Fortwilliam World Cup: Lene's best WC Result & Susi is leading the WC Rankings
Women’s Crosscounty Race at 11:30am (Saturday June 7th) (All photos courtesy Gary Perkin)
Having skipped the Andorra World Cup, Lene was to be found back on the start line today ahead of the World Championships to be held in Italy in two weeks time. Other notably riders back, having not raced in Andorra were Sabine Spitz and Gunn Rita Dahle.
Lene the Norwegian Champion, battling with Sabine Spitz
From the start Fullana set to dominate, albeit for a Canadian Marie Helene Premont, who was always in her shadow. Lene, probably suffering from a little cobwebs; on the opening lap was to be found in 15th position, but the cobwebs were not there for long! Lene along with former Specialized Rider Sabine Spitz steadily moved up the grid as many girls started to suffer at the front following their early exertions.
At times, Fullana looked like she was going to break Premont, but the two were always together at the bottom of the long steady climb. An Irish friend Gavin was in the feed with me and I said that if Premont was with Fullana on the last lap, she would take it. I have seen Premont take the great Gunn Rita Dahle, when she was at her best, in this fashion on the last lap (one example was at Schladming in 2006) and expected the same today. Premont went on to win with Fullana hot on her heels.
Meanwhile, Lene was having her greatest world cup so far, formulating in a battle with Sabine Spitz! I was thrilled to see Lene with the top riders in the field – she has had four fifth positions in world cups, so this was going to be another notch upwards for the ever improving Norwegian Champion. Although, losing the battle to Spitz, Lene finish an impressive fourth, which is a great confidence boost ahead of Worlds. Naturally, she was very pleased.
Lene crossing the finish line
Lene’s bike:
Bike: Specialized Epic Carbon
Tires: Specialized LK 2.0 – Cut out knobs (Front and Rear)
Chainrings: 40/26
Tire Pressures: 27 PSI (Front and Rear)
Fork Pressure: 50+ / 30- PSI
Rear Shock Pressure: 75 PSI
Weight: 9.5 Kilos
The women's podium
Women’s Results:
1 Marie-Helene Premont (Can) Rocky Mountain 2.00.42
2 Margarita Fullana (Spa) Massi +0.14
3 Sabine Spitz (Ger) Central Ghost Pro Team +3.11
4 Lene Byberg (Nor) Specialized Factory Racing +3.20
5 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) +3.34
6 Ying Liu (Chn) +3.54
7 Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Giant Italia Team +4.49
8 Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) Multivan Merida Biking Team +4.57
9 Petra Henzi (Swi) Fischer-BMC +4.59
10 Maroussia Rusca (Swi)
Women’s Overall World Cup Rankings:
1 PREMONT Marie-Helene RMB 970
2 FULLANA Margarita MAS 910
3 REN Chengyuan * China 578
4 LIU Ying China 555
5 SPITZ Sabine Germany 535
6 PENDREL Catherine LUN 523
7 HENZI Petra FIB 522
8 GOULD Georgia LUN 522
9 DAHLE FLESJAA Gunn-Rita MMB 490
10 BYBERG Lene Specialized Factory Racing 470
Men’s Race at 11:30am (Saturday June 7th)
The Fortwilliam course has changed considerably in recent years. In the past it was a course over very technical terrain, but now is a more man-made affair with a very “flowey” path. It’s one of those courses that a newcomer could get around on, without much problem apart from one or two small challenges. In terms of the profile, the course features a steady long climb followed by a long “flowey” descent, then a flat section, a 15 second power climb and then a dash to the finish.
Susi trying to stamp his authority on the climb
The start was fast as expected in a World Cup, but by two laps in, the race was forming with Vogel, Schurter and our own Susi battling at the front. Three qualify for the Olympic Games from the top ranked countries, so a witty comment in our feed was “there goes the Swiss Olympic train – get on and hold on!” So the race for first was being fought out between three Swiss-men with Jakob Fuglsgang alone on fourth and Burry Stander the young South Africa also alone in fifth.
"The Swiss Olympic Train. L-R Schurter (in background), Vogel and Susi)
From Susi’s perspective it was apparent that to win the following would have to happen: he would have to break the lads on the climb and stay away on the descent, which was going to be tough to pull off in Fortwillliam.
Susi tries hard to break the chasers
Reports back were that on each lap Susi was at the front driving the pace up the climb with his compatriots barely holding on. Both Vogel and Schurter are explosive riders, while Susi is more like a strong diesel engine – Susi had to break them before the finish. On the final lap the threesome flew through our feed located on the descent with Susi about 3 seconds clear. I was nervous and knew that the finish was going to be a tough one for Susi. In the final 500metres the lads jumped cleared of Susi with Vogel taking first and his Swisspower Teammate Schurter in second. Christoph finished third, but had reason to celebrate – he had taken over the World Cup Leaders Ranking jersey from Julien Absalon, who was not present today. Jakob Fuglsgang took fourth with Burry Stander in fifth rounding off the top five.
Liam Killeen back on home soil had also reason to be pleased with his 26th position considering his ranking of 84th on the grid. Liam rode steadily through the field and felt good, which is positive ahead of the World Championships in two weeks time.
