October 07, 2012 (Ornans, FRA) – The unexpected Perikilis Ilias (Greece) created a surprise this Sunday, becoming UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Champion after having led the Men’s race right from the beginning. Meanwhile, Annika Langvad from Denmark retained her women’s title.

The muddy and very dangerous course at Ornans, in eastern France, played a key role in the distribution of the medals. Saturday’s summery weather was replaced by rain and fog, which had a considerable effect on the ground. To obtain the rainbow jersey, one had to be both physically and psychologically strong, and to avoid having any significant mechanical problems.

Ilias certainly fulfilled these criteria. At the head of the Elite Men’s race from the start, he maintained that position throughout the whole 84 kilometres. “I didn’t want to breakaway just then, but when I saw that the other weren’t following, I didn’t hesitate, and kept up my effort.”

In spite of two punctures, Ilias kept his lead right up to the line. He was 2’27” in front of the German Moritz Milatz who, struggling from the half-way mark had “thought of giving up”, before getting it back together over the final kilometres. German Kristian, who crossed the line 2’36” later, took the bronze medal. As for the Swiss rider Christoph Sauser (+2’57”), considered as one of the favourites before the race, he failed to make the podium.

At only 26, Ilias therefore won the greatest victory of his career. Usually concentrating on Cross country (XCO) trials, he has now finished national champion of his country seven times, and 33rd in the Olympic Games this Summer.

“I trained very hard, and had a very good feeling during the last few days,” he explained. “Although I lost my concentration rather during the last ten kilometres, I held on. It’s my first international win, and I’m very happy.”

Langvald Retains Title Despite Falling in the Final

It was a dour fight for victory in the Elite Women’s race. Right from the first climb of the course, Annika Langvad, the title holder, managed to break away from the  Norwegian rider Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa. The latter then remained alone in front, but lacking in confidence and turning around on many occasions, allowed her rival to catch up and then overtake her.

Langvald, 28 ans – injured several times this season – could have thought that once more her chances of winnign were fading, when she had a puncture six kilometres from the end, and then fell during the last downhill stretch. However, in spite of these incidents, the Danish rider retained her lead and her title of World Champion.

“I arrived her under no pressure, and in a totally relaxed condition,” explained the winner. “I remained concentrated over the whole length of the course. It’s just incredible to finish the season in this way. Everything went perfectly for me today.”

Langvald beat Dahle Flesjaa by 44 seconds, with the Swiss Esther Süss completing the podium at 1’40”. “I wasn’t at my best, because I don’t like these weather conditions at all,” she declared.

The UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships will take place in Austria, in Kirchberg, in the region of the Kitzbüheler Alps. ower to keep up with the leaders, and the gruesome conditions were the final straw for me», the Swiss rider commented.

Results

1. Annika Langvad (Den)  3:52:23
2. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor)  0:44
3. Esther Süss (Sui)  1:40
4. Irina Kalentieva (Rus)  0:12:49
5. Sally Bigham (Gbr)  0:13:56
6. Elisabeth Brandau (Ger)  0:16:38
7. Jane Nussli (Gbr)  0:20:38
8. Sabrina Enaux (Fra)  0:20:58
9. Borghild Løvset (Nor)  0:22:26
10. Helene Marcouyre (Fra)  0:25:45
11. Vera Andreeva (Rus)  0:27:45
12. Heidi Rosasen Sandsto (Nor)  0:28:19
13. Catherine Hare Willianson (Gbr)  0:30:20
14. Yolande Speedy (RSA)  0:30:56
15. Fanny Bourdon (Fra)  0:37:32
16. Ariane Kleinhans (Sui)  0:39:30
17. Rikke Kornvig (Den)  0:43:35
18. Janka Stevkova (Svk)  0:53:22
19. Katrin Schwing (Ger)  0:55:03
20. Coralie Redelsperger (Fra)  0:57:48
21. Sofia Pezzatti (Sui)  2
22. Inne Gantois (Bel)  0:55
23. Annika Bergman (Swe)  0:56
24. Alexandra Clement (Sui)  1:56
25. Helle Qvortrup Bachmann (Den)  5:13
26. Verena Krenslehner (Aut)  5:22
27. Silke Keinath (Ger)  8:03
28. Samantha Sanders (RSA)  0:11:31
29. Isabelle Klein (Lux)  0:14:18
30. Daniele Troesch (Fra)  0:14:25
31. Sandrine Ponsard (Fra)
32. Virginie Pointet (Sui)  0:22:45
33. Rachel Fenton (Gbr)  0:24:32
34. Agnieszka Zych (Pol)  0:28:17
35. Tina Urnau (Ger)  0:41:12
36. Maria Teresa Abumohor (Chi)  0:51:35
37. Liliana Alejandra Uzcategui Vasquez (Ven)  0:57:28
38. Kristien Nelen (Bel)  0:55
39. Flavie Montusclat (Fra)  5:40
40. Celine Riviere (Fra)
DNF  Aleksandra Dubiel (Pol)
DNF  Kim Saenen (Bel)
DNF  Theresa Ralph (RSA)
DNF  Caroline Duc (Sui)
DNF  Céline Kluska (Fra)
DNF  Sophie Borderes (Fra)
DNF  Hanne Trønnes (Nor)
DNF  Manuela Werkle (Ger)
DNF  Sabine Spitz (Ger)
DNF  Adelheid Morath (Ger)
DNF  Antonia Wipfli (Sui)

