April 27, 2008 (Offenburg, Germany) – The men’s race has started here in Offenburg, and the crowds are out in force, thanks to the pleasant weather. The men are doing two very short (1.1km) start laps, plus 7 full laps of 5.1km each. Conditions are tacky and fast, as opposed to last year’s mudfest.

Lap 1
After two start loops and one full lap, it’s still close together, with Nino Schurter (Sui) Swisspower MTB Team leading the train through the start/finish, followed by Florian Vogel (Sui) Swisspower MTB Team in 2nd, Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 3rd, ? 4th, Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea 5th, Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein 6th, Jose Antonio Hermida (Spa) Multivan-Merida 7th, Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 8th, Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein 9th. Then there’s a small gap with Martin Gujan (Sui) Athleticum chasing in 10th.

Canada’s Seamus McGrath (Can) Fuji is 14th, Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis has a high number plate (registration issue?) and has moved up to 20th. Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain is 53rd, Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3 Rox Racing had a great start and is 55th, Ricky Federau (Can) Team Ricky is 79th.

Lap 2
After the second full lap, Absalon has taken over the lead, but the pack is still one long train of riders. Vogel has taken 2nd position, Hermida 3rd, Peraud 3rd, Schurter 4th, Gujan 5th, Adam Craig (USA) Giant 6th, Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein 7th, Fontana 8th, Sauser 9th, Paulissen 10th, McGrath 11th. Kabush is 20th, Plaxton 52nd, Zandstra 55th, Federau 71st.

Lap 3
After three full laps, the field is finally starting to break apart. The lead pack now consists of only four riders, led by Vogel. Schurter is 2nd, Hermida 3rd, Absalon 4th, gritting his teeth to stay on. After a gap of several seconds, the chase is in hot pursuit: Sauser 5th, Gujan 6th, Craig 7th, Peraud 8th. Then there’s another gap to the next chase, which contains McGrath. Paulissen is 9th, Fontana 10th, Burry Stander (RSA) 11th, ? 12th, Leuchs 13th, McGrath 14th. Kabush is 19th, Plaxton 55th, Zandstra 58th, Federau 67th.

Lap 4
At the end of the fourth full lap of 7, 1:09.58 into the race, Absalon has attacked and gapped his chasers. He is still only a couple of seconds ahead of Hermida 2nd, Vogel 3rd, Schurter 4th, then there is a small gap with Sauser in 5th, trying to bridge up. Another small gap has Craig in 6th, Peraud 7th, Stander 8th, Fuglsang 9th, McGrath 10th. Kabush is chasing hard in 16th. Zandstra has moved up to 53rd, Federau is also charging and is 61st, Plaxton has dropped back to 79th and doesn’t look happy.

Lap 5
As the the riders complete their 5th lap, Absalon has put a minute into his chasers in an unbelievable feat of strength. Leading the chase, it’s Craig in 2nd, Vogel 3rd, Schurter 4th, Hermida 5th, Sauser 6th, Peraud 7th, Stander in 8th, Fuglsang 9th, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full Dynamix has moved up to 10th. McGrath is 11th and Kabush has caught up to that chase group, and is now sitting in 13th. Zandstra is still moving up, now in 50th place. Federau is also picking off riders, but his face is one of true suffering. He’s currently in 57th. No sign of Plaxton.

Lap 6
After 6 laps, the riders are starting their last lap. Absalon leads by 56s over the lone Sauser in 2nd. Chasing hard are Vogel 3rd, Hermida 4th, Schurter 5th. A small gap, then it’s Peraud in 6th. Another couple of seconds later, it’s Craig in 7th, then Stander 8th, Kessiakoff 9th, McGrath 10th. Kabush has been gapped a little, but he’s still in 12th. Zandstra is still moving up, now in 47th. Federau is still givin’er – now up to 54th.

