September 13, 2009 (Champéry, Switzerland) – The Elite/U23 Men’s field of 146 riders has started on this overcast day in the mountain resort town of Champéry, Switzerland. Canada has 7 riders on the start line and the men are completing one start loop, followed by 6 (not 7 as originally planned) full laps.

Start Loop
U23 rider Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Lapierre came through first after a blazing start loop, clocking 5:59. The field is very much still together. Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan-Merida was right behind in second, followed by Swiss National Champ Florian Vogel (Sui) Swisspower. Canada’s Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis-Rocky Mountain looked comfortable in the top 15. We missed Derek Zandstra (Can) Team Canada. Andrew Watson (Can) Team Canada was well back in 106th, Eric Batty (Can) Trek Store Toronto was with him in 108th, Leni Trudel (Can) Team Canada 128th, and Cameron Jette (Can) Team Canada 138th.

Lap 1
As they come through after the first full lap on this technical, twisty and slick course, it’s still young, stormer Vuillermoz in the lead, with Hermida still in second, trailing by 15s, together with Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 3rd, Vogel 4th, Cedric Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre 5th, Burry Stander (RSA) Specialized 6th.

Kabush is in 11th in a group of three, trailing by 45s. Zandstra is 34th, 2:16 back. Batty is 97th, Watson 98th over 5 mins back. Peter Glassford (Can) Trek Store Toronto is 104th.

Lap 2
After the second full lap, Absalon has taken the lead and now has 14s over 2nd place, Stander. Vuillermoz is third, right on his wheel. Ravanel is 4th at 35s, Emil Lindgren (Swe) BE-Brink-Ten Tusscher is 5th. Kabush is 1:30 back in 16th, and Zandstra is 33rd at 3:20. Hermida has fallen out of the top 10. We missed Watson, but Batty is moving up, now in 88th at 7:20 and Glassford is 90th at 7:35.

Lap 3
Coming through at the end of lap 3, Absalon has extended his lead to 40s over the chasing duo of Stander in 2nd and Vuillermoz 3rd. Lukas Flueckiger (Sui) Trek and Matthias Flueckiger (Sui) Trek are 4th and 5th at over 1min back. Lindgren is 6th at 1:26. Adam Craig (USA) Giant is in 10th.

Hermida and Kabush came through together in 21st and 22nd, respectively, trailing by nearly 3 mins. On the main climb, Kabush appeared to be losing contact with Hermida, but got it back on the DH. Zandstra is looking steady, maintaining 33rd spot at 4:37 back. Watson is still in the game, currently in 64th and 7.5 mins back.

Lap 4
Riders only have 2 laps to go. Absalon is still off the front and he’s been riding for 1:08:30. His lead is now 54s over Stander, who has attacked Frenchman Vuillermoz, who trails by 5s in 3rd. The Fluckiger brothers have moved up, with Lukas in 4th and Matthias in 5th. Ralph Naef (Sui) Multivan-Merida is 6th, Marco Auerelio Fontana (Spa) Cannondale 7th, Lindgren 8th, Marotte 9th and riding his rim with a blown tire. Kabush has fallen to 23rd and is now riding alone at 4:00 back. World Champion Nino Schurter (Sui) Swisspower is just a few seconds ahead of Zandstra, who has moved up to 32nd.

Lap 5
End of lap 5: Absalon 1st, Stander closed to 37s in 2nd. L. Flueckiger 3rd, M. Flueckiger 4th. Kabush 25th. Zandstra 35th. (Our apologies but we ran into frustrating technical difficulties on lap 5 during our coverage).

Lap 6 Final
Stander attacked Absalon at the end of the final lap to take the win in an exciting finish.

