September 1/12 20:30 pm - MTB World Championships: 4X Final report and photos
Posted by Editoress on 09/1/12
The first medals of the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike and Trails World Championships were awarded Saturday night in Leogang, Austria, for the men's and women's 4-cross. Anneke Beerten of the Netherlands won her second career title, while Switzerland's Roger Rinderknecht won his first title in the final race of his career.
Rinderknecht leading Mechura in the Big Final more photos, scroll to bottom of page
The crowd favourite 4-cross did not disappoint the thousands of fans who lined the course. It was clear early on that the men's race was between the Swiss and the Czech riders. The two nations split the top four spots in qualifying, and dominated the heats on the way to the final. Rinderknecht was joined by countryman David Graf for the final, with Czech team mates Tomas Slavik and Michael Mechura taking the other two spots.
On paper, it should have been Graf who won, after qualifying first and winning every one of his heats; including beating Rinderknecht in the semi-final. However, Graf tangled with Slavik just after the start gate, when the Czech rider moved out of his lane, causing both riders to crash. Rinderknecht took the lead from Mechura out of the first corner, fought off an attack after the second corner and then rode clear to take the title. Mechura took silver, with Slavik the first to get up from the crash and grabbed bronze.
"This is the last race I am ever going to do in my career, so I really wanted it to be a special night," commented Rinderknecht. "I felt good all night. Didn't have the best legs ever, but I felt it was coming together. It worked out on the end. The other two guys unfortunately came together on the first straight, so it wasn't the battle to the line, but nevertheless I am extremely happy."
"I really cannot believe it. I really did not expect to do that good in the beginning. I knew I was in good shape, but I wasn't sure what to expect from my bike handling point of view. But I felt comfortable right away from the first practice, so I knew if everything went perfect it could be my night."
Anneke Beerten leading Romana Labounkova in the Big Final more photos, scroll to bottom of page
Beerten came into the eight rider women's race the favourite, and did not disappoint. After qualifying first, the Dutch rider won her semi-final to get into the championship race, and was joined by Romana Labounkova (Czech Republic), Celine Gros (France) and local Austrian favourite Anita Molcik.
Beerten got out of the gate fast and led Labounkova by the first corner. The Czech rider tried to stay in contact, but by the end of the second straight, Beerten was clear and on her way to her second 4-cross title. Labounkova held on for silver, with Gros taking bronze.
Words cannot describe how I feel," exclaimed Beerten. "It is unbelievable. It started out as such a hard race, I didn't have the gate that I wanted, and I pulled it off in the first corner. I just thought to my self 'Don't brake, just go' and that's what I did. It seemed to work. I am so happy.
Results
| Women |
| Big Final |
| 1 Anneke Beerten (Netherlands) |
| 2 Romana Labounkova (Czech Republic) |
| 3 Céline Gros (France) |
| 4 Anita Molcik (Austria) |
| Small Final |
| 5 Lucia Oetjen (Switzerland) |
| 6 Melissa Buhl (United States Of America) |
| 7 Steffi Marth (Germany) |
| Men |
| Big Final |
| 1 Roger Rinderknecht (Switzerland) |
| 2 Michael Mechura (Czech Republic) |
| 3 Tomas Slavik (Czech Republic) |
| 4 David Graf (Switzerland) |
| Small Final |
| 5 Michal Prokop (Czech Republic) |
| 6 Lukas Mechura (Czech Republic) |
| 7 Graeme Mudd (Australia) |
| 8 Benedikt Last (Germany) |
| 1/4 Final |
| 9 Scott Beaumont (Great Britain) |
| 10 Kamil Tatarkovic (Czech Republic) |
| 11 Hannes Slavik (Austria) |
| 12 Jakub Hnidak (Czech Republic) |
| 13 Quentin Derbier (France) |
| 14 Johnny Magis (Belgium) |
| 15 Aiko Göhler (Germany) |
| 16 Joost Wichman (Netherlands) |
| 1/8 Finals |
| 17 Marek Pesko (Slovakia) |
| 18 Blake Carney (United States Of America) |
| 19 Mirco Weiss (Switzerland) |
| 20 Matija Stupar (Slovenia) |
| 21 Klaus Beige (Germany) |
| 22 Sylvain Andre (France) |
| 23 Matthieu Faury (France) |
| 24 Gustaw Dadela (Poland) |
| 25 Premek Tejchman (Czech Republic) |
| 26 Adrian Weiss (Switzerland) |
| 27 Jakub Riha (Czech Republic) |
| 28 Benjamin Kistner (Switzerland) |
| 29 Damien Godet (France) |
| 30 Stefan Scherz (Germany) |
| 31 Maciej Chmiel (Poland) |
| 32 Nikita Efremov (Russian Federation) |
| 1/16 Final |
| 33 Simon Waldburger (Switzerland) |
| 34 Kristijan Medvescek (Slovenia) |
| 35 Piotr Paradowski (Poland) |
| 36 Urban Rotnik (Slovenia) |
| 37 Matej Stapic (Slovenia) |
| 38 Remek Oleszkiewicz (Poland) |
| 39 Mariusz Jarek (Poland) |
| 40 Ludovic Gadois (France) |
| 41 Roland Bagoly (Hungary) |
| 42 Norbert Papp (Hungary) |
| 43 Jani Fucka (Slovenia) |
| 44 Attila Kovacs (Hungary) |
| 45 Tamas Tarr (Hungary) |
| 46 Robert Kulesza (Poland) |
| 47 Felipe Zanette (Brazil) |
| 48 Petrik Brückner (Germany) |
| 49 Hakan Yildirim (Turkey) |
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