September 6/07 11:54 am - MTB World Championships: Junior Men XC Photos, Report and Full Results

Posted by Editoress on 09/6/07
 

MTB World Championships Fort William, Scotland

Coverage sponsored by Maxxis

Photos from this morningsPhotos

Switzerland took their second title of the Mountain Bike World Championships today when Thomas Litscher won the Junior men's race ahead of Piotr Brzozka (Poland) and host country favourite David Fletcher (Great Britain).

Litscher was one of five riders who began to distance themselves from the rest of the field on the first lap. Others in the group included Fabien Canal (France) Brzozka, Fletcher and Alexander Gehbauer (Austria). On the climb in lap two the group stretched their lead to 30 seconds on chasers Sebastien Carabin (Belgium) and Haimy Shlomi (Israel). Shlomi had possibly the most remarkable ride of the race after starting at the very back of the field, and moving up into the top-10 within one lap, eventually finishing seventh.

Litscher finally broke clear of the others on the third lap and held a 40 second lead over Brzozka and Fletcher by the end of the lap. Canal was chasing on his own at one minute, with Carabin, Gehbauer and Shlomi just behind. However, Litscher's win was by no means secured going into the final lap.

"On the last lap the Polish rider (Brzozka) was only 10 seconds behind on the climb, so it was very stressful. I attacked in the third lap because I knew that was my only chance to win. I went as hard as possible on the climb and then tried to increase the lead on the downhill, which is my best part."

Litscher hung on to win by 27 seconds over Brzozka, with Fletcher a further 13 seconds in arrears. Gehbauer and Carabin overtook Canal in the final lap to round out the top-5.

Both Brzozka and Fletcher were more than happy to make it onto the podium, with Brzozka exuberantly exclaiming in the press conference: "It is the best course in my life, I love it, and I love this country!"

Fletcher gave Great Britain their first medal of the championships, and admitted that regular training on the course had helped. "The team has been up here a lot trying to dial it in. Having the chance to train here made a big, big difference, because I knew how hard I could go in every section."

Race Notes

- Litscher, who has now won the Swiss title, European title, Team Relay world title and now the cross-country title, summed up his season: "I have had a great season, and today it was my course. It was a great day today." The Swiss swept the Junior podium last year, but Mathias Fluckiger, Martin Fanger and Pascal Meyer have all moved up to the senior ranks.

- Canadians didn't fare so well, with national champion Jeff Clarkson finishing 63rd and Francis Morin 70th. Clarkson had a good start position, but was swarmed immediately after the start and never recovered.

- Tomorrow afternoon it is the turn of the U23 Men to race, and they are expected to do five laps. The clear favourite is defending champion Nino Schurter of Switzerland, who anchored the Swiss team to the Team Relay title on Tuesday. Canada's top hope is Max Plaxton, who will be joined on the start line by Neal Kindree and Raphael Gagne. The race begins at 1:30 pm local time (8:30 am EDT/5:30 am PDT), and we will have complete coverage.