Results

1. Burry Stander* (RSA) Specialized Factory Racing 1:41:06
2. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 0:15
3. Ralph Naef (Sui) Multivan Merida Biking Team 0:24
4. Lukas Flückiger (Sui) Trek World Racing 0:28
5. Mathias Flückiger* (Sui) Trek World Racing 0:41
6. Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team GMT 1:06
7. Alexis Vuillermoz* (Fra) Lapierre International 1:26
8. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Cannondale Factory Racing 2:06
9. Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 2:26
10. Christoph Sauser (Sui) Specialized Factory Racing 2:49
11. Emil Lindgren (Swe) De Brink-Ten Tusscher 2:58
12. Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre International 3:09
13. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team
14. Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-Suntour 3:25
15. Stéphane Tempier (Fra) TX Active Bianchi 3:54
16. Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 3:58
17. Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG-2 Professional MTB Team 4:10
18. Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale Factory Racing 4:26
19. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Msc Bikes 4:38
20. Marek Konwa* (Pol) 4:46
21. Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 5:06
22. Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team
23. Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team 5:25
24. Guillaume Vinit* (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 5:40
25. Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Factory Racing 6:20
26. Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Suisspower MTB-Racing 6:41
27. Christoph Soukup (Aut) Merida Biking Team 6:44
28. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 7:01
29. Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 7:30
30. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Trek-Lorca Taller Del Tiempo 7:36
31. Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team
32. Fabien Canal* (Fra) Lapierre International 7:51
33. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Massi 7:56
34. Derek Zandstra (Can) 3 Rox Racing 8:02
35. Milan Spesny (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 8:11
36. Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) Giant Mountain Bike Team GMT 8:25
37. Robert Mennen (Ger) 8:37
38. Markus Bauer* (Ger) 8:43
39. Oliver Beckingsale (Gbr) Giant Mountain Bike Team GMT 8:49
40. Sepp Freiburghaus* (Sui) 8:54
41. Christof Bischof (Sui) ISD Cycling Team 8:59
42. François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 9:13
43. Karl Markt (Aut) Srm Stevens Team 9:41
44. Andrew Watson (Can) Norco 0:13
45. Fabian Giger* (Sui) SKS M.I.G. Team 0:19
46. Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) Trek-Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Tea 0:10:16
47. Yader Zoli (Ita) Torpado-4Us 0:10:44
48. Dario Alejandro Gasco* (Arg) Massi 0:10:54
49. Sebastien Carabin* (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 0:10:57
50. Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) 0:11:11
51. Patrik Gallati* (Sui) Scott-Suisspower MTB-Racing 0:11:20
52. Jochen Kass (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 0:11:42
53. Anders Hovdenes* (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl 0:11:53
54. Henk Jaap Moorlag* (Ned) De Brink-Ten Tusscher
55. Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) Msc Bikes 0:11:54
56. Pascal Meyer* (Sui) SKS M.I.G. Team 0:11:59
57. Severin Disch* (Sui) Giant Mountain Bike Team GMT 0:12:04
58. Felix Euteneuer* (Ger) 0:12:23
59. Nicolas Jeantet* (Ita) Team Cbe Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. 0:12:30
60. Michael Broderick (USA) 0:12:56
61. Bjorn Brems (Bel) Team Saeco 0:12:58
62. Silvio Bundi (Sui) Giant Mountain Bike Team GMT 0:13:02
63. Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 0:13:18
