#4ST WORLD CUP CROSS COUNTRY. WENDAL, GERMANY
#4ST WORLD CUP CROSS COUNTRY. WENDAL, GERMANY
Race report By Charlie Livermore
We will eventually have to pay for all the luck we had with the weather this spring campaign in central Europe. As in Houffalize last weekend, it was summer like in St. Wendel today, host city of the Tissot UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
According to legend, the town was named St. Wendel in 13th-century after Herr Wendel, a poor shepherd who saved the region from severe drought by putting his staff in the ground and declaring that water would soon be available again. The man was made a saint by his actions. Some of the athletes who competed yesterday were probably praying to St. Wendel for some relief from the heat.
The heat didn’t seem to bother the 20,000 fans as they raced along the 8km course. I know this because I was racing my Kawasaki 125 rental motorcycle all day from the top of the first climb to a forest section on the other side of the course to provide time splits for our riders. When we first arrived in 1996, this was the first course to be built in a city park. Although it has been modified slightly over the years, this course is still the fastest on the circuit. It produces very tactical races. Today was no exception.
PRO WOMEN 1
Start Loop and 5 Laps
This year has seen four World Cup races, with different winners in the mens and ladies fields. Today, Barbara Blatter, the Scott France rider hailing from Switzerland, won her first World Cup Race. The 30-year-old Swiss Miss took the first climb on her first lap and didn’t look back. She and Specializeds Margarita Freeana, a 30-year-old Swiss Miss, had a gap of 10 seconds on GTs Alison Dunlap and Gary Fisher-SAABs Paola Perzzo. Sandra Temporelli, a French woman from Look-LA Poste Team, was also there. Seven seconds later, the main group led by Volvo-Cannondales Alison Sydor was charging hard and leaving many women in its wake. Blatter held a 17 second lead when I reached the opposite end of the course. Fullana was later to return with some sort of mechanical or flat problem. The original chase group of three was now joined by Elsbeth Vink, Subaru-Specializeds, and Janet Puigros from the Rotor EDR Team.
Blatter kept the pressure up and was now 55 seconds ahead the chase group at top of the first climb on the second lap. Pezzo, Dunlap, and Temporelli were able to get rid of Vink, Puigros and Fullana, while Temporelli was 75 seconds behind. Alison Sydor, who was also a victim of a double flat at the first section in the wooded section, also vanished from the chase. Mary Grigson, a Gary Fisher-SAAB Australian woman from Down Under, was still about 2.5 minutes away. However, she was actually playing Pacman and grabbing riders with each pedal stroke.
Lap 3 saw Pezzo surpass Blatter, Fullana return and Grigson make a significant surge.
Pezzo caught Blatter at the top of lap four’s first climb. Fullana and Dunlap, who were now just 42 seconds behind the leaders, were hard chasing the pair. Pezzo was unfortunately killed in a crash and Blatter emerged alone from the wooded section 48 seconds before Fullana, Dunlap, and Pezzo. They regrouped and rejoined the chase.
Barbara won the race. Dunlap was unable to catch Fullana’s 48 second lead at the top on the last climb. Dunlap closed the gap to 8 seconds just before the finish. Fullana finished 3rd, 11 seconds behind her teammate Paola, and Mary Grigson out-ran Paola Pezzo to give Gary Fisher the final two spots on the podium.
WOMEN’S RESULTS
1. Barbara Blatter SUI Scott USA
2. Alison Dunlap France GT
3. Marga Fullana ESP Subaru-Specialized
4. Mary Grigson AUS Gary Fisher SAAB
5. Paola Pezzo ITA Gary Fisher-SAAB
WOMEN’S OVERALL WORLD CUP WORLD CUP LEADER
Alison Dunlap France GT
PRO MEN-1
Start Loop and 7 laps
Everyone agreed that it was a difficult race. It was. It was impossible to predict who would win the race until the very end. Race fans, I wish that you could have witnessed the entire field of 180 riders racing up the first climb. It was amazing to witness the speed! Giant rider Christophe Dupouey was at the front of the train, as well as Be-Ones Bas van Dooren and Volvo/Cannondales Christophe Sauser. Cadel Evans was also charging up the field, starting at #106. Cadel Evans, the two-time World Cup Champion, was making waves in his first World Cup Race. Cadel was among the top 25 at the top of the first climb!
With a gap of approximately 15 seconds, Christophe Dupouey (Full Dynamix), Miguel Martinez (Full Dynamix), Christophe Sauser (Subaru Specialized) were the first five riders to emerge out of the first section. Sauser, who was on his way to the finish-finish from the second section of the woods, had lost his group because of a twist in the chain. He had to make the adjustment in about 30 seconds. The lead group of four settled into a pace that would keep them on the front line through lap four.
The main chase group was down just 30 seconds and keen to keep the leaders at bay. Beat Wabel (K2) and Thomas Hochstrasser from Scott France, respectively, led by the Swiss duo of Beat Wabel and Ritcheys Thomas Frischknecht, with U-23 sensation Jose Antonio Hermida, of Scott USA. The Giant duo Tom Larsen, Dominique Arnould, and Marco Bui, U-23 World Champion Marco Bui, of Full Dynamic, and GTs Roel Paulissen, all joined the chase group.
Miguel Martinez made a tactical mistake on lap 5. Although he was able to successfully attack the leader group, which had been joined by Wabel and Hochstrasser from Switzerland, he did so 33 seconds too soon! He could have won if he had attacked on the next lap, but there were 2 laps left and Mr. Dupouey wouldn’t have any of it. Martinez’s lead had narrowed to 10 seconds by the time he reached the woods. Dupoueys surge closed the gap and separated Dupouey and the remaining chase group of Van Dooren Hochstrasser, Wabel and Hochstrasser. Meirhaeghe tried an aggressive late-braking technique to go into a chicane, and he broke his rear derailleur in front of me.
Dupouey attacked Martinez at the first climb on the sixth lap and won the remaining two laps by 22 seconds. Bas Van Dooren was second, with Martinez finishing in the final lap. Martinez retained 3rd and 4th places, while Wabel and Hochstrasser took the 5th and 6th spots.
Cadel Evans, who raced the qualifier on Saturday in order to be eligible for the start line, was 10th at one point. However technical difficulties caused him to slow down and finish 19th. Christophe Sauser returned to 8th place after a great performance.
MEN’S RESULTS
1. Christophe Dupouey FRA Giant
2. Bas Van Dooren NED Be-One
3. Miguel Martinez ITA Full Dynamics
4. Beat Wabel SUIK2
5. Thomas Hochstrasser SUI Scott USA
MENS OVERALL WORLD CUP WORLD CUP LEADER
Christophe Dupouey FRA Giant
