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Absalon, Kalentyeva take XC World Cup

By Rob Jones
Published: May. 27, 2007
Kalentyeva rippin' it up
Kalentyeva rippin' it up
Photo: Rob Jones

More than 15,000 spectators from Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium braved rain and mud to cheer on the stars of mountain biking at the second round of the World Cup on Sunday in Offenburg, Germany. Nestled in the southwest corner of Germany, next to Switzerland and France, Offenburg is a region of vineyards on the edge of the Black Forest. The cross-country World Cup was restarting after a month-long break, a respite that meant previous results were no clear indication of form. This indeed proved to be the case, with one leader's jersey changing hands, and neither of the first-round winners making the podium in Offenburg.

Julien Absalon (Orbea) dominated the men's race, taking over the World Cup lead from Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida) in the process. Irina Kalentyeva (Topeak) was similarly strong in the women's race, scoring her first World Cup win since 2004. China's Chengyuan Ren held onto the women's series lead by 10 points over world champion Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida). Although the skies were overcast and damp, and the temperature had dropped more than 12 degrees Celsius from the day before, there was no rain as the women began their race, two start loops and then six laps of the 5.7km circuit.

For the first three laps, conditions remained dry and the racing was fast. Sabine Spitz (Ghost) and Wang Jingjing (China National) set the early pace through the start loops. The Chinese riders were struggling a bit more on this technical circuit than they did in Houffalize, with Ren dropping back to 15th by the end of the first lap. At the front it was Spitz setting the pace, with Marga Fullana (Spiuk), Kalentyeva, Dahle Flesjaa and Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) the only riders able to stay with her. Premont dropped back a few seconds from the others on the second lap when she tangled with Fullana.

"I tried to pass her, and she pushed me into the trees where I bent my rear derailleur a little bit. I had to catch up, and my gears didn't work as well, so it took some time,” she said. While Premont was working her way back up, Kalentyeva attacked on the third lap, just before the skies opened and it began to rain heavily. As everyone else began to slip and slide, working their way cautiously down the steep descents, Kalentyeva was reveling in the wet conditions. "I was really, really hoping for the rain," she said afterwards. "I like those conditions very much, and I was using some special Continental tires for the wet and mud." The Topeak team manager said that the tires were prototypes designed specifically for rain, and only Kalentyeva had access to them. Obviously, they were effective. Spitz was leading the chase until lap four, when her chain broke, and the German champion lost nearly five minutes repairing it, dropping to 11th. Premont had caught the other chasers by this time, and took over second spot from Spitz, while Fullana and Dahle Flesjaa battled for third. As Kalentyeva's lead approached two minutes at the end of lap five, Premont began picking up the pace, pulling back 30 seconds in the final lap. Dahle Flesjaa and Fullana had a rather unusual slow-speed sprint to the line through the mud, with the world champion winning by less than a tire width. Spitz worked her way up in the final lap to take the fifth and final podium spot. Ren recovered from her early lap troubles to finish seventh and retain the leader's jersey. American Willow Koerber (Subaru Gary Fisher) was ninth, and Canada's Kiara Bisaro (Opus) 10th. Koerber was in sixth place at the end of lap five, but had miscalculated the number of laps, thinking that she had finished a lap early.

"I went so hard in what I thought was the final lap that it was really hard to get going again for another lap. But other than that, it was a great race - I'm really happy with my form." The rain slackened a bit as the men started, then returned to full force for the middle part of the race. Wisely, officials shortened the race by a lap to one start loop and seven laps. Roel Paulissen (Cannondale-Vredestein) got the holeshot out of the start loop, with world number one ranked Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) of Canada well positioned in fifth. Unfortunately for Kabush, the first of a series of mishaps took place on the third corner in the race, when he slid out, losing over 20 places. He would eventually finish 51st, after multiple stops in the tech zones to replace his seat and seatpost, and falling as far back as the high 70s. Absalon, Hermida, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Cannondale-Vredestein), Kashi Leuchs (Cannondale-Vredestein), Paulissen, Nino Schurter (Swisspower), Florian Vogel (Swisspower) and Christoph Sauser (Specialized) made up the front group, but it was gradually decimated by mechanicals and crashes. Kessiakoff went out on lap one in a crash, while Vogel and Schurter were caught with broken rear derailleurs on lap four. Schurter managed to finish and retain his lead in the U23 World Cup standings. Paulissen faded and suffered an unspecified mechanical on lap 5, while Hermida was the victim of chainsuck caused by mud and never rejoined the front-runners. Absalon went to the front on the second lap, and steadily rode away from the field, winning by nearly three minutes. Cedric Ravanel (Lapierre) worked his way up to finish second, with Lukas Fluckiger (Athleticum) passing Jean-Christophe Peraud (Orbea) in the final lap to take third. Leuchs, having a superb ride that never saw him drop below seventh, took the final podium spot. Absalon credited his win to "condition and luck.”

“I did my preparation to be good here at this race and for the next part of the season with all the World Cups. I got a gap on the first downhill, and then I tried to be safe. As the mud became sticky I took a bottle in each feed zone and cleaned the chain. It lost maybe 20 seconds, but I think it was very important and stopped me from having problems like some other riders."

Race notes
Todd Wells (GT) was the top North American male, in 25th, one spot ahead of Max Plaxton (Rocky Mountain-Haywood), who came back from a mechanical to become the second U23 finisher. Plaxton moves to third in the U23 standings.

Cyclo-cross star Sven Nys (Belgian National) moved up from a starting position of 142 to finish a very respectable 24th. Nys was as high as 13th in lap six before fading in the last lap.

Organizers say that the UCI has already asked them to apply for a sanction for next year.

World Cup cross-country No. 2
Offenburg, Germany
Men
1. Julien Absalon (F), Orbea, 2:18:54
2. Cedric Ravanel (F), Team Lapierre International, at 2:42
3. Lukas Fluckiger (Swi), Athleticum, 3:12
4. Jean-Christophe Peraud (F), Orbea, 3:37
5. Kashi Leuchs (NZ), Cannondale-Vredestein, 3:45
6. Christoph Sauser (Swi), Specialized, 4:15
7. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi), Swisspower, 4:18
8. Jose Hermida (Sp), Multivan Merida, 4:45
9. Filip Meirhaeghe (B), Versluys-Landbouwkrediet, 5:15
10. Yury Trofimov (Rus), 7:02

Women
1. Irina Kalentyeva (Rus), Topeak-Ergon, 2:02:38
2. Marie-Helene Premont (Can), Rocky Mountain Haywood, at 1:28
3. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor), Multivan Merida, 2:20
4. Margarita Fullana (Sp), Spiuk-Tau Ceramica, 2:20
5. Sabine Spitz (G), Ghost International, 4:57
6. Tereza Hurikova (Cze), Ceska Sporitelna, 5:11
7. Chengyuan Ren (Chn), China, 5:30
8. Maja Wloszczowska (Pol), Halls, 5:54
9. Willow Koerber (USA), Subaru-Gary Fisher, 6:30
10. Kiara Bisaro (Can), Opus, 6:50
11. Susan Haywood (USA), Trek-VW, 7:11

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