64. Robert Gehbauer* (Aut) Multivan Merida Biking Team 0:13:20
65. Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Lapierre International 0:13:22
66. Diego Rosa* (Ita) Giant Italia Team 0:13:42
67. Marcel Wildhaber (Sui) Scott-Suisspower MTB-Racing 0:13:58
68. Andrea Tiberi (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 0:14:40
69. Marc Colom (Fra) 0:15:46
70. Piotr Brzozka* (Pol) JBG-2 Professional MTB Team -1 lap
71. Sergiy Rusenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team -1 lap
72. Ludovic Mottet (Bel) -1 lap
73. Alexis Chenevier* (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier -1 lap
70. Piotr Brzozka* (Pol) JBG-2 Professional MTB Team -1 lap
71. Sergiy Rusenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team -1 lap
72. Ludovic Mottet (Bel) -1 lap
73. Alexis Chenevier* (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier -1 lap
74. Ondrej Cink* (Cze) Merida Biking Team -1 lap
75. Andras Parti (Hun) Srm Stevens Team -1 lap
76. Peter Glassford (Can) Trek Store Toronto -1 lap
77. Pascal Hossay* -1 lap (Bel)
78. Umberto Corti (Ita) Team Cbe Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. -1 lap
79. Josef Kamler* (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB -1 lap
80. Eric Batty (Can) Trek Store Toronto -2 laps
81. Torsten Marx (Ger) Ds-Rennsport -2 laps
82. Andrew Blair (Aus) -2 laps
83. Manfred Reis* (Ger) Team Marin Bikes -2 laps
84. Zsolt Juhasz* (Hun) -2 laps
85. Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chi) -2 laps
86. Matous Ulman (Cze) Scott & Hagget MTB Team -2 laps
87. Matej Nepustil* (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB -2 laps
88. Lachlan Norris* (Aus) Discovertasmania.Com -2 laps
89. Lee Williams (Gbr) -2 laps
90. Simon Stiebjahn* (Ger) -2 laps
91. Julien Saussac* (Fra) BH-Suntour -2 laps
92. Luka Mezgec* (Slo) Mbk Orbea -2 laps
93. Thomas Litscher* (Sui) SKS M.I.G. Team -2 laps
94. Thibaut Bellanger* (Fra) -2 laps
95. Nicolas Bouchet Bert Manoz* (Fra) -2 laps
96. Marco Minnaard* (Ned) De Brink-Ten Tusscher -2 laps
97. Renay Groustra (RSA) -2 laps
98. Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) Torq Performance Nutrition -2 laps
99. Benjamin Sonntag (Ger) -2 laps
100. Henrique Avancini* (Bra) ISD Cycling Team -2 laps
101. Alexis Swetloff (Fra) Keops -2 laps
102. Patxi Cia Apezteguia (Spa) Conor – Camping La Siesta -2 laps
103. Leni Trudel* (Can) -2 laps
104. Amaury Gernez Aurenge* (Fra) Keops -2 laps
105. Rob Vangenechten* (Bel) Team Saeco -2 laps
106. Daniel Kaufmann* (Sui) -2 laps
107. Rene Tann (Ger) -3 laps
108. Frank Beemer* (Ned) Trek-Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Tea -3 laps
109. Tim Wynants* (Bel) Trek-Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Tea -3 laps
110. Jiri Hudecek (Cze) Scott & Hagget MTB Team -3 laps
111. Alexander Gehbauer* (Aut) -3 laps
112. Dries * Govaerts (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team -3 laps
113. Benjamin Buchi* (Sui) -3 laps
114. Cameron Jette* (Can) Trek Story Toronto -3 laps
115. Matthys Beukes* (RSA) -3 laps
116. Tim Lemmers* (Ned) De Brink-Ten Tusscher -3 laps
117. Oleksandr Gerashenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team -3 laps
118. John Whittington* (Gbr) -3 laps
119 Simon Weber* (Sui) -3 laps
120. Zsolt Szlobodnyik (Hun) -3 laps
121. Valentin Fiderer* (Ger) -3 laps
122. Jonas De Backer* (Bel) -3 laps
123. Periklis Ilias (Gre) ISD Cycling Team -4 laps
124. Kristian Hynek (Cze) Scott & Hagget MTB Team -4 laps
DNF Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)
DNF Florian Vogel (Sui) Scott-Suisspower MTB-Racing
DNF Florian Thie* (Sui)
DNF Markus Loisl* (Aut)
DNF Martin Gujan (Sui) Cannondale Factory Racing
DNF Lukas Kaufmann* (Sui)
DNF Alexandre Moos (Sui)
DNF Oleksandr Kachanov* (Ukr)
DNF Anders Ljungberg (Swe)
DNF Roman Rametsteiner (Aut)
DNF Robert Kircher (Aut)
DNS Evgeniy Pechenin (Rus) Format-Udmurtia
DNS Igor Bogdan (Ukr)

