March 17, 2012 (Pietermaritzburg, RSA) – The men are underway with the battle between Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing and Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Team picking up from where it left off last year. Canada has Canadian MTB champion Max Plaxton (Team Canada), Geoff Kabush, Derek Zansdtra and Cameron Jette from SCOTT-3 Rox Racing along with Adam Morka (Team Trek Canada) on the start line. The men will complete 6 laps for 33km (5.5km/lap).
Lap 1
Schurter’s off the front taking an early lead – Kulhavy is in second.
A group of chasers have formed behind including Stander, Fumic, Fontana, Absalon, Hermida and Vogel as the riders get strung out further back.
Schurter remains in the lead with Kulhavy riding a full suspension 29er keeping him in his sights.
Lap 2
Schurter starts lap 2 in 15min with Kulhavy in second and Stander in 3rd gaining.
Stander takes over the lead with Kulhavy in second – a group of 7 have formed at the front.
Behind Absalon leads the chase group…now Kulhavy takes over the lead.
The wind is picking up and the sky is darkening – now Stander is out front as Kulhavy drops into fourth.
Stander, Schurter and Fumic have a gap.
Lap 3
Stander, Schurter and Fumic come thru in 30:12… then it’s Hermida at 8s, Kulhavy at 18s, then Fontana and Absalon.
Vogel is out with a tire problem.
Fumic is now leading with Hermida alone in 4th and Abaslon is in 5th w/Fontana 6th and Kulhavy in 7th.
Schurter takes over the lead and will soon know that Kulhavy is over 30s behind.
Lap 4
Three leaders come thru to start the fourth lap.
Absalon now takes over fourth w/Hermida in 5th.
Stander takes back the lead as he and Schurter drop Fumic…
Absalon is closing on Fumic as the two leaders are on their own
Lap 5
Schurter and Stander come thru in 1:00:36 on the penultimate lap – Fumic is at 10s and Absalon is 4th at 38s then it’s Hermida.
The two leaders are not letting up – can Absalon catch Fumic ?
Stander takes over the lead – it’s a 2-horse race.
Schurter attacks as the lap ends… he’s got a gap over Stander
Lap 6 FINAL
Schurter comes thru in 1:15:36… Stander is in second at 5s – then it’s Fumic in third at 30s.
Stander is not giving up but Schurter looks determined to win.
Absalon is 4th at 1:02… Hermida is 5th.
Schurter has opened up a bigger gap at the 1/2 way point.
Schurter has 17s on Stander… he’s got control as Fumic is holding off Absalon.
Schurter looks behind – he knows he’s got it – thru the Sharks Playground he looks smooth…
Canada’s Zanstra is 29th and Kabush is 33rd.
A light rain has started… thru the rock garden it’s Nino Schurter about to win the first WCup of 2012.
Results
1. Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Team 1:30:38
2. Burry Stander (RSA) Specialized Racing 0:11
3. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing 0:59
4. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea Racing Team 1:41
5. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing 2:21
6. Lukas Flückiger (Sui) Trek World Racing 2:28
7. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Esp) Multivan Merida Biking Team 2:51
8. Stéphane Tempier (Fra) TX Active Bianchi 3:01
9. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Cannondale Factory Racing 3:22
10. Ralph Naef (Sui) Multivan Merida Biking Team 3:44
11. Moritz Milatz (Ger) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 3:59
12. Fabian Giger (Sui) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team 4:19
13. Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-SR Suntour-Peisey Vallandry 4:22
14. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Esp) Wildwolf-Trek Pro Racing 4:40
15. Christoph Sauser (Sui) Specialized Racing 4:48
16. Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Esp) Elettroveneta-Corratec 4:51
17. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Esp) Orbea Racing Team 4:54
18. Mathias Flückiger (Sui) Trek World Racing 5:01
19. Thomas Litscher (Sui) Felt Oetztal X-Bionic Team 5:08
20. Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5:22
21. Jochen Kass (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5:32
22. Emil Lindgren (Swe) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team 5:34
23. Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) Specialized Racing 5:42
24. Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) 5:46
25. Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Wildwolf-Trek Pro Racing 6:02
26. Milan Spesny (Cze) S&H Superior MTB Team 6:18
27. Martin Gujan (Sui) Cannondale Factory Racing 6:39
28. Karl Markt (Aut) Felt Oetztal X-Bionic Team 6:40
29. Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3Roxracing
