July 9/11 16:11 pm - Windham World Cup: Elite Men's report and results

Posted by Editoress on 07/9/11
 

Kulhavy Cruises To A Win in Windham
 
The men's cross-country at round five of the World Cup, in Windham, New York, was no contest - World Cup cross-country series leader Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) led from start to finish. His race was one of true dominance, with the Czech rider able to open a lead on the first climb, stretching it to 11 seconds by the end of the first lap and increasing it every lap that followed.
 
It was a truly dominating performance, affording Kulhavy the luxury of backing off on the final lap and still winning by a margin of 29 seconds over second place, as he took his third World Cup victory of the season.
 
"This course does not suit me as well as Mont Ste Anne last week," commented Kulhavy. "But I decided that I would try to take the lead on the first lap on the climb, and it worked."
 
With Kulhavy running away from the field, it became very serious business to claim that second place. By lap four there was a chase group of eight hoping to claim a podium spot. Marco Fontana (Cannondale), Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel (both Scott-Swisspower) had a small lead over Christoph Sauser (Specialized) and Maxime Marotte (BH-Suntour-Peisey Vallandry), with Burry Stander (Specialized), Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida), and Manuel Fumic (Cannondale) just a few seconds behind.
 
From this select group which includes current (Hermida) and past (Sauser) World Champions, a fight was going to be waged over the last two laps. Schurter and Stander were the first to gain a few seconds advantage, with Sauser in hot pursuit as Fontana began to fade.
 
On the last lap it was Sauser who made the initial attack, with Schurter responding as Stander and Fontana were dropped. Shortly after this move, Stander left Fontana behind. Schurter and Sauser battled hard through the final descent, with Schurter claiming second place, only one second clear of Sauser. Stander soloed in alone for fourth, 18 seconds behind third place and Marotte hung on for fifth to complete the podium.
 
Sauser was very pleased with his third place. He has not had a top three finish since 2008. This is on top of his Marathon World Championship victory in Italy in June. “It has been two amazing weeks. It was great to be able to make the switch back to cross country. I had a good race. I just couldn’t shake Nino on that last climb.”
 
Top North American was Todd Wells (Specialized) in 11th place, 3:04 behind. Wells recovered from his crash last week at Mont Sainte Anne to run a solid race. Next North American and top Canadian finisher was Geoff Kabush in 18th place at 4:18. Kabush was looking to improve on his 7th place finish last week, but mechanical issues cost him many places in the last two laps. Due to some low finishes early in the season in Europe, Kabush was starting well back from the front (25th position) and had been steadily working his way up through the field through to lap four. Then the problems happened. "I was really charging. I got up to eighth or ninth and then I had problems with the rear wheel. I had to stop and change it. I lost a bunch of time and rhythm and had to try to chase. It was a bit frustrating."
 
The second Canadian finisher was Derek Zandstra in 34th. He seemed to have a tough day, struggling on the climbs. Other Canadian finishers were Matt Hadley in 48th, Adam Morka in 52nd, Andrew Watson 58th, Peter Glassford 59th, and Eric Batty in 61st.
 
With his third win of the season Kulhavy now has 1110 points to second placed Schurter's 870. In third place in the points race is Julien Absalon, who decided not to race in North America. Even with only three races to his credit this season Absalon has 650 points.