannondale) finished a strong second.
- Rhys Willemse (Tomac) catches some air in practice.
- Will Longden (Team Bike Radar) stays aerodynamic in the air.
- Scott Beaumont (Rocky Mt.) eyes "Hipped Double" section of track.
- Michael Robert Haderer flying off a jump.
- Michael Deldycke gets ready for "Big Double" jump.
- Bernard Kerr pleasing the crowd.
- Cedric Gracia (Commencal-Furious) coming down for a landing.
- Scott Beaumont (Rocky Mt) well in front during quarter finals.
- Michael Prokop leading a group of four.
- Rafael Alvarez de Lara went on to finish 6th for the night.
- Tomas Slavic (GT) and Jurg Meijer chasing Johannes Fischbach (Team Ghost).
- Guido Tschugg leading in small final.
- Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) was the fastest through the Big Double.
- Michal Prokop would finish 4th.
- Dan Atherton (Animal Commencal) chasing Joost Wichman (Cannondale) in the finals.
- Guido Tschugg minimizing time in the air.
- Jared Graves leading in the finals.
- Michal Prokop finishing 4th.
- Men's Podium (l-r) Michal Prokop 4th, Joost Wichman (Cannondale) 2nd, Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) 1st, Dan Atherton (Animal Commencal) 3rd, Guido Tschugg 5th.
- Castles and Lochs everywhere near Fort William.
- Morning at Ballachulish.
- Town Green in Fort William.
Results
Elite men 1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 2 Joost Wichman (Ned) Cannondale Factory Racing 3 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 4 Michal Prokop (Cze) 5 Guido Tschugg (Ger) 6 Rafael Alvarez De Lara Lucas (Spa) 7 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Team Ghost International 8 Gracia Cédric (Fra) Commencal - Furious - Oakley Team 9 Filip Polc (Svk) Kenda Tomac 10 Ross Milan (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 11 Tomas Slavik (Cze) 12 Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 13 Lewis Lacey (GBr) 14 Frans Sjoblom (Swe) 15 Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain UK 16 Will Longden (GBr) Team BikeRadar 17 Jurg Meijer (Ned) 18 Thomas Schäfer (Ger) 19 Sascha Meyenborg (Ger) 20 Joey Van Veghel (Ned) 21 Michael Robert Haderer (USA) 22 Lee White (GBr) 22 Randal Huntington (Aus) 24 Adrian Weiss (Swi) Tomac Factory Racing 25 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Factory Racing 26 Lars Sternberg (USA) 27 Duncan Ferris (GBr) 28 Patrick Campbell-Jenner (GBr) 29 Rhys Willemse (Aus) Tomac Factory Racing 30 James Norton (GBr) 31 Bernard Kerr (GBr) 32 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 33 Daniel Auerswald (Ger) IXS Sports Division Racing Team 34 Martin Ogden (GBr) 35 William Evans (GBr) 36 Dave Richardson (GBr) 37 Adrian Kiener (Swi) 38 Nicolas Gspan (Swi) 39 Mitchell Scarr (Aus) 40 James Wilson (GBr) 41 Ludovic Gadois (Fra) 42 Rudy Unrau (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 43 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) Suzuki-RB 44 Adrian Hanko (Ger) Solid Aclass Factory Team 45 Romain Saladini (Fra) Team Sunn 46 Dominik Gspan (Swi)
