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MTB World Cup XC, DH & 4X #1 - CDM
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, April 10-12, 2009
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Race 6 - April 11: Elite men cross country
Hermida back on top
By Rob Jones in Pietermaritzburg
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Spain's José Hermida (Multivan Merida Biking Team) took the season opener and his fourth World Cup victory from a determined but "unable" Julian Absalon, while local favourite Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing) was third.
Hermida was the obvious strongman in the 32.9 km, seven-lap race, and came out of the blocks with an explosive 16-minute first lap. The pace never really eased, and while Canada's Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) led on the first climb, he paid for the effort later, fading to finish 30th.
"I took advantage of my start position [on the front row]," said Kabush "but I had to back off in the heat. It's obviously not as well as I had hoped to do, but at least it will mean that I still have a reasonable start position for the European races."
A big pileup shortly after the start took down a number of riders including Canada's Raphael Gagne (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher), whose race was over with a trashed rear wheel.
By the second lap an elite group had formed at the front: Hermida, Absalon, Stander, world champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized), Olympic silver medalist Jean-Christophe Peraud (Massi), Olympic bronze medalist Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower), Martin Gujan (Cannondale) and Florian Vogel (Scott-Swisspower).
Riders began dropping off under the relentless pace, which was exacerbated by Absalon's attack on the first climb of lap four. When the dust settled there were three left at the front - Absalon, Hermida and Stander, with Sauser and Schurter at 20 seconds, followed by Peraud, who was fading. Moving up steadily was Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak Ergon), who had won on the circuit a week earlier.
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A lap later, and Hermida decided to test his lead companions, and quickly opened a 10-second gap on Absalon, with Stander struggling to stay in touch with the French rider. Hermida continued to put time into Absalon through the rest of the race, eventually finishing 32 seconds ahead.
"I could feel my legs were very good, after last week's race on this course," said Hermida. "I think I made a very good plan with my training to prepare for this race, and came here more rested than some of the other riders. For me this is a fantastic result, it is only my fourth World Cup victory in 12 years! I will try now to keep the jersey through the next races."
Stander yo-yo'd behind Absalon, spurred on by the cheers of his compatriots. He pulled to within six seconds at one point, but would always fade back on the climbs. Nevertheless, he finished a strong third, and won the Under 23 category. Sauser hung on for fourth, just ahead of Kurschat.
Absalon, although he lost the leader's jersey, said "I am still really happy with this result, because my goal here was a top five result. Hermida was just faster today, and when he attacked mid race I could not stay with him. And then with Burry [Stander] always behind, he was always pushing ... It was very hard."
Stander agreed that the crowd was a huge spur for him. "It was incredible, it motivated me so much, with that awesome crowd driving me to catch back each time. It was a three-way battle, and Hermida was attacking so hard. I came back a few times, but then I cracked a bit on the fifth and just couldn't close the gap."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com
- Spanish rider José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team) leads French star Julian Absalon (Orbea) early in the race.
- The view from the top of the South African course.
- Christoph Sauser (Specialized Factory Racing) was part of the early lead group.
- As it broke down the early three leaders included José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team), Julien Absalon (Orbea) and Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing).
- Christoph Sauser (Specialized Factory Racing) wasn't able to stay with the leaders.
- Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski's (Subaru-Gary Fisher) race was over with a trashed rear wheel after crash just after the start.
- Christoph Sauser (Specialized Factory Racing) leading group up climb.
- Liam Killeen (Trek World Racing) rounded out the top 20.
- Samuel Schultz (Subaru-Gary Fisher) placed 29th.
- France's Julien Absalon (Orbea) finished second, 32 seconds behind.
- Belgian Roel Paulissen (Cannondale Factory Racing) cracked the top 10.
- Samuel Schultz (Subaru-Gary Fisher)
- Michael Broderick (Kenda Seven)
- Julien Absalon (Orbea) attacked on the first climb of lap four.
- Julien Absalon (Orbea) leads on technical downhill section.
- José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team) got in front of Julien Absalon (Orbea).
- Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing) just missed the podium.
- Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak Ergon) had won on the circuit a week earlier.
- Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Racing), in his new team kit, was the top North American rider.
- Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles) finished in 30th spot.
- South Africa's Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing) was third overall and the first U23 rider.
- A happy José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team) opens his World Cup season with a win.
- Podium (L-R): Christoph Sauser (Specialized Factory Racing), Julien Absalon (Orbea), José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team), Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing), Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak Ergon Racing Team).
Images by Gary Perkin
- The men's cross country race gets underway in South Africa.
- Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing) was the quickest under 23 rider.
- José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team) checks his lead as he enters the finishing straight.
- Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing) celebrates his podium place on home soil.
Images by
- Podium (L-R): Christoph Sauser (Specialized Factory Racing), Julien Absalon (Orbea), José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team), Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing), Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak Ergon Racing Team).
Images by Sven Martin
- A rider attacks from the start of the men's World Cup round in South Africa.
- South Africa's Burry Stander (Specialized Factory Racing) was the first local rider home in third.
- Swiss rider Christoph Sauser (Specialized Factory Racing) took fourth place.
- José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Multivan Merida Biking Team) pulls away from his nearest rivals.
- Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing) finished sixth.
Results
1 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 1.55.03 2 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 0.32 3 Burry Stander* (RSA) Specialized Factory Racing 0.52 4 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 1.17 5 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 1.20 6 Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 2.01 7 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Massi 3.40 8 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing 3.56 9 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale Factory Racing 4.19 10 Mathias Flückiger* (Swi) Trek World Racing 4.30 11 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) TX Active Bianchi 4.35 12 Florian Vogel (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 4.43 13 Martin Gujan (Swi) Cannondale Factory Racing 4.49 14 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 5.07 15 Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5.14 16 Christoph Soukup (Aut) Merida Biking Team 5.24 17 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 5.45 18 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5.51 19 Jochen Kass (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5.54 20 Liam Killeen (GBr) Trek World Racing 5.58 21 Alexis Vuillermoz* (Fra) Lapierre International 6.15 22 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team 6.24 23 Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Factory Racing 6.30 24 Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) TX Active Bianchi 6.42 25 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre International 6.58 26 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 7.15 27 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) MSC Bikes 7.22 28 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 7.45 29 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 8.22 30 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 8.56 31 Jürg Graf (Swi) Felt International MTB Team 9.57 32 Andrea Tiberi (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 10.17 33 Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Lapierre International 10.28 34 Marc Colom (Fra) 10.47 35 Sergiy Rusenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team 10.51 36 Connor McConvey* (Irl) Felt International MTB Team 10.55 37 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team 11.06 38 Robert Mennen (Ger) 11.07 39 Dries Govaerts* (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 11.11 40 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Felt International MTB Team 11.13 41 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) Torq Performance Nutrition 11.26 42 Cristian Cominelli* (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 11.31 43 Yader Zoli (Ita) Torpado-4US 11.46 44 Lukas Kaufmann* (Swi) 11.48 45 Umberto Corti (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. 12.01 46 Ludovic Dubau (Fra) 12.05 47 Silvio Bundi (Swi) Giant Mountain Bike Team 12.27 48 Guillaume Vinit* (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 12.39 49 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 12.45 50 Hannes Metzler (Aut) 12.59 51 Bjorn Brems (Bel) Team Saeco 13.09 52 Balz Weber (Swi) DS-Rennsport 13.37 53 Milan Spesny (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 13.48 54 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team 13.55 55 Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Spa) Cemelorca-Trek-Lorca Taller Del Tiempo 13.56 56 Roan Exelby (RSA) 57 François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 14.09 58 Lachlan Norris* (Aus) Discovertasmania.com 14.51 59 Andrew Blair (Aus) 14.57 60 Severin Disch* (Swi) Giant Mountain Bike Team 15.17 61 Dario Alejandro * Gasco (Arg) Massi 15.26 62 Frank Schotman (Ned) 16.17 63 Michael Broderick (USA) 16.28 64 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) Giant Mountain Bike Team 16.49 Behind one lap 65 Fabien Canal* (Fra) Lapierre International 66 Andreas Kugler (Swi) Felt International MTB Team 67 Bas Peters (Ned) 68 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Trek-Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team 69 Johnny Kritzinger (RSA) 70 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 71 Renay Groustra (RSA) 72 Thomas Dietsch (Fra) Team Bulls 73 Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-Suntour 74 Heiko Gutmann* (Ger) 75 Periklis Ilias (Gre) ISD Cycling Team 76 Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team Bulls 77 Rene Tann (Ger) 78 Nathan Haas* (Aus) Discovertasmania.com 79 Alban Lakata (Aut) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 80 