Andorra World Cup: Christoph Sauser is on top....

Benno pondering the race to come on the long walk to the tech / feed zone (courtesy Gary Perkin) 

We were a greatly reduced team here in Andorra with Lene Byberg opting not to race, given a heavy race schedule to come, while Liam Killeen was stuck down with the flu in the latter stages of this week, thus forcing his withdrawal. With Kyle Strait in downhill action tomorrow, the only person left to fly the flag on today’s start line was Christoph Sauser, who certainly did not fail to impress.

The early stages and Susi is shaking things up (courtesy Gary Perkin)

The Epic was the perfect bike (courtesy Gary Perkin) 

When we arrived in Andorra on Tuesday the heavens were pouring down on us, but thankfully the weather picked up through to Friday. The forecasters were not wrong though and dark clouds filled the skies on Saturday morning and race day. In the women’s race there was a fair amount of rain, but things did dry up for the men’s start. Tire options are always a topic of discussion in such changeable conditions, but Christoph seemed to make the right choice!

All concentration (courtesy Gary Perkin)

I asked Christoph I think the night before the race, when the last world cup at altitude was held. We could not work out a specific date, but in my third season with Specialized there have been none until today. Racing at 2000m metres was going to affect some riders for sure, but Susi’s diesel engine, finely tuned in the Swiss Alps was ready to go into turbo mode.

A good start by Susi found him in fourth position about one kilometre into the first lap of seven, but by the end of the first lap, Susi had already broken clear of the entire field. A small group did form about 25 seconds back, with Burry Stander (Susi’s South African compatriot in The Cape Epic) pushing the pace at the front. It was great to see Burry commanding things in this position. Susi continued to show his dominance as the laps progressed, albeit for a young South African who was fighting hard! The twenty year old South Africa started to eat into Christoph’s 45 second lead, which naturally started to worry us all! The lead eventually settled at 10 seconds, until on lap six Susi suffered a rear wheel puncture – Burry also had a crash on this lap, but it did not deter him! I got a shock when over the radio, Benno sent the message Burry leading, Susi in second 30 seconds adrift! Alarm bells beckoned! Susi had one and half laps to prove his worth, while the young South African was riding on fire. It took Susi one lap to show why this could be his 13th World Cup win in his career. He caught Burry with half a lap to go and showed his experience to win by about 8 seconds. Burry was very pleased with second and deservingly so, with a fast finishing Geoff Kabush placing third. The World Cup Overall leader Julien Absalon finished 11th and maintained his overall hold on the standings.

Susi's last world cup win was in 2006, so it's been awhile coming (courtesy Gary Perkin)

The machine that propelled Susi - The Epic (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Tomorrow sees Kyle Strait in action. Let’s hope he can produce a performance like that from Maribor.

Kyle looking chilled out (!!!) on his way up to practice (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Christoph’s bike:

Bike:     Specialized Epic Carbon
Tires:   Specialized LK 2.0 - Prototype Version (Front)
Specialized LK 2.0 - Prototype Version (Rear)
Tire Pressures:  28 PSI (Front and Rear)
Fork Pressure:  20+ / 55- PSI
Rear Shock Pressure: 95 PSI
Weight:   9.5 Kilos

Note - Chainrings: 40/28

L-R: Lukas Fluckigerq; Burry Stander; Christoph Sauser; Geoff Kabush and Cedric Ravenal

Men’s Results:

1. Christoph Sauser  Specialized Factory Racing  2 hours 2’ 16’’
2. Burry Stander   GT Bicycles    + 8’’
3. Geoff Kabush   Team Maxxis    + 17’’
4. Lukas Fluckigerq  Athleticum-MTB-Team   + 1’08’’
5. Cedric Ravanel   Team Lapierre International  + 1’41’’
6. Todd Wells   GT Bicycles    + 2’16’’
7. Tony Longo   Full Dynamics IT    + 2’27’’
8. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez Celemorca-Segurosio.com   + 2’51’’
9. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti  Orbea     + 3’01’’
10. Fredrik Kessiakoff  Full Dynamics IT    + 3’13’’

The Swiss Anthem (courtesy Gary Perkin)

Men’s Overall World Cup Standings:

1. Julien Absalon   Orbea     840 Points
2. Christoph Sauser  Specialized Factory Racing  695 Points
3. Cedric Ravanel   Team Lapierre International  439 Points
4. Jean Christophe Peraud  Orbea     430 Points
5. Nino Schurter   Swisspower MTB Team   426 Points
6. Burry Stander   GT Bicycles    409 Points
7. Kashi Leuchs   Cannondale Vredestein   388 Points
8. Jose Antonio Hermida  Merida Multivan Biking Team  378 Points
9. Geoff Kabush   Team Maxxis    377 Points
10. Todd Wells   GT Bicycles    350 Points

Some other random photos:

The team tech area

Benno, Kyle and Ryan

A happy kid gets Susi sticker on his Specialized!

Nate Riffle of Specialized Decline Team American