Results

1. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 1.58.42
2. Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 0.51
3. Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 0.54
4. Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 1.06
5. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea 1.53
6. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-IT 2
7. Burry Stander (RSA) GT Mongoose / Pacific Cycle 2.1
8. Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 2.22
9. Seamus McGrath (Can) Fuji 2.32
10. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 2.40
11. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein 2.50
12. Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 2.55
13. Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 2.59
14. Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein 3
15. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 3.05
16. Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 3.22
17. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 3.26
18. Jürg Graf (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 3.30
19. Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 3.35
20. Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin-Trek MTB Racing Team 3.36
21. Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 3.38
22. Christoph Soukup (Aut) 4.24
23. Todd Wells (USA) GT Mongoose / Pacific Cycle 4.42
24. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 4.48
25. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica 5.00
26. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 5.05
27. Matthias Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 5.05
28. Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 5.09
29. Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin-Trek MTB Racing Team 5.18
30. Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team 5.22
31. Stéphane Tempier (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi 5.48
32. Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein 5.51
33. Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 5.54
34. Yader Zoli (Ita) Giant Italia Team 5.56
35. Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Team 6.04
36. Gion Manetsch (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 6.17
37. Martino Fruet (Ita) 6.54
38. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 7.11
39. Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 7.14
40. Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG2-APC Presmet 7.16
41. Emil Lindgren (Swe) Full-Dynamix-IT 7.22
42. Frank Schotman (Ned) 7.26
43. Hannes Metzler (Aut) Giant Mountain Bike Team 7.39
44. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.com 7.46
45. Karl Markt (Aut) 7.54
46. Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team Alb-Gold MTB 8.00
47. Lachlan Norris (Aus) 8.02
48. Derek Zandstra (Can) 3 Rox Racing 8.06
49. Tim Bohme (Ger) Team Alb-Gold MTB 8.15
50. Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) 8.16
51. Israel Nunez Baticon (Spa) Massi 8.2
52. Pascal Meyer (Swi) 8.31
53. Ricky Federau (Can) 8.37
54. Jochen Kass (Ger) Team Alb-Gold MTB 8.49
55. Fabian Giger (Swi) 8.59
56. Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH – SR. Suntour 9.2
57. Tony Longo (Ita) Full-Dynamix-IT 9.23
58. Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) 9.45
59. Bas Peters (Ned) 9.48
60. Lukas Kaufmann (Swi) 9.53
61. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 9.58
62. Martin Fanger (Swi) 10.05
63. Hannes Genze (Ger) Team Alb-Gold MTB 10.14
64. Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 10.22
65. Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factory Racing 10.47
66. Patrik Gallati (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 10.51
67. Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH – SR. Suntour 10.58
68. Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin-Trek MTB Racing Team 11.09
69. Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.com 11.22
70. Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Versluys-Landbouwkrediet MTB Team 11.38
71. Mattias Wengelin (Swe) 11.58
72. Mannie Heymans (Nam) 12.06
73. Mirko Pirazzoli (Ita) 12.08
74. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) Gewiss Bianchi 12.15
75. Filip Eberl (Cze) 12.17
76. Dario Alejandro Gasco (Arg) Massi 12.54
77. Christof Bischof (Swi) 13.10
78. François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 13.17
79. Sergiy Rysenko (Ukr) ISD-International 13.23
80. Till Marx (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 13.28
81. Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 13.29
82. Alexander Wetterhall (Swe) 13.35
83. Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 13.43
84. Nicolas Bazin (Fra) BH – SR. Suntour 14.59
85. Frank Beemer (Ned) 17.47

1 Lap

86. Bjorn Brems (Bel)
87. Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus)
88. Andras Melts (Hun)
89. Cristian Cominelli (Ita) Gewiss Bianchi
90. Michael Broderick (USA)
91. Maxim Gogolev (Rus)
92. Marc Colom (Fra)
93. Thomas Litscher (Swi)
94. Alban Lakata (Aut) Dolphin-Trek MTB Racing Team
95. Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW
96. Matous Ulman (Cze)
97. Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Giant Italia Team
98. Cristobal Silva (Chi)
99. Mattias Nilsson (Swe)
100. Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona
101. Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Central Ghost Pro Team
102. Pavel Boudny (Cze)
103. Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher
104. Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis
105. Ludovic Mottet (Bel) Windose Houffalize
106. Markus Bauer (Ger)
107. Fabien Canal (Fra) Team Lapierre International
108. Shlomi Haimy (Isr)
109. Jelmer Jubbega (Ned)
110. Javier Puschel (Chi)
111. Klaus Nielsen (Den) Team Alb-Gold MTB

2 Laps

112. Rob Vangenechten (Bel)
113. Jiri Novak (Cze)
114. Arnaud Grosjean (Fra) BH – SR. Suntour
115. Taavi Selder (Est)
116. Michel Luginbuehl (Swi)
117. Sebastian Szraucner (Ger)
118. Balz Weber (Swi) Bikepark.ch BMC
119. Andriy Khripta (Ukr)
120. Anders Hovdenes (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl
121. Marco Arnold (Swi)
122. Hans Becking (Ned) Beone MTB Team
123. Robert Kircher (Aut)
124. Bilal Akgul (Tur)
125. Robert Mennen (Ger)
126. Nieck Busser (Ned)
127. Martin Bratland (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl
128. Chun Hing Chan (HKg)
129. Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Team Lapierre International
130. Jonathan Galante (Fra)
131. Guillaume Vinit (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier
132. Ian Field (GBr)
133. Uwe Hochenwarter (Aut)
134. Samuele Porro (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D
135. Luka Mezgec (Slo)
136. Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl
137. Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team
138. Heiko Gutmann (Ger)
139. Sebastien Carabin (Bel)
140. Felix Euteneuer (Ger)
141. Andy Eyring (Ger)
142. Niels Wubben (Ned)
143. Tobias Ullmann (Ger) Team XLC Haibike
144. Evgeniy Pechenin (Rus) Format-Udmurtia
145. Andriy Gumenyuk (Ukr)
146. Freddy Betremiaux (Fra) BH – SR. Suntour
147. Tim Ottens (Ned) Beone MTB Team
148. Erik Nellen (Ned) Beone MTB Team
149. Martin Loo (Est) Merida Biking Team
150. Sergio Pulido Rodriguez (Spa) Cemelorca-Seguros10.com
151. Nicolas Jeantet (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D
152. Sam Jurekovic (USA)

3 Laps

153. Igor Bogdan (Ukr) ISD-International
154. Mitchell Peterson (USA)
155. Andi Weinhold (Ger)

DNF Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain