June 26, 2007 (Mont-Ste-Anne, Que.) — The World Cup XC races held in MSA, Que. on Saturday were exciting, with the world’s best battling it out on a classic cross country course that contained a perfect mix of climbs, descents and technical singletrack. The weather was ideal — low 20’s, high overcast with some sunshine peeking through and dry — and the track conditions were phenomenal. The combination made for the best MSA conditions in years.

When the dust settled the top honours went to the victors Irina Kalentyeva (Rus) Topeak-Ergon and Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea in the women’s and men’s races respectively.

Canada’s Marie-Hélène Prémont (Can) Rocky Mountain-Haywood wasn’t quite able to pull off the hat trick, but made it on to the podium in front of a screaming hometown crowd for a fourth-place finish — the best Canadian women’s result. The top Canadian men’s result came from the powerful legs of Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis, who started in 25th position and moved up quickly to the fans delight into 3rd place on the podium.

Women’s Race

Within the first few seconds of the women’s race, a crash near the front created havoc in the field. Kiara Bisaro (Can) Opus was caught in the brunt of the pile-up, and had to cover her head as a field of 70 riders charged away. After the race, Bisaro spoke of later discovering chain ring and tread marks on her back.

Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher, who would eventually finish seventh, led out the start loop, followed by followed by Sabine Spitz (Ger) Ghost International Racing, Prémont, Irina Kalentyeva (Rus) Topeak-Ergon, Margarita Fullana (Spa) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica, and Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Women’s MTB Team.

By the end of the second lap, Ren Chengyuan (Chn) was in the lead, followed by Kalentyeva, Fullana and Spitz. Prémont had dropped into sixth place after a crash during lap two. Chengyuan continued to lead a group of four through lap three, with Fullana, Kalentyeva and Spitz close behind and Prémont falling back to eighth. During the final lap, Spitz took over the lead, with Kalentyeva, Fullana and Ren Chengyuan chasing. Prémont moved up to sixth by mid-lap charged to capture fourth place by the finish. Kalentyeva took her second World Cup victory of the season, with Chengyuan 10 seconds behind for the silver medal and Spitz another 14 seconds behind for the bronze.

Canada’s Catharine Pendrel (Can) Norco Factory Team had a career-best World Cup result with a stellar ride to finish 11th, as she moved up consistently from the back of the field. Mical Dyck (Can) Trek-Terrascape was third-best Canadian in 25th, followed by Sandra Walter (Can) X.O-Felt in 26th, Amanda Sin (Can) Scott-3 Rox Racing in 28th and Wendy Simms (Can) Kona-Les Gets in 31st.

World Cup Women’s Notes

Walter suffered a minor concussion due to a pre-race crash during warm-up, when another racer who was also warming up, turned suddenly in front of her. Walter was unable to avoid the other rider and hit her at speed, causing her to fall on her head and back.

Bisaro also blacked out and suffered a concussion and many scrapes and bruises due the crash at the start, which hindered her throughout the race.

Trish Sinclair (Can) Scott USA-Kenda double flatted early on and was pulled, finishing two laps down.

Men’s Race

The men’s race started with a bang, when the winner of the season’s first World Cup, Spain’s Jose Antonio Hermida (Spa) Multivan-Merida, took control during the first lap and had the rest of the field chasing him down. Nino Schurter (Sui) Swisspower placed himself in a podium position from the start and would not give it up, eventually finishing fifth. Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein and World Cup leader Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea were in hot pursuit, 18 seconds down. Hermida’s lead topped out at 19 seconds by the end of the second lap, and after the third of seven laps, Absalon began chipping away of the Spaniard’s advantage. Meanwhile, Kabush was quickly fighting his way from 25th spot and was already sitting in seventh by the third lap.

Hermida’s flyer couldn’t last with a motivated Absalon hunting him down. By the sixth lap, the Frenchman had overtaken Hermida and was on his long run in to the finish line for the win. By this time, Kabush had catapulted himself into third place ahead of the podium-seeking Paulissen, Sauser, Schurter and Kessiakoff, who were in hot pursuit. In the final lap, Absalon put a substantial 23 seconds between himself and second place, Hermida. Kabush finished 1:26 behind to take the bronze medal. Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser (Sui) Specialized worked his way back from seventh place mid-race to finish fourth in the end. Fifth spot was snapped up by Schurter, the top Espoir of the day.

Other strong Canadian finishers include Seamus McGrath (Can) Rocky Mountain-Haywood, who moved up from 40th to take a solid 14th place, after riding as high as 10th. Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain-Haywood finished 20th (third Espoir) and Ricky Federau (Can) Trek powered into 26th position.

