August 26, 2006 (Rotorua, New Zealand) – The clouds have rolled back on top of the cross country course dropping the temperature down to around 10 Celsius. Some of the mud from the Elite Women’s XC event has dried up so all of the course rideable now.

The men will complete 7 laps of the 5.9 km course. There are 81 men are on the start list including reigning World Champ Julien Absalon (Fra). Noteably absent is Jose Antonio Hermida who was ordered home by the Spanish Cycling Federation as his name has been linked to Spain’s doping sting, “Operacion Puerto”.

Four Canadians are racing Geoff Kabush, Seamus McGrath, Ricky Federau and Mathieu Toulouse.

Lap 1
The men’s race has started with Roel Paulissen (BEL) leading in 1st followed by Ralph Naf (Switzerland) in 2nd, Chistoph Sauser (SUI) in 3rd, Geoff Kabush (Canada) in 4th and Fredrik Kessiakoff (Sweden) in 5th.

At the top of the first climb it’s Ralph Naf (Switzerland) leading with Kessiakoff in second.

USA’s Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski is out of the race DNF’d.

Finishing the first lap it’s Nef in front followed by Kessiakoff, Julien Absalon (France) and Sauser at 10 sec. Chasing further back at 35 sec are Kashi Leuchs (New Zealand) and Florian Vogel (Switzerland).

Canada’s Kabush is in 24th, McGrath is in 38th at 2:10 and Federau and Toulouse are in the low 50s at 2:40.

Lap time is 17:48.

Lap 2
At the top of the climb on lap 2 it’s Absalon, Kessiakoff, Nef and Sauser together. Kabush is now in 31st.

As the riders jockey for position it’s Sauser, Nef, Kessiakoff and Absalon coming thru the finish of Lap 2. Chasing at 48 sec. are Vogel and Oliver Beckingsale (Great Britain).

In the high 30s at just over 3 min. are Canada’s Kabush and McGrath, with Federau and Toulouse at 4.5 min in the low 40s.

Lap 3
Nef has fallen off by a minute as Sauser, Kessiakoff and Absalon crest the climb on lap 3. Canada’s McGrath looks good and is now the top Canuck in 37th at 3.5 min.

Sauser and Absalon have gained a small 10 sec. gap over Kessiakoff with Nef at 1 min while Vogel, Beckingsale and Paez Leon are at 1:30.

Canada’s McGrath continues in 37th together wih Kabush in 38th at 5:30. Federau is further back in 44th at 6 min and Toulouse is in 48th at 7 min.

The total time at the end of lap 3 is 55 min.

Lap 4
The riders have started their 4th lap and are now over 1/2 way thru the race. Sauser and Absalon have been caught by Kessiakoff at the top of the climb as the rest of field chases the leaders.

Lap 5
Absalon has attacked on the descent to take a 5-sec lead over Sauser and Kessiakoff. Naf trails in 4th at 1:45 followed by Leon in 5th at 2:20.

A chase group at 2:40 consists of Vogel, Beckingsale, Jean Christophe Pernaud (France), Jeremiah Bishop (USA), Bart Brentjens (NED), Thomas Frischknecht (SUI) and Filip Meirhaeghe (Belgium).

Canada’s McGrath has moved up to 33rd and Federau is in 40th.

Absalon was caught by Sauser and Kessiakoff but attacked again on another descent and gained 10 sec. on Sauser and 20 sec. on Kessiakoff. Naf and Leon are at 3 min. followed by the large chase group, but Vogel now has wheel problems.

McGrath is looking strong and has moved up to 30th, Federau is also now in the high 30s, Kabush and Toulouse are further back as lap 6 begins.

Lap 6
Late on the descent Absalon has a 3 sec. lead on Sauser with Kessiakoff at 40 sec. Naf and Leon still trail at about 3 min.

Frischknecht, Meirhaeghe and Bishop are next in a first small chase group but Bishop has crashed on the descent. Brentjens, Beckingsale and Pernaud are in a second chase group not far behind.