Men

1. Periklis Ilias (Gre)  4:18:17
2. Moritz Milatz (Ger)  2:28
3. Kristian Hynek (Cze)  2:37
4. Christoph Sauser (Sui)  2:58
5. Jiri Novak (Cze)  4:59
6. Martin Gujan (Sui)  5:25
7. Thomas Dietsch (Fra)  6:13
8. Alexey Medvedev (Rus)  6:53
9. Tim Bohme (Ger)  7:05
10. Alexandre Moos (Sui)  9:01
11. Lukas Buchli (Sui)  0:10:11
12. Robert Mennen (Ger)  0:11:45
13. Nicola Rohrbach (Sui)  0:12:23
14. Markus Bauer (Ger)  0:12:32
15. Calle Friberg (Swe)  0:12:51
16. Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Esp)  0:14:49
17. Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel)  0:16:14
18. Max Knox (RSA)  0:16:21
19. Jochen Kass (Ger)  0:17:21
20. Konny Looser (Sui)  0:18:26
21. Stefan Sahm (Ger)  0:18:27
22. Alban Lakata (Aut)  0:18:54
23. Matthias Leisling (Ger)  0:20:10
24. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col)  0:20:47
25. Michal Lami (Svk)  0:22:15
26. Hannes Genze (Ger)  0:22:56
27. Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Esp)  0:22:57
28. Ruben Almeida (Por)  0:23:02
29. Claus Crone (Den)  0:29:23
30. Kevin Evans (RSA)  0:29:32
31. Tony Longo (Ita)  0:33
32. Jérome Chevallier (Fra)  0:31:20
33. Damian Perrin (Sui)  0:31:37
34. Jo Thorson Nordskar (Nor)  0:32:21
35. Hans Becking (Ned)  0:32:50
36. Marcus Nicolai (Ger)  0:32:59
37. Roland Golderer (Ger)  0:33:02
38. Rupert Palmberger (Ger)  0:33:28
39. Jesus Del Nero Montes (Esp)  0:33:45
40. Erik Skovgaard Knudsen (Den)  0:36:11
41. Stefan Roffler (Sui)  0:36:44
42. Lenart Noc (Slo)  0:38:56
43. Lars Granberg (Nor)  0:39:34
44. Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut)  0:39:35
45. Caspar Austa (Est)  0:41:47
46. Uwe Hardter (Ger)  0:43:06
47. Gregory Pascal (Fra)  0:43:21
48. Milton Javier Ramos Gamez (Hon)  0:44:44
49. Damiano Ferraro (Ita)  0:46:46
50. Peeter Pruus (Est)  0:47:08
51. Norbert Wyss (Sui)  0:47:27
52. Sebastian Stark (Ger)  0:51:10
53. Luca Ronchi (Ita)  0:51:23
54. Maxime Folco (Fra)  0:54:07
55. Andreas Huber (Ger)  0:55:29
56. Oliver Zurbrugg (Sui)  0:58:50
57. Nico Bell (RSA)  0:59:09
58. Manuel Pliem (Aut)  0:59:15
59. Michael Schuchardt (Ger)  1:00:59
60. Frans Claes (Bel)  1:01:18
61. Tim Dunford (Gbr)  1:02:45
62. Motoshi Kadota (Jpn)  1:07:34
63. Frédéric Gombert (Fra)  1:08:03
64. Steffen Thum (Ger)  1:09:43
