Absalon, Chengyuan win MTB World Cup No. 2

Published April 26, 2009 07:33AM

Julien Absalon (Orbea) seized the lead of the cross-country Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday after winning round two of the series in Offenburg, Germany.

It was Absalon’s 18th World Cup victory — a record that tops the 17 wins scored by Thomas Frischknecht — and leaves him undefeated at Offenburg.

In women’s competition, Ren Chengyuan (China) took the win while Austrian Elisabeth Osl (Central Ghost Pro Team) finished fifth to retain the overall lead.

Huge field, heavy hitters

The huge men’s field — more than 220 riders — took more than a minute to roll through the start-finish area after completing the start loop and heading out onto the main course for the first of seven laps. By that time, a sizable group of heavy hitters was already pulling away from the rest of the field.

Among the group were Absalon, World Cup leader Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida), world champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized), U23 World Cup leader Burry Stander (Specialized), Florian Vogel (Scott-Swisspower), Lukas Fluckiger (Trek World Racing), Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower), Roel Paulissen (Cannondale) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (Massi). Also making the split were Todd Wells (Specialized), Marco Fontana (Cannondale), Jaroslav Kulhavy (Rubena-Specialized) and Martin Gujan (Cannondale Factory Racing).

Absalon counterattacked a move by Schurter on the longest climb, quickly gaining 25 seconds on the disorganized chase. The Olympic champion continued to open up his lead through the fourth lap, as the chase started to shed riders. Among the first to go was Hermida, who came to the race with a bad cold. Wells flatted and eventually abandoned.

On lap five, Sauser broke away from the rest of the group, taking only his teammate Stander with him. The duo quickly took 20 seconds on the rest of the chasers, but made no dent in Absalon’s lead, and the effort failed after Sauser crashed hard in one of the technical sections and had to abandon with a broken frame.

Stander continued on in second, but was steadily being reeled in by Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak Ergon) and Peraud. The pair caught and dropped Stander in the final kilometers to take second and third behind Absalon, with the South African holding on for fourth, and the top U23 result. Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida) capped an impressive ride up from midfield to take the final podium spot.

Swiss leads, Fullana attacks

Swiss rider Katrin Leumann led the 93-rider women’s field out onto the main circuit for their six-lap, 36km race, but the top names quickly moved to the forefront, with world champion Marga Fullana (Massi), Lene Byberg (Specialized) and Irina Kalentieva (Topeak Ergon) leading after the first lap. They were closely followed by Osl, American Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Canada’s Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team). Pendrel had impressively worked her way up from 52nd on the start grid within one lap.

Fullana then attacked the lead group, carving out a lead that approached a minute by the fourth lap. The chase had reshuffled, with Kalentieva, Byberg, Pendrel and Osl dropping Koerber and Lechner, but being joined by Ren, who had also moved up from a poor start position.

Fullana looked to be in control, but Ren launched a strong attack in the fifth lap, with only Pendrel able to follow. Pendrel couldn’t maintain the pace of the former U23 world champion and dropped back to the chasers, while Ren continued to steadily reel in Fullana, catching and dropping her on the final lap.

Fullana hung for second, with Byberg repeating her third place from round one, followed by Kalentieva, Osl and Pendrel. Canada’s Emily Batty was the top U23 finisher in 10th place, with Julie Bresset (Breiz Mountain) retaining the overall U23 lead.

The next round of the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup takes place next week in Houffalize, Belgium.

UCI World Cup No. 2: Top 5
Men
1. Julien Absalon (F), 1:49:26
2. Wolfram Kurschat (G), at 1:09
3. Jean-Christophe Peraud (F), at 1:24
4. Burry Stander (RSA), at 1:32
5. Ralph Naef (Swi), at 1:54

Women
1. Ren Chengyuan (Chn), 1:49:56
2. Margarita Fullana Riera (Sp, at 0:49
3. Lene Byberg (Nor), at 1:24
4. Irina Kalentieva (Rus), at 1:37
5. Elisabth Osl (A), at 1:51

