September 06, 2014 (Hafjell, Norway) – Julien Absalon (France) claimed his 5th UCI MTB World Championship Elite Men’s XCO title pulling away on the fifth of seven laps as Nino Schurter (Switzerland) could not respond.

Adding to today’s drama was the fact that Absalon was riding a full suspension bike for the first time, as he was losing time to Schurter on the downhills during the WCup races, and spent the last two weeks getting used to the new bike. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy) took home the bronze holding off a charging Moritz Milatz (Germany). Canada’s Derek Zandstra delivered the top North American result finishing a strong 15th for a personal best result.

Results (brief)

1. Julien Absalon (France)    1:27:06
2. Nino Schurter (Switzerland)    1:51
3. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy)    3:28
4. Moritz Milatz (Germany)    3:33
5. Manuel Fumic (Germany)    3:43
6. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain)    3:56
7. Lukas Flückiger (Switzerland)    4:25
8. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic)    4:33
9. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain)    4:40
10. Ralph Naef (Switzerland)    5:06

15. Derek Zandstra (Canada)    6:24
48. Evan Guthrie (Canada)    -1 Lap
64. Raphael Gagne (Canada)    -2 Laps
76. Geoff Kabush (Canada)    -3 Laps

Full results here.