May 2/09 20:47 pm - Houffalize World Cup: 4X report, full results and photos

Posted by Editoress on 05/2/09
 

Women

Men


After a three week hiatus, the 4-Cross World Cup resumed in Houffalize, Belgium.  The 4-Cross is a new event for a World Cup venue that has a history of providing exciting racing, and Houffalize did not disappoint, with numerous lead changes and crashes.  Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) took his second consecutive win to cement his overall lead, while American Jill Kintner (Red Bull-Intense) came back from a disappointing first round to decisively put herself back into the fight for the women's World Cup.  Anneke Beerten (Suspension Center) held onto the women's overall lead after finishing third.

The wide open turns meant that the term 'hole shot' meant less than usual.  Both Graves and Kintner commented on the fact, with Graves pointing out "you could see by the number of crashes that guys were taking chances.  There was no one line, which made it very hard to protect a lead, and a fast start wasn't that meaningful."

One rider that was impacted by the crashes was men's world champion Rafael Alvarez de Lara Lucas (Specialized), who was run into from behind coming out of the first corner by someone trying to cut the corner.  His day was over after a pretzeled front wheel in the crash.

Despite the mayhem, Graves and Kintner were clearly the class of their respective fields.  Graves was unbeaten through all the rounds, constantly jumping away out of the gate and then holding off late attempts to catch him.  By the time the men reached the third round (quarter finals), Graves also had a shadow - Dan Atherton (Animal Commencal), who finished second to Graves in the quarterfinals, semifinals and the medal final.  Roger Rinderknecht (GT) and Joost Wichman (RSP) rounded out the final four.

Kintner's run to the final wasn't quite as smooth.  After winning her first two heats, Jana Horakova (Czech Republic) managed to get by her in the semifinal, and Kintner had to battle for that second spot to make the medal round.

In the medal race, it was Kintner, Beerten, Horakova and Romana Labounkova (Czech Republic).  Kintner jumped into the lead followed by Beerten.  But the World Cup leader miscalculated the first corner and had to brake, allowing Horakova to slip into the second position.

"I came on the inside of Jill, thinking that she would go higher through the corner, but she went in a straight line and I had nowhere to go," explained Beerten.  "But it was great racing, and I kept my jersey."

For Kintner, it was a sign that she was truly back in the mix of 4-cross, after taking last season off to prepare for the BMX event at the Olympics (where she won the bronze medal).  After a disappointing race in South Africa, where she finished fifth, the win in Houffalize was a big confidence booster.

"It felt good to get the monkey off my back."