Liam has moved up to 53rd in the overall rankings
Christoph's comments from the race:
It is hard to lose in a sprint finish… I am still thinking if I could have gone any harder in the last two laps, or used the tactical side of my brain more in order to drop the two Swisspower Team mates of Vogel and Schurter, who just hanged in there on the climbs or closed small gaps in the flats each lap. I knew my chances in the sprint were very small compared to the two explosive riders who are also super fast starters.
Just before the finish I tried my final bit of luck with a long sprint into the last single trail, but the two sprinted out of my draft too fast and then on the following 15sec climb I could not keep up any more.
But it feels great to be in the overall leader’s jersey again, a jersey I have not been in since 2005, even if I did not have to fight it out with Julien Absalon. Julien did not start today due to his World Championship preparations in two weeks.
Christoph’s Bike:
Bike: Specialized S Works Epic (Full Suspension)
Tires: Specialized LK 2.0 – Cut out knobs (Front and Rear)
Chainrings: 40/28
Tire Pressures: 28 PSI (Front and Rear)
Fork Pressure: Roc Shoc Sid 50+ / 30-
Rear Shock Pressure: 85 PSI
Weight: 9.5 Kilos
Liam’s Bike:
Bike: Specialized S Works Epic (Full Suspension)
Tires: Specialized LK 2.0 – Cut out knobs (Front and Rear)
Chainrings: 42/30
Tire Pressures: 28 PSI (Front and Rear)
Fork Pressure: Roc Shoc Sid 60+ / 40-
Rear Shock Pressure: 85 PSI
Weight: 9.5 Kilos
Susi at the finish = the not so happy face!
Men’s Results:
1 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team 2.06.27
2 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower Mtb Team +0.01
3 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing +0.09
4 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein +0.47
5 Burry Stander (RSA) GT Bicycle +1.00
6 Sven Nys (Bel) +1.19
7 Christoph Soukup (Aut) +1.20
8 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-It +1.21
9 Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team +1.31
10 Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team +1.56
26 Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factory Racing +5.02
The men's podium
Men’s Overall World Cup Rankings:
1 SAUSER Christoph Specialized Factory Racing 855
2 ABSALON Julien ORB 840
3 SCHURTER Nino * SPT 626
4 VOGEL Florian SPT 578
5 STANDER Burry * GTM 549
6 PERAUD Jean-Christophe ORB 520
7 RAVANEL Cédric LPI 515
8 FUGLSANG Jakob CAV 490
9 KABUSH Geoff TMX 435
10 HERMIDA José Antonio MMB 434
53 KILLEEN Liam Specialized Factory Racing 90
The overall world cup leader, Christoph Sauser
The Overall World Cup Leader Christoph Sauser, with the U23 World Cup Leader Nino Schurter
Men’s 4 Cross (Friday June 6th):
A big crowd pleaser as always in Fortwilliam, the sun was out this year for a change, which made the four cross a hugely entertaining event with Jared Graves winning from Joost Wichman.
Kyle Strait was pleased with his qualification run in 4 Cross, but very disappointed with his one and only first round. A very poor gate left Kyle scrambling in fourth position. Using his supreme technical skills Kyle was easily back in third and had shot for second, but it would have been exceptional had he pulled it off.
Men’s 4 Cross Results:
1 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
2 Joost Wichman (Ned) Cannondale Factory Racing
3 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal
4 Michal Prokop (Cze)
5 Guido Tschugg (Ger)
25 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Factory Racing
Kyle’s bike:
Bike: Specialized P3
Tires: Specialized LK 2.3 (Front and Rear)
Tire Pressures: 42 PSI (Front and Rear)
Men’s Downhill on Sunday June 8th:
Kyle on the downhill section through the woods
There was drama and edge of the seat racing at the front of the men’s downhill with Greg Minnaar taking the overall crown following a close battle with Gee Atherton, Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie. Kyle Strait’s ambition was to go down in under five minutes but towards the bottom of the course in the wooded section he lost control almost crashed, regained composure and finished, but loosing the perfect line at this level of the game means many valuable seconds. Kyle finished 31st and first American.
Kyle taking in some air before the finish
Kyle’s bike:
Bike: Specialized Demo 8
Tires: Specialized Chunder 2.5 (Front and Rear)
Tire Pressures: 32 PSI (Front and Rear)
Men’s Downhill Results:
1 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 4.43.52
2 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal +0.03.18
3 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate +0.03.88
4 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Santa Cruz Syndicate +0.04.68
5 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Iron Horse +0.05.18
6 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal +0.06.28
7 Justin Leov (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory RT +0.08.88
8 Ben Cathro (GBr) Mojo Orange
9 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory RT +0.09.48
10 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes +0.10.38
31 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Factory Racing +0.18.88
Men’s Downhill Overall World Cup Rankings:
1 HILL Samuel MER 570
2 ATHERTON Gee ANC 557
3 MINNAAR Greg SCB 542
4 PEAT Steve SCB 495
5 CAMELLINI Julien CRC 301
6 BAREL Fabien SUB 294
7 KOVARIK Chris CRC 290
8 LEOV Justin YET 260
9 BLENKINSOP Samuel YET 250
10 ATHERTON Dan ANC 235
37 STRAIT Kyle Specialized Factory Racing 69
Other photos:
Photographer Gary Perkin gets a smirk from me before the women's start!
Ryan Palmer working on Kyle's Specialized Demo 8