Report from The Mont Sainte Anne World Cup in Canada

Saturday July 26th (All photos courtesy Gary Perkin)

Men’s Downhill:

Kyle Strait was on the line for Specialized and unfortunately for Kyle a crash in the finals resulted in a 51st placing – as we all know Kyle is capable of much more.

Kyle Strait

Meanwhile at the front, there was one hell of a race. Over the final five finishers the hot seat changed four times: Steve Peat, Gee Atherton, Sam Hill and finally Greg Minnaar, who was unstoppable. Minnaar took a very well deserved victory at a venue that he has failed to win at before.

Cody Warren, Specialized Decline Team America

Kyle's Bike:

Bike:     Specialized Demo 8
Tires:   Specialized Clutch 2 (Front and Rear)
Tire Pressures:  29 PSI (Front and Rear)

Men's DH Results:

1 MINNAAR Greg    SCB  4:30.57   
2 HILL Samuel   MER  4:32.30   
3 ATHERTON Gee   ANC  4:32.83   
4 PEAT Steve  SCB  4:33.53   
5 BAREL Fabien  SUB  4:37.25   
6 BLENKINSOP Samuel  YET  4:38.34   
7 RENNIE Nathan   SCB  4:40.12   
8 CAMELLINI Julien    CRC  4:41.74   
9 LEOV Justin  YET  4:42.35   
10 GWIN Aaron Holmes   YET  4:42.65   
  
39 WARREN Cody    4:56.02   
 
51 STRAIT Kyle   SFR  5:00.50

Men's DH World Cup Standings:

 1 MINNAAR Greg    SCB  792   
2 HILL Samuel   MER  770   
3 ATHERTON Gee    ANC  727   
4 PEAT Steve    SCB  642   
5 BAREL Fabien   SUB  424   
6 CAMELLINI Julien    CRC  403   
7 KOVARIK Chris    CRC  386   
8 LEOV Justin   YET  356   
9 BLENKINSOP Samuel     YET  348   
10 RENNIE Nathan    SCB  314   
    
 
42 STRAIT Kyle     SFR  77   
 
65 WARREN Cody   43

Men’s 4X:

Rafa inspecting the course

Rafa joined the team for the first time this week and we immediately hit it off with the big man from Spain. The World Champion definitely wanted to stamp his authority on the field today, which he had no problem doing. Rafa won every round and went on to convincingly win the final.  

Rafa on the inside

Rafa leading the field

Rafa’s Bike

Bike:     Specialized SX
Tires:   Specialized Chunder 2.3 Front
             Specialized Chunder 2.2 Rear
Tire Pressures:  40 PSI (Front and Rear)

Men's 4X Results:
 

1 ALVAREZ DE LARA LUCAS Rafael    42.78

2 SALADINI Romain    SRS  43.05   
3 TSCHUGG Guido    42.98   
4 GRACIA Cédric  CFO  44.61   
5 TATARKOVIC Kamil   SRB  43.82   
6 ATHERTON Dan  ANC  44.77   
7 POLC Filip  KTR  45.22   
8 SLAVIK Tomas    44.03   
9 MEYENBORG Sascha     44.51   
10 COUSINIE Fabien   45.18

Men's 4X Overall World Cup Standings:

1 ALVAREZ DE LARA LUCAS Rafael    610   
2 TSCHUGG Guido    600   
3 ATHERTON Dan    ANC  480   
4 GRACIA Cédric    CFO  350   
5 SALADINI Romain    SRS  280   
6 GRAVES Jared    YET  250   
7 TATARKOVIC Kamil    SRB  240   
8 FISCHBACH Johannes    GHO  220   
9 WICHMAN Joost    CAN  215   
10 SLAVIK Tomas    200

Sunday July 27th:

Women’s Crosscountry:

Lene on the startline

On home soil as predicted Marie Helene Premont, the current World Cup Overall leader and the local hero dominated from start to finish taking the world cup title on home ground. Catherine Predrel also on a wave of Canadian home support produced a personal best second position, as did our very own Lene Byberg, who in the final laps passed her compatriot Gunn Rita Dahle to place third. Lene was delighted and very pleased with how her new Era performed. She said “that the bike is a huge lead forward over her old bike. The fork is amazing in that the brain does all of the thinking for you. I could not be on a better bike!”