Photo Gallery

Results

World Cup No. 2
Men
1. Julien Absalon (Fra), 1:49:26

2. Wolfram Kurschat (Ger), 1:50:35

3. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra), 1:50:50

4. Burry Stander (Rsa), 1:50:58

5. Ralph Naef (Sui), 1:51:20

6. Lukas Fléckiger (Sui), 1:51:39

7. Roel Paulissen (Bel), 1:51:45

8. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita), 1:52:00

9. Geoff Kabush (Can), 1:52:23

10. Nino Schurter (Sui), 1:52:23

11. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze), 1:52:29

12. Manuel Fumic (Ger), 1:52:37

13. Chris Jongewaard (Aus), 1:53:03

14. Adam Craig (USA), 1:53:07

15. Jochen Kass (Ger), 1:53:15

16. Samuel Schultz (USA), 1:53:19

17. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Esp), 1:53:40

18. Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Esp), 1:53:40

19. Cédric Ravanel (Fra), 1:54:12

20. Stéphane Tempier (Fra), 1:54:18

21. Mathias Fléckiger (Sui), 1:54:34

22. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Esp), 1:54:37

23. Christoph Soukup (Aut), 1:54:47

24. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col), 1:54:53

25. Rudi Van Houts (Ned), 1:54:56

26. Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra), 1:55:00

27. Ludovic Dubau (Fra), 1:55:04

28. Martin Gujan (Sui), 1:55:08

29. Oliver Beckingsale (Gbr), 1:55:16

30. Milan Spesny (Cze), 1:55:16

31. Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra), 1:55:16

32. Florian Vogel (Sui), 1:55:39

33. Moritz Milatz (Ger), 1:55:47

34. Jelmer Pietersma (Ned), 1:55:57

35. Umberto Corti (Ita), 1:56:04

36. Daniel Mcconnell (Aus), 1:56:10

37. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Esp), 1:56:16

38. Karl Markt (Aut), 1:56:20

39. Anders Hovdenes (Nor), 1:56:20

40. Cristian Cominelli (Ita), 1:56:34

41. Jérg Graf (Sui), 1:56:48

42. Bas Peters (Ned), 1:56:53

43. Christof Bischof (Sui), 1:56:54

44. Maxime Marotte (Fra), 1:56:57

45. Guillaume Vinit (Fra), 1:57:01

46. Jiri Friedl (Cze), 1:57:05

47. Hannes Metzler (Aut), 1:57:06

48. Balz Weber (Sui), 1:57:12

49. Sergiy Rusenko (Ukr), 1:57:14

50. Fabian Giger (Sui), 1:57:18

51. Claude Hermann (Esp), 1:57:24

52. Lachlan Norris (Aus), 1:57:29

53. Filip Eberl (Cze), 1:57:31

54. Derek Zandstra (Can), 1:57:33

55. Peter Sagan (Svk), 1:57:36

56. Marc Colom (Fra), 1:57:45

57. Lado Fumic (Ger), 1:58:01

58. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA), 1:58:07

59. Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita), 1:58:31

60. Silvio Bundi (Sui), 1:58:37

61. Johnny Cattaneo (Ita), 1:58:40

62. Magnus Darvell (Swe), 1:58:50

63. Frank Schotman (Ned), 1:59:08

64. Marek Galinski (Pol), 1:59:08

65. Thomas Litscher (Sui), 1:59:11

66. Josef Kamler (Cze), 1:59:37

67. Andras Parti (Hun), 1:59:39

68. Irjan Luttenberg (Ned), 1:59:44

69. Tim Bohme (Ger), 1:59:45

70. Jiri Novak (Cze), 1:59:46

71. Pascal Meyer (Sui), 1:59:59

72. Klaus Nielsen (Den), 2:00:01

73. Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn), 2:00:06

74. Yader Zoli (Ita), 2:00:17

75. Matous Ulman (Cze), 2:00:35

76. Paolo Cesar Montoya Cantillo (Crc), 2:00:36

77. Ludovic Mottet (Bel), 2:00:53

78. Mattias Wengelin (Swe), 2:01:03

79. Franéois Bailly Maitre (Fra), 2:01:16

80. Robert Mennen (Ger), 2:01:21

81. Luka Mezgec (Slo), 2:01:25

82. Frank Beemer (Ned), 2:01:32

83. Jan Skarnitzl (Cze), 2:01:41

84. Sebastian Szraucner (Ger), 2:01:46

85. Marco Arnold (Sui), 2:02:13

86. Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel), 2:02:40

87. Rene Tann (Ger), 2:03:08

88. Connor Mcconvey (Irl), 2:04:08

89. Emil Lindgren (Swe), 2:05:20

90. Igor Bogdan (Ukr), 2:05:52

91. Michael Broderick (USA),

92. Niels Wubben (Ned),

93. Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chi),

94. Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Esp),

95. Tony Longo (Ita),

96. Fabien Canal (Fra),

97. Marcel Wildhaber (Sui),

98. Anders Ljungberg (Swe),

99. Lukas Kaufmann (Sui),

100. Evgeniy Nikolaev (Rus),

101. Alejandro Diaz De La Pena Lopez (Esp),

102. Adrian Brzozka (Pol),

103. Andy Eyring (Ger),

104. Chun Hing Chan (Hkg),

105. Martin Fanger (Sui),

106. Olof Jonsson (Swe),

107. Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita),

108. Barry Wicks (USA),

109. Olaf Rochow (Ger),

110. Cal Britten (Aus),

111. Henk Jaap Moorlag (Ned),

112. Anthony Grenet (Fra),

113. Dariusz Batek (Pol),

114. Marco Minnaard (Ned),

115. Luka Kodra (Slo),

116. Alban Lakata (Aut),

117. Sebastien Carabin (Bel),

118. Jianhua Ji (Chn),

119. Henrique Avancini (Bra),

120. Olivier Maignan (Fra),

121. Martin Loo (Est),

122. Matej Nepustil (Cze),

123. Pascal Schmutz (Sui),

124. Felix Euteneuer (Ger),

125. Catriel Andres Soto (Arg),

126. Jo Thorson Nordskar (Nor),

127. Mattias Nilsson (Swe),

128. Fabian Strecker (Ger),

129. Shlomi Haimy (Isr),

130. Roan Exelby (Rsa),

131. Andrew Blair (Aus),

132. Kristian Hynek (Cze),

133. Kris Sneddon (Can),

134. Charlton Durie (Aus),

135. Daniel Kaufmann (Sui),

136. Jeremy Huguenin (Sui),

137. Rob Vangenechten (Bel),

138. Tad Elliot (USA),

139. Nicolas Jeantet (Ita),

140. Alexis Chenevier (Fra),

141. Bilal Akgul (Tur),

142. Romain Gihoul (Bel),

143. Periklis Ilias (Gre),

144. Simon Scheiber (Aut),

145. Ondrej Cink (Cze),

146. Axel Bult (Ned),

147. Florian Schén (Ger),

148. Patxi Cia Apezteguia (Esp),

149. Julien Saussac (Fra),

150. Marcel Fleschhut (Ger),

151. Nathan Haas (Aus),

152. Pierre Lebreton (Fra),

153. Ethan Gilmour (USA),

154. Uwe Hochenwarter (Aut),

155. Markus Bauer (Ger),

156. Adam Morka (Can),

157. Erik Groen (Ned),

158. Zhiqiang Duan (Chn),

159. Pascal Hossay (Bel),

160. Freddy Betremieux (Fra),

161. Heiko Gutmann (Ger),

162. Andi Weinhold (Ger),

163. Calle Friberg (Swe),

164. Tim Wijnants (Bel),

165. Roland Plank (Aut),

166. Kornel Osicki (Pol),

167. Mirco Widmer (Sui),

168. Raphael Gagne (Can),

169. Hubert Pollinger (Ita),

170. Vivien Legastelois (Fra),

171. Laurent Mineur (Bel),

172. David Lozano Riba (Esp),

173. Jelmer Jubbega (Ned),

174. Zhen Wang (Chn),

175. Robbie Squire (USA),

176. Valentin Fiderer (Ger),

177. Balint Lukacs (Hun),

178. Evgeniy Pechenin (Rus),

179. Tomas Pesek (Cze),

180. Tim Lemmers (Ned),

181. Oleksandr Kachanov (Ukr),

182. Mikhail Baryshnikov (Rus),

183. Lukas Sablik (Cze),

184. Boris Vasilyev (Rus),

185. Simon Stiebjahn (Ger),

186. Kevin Kane (USA),

187. Keiichi Tsujiura (Jpn),

188. Thomas Lapeyrie (Fra),

189. Robert Gehbauer (Aut),

190. Abdulkadir Kelleci (Tur),

191. Rafal Hebisz (Pol),

192. German Dorhmann (Arg),

193. Jonas De Backer (Bel),

194. John Groves (Aus),

195. Abdurrahman Dandal (Tur),

DNF: Dario Alejandro Gasco (Arg)

DNF: José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Esp)

DNF: Christoph Sauser (Sui)

DNF: Andrea Tiberi (Ita)

DNF: Patrik Gallati (Sui)

DNF: Todd Wells (USA)

DNF: Martino Fruet (Ita)

DNF: Andras Melts (Hun)

DNF: Andreas Kugler (Sui)

DNF: Mykhaylo Batsutsa (Ukr)

DNF: Stefan Sahm (Ger)

DNF: Arnaud Hacquard (Fra)

DNF: Piotr Brzozka (Pol)

DNF: Nicola Rohrbach (Sui)

DNF: Bjorn Brems (Bel)

DNF: Ola Kjéren (Nor)

DNF: Alexander Gehbauer (Aut)

DNF: Samuele Porro (Ita)

DNF: Jakub Magnusek (Cze)

DNF: Juri Ragnoli (Ita)

DNF: Karl Platt (Ger)

DNF: Tiago Jorge Oliveira Ferreira (Por)

DNF: Ben Henderson (Aus)

DNF: Torsten Marx (Ger)

DNF: Liam Killeen (Gbr)

DNF: Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel)

DNS: Luis Alberto Costa Leao Pinto (Por)

