May 31, 2008 (Vallnord, Andorra) - The Elite men's race is underway. They will be completing seven laps of the 5.2km course. Conditions have changed drastically since yesterday due to a downpour this morning, an hour before the women's start. It has stopped raining, but it was definitely enough to takes its toll on the rooty course, and sent riders scrambling to change their tires to suit muddy conditions.
Only three Canadians, Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis, Mat Toulouse (Can) Maxxis and Seamus McGrath (Can) Fuji, are racing.
Lap 2
Midway through the second lap, Christoph Sauser (Sui) Specialized has a huge lead of 30s. It has just started to rain again. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea is in the chase group. The field has split up quite significantly in a short time, likely due to the steep climbs and technical nature of the course, which has been compounded by the slick conditions.
Toulouse and McGrath are quite far back at this point.
At the end of lap 2, it's still Sauser off the front. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) is still at around 30s. Then there's a group of six a little ways back, which includes Lukas Flueckiger (Sui) Athleticum, Burry Stander (RSA) G.T., Absalon, Todd Wells (USA) G.T., Florian Vogel (Sui) Swisspower, and Tony Longo (Ita) Full Dynamix in 8th. Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein. Adam Craig (USA) Giant is close behind the chase in 11th. Kabush is looking comfortable in 16th. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher is in 33rd, Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW is 52nd, Sam Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fischer 55th, Mike Broderick (USA) Kenda-Seven 59th, Toulouse 85th, McGrath 93rd.
...and as they start lap 3, it's still raining.
Lap 3
At the end of lap 3, Sauser still leads by 30s, Stander is aggressively leading the chase with Fontana and Longo. Then there's a small gap to Flueckiger and Wells. The gap to Absalon and Vogel is growing. The field is really splitting apart. Craig is 9th, Kabush 15th. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic Bros. Racing apparently had a crash, as his shorts are split wide open and he's showing some skin. Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan-Merida is in 20th.
Horgan-Kobelski is 33rd, Schultz 51st, Bishop 52nd, Broderick 64th. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea had a mechanical on the first lap and is still far back in 84th. Toulouse and McGrath are riding together in 87th and 88th, respectively.
Lap 5
At the start of the fifth lap, Sauser is still out front, but his lead has dropped to 15s as Stander is charging. Then there's a significant gap to Flueckiger and Longo. Another gap to Wells in 5th, who is riding alone. Absalon is 6th and Kabush has moved up to 7th and is looking strong. Craig is in 9th. It looks like some of the early leaders have dropped back. Hermida has moved up to 19th. Note that Thomas Frischknecht (Sui) Swisspower is in 23rd.
Horgan-Kobelski is maintaining 33rd, Bishop has moved up to 39th, Schultz is 52nd, Broderick is holding steady in 65th, Peraud is 75th after his mechanical. Toulouse is 86th and McGrath is off the radar.
Lap 6
At the start of lap 6, Sauser is still in the lead, followed by Stander at 15s in 2nd, Flueckiger 3rd, Longo 4th and Kabush has moved up to 5th! Wells is 6th, Cedric Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre International 7th, Sergio Mantecon Guiterrez (Spa) Cemelorca, Absalon 9th, Craig 10th. Behind Craig, a chase group of five is chasing him.
Horgan-Kobelski is in the low 30s, Schultz and Bishop together in the high 40s.
The rain stopped a while ago, so it's just overcast at the moment.
Lap 7
At the start of the final lap, Stander has taken the lead and now has a 15s gap on Sauser, who is in 2nd. Kabush has shot up to 3rd and is 30s behind Sauser. Flueckiger is 4th, Longo 5th, Wells 6th, Ravanel 7th, Mantecon-Guitterrez 8th, Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 9th, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full Dynamix 10th. Absalon has fallen back to 11th, Craig 13th.
At the end of lap 7, perseverence, experience or something Sauser did paid off in spades as he made up the gap to young (U23) Stander and reclaimed the lead to take the victory. Stander took second, and Kabush achieved his top European World Cup result with 3rd!