Results

Elite Women

1. Irina Kalentyeva (Rus) Topeak 1:39:00
2. Ren Chengyuan* (Chn) China 0:10
3. Sabine Spitz (Ger) Ghost International Racing 0:24
4. Marie-Hélène Prémont (Can) Rocky Mountain-Haywood 0:46
5. Margarita Fullana (Esp) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica 1:00
6. Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Women’s MTB Team 1:39
7. Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 2:08
8. Ying Liu* (Chn) China 2:40
9. Mary McConneloug (USA) Kenda Seven 3:32
10. Lene Byberg (Nor) Specialized 3:58
11. Catherine Pendrel (Can) Norco 4:06
12. Laurence Leboucher (Fra) 4:53
13. Tereza Hurikova* (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna Mtb 5:03
14. Jingjing Wang (Chn) China 5:11
15. Renata Bucher (Sui) 5:17
16. Petra Henzi (Sui) Fischer-BMC 5:29
17. Ivonne Kraft (Ger) 5:55
18. Nina Göhl (Ger) Multivan/Merida Biking 5:57
19. Maroussia Rusca (Sui) 6:07
20. Cécile Rode Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre Internation 6:30
21. Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 6:43
22. Katrin Leumann (Sui) 7:09
23. Blaza Klemencic (Slo) Pintatim Full-Dynamix 7:48
24. Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Team Lapierre Internation 7:53
25. Mical Dyck (Can) Trek/Terrascape 7:55
26. Sandra Walter (Can) XO Felt 8:44
27. Susan Haywood (USA) Trek-VW 8:45
28. Amanda Sin (Can) 3 Rox Racing/Scott 9:07
29. Anna Enocsson (Swe) Ghost International Racing 9:18
30. Anna Szafraniec (Pol) Halls Professional MTB Team 9:36
31. Wendy Simms (Can) Kona/Les Gets 9:46
32. Magdalena Sadlecka (Pol) Halls Professional MTB Team 9:56
33. Nina Homovec* (Slo) 10:23
34. Laura Turpijn (Ned) 10:50
35. Janka Stevkova (Svk) 11:08
36. Lea Davison (USA) Trek-VW 11:34
37. Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Women’s MTB Team 12:05
38. Emiliy Batty* (Can) Team R.A.C.E. 12:15
39. Kiara Bisaro (Can) Opus 12:55
40. Jaqueline Mourao (Bra) 13:45
41. Helene Marcouyre (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour 14:22
42. Tory Thomas (Aus) 15:18
43. Sarah Koba (Sui) 15:46
44. Laura Lorenza Morfin (Mex) 16:04
45. Tanja Zakelj* (Slo) 16:21
46. Jennifer Smith (Nzl) 16:38
47. Bernardine Boog-Rauwerda (Ned) 16:47
48. Chloe Forsman* (USA) Luna Women’s MTB Team 17:10
49. Séverine Hansen (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour 17:21
50. Julie Sanders (Can) Marin Bikes 17:29
51. Jenna Zander (USA) 17:49
52. Yolanda Speedy (Rsa) 18:26
53. Natalya Krompets* (Ukr) 18:34
54. Catherine Vipond* (Can) Team Trek Store 19:36
55. Caroline Villeneuve (Can) 19:54
56. Jean Ann McKirdy (Can) Rocky Mountain/Haywood 20:36
57. Sandra Dolcerocca (Den) 20:44
58. Kathy Sherwin (USA) 21:03

One Lap Down

59. Rie Katayama (Jpn)
60. Kathleen Villeneuve (Can) Equipe du Quebec
61. Sara Bresnick (USA)
62. Zoe King (Aus)
63. Amy-Jane Mundy (Rsa)
64. Karine Travaillaud (Can) CVM Val-David
65. Joanna Wall (Aus)
66. Nina Baum (USA)
67. Sue Trimble-Haviland (Can)
68. Marie Kunst (Den)
69. Inbar Ronen (Isr)

Two Laps Down ()

70. Theresa Richardson (USA)
71. Trish Sinclair (Can) Scott USA-Kenda
72. Liliya Zaytseva* (Ukr)
73. Rosemary Barnes (Aus)
74. Mathilde Hupin/Debeurme (Can) Marin Bikes/PI
DNF Erika Gramiselli (Bra)
DNS Bettina Schmid* (Sui)

