June 19, 2008 (Val di Sole, Italy) – Slovakia’s Peter Sagan (Svk) won the Junior Men’s XC World Championship title today in dominant style, leading the race from start to finish. He increased his lead steadily to 1:33 over second place finisher, France’s Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra). Matthias Rupp (Sui) of Switzerland took the bronze medal, nearly three minutes down. BC’s Evan Guthrie was top the Canadian finisher in 45th while the other two Canucks racing, Tyson Wagler (Can) and Jonathan Boucher (Can), both finished one lap down, in 53rd and 67th place, respectively.

The venue was much livelier today, with more boisterous spectators, louder music, and a field of over 100 Junior Men on the start line. It was also the second consecutive day of fair weather, with temperatures hitting the high 20s out of the shade. Two clear, rain-free days meant increasingly drier course conditions and quicker lap times. The descents remain slightly slick, as they are located in the woods, where it’s cooler. The roots and rocks are still damp, so it’s easy to lose control.

The top riders distanced themselves from the rest of the pack early on, with Sagan, Jouffroy, Alexander Gehbauer (Ger) and Rupp gaining 40s after the first of five laps. By the first half of the second lap, Sagan and Jouffroy had gapped Gehbauer and Rupp, and by the end of lap two, Sagan had dropped Jouffroy as well.

The Slovakian rider was unstoppable, and rode to a very decisive victory. Jouffroy also rode consistently to maintain his silver medal, while Rupp also defended third place riding alone for most of the race. The battle for fourth became the most exciting part of the event with Italian Luca Braidot (Ita) moving up from his 74th start position to fourth by the end of the second lap. He continued in fourth but Fabian Strecker (Ger) and Mirco Widmer (Sui) had him in their crosshairs. To the disappointment of the Italian crowd, Braidot couldn’t hang on settling for 6th, as Strecker (4th) and Widmer (5th) passed him on the final lap.

Guthrie had a solid ride, despite catching a cold earlier in the week. He moved up steadily from his 63rd start position, reaching the low 40s by lap three, but gave up a few spots in the latter half of the race.

Results

1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) 1.35.21 (18.48km/h)
2. Arnaud Jouffroy (France) 1.34
3. Matthias Rupp (Switzerland) 2.51
4. Fabian Strecker (Germany) 5.34
5. Mirco Widmer (Switzerland) 5.42
6. Luca Braidot (Italy) 5.43
7. Henk Jaap Moorlag (Netherlands) 6.07
8. Marcus Schulte-Luenzum (Germany) 6.15
9. Mattthias Stirnemann (Switzerland) 6.33
10. Marek Konwa (Poland) 7.01
11. Martin Gluth (Germany) 7.17
12. Tim Wellens (Belgium) 9.37
13. Micki Van Empel (Netherlands) 9.56
14. Blaz Znidarsic (Slovenia) 10.55
15. Anthony Grenet (France) 10.59
16. Daniele Braidot (Italy) 11.01
17. Jonas De Backer (Belgium) 11.17
18. Nicholas Pettina (Italy) 11.41
19. Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic) 11.44
20. Zsolt Juhasz (Hungary) 11.56
21. Arnaud Grand (Switzerland) 12.08
22. Jan Nesvadba (Czech Republic) 12.14
23. Robbie Squire (United States Of America) 12.25
24. Simon Stiebjahn (Germany) 12.3
25. Dirk Peters (New Zealand)
26. Ricardo Paulo Marinheiro (Portugal) 12.31
27. Thomas Decugis (France) 12.33
28. Erik Groen (Netherlands) 13.01
29. Matthias Hoi (Austria)
30. Mykhaylo Batsutsa (Ukraine) 13.16
31. Reto Indergand (Switzerland) 13.19
32. Robbie Hucker (Australia) 13.25
33. Elia Silvestri (Italy) 13.56
34. Peter Braunsteins (Australia) 13.59
35. Marcel Fleschhut (Germany) 14.21
36. Olof Jonsson (Sweden) 14.34
37. Andreas Gravdal (Norway) 14.42
38. Adriaan Louw (South Africa) 14.46
39. Hamish Creber (Great Britain) 15.01
40. Donat Albin (Switzerland) 15.45
41. George Bennett (New Zealand)
42. Rourke Croeser (South Africa) 15.48
43. Liam Mcgreevy (Ireland) 16.5
44. Valentin Fiderer (Germany) 17.19
45. Evan Guthrie (Canada) 17.2653. Tyson Wagler (Canada)
54. David Miguel Costa Rodrigues (Portugal)
55. Kevin Santana (Argentina)
56. Benedikt Muendle (Liechtenstein)
57. Filip Adel (Czech Republic)
58. Attila Bela (Hungary)
59. Ruben Scheire (Belgium)
60. David Johnston (Australia)
61. Joris Bagnol (France)
62. Michael Pesse (Italy)
63. Charlton Durie (Australia)
64. Foronda Mauricio (Colombia)
65. Luke Fetch (Australia)
66. Rob Van Der Heijden (Netherlands)
67. Jonathan Boucher (Canada)
68. Michalis Kittis (Cyprus)

2 laps Behind

69. Zoltan Bene (Hungary)
70. Manfred Reis (Germany)
71. Timofei Ivanov (Russian Federation)
72. Alexios Kokovikas (Greece)
73. Oscar Byhlinder (Sweden)
74. Diogo Beatriz Gome Afonso (Portugal)
75. Brazhnik Rodion (Ukraine)
76. Mario Rodriguez Bravo (Chile)
77. Keisuke Goda (Japan)
78. Richard Malinowsky (Brazil)
79. Francisco Lopez Pallares (Spain)
80. Juan Siles (Argentina)
81. Sagi Fainshtain (Israel)
82. Szymon Galczynski (Poland)
83. John Bennett (United States Of America)
84. Andras Szatmary (Hungary)
85. Kerry Werner (United States Of America)
86. Abdurrahman Dandal (Turkey)
87. Charalampos Takidis (Greece)
88. Stepan Stepanov (Russian Federation)
89. Neil Mc Gimpsey (Ireland)
90. Scott Green (New Zealand)
91. Klemen Nicoletti (Slovenia)
92. Seamus Powell (United States Of America)
93. Tomer Laks (Israel)
DNF Alexander Gehbauer (Austria)
DNF Jakub Magnusek (Czech Republic)
DNF Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy)
DNF German Dorhmann (Argentina)
DNF Paul O’reilly (Ireland)
DNF Balint Lukacs (Hungary)
DNF Aleksei Kuzmenko (Russian Federation)
DNF Vid Tancer (Slovenia)
DNF Kieran Hambrook (New Zealand)
DNS Joze Zagar (Slovenia)