65. Romain Cleret (Fra)  1:09:55
66. Yves Corminboeuf (Sui)  1:09:56
67. Mike Schuler (Sui)  1:10:47
68. Shun Matsumoto (Jpn)  1:10:53
69. Martin Larsen (Den)  1:10:58
70. Martin Foger (Aut)  1:11:42
71. Mikael Salomonsson (Swe)  1:12:35
72. Andrew Blair (Aus)  1:13:03
73. Dana Weber (USA)  1:14:20
74. Remi Laffont (Fra)  1:14:56
75. Mariusz Marszacek (Pol)  1:23:05
76. Thomas Holtkamp (Ger)  1:23:52
77. Jan Preus (Ger)  1:27:12
78. Robert Wittmann (Ger)  1:29:03
79. Yuki Ikeda (Jpn)  1:32:34
80. Oliver Vonhausen (Ger)  1:38:12
81. Adrian Jusinski (Pol)  1:47:59
82. Timothy Carleton (Can)  1:53:15
83. Ali Çakas (Tur)  1:55:08
84. Yanosuke Fujimoto (Jpn)  2:15:27
85. Michal Ziulek (Pol)  2:19:56
86. Justin Price (NZl)  2:20:46
87. Bayram Eroglu (Tur)  2:24:40
88. Victor Galvez Perez (Chi)  2:25:54
89. Ioannis Skordas (Gre)  2:49:00
90. José Juan Trejo Gachuzo (Mex)  3:38:05
91. Cesar Trejo Gachuzo (Mex)  3:38:07
DNF  Andreas Kugler (Sui)
DNF  Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)
DNF  Urs Huber (Sui)
DNF  David Schöggl (Aut)
DNF  Karl Platt (Ger)
DNF  Luis Alberto Costa Leao Pinto (Por)
DNF  Sören Nissen (Den)
DNF  Jakob Nimpf (Aut)
DNF  Arnaud Rapillard (Sui)
DNF  Juri Ragnoli (Ita)
DNF  Piotr Truszczynski (Pol)
DNF  Mirko Celestino (Ita)
DNF  Johnny Cattaneo (Ita)
DNF  Philipp Gerber (Sui)
DNF  Massimo De Bertolis (Ita)
DNF  Hansueli Stauffer (Sui)
DNF  Samuele Porro (Ita)
DNF  Christian Kreuchler (Ger)
DNF  Jhon Jairo Botero Salazar (Col)
DNF  Marcel Reiser (Ger)
DNF  Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra)
DNF  Lars Ragnar Manengen (Nor)
DNF  Allan Bachmann (Den)
DNF  Jaime Yesid Chia Amaya (Col)
DNF  David George (RSA)
DNF  Erki Pütsep (Est)
DNF  Torsten Marx (Ger)
DNF  Daniele Mensi (Ita)
DNF  Jan Jobanek (Cze)
DNF  Florian Willbold (Ger)
DNF  Karl Egloff (Ecu)
DNF  Florian Thie (Sui)
DNF  Robby De Bock (Bel)
DNF  Wolfram Kurschat (Ger)
DNF  Vincent Arnaud (Fra)
DNF  Thomas Bundgaard Jensen (Den)
DNF  Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Esp)
DNF  Stéphane Tempier (Fra)
DNF  Maxime Marotte (Fra)
DNF  Mathias Flückiger (Sui)
DNF  Markus Kaufmann (Ger)
DNF  Hamza Kansiz (Tur)
DNF  Hakon Austad (Nor)
DNF  Ben Thomas (Gbr)
DNF  Mickael Szkolnik (Fra)
DNF  Sébastien Einsle (Lux)