Claire and Lene at the finish

Rie from Specialized Japan, who will be representing her country at the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing

Lene’s Bike:

Bike:     New Specialized Era Carbon (Women’s Specific)
Tires:   Specialized Sauserwind 1.8 (Front and Rear)
Tire Pressures:  27 PSI (Front and Rear)
Fork Pressure:  60 PSI
Rear Shock Pressure: 100 PSI
Weight:   8.95 kg

Women's XC Results:

1 PREMONT Marie-Helene  RMB  2:06:30   
2 PENDREL Catherine   LUN  +0:02:54   
3 BYBERG Lene   SFR  +0:04:29   
4 GOULD Georgia    LUN  +0:05:07   
5 DAHLE FLESJAA Gunn-Rita   MMB  +0:05:24   
6 MC CONNELOUG Mary   +0:06:28   
7 NASH Katerina    LUN  +0:07:33   
8 OSL Elisabeth    GHO  +0:08:42   
9 ENAUX Sabrina    LPI  +0:11:33   
10 SIN Amanda    +0:12:15

Women's XC Overall World Cup Rankings:

1 PREMONT Marie-Helene   RMB  1220   
2 FULLANA RIERA Margarita     MAS  910   
3 PENDREL Catherine    LUN  723   
4 GOULD Georgia    LUN  672   
5 BYBERG Lene    SFR  630   
6 DAHLE FLESJAA Gunn-Rita   MMB  630   
7 REN Chengyuan *    578   
8 LIU Ying     555   
9 SPITZ Sabine    CGT  535   
10 NASH Katerina     LUN  531

Men’s Crosscountry:

On a training ride on Saturday, Christoph (Susi) crashed on one of the courses many technical sections, badly cutting his knee, which resulted in a trip to the hospital and four stitches. Susi is not one to complain, so when I sat with him in his room yesterday evening and saw him wriggling in pain, I was not overly optimistic about today’s race. The correct decision was made, in Susi opting not to race. In a few days he should be back to full health.

Decision time - Susi is not racing

Liam on the start line

With Susi gone, Liam was left flying the flag for Specialized Factory Racing. Although, not feeling in tip top form, Liam who seemed to struggle in the opening laps hovering from 17th – 21st position, in the final laps managed to creep into the top 10 with a 9th place position. Although, not 100% pleased, Liam knows that there is more to come.

Phew!! Liam crosses the finish line

Kenji from Specialized Japan

Kenji on the limit!

Liam’s Bike

Bike:     New Specialized Epic Carbon
Tires:   Specialized “Cut” LK (Front and Rear)
Tire Pressures:  28 PSI (Front and Rear)
Fork Pressure:  60 PSI
Rear Shock Pressure: 150 PSI
Weight:   8.95 kg

Men's XC Results:

1 ABSALON Julien    FRA19800816  ORB  2:07:44   
2 KABUSH Geoff    CAN19770414  TMX  +0:02:33   
3 STANDER Burry *    RSA19870916  GTM  +0:04:53   
4 CRAIG Adam    USA19810815  GMT  +0:05:17   
5 FLÜCKIGER Lukas    SUI19840131  ATH  +0:05:37   
6 KULHAVY Jaroslav    CZE19850108  ---  +0:06:20   
7 GUJAN Martin    SUI19820416  ATH  +0:07:03   
8 MCGRATH Seamus    CAN19760503  ---  +0:07:34   
9 KILLEEN Liam    GBR19820412  SFR  +0:08:30   
10 HORGAN-KOBELSKI Jeremy    USA19780811  SGF  +0:09:32

Men's Overall XC World Cup Rankings:

1 ABSALON Julien    FRA19800816  ORB  1090   
2 SAUSER Christoph    SUI19760413  SFR  855   
3 STANDER Burry *    RSA19870916  GTM  709   
4 KABUSH Geoff    CAN19770414  TMX  635   
5 SCHURTER Nino *    SUI19860513  SPT  626   
6 RAVANEL Cédric    FRA19781126  LPI  583   
7 VOGEL Florian    SUI19820218  SPT  578   
8 GUJAN Martin    SUI19820416  ATH  534   
9 CRAIG Adam    USA19810815  GMT  528   
10 HERMIDA RAMOS José Antonio    ESP19780824  MMB  524   
 
37 KILLEEN Liam    GBR19820412  SFR  190