The Canberra World Cup, Australia: Race Report
Preview – a week dogged with problems
Maybe it’s a matter of luck or maybe it’s just part and parcel of racing, but in the days leading up to the Canberra World Cup, things certainly were not going to plan. The positive start was that after our disappointment of Beijing, we embarked on our Boeing aeroplane to Australia with twenty pieces of luggage and did not have to pay one cent. Never before has this happened and as we checked in, we certainly created attention, given the amount of luggage that follows a bike team.
We arrived in Canberra on Wednesday and so far things were going to plan. The first stumbling block was Lene waking on Thursday morning with fever. It was obvious that Lene was out. Next up was Rafa, who joined us in Canberra after his flight from Madrid. In training he crashed. His wrist and shoulder were badly swollen. Not to take chances Claire took Rafa to hospital and six hours later he left in cast. Rafa’s wrist is broken and he is out for 4-6 weeks, so essentially its season over for Rafa. It’s not all doom and gloom. In his first really focussed year of 4 Cross, Rafa has won three World Cups and is the World Champion – there’s plenty to smile about! 
The World Champ, Rafa, is down (courtesy Gary Perkin) 
A litte worried!!! 
But still has the "eye of the tiger"
The saving grace: Spanish / English Dictionary!!!
Liam had internal bruising following that big crash that we all know about in Beijing. Despite this Liam insisted on racing. So for Saturday’s cross country show down we had a sore Liam, but Christoph seemed to be ok for the start. We were maybe 65% short of the full team!
Men’s XC, Saturday August 30th at 14:00 
Liam on start line (courtesy Gary Perkin)
Susi bring his big game face (courtesy Gary Perkin) 
and even I bring my big game face!! (courtesy Gary Perkin)
Not to be negative, but given a bruised knee coupled with internal bruising Liam should have been in for a tough day. The positive news from Liam’s side is that he has made it back up to the front of the grid, given his improved ranking. There was a nice comment from Susi on the start-line when he turned to say “Liam it’s good to see you back where you belong”. 
Liam early on (courtesy Gary Perkin)
Susi is never the best starter and going into the first few corners he was in about 15th with Liam a little behind. The course, due to be the world championship event for next year, has been described as not physical enough and into the early single tracks it was imperative to be near the front, given that there were no opportunities to pass and on the “flowly” descents not really a chance to ride much faster than the most of the riders in the field. Moritz Milatz had a mechanical early on in the first lap causing a huge bottleneck, which Susi and Liam were stuck in …. In the blink of an eye a group had formed at the front including Vogel, Schurter, Naf, Hermida, Fontana, Stander and Wells and they started pushing one another hard. Having finally passed Milatz, Susi punctured and crawled to the tech zone. Once Benno had a new wheel on Susi’s Epic; Susi re-mounted in about 15th, one position behind Liam. As this point I thought the two lads would make a perfect partnership in riding their way back into the race, but with less than one lap completed they were already two minutes behind and the leaders were pushing hard.
It was obvious that Liam’s injuries sustained from Beijing were troubling him, while on this course it was so hard to make back ground. The two lads remained in about 14th and 15th respectfully for a couple of laps, before almost making top ten placing and then more problems occurred. Liam punctured and Susi crashed resulting in a damaged rear derailleur – Susi and Liam pushed to the finish line to finish 11th and 14th respectfully. It’s was simply not our day or our fortnight! 
Liam on the big drop (Courtesy Gary Perkin)
Susi and Liam (in background) try hard, but things did not go their way today
At the front an attack from Ralf Naf (he told me pre race he was going to attack hard!!) and the race was his with team mate Jose Hermida managing to also get clear on the last lap to produce a first and second for Merida. A fast finishing Geoff Kabush was 3rd with Florian Vogel 4th and a great performance from Todd Wells to place 5th. Young South Africa Burry Stander fought hard all to way to finish 6th. Susi is in joint second with Geoff Kabush in the overall rankings going into the last World Cup in Austria in two weeks time.
Christoph’s Bike:
Bike: Specialized Epic Full Suspension
Tires: Specialized SLK Front and Rear
Tire Pressures: 28 PSI Front and Rear
Fork Pressure: 55 PSI
Rear Shock Pressure: 150 PSI
Weight: 8.9 Kg
Liam’s Bike:
Bike: Specialized Epic Full Suspension
Tires: Specialized SLK Front and Rear
Tire Pressures: 28 PSI Front and Rear
Fork Pressure: 60 PSI
Rear Shock Pressure: 155 PSI
Weight: 8.9 Kg
Men’s Results:
1 NAEF Ralph MMB 1:45:28
2 HERMIDA RAMOS José Antonio MMB +0:00:16
3 KABUSH Geoff TMX +0:00:28
4 VOGEL Florian SPT +0:00:47
5 WELLS Todd GTM +0:01:46
6 STANDER Burry GTM +0:02:30
7 PAULISSEN Roel CAV +0:03:33
8 SCHURTER Nino SPT +0:03:38
9 FONTANA Marco Aurelio +0:03:41
10 JONGEWAARD Chris DOT +0:04:07
11 SAUSER Christoph SFR +0:06:02
14 KILLEEN Liam SFR +0:06:26
Men’s Overall World Cup Standings:
1 ABSALON Julien ORB 1340
2 KABUSH Geoff TMX 945
3 SAUSER Christoph SFR 945
4 STANDER Burry GTM 897
5 HERMIDA RAMOS José Antonio MMB 864
6 CRAIG Adam GMT 768
7 SCHURTER Nino SPT 736
8 VOGEL Florian SPT 728
9 WELLS Todd GTM 713
10 GUJAN Martin ATH 664
24 KILLEEN Liam SFR 368
