Christoph and the World Marathon Championships, Villabassa, Italy
Christoph, Specialized, Swiss Cycling and the team (Specialized Factory Racing) realise that many people are asking questions, so without giving a personal side to the crash; here are the facts as we see them and how we proceed from here.
Christoph was always “in the thick of the action” from the start and as the racing progressed the lead group got smaller until three riders were left in Leonardo Paez, Roel Paulisson and Christoph. Between feed points four (80km) and five (110km) Paez was dropped leaving Roel and Susi at the front.
“Roel and I were so evenly matched today” commented Christoph of his former team mate Roel Paulisson. With four kilometres to go, Susi took all risks on the final descent and did make a little ground on Roel, but Roel was back on as they entered the asphalt signalling 800 metres to go. In the closing metres Christoph open up the sprint. With about 70 metres to go Christoph and Roel crashed, as Roel contested from Christoph’s right hand side. Although, Roel was up first, he had problems with his bike. Once up although looking a little dazed and disorientated, Susi mounted his new Specialized Epic and crossed the finish line in first position. In Christoph’s and the team’s mind, Christoph was World Champion.
We were informed by the UCI Chief Commissaries that Christoph was relegated to second position, because they deemed him to have ridden “dangerously” in the closing sprint. Upon detailed reflection and analysis of specific video evidence, it was very obvious to us that Christoph sprinted fairly. Neutral people having looked in detail at the evidence, were in agreement that Christoph rode fairly. As a result, we submitted a written appeal to the UCI after the race, based on their decision. We are awaiting news of this appeal and therefore do not want to comment further.
One point we feel worth mentioning was the reaction at the finish. Roel initially reacted negatively towards us, but later said that this was not right, which we accepted. Roel is a very sound individual and a rider we all respect - it was all "in the heat of the moment". However, as a result, and given that it was Roel's local area, the crowds "boo'ed" Christoph. This was very hurtful to both Christoph and us, his team. As a mark of sportsmanship Christoph attended the podium, but following "boo'ing" from the crowd left the podium upon "champagne celebrations". Susi is a great champion, a great ambasssador for this sport and did not deserve this reaction from people who did not see what happened.
Photos courtesy Gary Perkin:
Susi on the start line
Claire looking on as Susi gets ready!
The men's start