Overall Standings after 7 Rounds

1. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 1,472 pts
2. Burry Stander* (RSA) Specialized Factory Racing 1,090
3. Ralph Naef (Sui) Multivan Merida Biking Team 970
4. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 940
5. Lukas Flückiger (Sui) Trek World Racing 714
6. Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 709
7. Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 701
8. Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 681
9. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Massi 590
10. Christoph Sauser (Sui) Specialized Factory Racing 569
11. Roel Paulissen (Bel) Cannondale Factory Racing 543
12. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Cannondale Factory Racing 542
13. Stéphane Tempier (Fra) TX Active Bianchi 524
14. Alexis Vuillermoz* (Fra) Lapierre International 504
15. Moritz Milatz (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 496
16. Florian Vogel (Sui) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 481
17. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Cemelorca-Trek-Lorca Taller Del Tiempo 470
18. Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 455
19. Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre International 447
20. Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 423
21. Martin Gujan (Sui) Cannondale Factory Racing 396
22. Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Factory Racing 366
23. Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Trek-Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team 354
24. Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team 352
25. Mathias Flückiger* (Sui) Trek World Racing 347
26. Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 340
27. Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 322
28. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) MSC Bikes 309
29. Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 308
30. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) 304
31. Jiri Friedl (Cze) Merida Biking Team 296
32. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 261
33. Jochen Kass (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 253
34. Milan Spesny (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 249
35. Christoph Soukup (Aut) Merida Biking Team 213
36. Ludovic Dubau (Fra) 212
37. Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) Giant Mountain Bike Team 209
38. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) TX Active Bianchi 202
39. Liam Killeen (GBr) Trek World Racing 198
40. Oliver Beckingsale (GBr) Giant Mountain Bike Team 197
41. Derek Zandstra (Can) 3 Rox Racing 191
42. Christof Bischof (Sui) ISD Cycling Team 190
43. Marc Colom (Fra) 177
44. Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-Suntour 175
45. Emil Lindgren (Swe) De Brink-Ten Tusscher 174
46. Guillaume Vinit* (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 172
47. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 170
48. Pierre Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Lapierre International 165
49. Bas Peters (Ned) 162
50. Martin Fanger* (Sui) Giant Mountain Bike Team 140
51. Umberto Corti (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. 123
52. Lukas Kaufmann* (Sui) 122
53. Seamus McGrath (Can) Fuji 106
54. Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) Torq Performance Nutrition 105
55. Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) 102
56. Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG-2 Professional MTB Team 98
57. Robert Mennen (Ger) 98
58. Fabien Canal* (Fra) Lapierre International 96
59. Andrea Tiberi (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 94
60. François Bailly Maitre (Fra) Team Scott Valloire Galibier 89
61. Irjan Luttenberg* (Ned) 88
62. Bjorn Brems (Bel) Team Saeco 85
63. Cristian Cominelli* (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 84
64. Sergiy Rusenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team 83
65. Karl Markt (Aut) SRM Stevens Team 83
66. Fabian Giger* (Sui) SKS M.I.G. Team 81
67. Andrew Watson (Can) 80
68. Hannes Metzler (Aut) 77
69. Anders Hovdenes* (Nor) Team Etto Hoydahl 76
70. Jürg Graf (Sui) 71
71. Michael Broderick (USA) 71
72. Raphael Gagné* (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 68
73. Marek Konwa* (Pol) 66
74. Sven Nys (Bel) 62
75. Thomas Litscher* (Sui) SKS M.I.G. Team 61
76. Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) Trek-Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team 60
77. Lachlan Norris* (Aus) Discovertasmania.com 56
78. Lado Fumic (Ger) Fumic.Brothers.International 55
79. Carl Decker (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 55
80. Filip Eberl (Cze) 55
81. Balz Weber (Sui) DS-Rennsport 51
82. Yader Zoli (Ita) Torpado-4US 46
83. Rotem Ishai (Isr) 43
84. Stefan Widmer (Can) Rocky Mountain Factory Epic 43
85. Renay Groustra (RSA) 42
86. Johnny Cattaneo (Ita) 38
87. Matthew Hadley (Can) Xprezo 35
88. Connor McConvey* (Irl) De Brink-Ten Tusscher 34
89. Pascal Meyer* (Sui) SKS M.I.G. Team 33
90. Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona 33
91. Severin Disch* (Sui) Giant Mountain Bike Team 32
92. Sebastien Carabin* (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 31
93. Nicola Rohrbach (Sui) Central Ghost Pro Team 31
94. Markus Bauer* (Ger) 30
95. Periklis Ilias (Gre) ISD Cycling Team 29
96. Dries Govaerts* (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 29
97. Silvio Bundi (Sui) Giant Mountain Bike Team 29
98. Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 29
99. Sepp Freiburghaus* (Sui) 28
100. Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Spa) Cemelorca-Trek-Lorca Taller Del Tiempo 24
101. Matous Ulman (Cze) Scott & Hagget MTB Team 23
102. Niels Wubben* (Ned) 22
103. Andrew Blair (Aus) 22
104. Dario Alejandro Gasco* (Arg) Massi 20
105. Josef Kamler* (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 19
106. Frank Schotman (Ned) 19
107. Eric Batty (Can) Trek Store Toronto 18
108. Alban Lakata (Aut) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 18
109. Paolo Cesar Montoya Cantillo (Crc) Giant Italia Team 18
110. Patrik Gallati* (Sui) Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing 17
111. Benoit Simard (Can) 16
112. Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chi) 15
113. Henk Jaap Moorlag* (Ned) De Brink-Ten Tusscher 14
114. Paul Van Der Ploeg* (Aus) Discovertasmania.com 14
115. Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) 14
116. Marti Gispert Labarta (Spa) MSC Bikes 13
117. Robbie Squire* (USA) 13
118. Peter Sagan* (Svk) 13
119. Martin Lazarski (Can) Rocky Mountain Epic 12
120. Roan Exelby (RSA) 12
121. Felix Euteneuer* (Ger) 10
122. Nicolas Vermeulen (Bel) Lingier-Versluys Team 10
123. Nicolas Jeantet* (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D. 9
124. Julien Fillion (Can) 9
125. Torsten Marx (Ger) DS-Rennsport 9
126. Klaus Nielsen (Den) 9
127. Nathan Haas* (Aus) Discovertasmania.com 8
128. Colin Cares* (USA) 8

*=U23