30. Martin Fanger (Sui) Giant Swiss SR-Suntour 6:57
31. Matous Ulman (Cze) S&H Superior MTB Team 7:06
32. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Esp) Wildwolf-Trek Pro Racing 7:15
33. Cédric Ravanel (Fra) GT Skoda Chamonix 7:17
34. Fabien Canal (Fra) GT Skoda Chamonix 7:32
35. Tony Longo (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 7:35
36. Liam Killeen (Gbr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team 7:41
37. Geoff Kabush (Can) Scott-3Roxracing 8:06
38. Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) Versluys Team 8:15
39. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) 8:20
40. Michele Casagrande (Ita) Elettroveneta-Corratec 8:21
41. Uwe Hochenwarter (Aut) Muskelkater Genesis Team
42. Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Trek 8:23
43. Max Plaxton (Can) Team Canada 8:46
44. Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Lapierre International 8:47
45. Piotr Brzozka (Pol) JBG-2 Professional MTB Team 8:57
46. Stephen Ettinger (USA) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 8:58
47. Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 9:06
48. Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG-2 Professional MTB Team 9:07
49. Marek Konwa (Pol) Milka-Superior MTB Racing Team
50. Julien Taramarcaz (Sui) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team
51. Philip Buys (RSA) 9:08
52. Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Felt Oetztal X-Bionic Team 9:15
53. Alban Lakata (Aut) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 9:33
54. Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop 9:36
55. Adam Craig (USA) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team 9:37
56. Nicola Rohrbach (Sui) 9:39
57. Robert Mennen (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 10:00
58. Sebastien Carabin (Bel) Versluys Team 10:02
59. Patrik Gallati (Sui) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 10:11
60. Jürg Graf (Sui) Bskgraf Rollmat-Koba MTB Team 10:14
61. Hannes Metzler (Aut) 10:44
62. Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) Rubena Auto-Mencik Specialized 11:20
63. Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Cannondale Factory Racing 11:49
64. Ludovic Dubau (Fra) Team Newcycling 11:55
65. Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 11:57
66. David Fletcher (Gbr) Orange Monkey-Cannondale 11:58
67. Lukas Kaufmann (Sui) Team Fujibikes Rockets 12:00
68. Tim Lemmers (Ned) Feenstra Stevens Bike Team 12:14
69. Andras Parti (Hun) 12:27
70. Lachlan Norris (Aus) Giant Factory Off-Road Team 12:38
71. Spencer Paxson (USA) Kona 12:53
72. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Trek 13:23
73. Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Esp) Orbea Racing Team 14:12
74. Magnus Darvell (Swe) Team Herbalife 24 Raumerrittet 14:23
75. Sepp Freiburghaus (Sui) Thoemus Racing Team 14:32
76. Umberto Corti (Ita) Team Cbe Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. 15:03
77. Lee Williams (Gbr) 15:29
78. Renay Groustra (RSA) 15:48
79. David Joao Serralheiro Rosa (Por) 15:50
80. Kazuhiro Yamamoto (Jpn) 15:52
81. Henk Jaap Moorlag (Ned) Rabobank Giant Offroad Team 16:32
82. Robert Gehbauer (Aut)
83. Sven Nys (Bel) 16:34
84. Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Lapierre International 16:59
85. Dariusz Batek (Pol) 17:49
86. Markus Bauer (Ger) 18:11
87. Jérémy Huguenin (Sui) Giant Swiss SR-Suntour 18:30
88. Steffen Thum (Ger) 21:44
89. Sid Taberlay (Aus) 22:01
90. Ruben Almeida (Por) -1 lap
91. Marc Bassingthwaighte (Nam) -1 lap
92. Cameron Jette (Can) Scott-3Roxracing -1 lap
93. Daniel Geismayr (Aut) -1 lap
94. Severin Disch (Sui) Thoemus Racing Team -1 lap
95. Andy Eyring (Ger) -1 lap
97. Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) -1 lap
98. Marc Colom (Fra) Team Newcycling -1 lap
99. Michael Broderick (USA) -1 lap
100. Daniel Eymann (Sui) Thoemus Racing Team -1 lap
101. Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Milka-Superior MTB Racing Team -1 lap
102. Andrew Warr (RSA) -1 lap
103. Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) -2 laps
104. Oliver Munnik (RSA) -2 laps
105. Stuart Marais (RSA) -2 laps
106. Adam Morka (Can) Team Trek Canada -3 laps
107. Matthias Waldhart (Aut) -3 laps
108. Kyosuke Takei (Jpn) -3 laps
109. Phetetso Monese (Les) -3 laps
110. Christopher Wolhuter (RSA) -4 laps
111. Szilard Buruczki (Hun) -4 laps
DNF Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) TX Active Bianchi
DNF Klaus Nielsen (Den)
DNF Jiri Friedl (Cze) Rubena Auto-Mencik Specialized
DNF Matthys Beukes (RSA)
DNF Florian Vogel (Sui) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Team
DNS Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Racing