*U23

Elite Men

1. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 1:54:49
2. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Esp) Multivan/Merida Biking Team 0:23
3. Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis 1:26
4. Christoph Sauser (Sui) Specialized 1:56
5. Nino Schurter* (Sui) Swisspower MTB Team 2:44
6. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Cannondale-Vredestein 2:53
7. Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale-Vredestein 4:44
8. Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein 5:36
9. Florian Vogel (Sui) Swisspower MTB Team 5:43
10. Jakob Fuglsang* (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein 5:56
11. Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 6:29
12. Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) 7:08
13. Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Versluys-Landbouwkrediet 7:35
14. Seamus McGrath (Can) Rocky/Mountain Haywood 7:41
15. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Esp) Orbea 7:47
16. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 8:10
17. Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Esp) Orbea 8:10
18. Milan Spesny (Cze) Merida Biking Teamam 8:23
19. Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 8:28
20. Max Plaxton* (Can) Rocky/Mountain Haywood 8:36
21. Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team Bulls 8:43
22. Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 8:57
23. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 9:22
24. Todd Wells (USA) GT 9:33
25. Burry Stander* (RSA) GT 9:35
26. Ricky Federau (Can) Trek 9:36
27. Emil Lindgren* (Swe) Gewiss Bianchi 9:49
28. Michael Weiss (Aut) Bikin’cyprus Int’l Mtb Te 10:26
29. Jader Zoli (Ita) Asd KTM International Tea 10:56
30. Bas Peters (Ned) 11:13
31. Ricardo Pscheidt (Bra) 11:34
32. Ralph Näf (Sui) Multivan/Merida Biking Team 11:52
33. Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) 12:00
34. Christoph Soukup (Aut) 12:01
35. Marti Gispert Labarta (Esp) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica 12:10
36. Torsten Marx (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 12:16
37. Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Maxxis 12:27
38. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Esp) Spiuk-Tau Ceramica 12:27
39. Valeriano Rubens Donizeti (Bra) 12:27
40. Jochen Kass (Ger) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike 12:48
41. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 12:54
42. Alexandre Moos (Sui) Bmc Racing 13:04
43. Sergiy Rysenko (Ukr) 13:10
44. Hannes Metzler (Aut) 13:13
45. Christof Bischof (Sui) Bikin’cyprus Int’l Mtb Te 13:20
46. Jan Skarnitzl* (Cze) 13:44
47. Andrew Watson (Can) Team RACE 13:58
48. Nicolas Filippi (Fra) Scott Valloire Galibier 14:14
49. Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan/Merida Biking Team 14:20
50. Derek Zandstra (Can) 3 Rocks/Scott 14:25
51. Neal Kindree* (Can) Kona/Les Gets 14:30
52. Michael Broderick (USA) 14:36
53. Jeff Hall (USA) 14:44
54. Karl Platt (Ger) Team Bulls 15:44

One Lap Down

55. Jiri Friedl* (Cze) Merida Biking Teamam
56. Miha Solar (Slo)
57. Oleksandr Yakymenko* (Ukr)
58. Olivier Maignan (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour
59. Benoit Simard (Can) Specialized
60. Klaus Nielsen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbike
61. Filip Eberl (Cze)
62. Raphael Gagne* (Can) Rocky/Mountain Haywood
63. Tim Heemskerk (Ned)
64. Carl Decker (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team
65. Edivando Cruz (Bra)

Two Laps Down

66. Samuel Schultz* (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher
67. Sam Jurekovic* (USA)
68. Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour
69. Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita)
70. Pierre Lebreton (Fra) Bh-Sr. Suntour
71. Lee Williams (GBr)
72. Frederic Bussieres (Can)
73. Matthew Hadley (Can) Rocky Mountain/Haywood
74. Stuart Houltham (NZl)
75. Kenji Takeya (Jpn)
76. Eric Drower (NZl)
77. Cristobal Silva (Chi)
78. Colin Cares* (USA)
79. Martin Lazarski (Can) Rocky Mountain/Haywood
80. Spencer Paxson (USA)
81. Adam Snyder (USA)
82. Andreas Kugler (Sui) Fischer-BMC
83. Christian Favata (USA)

Three Laps Down

84. Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona/Les Gets
85. Troy Wells (USA)

Four Laps Down

86. Roddi Lega (Can)
87. Justin Price (NZl)
88. Sid Taberlay (Aus) Dolphin Bike Team
89. Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Dolphin Bike Team
90. Dror Pekatch (Isr) Subaru-Gary Fisher
91. Andrew Freye (USA)

DNF Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea DNF
DNF Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team
DNF Balz Weber (Sui) Bikepark.Ch Tui
DNF Clinton Robert Avery* (NZl)
DNF Mike Garrigan (Can)
DNF Simon Richardson (GBr)
DNS Stefan Widmer (Can)
DNS Bart Brentjens (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team
DNS Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek-VW
DNS Peter Riis Andersen (Den) Team Alb-Gold Mountainbikee/Ltd>

*U23