March 18/12 7:23 am - Pietermaritzburg MTB World Cup: Junior Men XC

Posted by Editoress on 03/18/12
 

To absolutely no one's surprise, the young New Zealand phenom, Anton Cooper (Trek World Racing), easily won the final cross-country race of the Pietermaritzburg World Cup on Sunday morning, beating world champion Victor Koretzky by over four and a half minutes. Brazil's Nicolas Sessler took third.

After the heavy rain of the previous evening and overnight, the course had started to dry, but some sections were still treacherous, so the decision was taken to close the 'A' line on a few of the most difficult technical sections. Koretzky flatted late in the first lap, but it made no difference - Cooper as already over a minute up and pulling away.

Cooper will now miss the next three World Cups while he finishes up his school year, but will return for the Mont Ste Anne round in late June.