September 22/07 1:04 am - Live Reports from Beijing MTB Test Event

Posted by Editor on 09/22/07
 

Beijing MTB Test Event

The Beijing Olympic test event for mountain biking is underway, with the women racing 7 laps. After the first lap the Chinese women had a strong lead, holding the top three spots. Catharine Pendrel was in 9th at 45 seconds, with Kiara Bisaro 13th at 1:15.

One lap later and Pendrel was beginning to move up. Lui Ying (China) was still in first, with Sabine Spitz (Germany) second at 50 seconds, Jingjing Wang (China) right behind her and Pendrel up to 7th at one minute. Kiara Bisaro was holding steady in 14th at 3 minutes. Lap times seem to be holding steady at 15 minutes.

By the third lap there is no change in the top three, although Lui has increased her lead to 1 minute over Jingjing Wang and Sabine Spitz. Catharine Pendrel has moved up 2 more spots into 5th, only 20 seconds out of second place.

We are now into lap 4 and Liu continues to lead. She has extended her lead over Jingjing Wang to 1:10, with Sabine Spitz at 1:20. Catharine Pendrel is still in 5th, but has dropped back to 1:55 from the lead. No sign of Kiara Bisaro at this point.

We are into lap 5 and there are changes behind Lui, who continues to lead. Spitz now has a 20 second lead on Jingjing Wang for second, but is 1:25 behind Lui Ying. Lene Byberg of Norway is holding down 4th at 1:55, followed by American Georgia Gould at 2:30. Catharine Pendrel has slipped back to 6th, 3:35 out of the lead. Kiara Bisaro is out of the race after a crash on lap 3 - no serious injuries we are told.

We are into lap 6 of this 7 lap race and Lui continues to stretch her lead. The winner of the final World Cup race last weekend is now 1:50 in front of Sabine Spitz, with Lene Byberg moving up to third at 2 minutes. Georgia Gould has moved into 4th at 2:55 and Jingjing Wang has faded back to 5th, a further 5 seconds back. Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) has supplanted Catharine Pendrel for 6th at 4:53, with Pendrel back to 7th at 5 minutes. One more lap to go.

Final results (unofficial):
1 Lui Ying (China) 1:45
2 Sabine Spitz (Germany) at 1:25
3 Lene Byberg (Norway) 1:35
4 Georgia Gould (USA) 2:40
5 Jingjing Wang (China) 3:35
6 Maja Wlosczcowska (poland) 5:05
7 Catharine Pendrel (Can) 5:25