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Felt International MTB Team 81 Matthys Beukes* (RSA) 82 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona Behind two laps 83 Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 84 Frank Beemer* (Ned) Trek-Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team 85 Charlton Durie* (Aus) Discovertasmania.com 86 Marc Bassingthwaighte (Nam) 87 Craig Paul (RSA) 88 Martin Fanger* (Swi) Giant Mountain Bike Team 89 Alexander Gehbauer* (Aut) 90 Josef Kamler* (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 91 Philip Buys* (RSA) 92 Matous Ulman (Cze) Scott & Hagget MTB Team 93 Joel Graf (Swi) Felt International MTB Team 94 Erik Kleinhans (RSA) 95 Thomas Nicke (Ger) 96 Brandon Stewart (RSA) 97 Ryan Sherlock (Irl) Behind three laps 98 Max Knox* (RSA) 99 Vivien Legastelois* (Fra) BH-Suntour 100 Kristian Hynek (Cze) Scott & Hagget MTB Team 101 Robert Gehbauer* (Aut) Multivan Merida Biking Team Behind four laps 102 Raphael Gagne* (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 103 Nathan Byukusenge (Rwa) 104 Hugo Caetane* (Mri) 105 Poloko Makara (Les) Behind five laps 106 Orbert Chembe* (Zam) Behind six laps 107 Trust Munangandu (Zam) * indicates under 23 riders Teams 1 Multivan Merida Biking Team 81 pts 2 Specialized Factory Racing 70 3 Trek World Racing 55 4 Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 45 5 Orbea 43 6 Cannondale Factory Racing 40 7 Topeak Ergon Racing Team 28 8 TX Active Bianchi 27 9 Massi 24 10 Lapierre International 16 11 Merida Biking Team 15 12 Giant Italia Team 14 13 Giant Mountain Bike Team 9 14 MSC Bikes 4 15 Subaru-Gary Fisher 2 16 Rocky Mountain - Maxxis 1 World Cup Standings after one event Individual 1 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 250 pts 2 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 200 3 Burry Stander* (RSA) Specialized Factory Racing 160 4 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 150 5 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 140 6 Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 130 7 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Massi 120 8 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing 110 9 Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale Factory Racing 100 10 Mathias Flückiger* (Swi) Trek World Racing 95 11 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) TX Active Bianchi 90 12 Florian Vogel (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 85 13 Martin Gujan (Swi) Cannondale Factory Racing 80 14 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 78 15 Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 76 16 Christoph Soukup (Aut) Merida Biking Team 74 17 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 72 18 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team 70 19 Jochen Kass (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 68 20 Liam Killeen (GBr) Trek World Racing 66 21 Alexis Vuillermoz* (Fra) Lapierre International 64 22 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team 62 23 Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Factory Racing 60 24 Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) TX Active Bianchi 58 25 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre International 56 26 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 54 27 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) MSC Bikes 52 28 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 50 29 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 48 30 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 46 31 Jürg Graf (Swi) Felt International MTB Team 44 32 Andrea Tiberi (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 42 33 Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Lapierre International 40 34 Marc Colom (Fra) 38 35 Sergiy Rusenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team 36 36 Connor Mcconvey* (Irl) Felt International MTB Team 34 37 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team 32 38 Robert Mennen (Ger) 30 39 Dries Govaerts* (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 29 40 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Felt International MTB Team 28 41 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) Torq Performance Nutrition 27 42 Cristian Cominelli* (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 26 43 Yader Zoli (Ita) Torpado-4US 25 44 Lukas Kaufmann* (Swi) 24 45 Umberto Corti (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. 23 46 Ludovic Dubau (Fra) 22 47 Silvio Bundi (Swi) Giant Mountain Bike Team 21 48 Guillaume Vinit* (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 20 49 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 19 50 Hannes Metzler (Aut) 18 51 Bjorn Brems (Bel) Team Saeco 17 52 Balz Weber (Swi) DS-Rennsport 16 53 Milan Spesny (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 15 54 Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team 14 55 Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Spa) Cemelorca-Trek-Lorca Taller Del Tiempo 13 56 Roan Exelby (RSA) 12 57 François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 11 58 Lachlan Norris* (Aus) Discovertasmania.com 10 59 Andrew Blair (Aus) 9 60 Severin Disch* (Swi) Giant Mountain Bike Team 8 Team 1 Multivan Merida Biking Team 81 pts 2 Specialized Factory Racing 70 3 Trek World Racing 55 4 Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 45 5 Orbea 43 6 Cannondale Factory Racing 40 7 Topeak Ergon Racing Team 28 8 TX Active Bianchi 27 9 Massi 24 10 Lapierre International 16 11 Merida Biking Team 15 12 Giant Italia Team 14 13 Giant Mountain Bike Team 9 14 MSC Bikes 4 15 Subaru-Gary Fisher 2 16 Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 1
