World Mountain Bike ChampionshipsSweden, 11-18 September, 1999 |
Sep 17 - Evans crashes on final lap as Italian Bui wins U-23By Tomas Nillson, cyclingnews.com correspondentTough weather conditions when juniors and U 23 cross country races were held Friday. And a tough finish for Aussie Cadel Evans who had the race in his hands all the way, he attacked on the final loop of the final lap but crashed only a mere kilometre from the finish, so Italian Marco Bui took the title with a disappointed Evans rolling in as second. Bui's compatriot Martino Fruet came in for bronze three minutes later. Nicolas Filippi, France, took the junior gold more than a minute ahead of Spanish relay champion Carlos Colonna and almost two minutes ahead of Swiss Florian Vogel. On one of the riskiest sections of the descents Bui passed Evans, causing him to lose control. As he fell, Evans' Cannondale bike went over a nearby embankment. Evans made a spectacularly quick recovery, but could not recatch the Italian, and finished in second, twenty-seconds behind Bui. "I went into the final single-track section. He was behind me, he was on the outside and I'm a fair racer. I'm not racing with my elbows. My bike went downhill and he went to the finish line. I get back on my bike and I'm 17 seconds down," Evans said. "Everything was going good. Everything was running so well. I was so consistent all year. I've been going better than I ever have before. I think I proved on Wednesday how well I was running in the dry," Evans said, in reference to his fastest time during the team relay, won by Spain. " The rain changed everything. The weather changed it into a race of fortune, so what we can do?" The junior womens race ended all in red and white. Polish Anna Szafraniec won 27 seconds ahead of Swiss Lea Fluckinger and 1.35 ahead of another Swiss: Sonja Traxel. Other Race Results:
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