World Cup XCO (7/6/08)
SWISS TEAM CONQUER FORT WILLIAM’S MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN TO WIN THE ELITE MEN CROSS-COUNTRY OLYMPIC 5 FINAL
GREAT BRITAIN’S BECKINSDALE TRIUMPHANT AS TOP TEN RIDER
Nevis Range 08 world Cup photos
After an action-packed launch day, the excitement of the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Fort William continued with today’s (Saturday 7th June) challenging 46.8km Cross-Country (XCO) race.
Spectators witnessed an extraordinary showcase of world-class Olympic athletes demonstrating their incredible endurance, stamina and strength, riding the most demanding courses in glorious sunshine.
In an extremely close race, Florian Vogel (SUI) fought fiercely for victory to take the gold, followed closely behind by fellow Swiss team-mates Nino Schurter and Christoph Sauser. Vogel triumphed in the final stretch of the last lap, by a split second, which made for an exceptionally tense and exciting atmosphere.
Florien Vogel (SUI) said, “I can’t describe how I feel right now, I am so happy to win a world cup competition. It’s been one of my major career ambitions.
“It’s a fun course with long hard climbs but the downs are amazing. You just need to watch out for flats and think about technique. It’s been a fantastic competition for the spectators to watch, with the leaders finishing so close together. It was a very tight race.”
Finishing in an impressive ninth place as the first Brit past the finish line and the first top ten British rider for a number of years, Oliver Beckingsale (GBR) said; “It’s a real achievement that I’ve made it into the top ten.
“It was a very tactical race with lots of flats. I tried to break away on the up-hills but I wasn’t strong enough and there were much faster sprinters coming in on the final stretch.”
ELITE MENS CROSS-COUNTRY (XCO) OLYMPIC FIVE Results:
1. VOGEL Florian (SUI) 2:06:27
2. SCHURTER Nino (SUI) 2:06:28
3. SAUSER Christoph (SUI) 2:06:36
4. FUGLSANG Jakob (DEN) 2:07:14
5. STANDER Burry (RSA) 2:07:27
6. NYS Sven (BEL) 2:07:46
7.SOUKUP Christoph (AUT) 2:07:47
8.KESSIAKOFF Fredrik (SWE) 2:07:48
9. BECKINGSALE Oliver (GBR) 2:07:58
10. GUJAN Martin (SUI) 2:08:23
The women’s race was filled with as much excitement with a final sprint in the last lap leaving Marie-Helene Premont and Margarita Fullana fighting fiercely for gold. Premont pushed forward to steal victory and a win for Canada, as she stormed through the last lap making up an outstanding 500m.
Delighted with her performance in the 39km Elite Women Cross-Country discipline ahead of the Olympics, Premont said;
“I feel really good after winning. The race today was very fast and the course is dry but I really like the distance at this world-class course. I knew Fullana would be tough to beat but I had a good feeling and I knew I would conquer the course and take first position.”
Commenting on her silver victory for the Spanish team, Margarita Fullana said; “I tried to take the attack in the final third lap but it just wasn’t possible to make up the difference.”
WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY OLYMPIC FIVE Results:
1. PREMONT Marie-Helene (CAN) 2:00:42
2. FULLANA Margarita (ESP) 2:00:56
3. SPITZ Sabine (GER) 2:03:53
4. BYBERG Lene (NOR) 2:04:02
5. LEBOUCHER Laurence (FRA) 2:04:16
6. LIU Ying (CHN) 2:04:36
7. KLEMENCIC Blaza (SLO) 2:05:31
8. DAHLE FLESJAA Gunn-Rita (NOR) 2:05:39 9. HENZI Petra (SUI) 2:05:41 10. RUSCA Maroussia (SUI) 2:06:02