Women
1. Chengyuan Ren (Chn), 1:49:56

2. Margarita Fullana Riera (Esp), 1:50:45

3. Lene Byberg (Nor), 1:51:20

4. Irina Kalentieva (Rus), 1:51:33

5. Elisabeth Osl (Aut), 1:51:47

6. Catharine Pendrel (Can), 1:52:01

7. Eva Lechner (Ita), 1:53:40

8. Sabine Spitz (Ger), 1:54:02

9. Nathalie Schneitter (Sui), 1:54:04

10. Emiliy Batty (Can), 1:54:04

11. Willow Koerber (USA), 1:54:27

12. Georgia Gould (USA), 1:54:52

13. Anna Szafraniec (Pol), 1:55:05

14. Marie-Helene Premont (Can), 1:55:14

15. Petra Henzi (Sui), 1:55:49

16. Laura Turpijn (Ned), 1:56:00

17. Blaza Klemencic (Slo), 1:56:14

18. Maja Wloszczowska (Pol), 1:56:39

19. Rowena Fry (Aus), 1:57:02

20. Caroline Mani (Fra), 1:57:02

21. Katrin Leumann (Sui), 1:57:53

22. Julie Bresset (Fra), 1:57:54

23. Anja Gradl (Ger), 1:57:54

24. Adelheid Morath (Ger), 1:58:24

25. Mary Mcconneloug (USA), 1:58:51

26. CéCile Rode Ravanel (Fra), 1:59:09

27. Hanna Klein (Ger), 1:59:24

28. Heather Irmiger (USA), 1:59:51

29. Githa Michiels (Bel), 2:00:09

30. Janka Stevkova (Svk), 2:00:18

31. Anna Villar Argente (Esp), 2:00:20

32. Vera Andreeva (Rus), 2:00:24

33. Barbara Benko (Hun), 2:00:24

34. Lea Davison (USA), 2:00:32

35. Magdalena Sadlecka (Pol), 2:00:32

36. Amanda Sin (Can), 2:00:58

37. Esther SéSs (Sui), 2:01:06

38. Tanja Zakelj (Slo), 2:01:31

39. Alexandra Engen (Swe), 2:01:50

40. Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Pol), 2:02:22

41. Laura Metzler (Fra), 2:02:29

42. Julie Krasniak (Fra), 2:02:29

43. Marielle Saner-Guinchard (Sui), 2:03:10

44. Rosara Joseph (Nzl), 2:03:14

45. Helene Marcouyre (Fra), 2:03:26

46. Ivonne Kraft (Ger), 2:03:32

47. Kate Potter (Aus), 2:03:33

48. Sabrina Enaux (Fra), 2:03:47

49. Nataliya Krompets (Ukr), 2:03:50

50. Vivianne Meyer (Sui), 2:04:01

51. Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra), 2:04:16

52. Mical Dyck (Can), 2:04:22

53. Maria Osl (Aut), 2:04:35

54. Jean Ann Mckirdy (Can), 2:04:50

55. Silke Schmidt (Ger), 2:05:14

56. Evelyn Staffler (Ita), 2:05:16

57. Katherine O’shea (Aus), 2:05:16

58. Tatjana Dold (Ger), 2:05:37

59. Fanny Bourdon (Fra), 2:06:23

60. Gracie Elvin (Aus), 2:06:47

61. Oxana Rybakova (Rus), 2:07:13

62. Kajsa Snihs (Swe), 2:07:20

63. Fiona Macdermid (Gbr), 2:07:32

64. Fabienne Heinzmann (Sui), 2:07:42

65. Melanie Spath (Ger), 2:08:33

66. Elisabeth Brandau (Ger), 2:08:52

67. Fabienne Niederberger (Sui), 2:08:57

68. Sandra Santanyes Murillo (Esp), 2:09:00

69. Lorraine Truong (Sui), 2:09:21

70. Zoe King (Aus), 2:09:51

71. Carina Ketonen (Fin), 2:09:58

72. Stephanie Wiedner (Aut), 2:10:58

73. Kristien Nelen (Bel), 2:11:41

74. Coralie Redelsperger (Fra), 2:13:11

75. Sandra Walter (Can),

76. Virginie Pointet (Sui),

77. Kathrin Stirnemann (Sui),

78. Judith Pollinger (Ita),

79. Nicoletta De Jager (Ned),

80. Jennifer Sagesser (Sui),

81. Nadine Rieder (Ger),

82. Jeanette Gerrie (Nzl),

83. Lucie Vesela (Cze),

84. Iryna Slobodyan (Ukr),

85. Camille Devi (Fra),

86. Karin Rappo (Sui),

87. Cristina Mascarreras Sabria (Esp),

88. Silja Vetter (Ger),

89. Marie-Claude Surprenant (Can),

90. Laure Boulay (Fra),

DNF: Ines Thoma (Ger)

DNF: Alla Boyko (Ukr)

DNF: Sarah Holmes (Aus)