Results
1. Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 2.02.16
2. Burry Stander (RSA) GT Bicycle 0.09
3. Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 0.18
4. Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 1.09
5. Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 1.42
6. Todd Wells (USA) GT Bicycle 2.17
7. Tony Longo (Ita) Full-Dynamix-It 2.28
8. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.Com 2.52
9. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 3.02
10. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-It 3.13
11. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 3.48
12. Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein 3.58
13. Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein 4.16
14. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein 4.24
15. Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 4.34
16. Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 4.37
17. Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 4.46
18. Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5.01
19. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 5.12
20. Emil Lindgren (Swe) Full-Dynamix-It 5.2
21. Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 5.3
22. Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) ECP-Tau Ceramica 5.43
23. Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 6.04
24. Christoph Soukup (Aut) 6.26
25. Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Team
26. Matthias Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 6.53
27. Jürg Graf (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 7.18
28. Yader Zoli (Ita) Giant Italia Team
29. Andreas Kugler (Swi) Fischer-BMC 7.33
30. Hannes Metzler (Aut) Giant Mountain Bike Team 7.41
31. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 7.53
32. Kristian Hynek (Cze) 8.12
33. Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 8.37
34. Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 8.48
35. Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 8.59
36. Gion Manetsch (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 9.47
37. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 9.49
38. Jochen Kass (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 9.54
39. Bas Peters (Ned) 9.59
40. Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 10.1
41. Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW 10.31
42. Dario Alejandro Gasco (Arg) Massi 10.37
43. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 10.46
44. Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team 10.58
45. Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 11.11
46. Andras Parti (Hun) 11.3
47. Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour 11.41
48. Martin Fanger (Swi) 11.5
49. Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team 12.01
50. Marc Colom (Fra) 12.23
51. Klaus Nielsen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 12.4
52. Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 12.5
53. Stéphane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi 12.58
54. Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus) 13.05
55. Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Team Lapierre International 13.1
56. Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Giant Italia Team 13.21
57. Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 13.53
58. Michael Broderick (USA) 14.11
59. Jonathan Galante (Fra) 14.27
60. Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi 14.58
61. Javier Eduardo Puschel (Chi) 15.15
62. Guillaume Vinit (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 15.39
1 Lap Back
63. Fabien Canal (Fra) Team Lapierre International
64. Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team
65. Oriol Morata Abril (Spa)
66. Alexis Chenevier (Fra)
67. François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier
68. Sid Taberlay (Aus)
69. Marco Minnaard (Ned) Beone Chainreaction Mountainbiketeam
70. Vivien Legastelois (Fra) Team Lapierre International
71. Robert Gehbauer (Aut) Multivan Merida Biking Team
72. Josef Kamler (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB
2 Laps Back
73. Lachlan Norris (Aus)
74. Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis
75. Anders Hovdenes (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl
76. Alejandro Diaz De La Pena Lopez (Spa)
77. Lee Williams (GBr)
78. Jeremy Mounier (Fra)
79. Marc Trayter Alemany (Spa) ECP-Tau Ceramica
80. Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita)
81. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) ECP-Tau Ceramica
82. Ji Jianhua (Chn)
83. Sébastien Le Naour (Fra) Breiz Mountain
84. Matous Ulman (Cze)
85. Christof Bischof (Swi)
3 Laps Back
86. Tim Bohme (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike
87. Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn)
88. Freddy Betremieux (Fra) BH-SR. Suntour
89. Paul Gaillard (Fra)
90. Ian Field (GBr)
91. Hugo Navarian (Fra) Team CIBF Keops
92. Luka Kodra (Slo)
93. Ludovic Mottet (Bel) Windose Houffalize
94. Jo Thorson Nordskar (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl
95. Chun Hing Chan (HKg)
96. Alexandre Geniez (Fra)
4 Laps Back
97. Benoît Thyreault (Fra) Team CIBF Keops
98. Joel Martinez Fernandez (And)
99. Ricardo Hazbun Velasquez (Chi)
100. Pierre Fuseau (Fra) Team CIBF Keops
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Photo: Frank Bodenmüller
Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis
Photo: Frank Bodenmüller
Photo: Frank Bodenmüller
Christof Sauser (Sui) Specialized
Photo: Frank Bodenmüller
Photo: Frank Bodenmüller
Podium (l-r): Flueckiger 4th, Stander 2nd, Sauser 1st, Kabush 3rd, Ravanel 5th.
Photo: Frank Bodenmüller
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