Lap 7 Final
At the top of the climb on the final lap it’s Absalon with a 30-second lead over Sauser with Kessiakoff at 1:45.

Results

Results, 41.30 kms

1 Julien Absalon (France) 2.09.08 (19.19 km/h)
2 Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) 0.43
3 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Sweden) 1.58
4 Ralph Näf (Switzerland) 4.22
5 Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Colombia) 4.51
6 Thomas Frischknecht (Switzerland) 5.19
7 Filip Meirhaeghe (Belgium) 5.54
8 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) 6.21
9 Jean Christophe Peraud (France) 7.02
10 Liam Killeen (Great Britain) 7.13
11 Bart Brentjens (Netherlands) 7.39
12 Roel Paulissen (Belgium) 7.49
13 Jader Zoli (Italy) 8.07
14 Johann Pallhuber (Italy) 8.44
15 Marti Gispert Labarta (Spain) 8.56
16 Kashi Leuchs (New Zealand) 9.10
17 Adam Craig (USA) 9.16
18 Cédric Ravanel (France) 9.47
19 Jochen Kaess (Germany) 9.57
20 Florian Vogel (Switzerland) 10.04
21 Karl Platt (Germany) 10.14
22 Alban Lakata (Austria) 10.17
23 Martino Fruet (Italy) 10.59
24 Ludovic Dubau (France) 11.39
25 Seamus McGrath (Canada) 12.01
26 Bas Peters (Netherlands) 12.18
27 Oliver Beckingsale (Great Britain) 12.21
28 Peter Riis Andersen (Denmark) 12.42
29 Dario Acquaroli (Italy) 12.53
30 Christoph Soukup (Austria) 13.23
31 Sid Taberlay (Australia) 13.42
32 Filip Eberl (Czech Republic) 14.03
33 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spain) 14.31
34 Andreas Kugler (Switzerland) 14.47
35 Ricky Federau (Canada) 15.00
36 Geoff Kabush (Canada) 15.23
37 Chris Jongewaard (Australia) 15.36
38 Manuel Fumic (Germany) 15.46
39 Michael Weiss (Austria) 16.06
40 Mirko Pirazzoli (Italy) 17.16

1 Lap Behind

41 Martin Gujan (Switzerland)
42 Moritz Milatz (Germany)
43 Maxim Gogolev (Russian Federation)
44 Martin Kraler (Austria)
45 Murray Spink (Australia)
46 Balz Weber (Switzerland)
47 Barry Wicks (USA)
48 Mathieu Toulouse (Canada)
49 Milan Spesny (Czech Republic)

2 Laps Behind

50 Ricardo Pscheidt (Brazil)
51 Caspar Austa (Estonia)
52 Jelmer Pietersma (Netherlands)
53 Ovidiu Tudor Oprea (Romania)
54 Eric Drower (New Zealand)
55 Kenji Takeya (Japan)
56 Brent Miller (Australia)
57 Perren Delacour (Australia)
58 Ivan Seledkov (Russian Federation)
59 Gonzalo Aravena (Chile)
60 Stuart Houltham (New Zealand)
61 Michael Broderick (USA)
62 Edivando Cruz (Brazil)

3 Laps Behind

63 Michael Northcott (New Zealand)
64 Cristobal Silva (Chile)
65 Todd Wells (USA)
66 Shingo Shiraishi (Japan)
67 Javier Puschel (Chile)
68 Helmet Tamkorv (Estonia)
69 Wayne Hiscock (New Zealand)
70 Tim Wilding (New Zealand)

4 Laps Behind

71 Mark Leishman (New Zealand)
72 Justice Makhale (Republic of South Africa)
73 Takahiro Ogasawara (Japan)
DNF Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA)
DNF Marek Galinski (Poland)
DNF Ryan Trebon (USA)
DNF Marcin Karczynski (Poland)
DNF Aaron Barry Tuckerman (New Zealand)
DNS Thiago Aroeira (Brazil)