June 24/07 10:18 am - Mont-Ste-Anne World Cup: 4X Report & Final Results

Posted by Editoress on 06/24/07
 

Mont-Ste-Anne World Cup

Coverage sponsored by Maxxis, and Vélirium

Photos

Anneke Beerten (Bikepark.Ch) and Brian Lopes (GT) were the victors in a crash-marred World Cup 4X at Mont-Sainte-Anne. This was Beerten's second victory of the year. Lopes has won all three World Cup 4X races this season.

The main culprit was between the first and second corners below the start. From a sweeping left turn the racers had to gain speed to clear a triple jump, followed immediately by a high, bermed right turn. Many racers went down in this section, and it had to be considered a significant factor during the entire evening.

Women's Race

As defending World Champion, all eyes were on Jill Kintner (GT). This year Beerten has been giving her some competition, winning the first round in Vigo, Spain. Kintner came back to win the second round in Champery, Switzerland. However, Kintner didn't have an easy evening. In the first round Kintner was bumped by Melissa Buhl and lost the lead. Kintner managed to work her way up to second to go through to the Final, but Buhl was disqualified.

Beerten won her first round, setting the stage for the final against Kintner, Mio Suemasa and Fionn Griffiths (Norco). It didn't take long to decide the outcome when Kintner crashed in the first corner while leading. Beerten cruised to the win with Griffiths taking her second, second place of the day, and Kintner recovering to take third.

Beerten was ecstatic with her win. "This is just fantastic. It was just incredible. Fionn was good but Jill too; to beat them is great. I took it a little easy in the first corner but Jill kept on sliding. As she slid away I got full on the gas. Second win this year! I'm very happy."

She was asked about the section of the course where so many riders went down. "There was like a triple jump that was really difficult. A lot of people were casing it or jumping into it and that's why there were a lot of crashes. I had a lot of confidence in it. I felt pretty good the whole week so I knew where to pass and where to take it easy."

Jill Kintner, the defending World Champion, wasn't happy with her third place finish. "I hate to lose easy finals. I keep beating myself. I just pushed too hard and my front wheel washed out. I'm not quite sure what I need to do to stop this from happening. It's just frustrating."

Men's Race

The men's race had a surprisingly small field, with only 28 competitors. Notable absentees were Cedric Gracia (injury) and Mickael Prokop (racing BMX this weekend). This left Brian Lopes as the favourite. However, he didn't have an easy evening of it. Lopes has voiced his concerns over this course in years past, and this year was no exception. He had to work hard to make it into the Final, where he was up against Scott Beaumont (Rocky Mountain UK), Filip Polc (Gravity Group) and Kamil Tatarkovic (Kona Les Gets). At least in the Final, Lopes jetted away to his easiest win of the evening.

"There was a lot of banging going on in the first turn. It's pretty typical of UCI World Cup events this year that the first corners aren't so good, especially for four people going full speed in. Luckily, I had the inside every time and you had to go to the inside to protect your line. It was pretty sketchy. I had to shut down the engine a little early in the first turn just so I wouldn't overcook it. Guys that were on the outside had a better arc into the first turn. They were going a little deeper into the first turn and a couple of times I felt like I had a couple of bike lengths, but I ended up behind because I had to shut it down. Guys were catching back up to me and then I had to let it go. You had to take your foot off so you didn't fall and a couple of times I had to jump the next triple without being clipped in! It was really sketchy. It was just one of those races. You could be the fastest guy and go out in the first round. Today I tried to use my head and be cautious and just make it through the rounds."

Women

Final
1. Anneke Beerten (Ned) Bikepark.Ch Tui
2. Fionn Griffiths (GBr)
3. Jill Kintner (USA)
4. Mio Suemasa (Jpn)

Small Final
5. Johanna Petterson (RSA)
6. Elisa Canepa (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse
7. Tara Llanes (USA)
8. Melissa Buhl (USA)

Qualifications
9. Neven Steinmetz (USA)
DNS. Jessica Vogt (USA)

Men

Final
1. Brian Lopes (USA)
2. Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain Uk
3. Filip Polc (Svk) Gravity Group
4. Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) Kona Les Gets

Small Final
5. Jared Graves (Aus)
6. Guido Tschugg (Ger) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team
7. Ross Milan (USA)
8. Dale Holmes (GBr)

1/4 Finals
9. Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal
10. Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal
11. Joost Wichman (Ned) Gravity Group
12. Dominik Gspan (Sui)
13. Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost International Racin
14. Will Longden (GBr) Team Mbuk Santacruz
15. Sascha Meyenborg (Ger)
16. Jurg Meijer (Ned) Dolphin Bike Team

1/8 Finals
17. Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team
18. Richard Houseman (USA)
19. Amiel Cavalier (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team
20. Nathan Rennie (Aus) Santa Cruz Syndicate
21. Andrew Neethling (RSA)
22. Cole Bangert (USA)
23. Mike Haderer (USA)
24. John Hauer (USA)
25. Jeremiah Work (USA) Decline
26. Samuel Zbinden (Sui)
27. Elias Somvi (Ita) Playbiker - Iron Horse
28. Greg Minnaar (RSA) Team G-Cross Honda

Qualifications
DNS. Bryn Atkinson (Aus)
DNS. Cristian Araya (Chi)
DNS. Michael Hannah (Aus) Cannondale The Cut
DNS. Maurizio Acuna (Chi)
DNS. Ryan Condrashoff (USA)
DNS. Amado Stachenfeld (USA)
DNS. Joel Bain (Aus)