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Prémont, Absalon dominate Mont Ste Anne mountain bike world cup

by VeloNews.com

• July 27, 2008
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By Fred Dreier

With a deafening crowd of Quebecers cheering and waving plastic hand clappers in her honor, Marie-Héléne Prémont stepped off her Rocky Mountain hardtail and raised the rig in victory at Mont-Ste-Anne resort. The 31-year-old, who hails from nearby Chateau-Richter, had just taken her third World Cup title at Mont-Ste-Anne in four years.

“It is amazing, always an amazing feeling to win here,” Prémont said, wiping mud from her face.

Prémont was then mobbed by local television cameras, eager to spread the news of her victory to the rest of Quebec, where she is a national sporting hero.

Prémont took a crushing 2:53 win ahead of countrywoman Catherine Pendrel (Luna), after both women sprinted away from the rest of women’s field on the first of five laps. Pendrel, second to Prémont at last weekend’s Canadian national championships, maintained her advantage to finish second. Norwegian youngster Lene Byberg (Specialized) rode a consistent effort, passing countrywoman Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå on lap two to slot in to the third spot. Georgia Gould (Luna), who suffered from a slow start, also pulled her way past Dahle Flejsa to take fourth, with the Norwegian taking the final spot on the podium in fifth.

The women took to the racetrack after an evening deluge soaked Mont-Ste-Anne’s rocky, root-strewn course for most of the night. Many women said it was the most challenging course they had thus faced on the World Cup circuit. Large puddles dotted the muddy track, and most women found it was simply faster to run through sections of the course.

“The first singletrack everyone was in single file trying to ride this really slow technical stuff, so I just clipped out and ran past them,” said Georgia Gould. “I think I passed seven people, and they were not too happy. But for me if I have to unclip, it’s a lot faster to run than to try and click back in.”

Gould was one of many North American racers who eyed Mont-Ste-Anne as prime chance to grab a top World Cup result. The world’s premier series has visited the resort every year since its inception in 1991, and each year American and Canadian riders eye the race as a chance to race the Europeans on home turf.

And with a plethora of the World Cup heavy hitters choosing to sit out Mont-Ste-Anne this year, the door was opened for new blood to rise. Absentees included defending champ Irina Kalentieva (Ergon-Topeak), the Chinese National trio of Chengyuan Ren, Ying Liu and Jingjing Wang, recently crowned world champ Marga Fullana (Massi) and German ace Sabine Spitz (Ghost).

“I was really excited, this was a big opportunity for us,” Pendrel said. “I knew the Euros that did come are the women who usually do well on this course, I knew the competition would be good.”

While Dahle Flesja and Byberg put forth strong showings, the race did appear light for a World Cup. The women’s field had only 46 starters, far below the 100-plus women took the line at April’s World Cup opener in Houffalize, Belgium. And while Mont-Ste-Anne traditionally opens with a lung busting opening half lap, this year the shortened loop saw women race at warm up pace.

But perhaps that was also because this year the Mont-Ste-Anne race falls just weeks before the Olympics in Beijing. And with many riders thinking about training and self-preservation, few seemed ready to take serious risks.

“It was a bit of a low-pressure race in a way,” said Mary McConneloug, who finished sixth. “Today was about riding hard but staying safe.”

Absalon back on top
The men’s race saw a return to the top of the podium for Frenchman Julien Absalon, who saw his rainbow jersey snatched by Swiss rider Christoph Sauser one month ago at the UCI world championships in Val di Sole, Italy. The Mont-Ste-Anne race appeared to be a rematch between the two strongmen, until Sauser crashed and injured his knee while riding the course the day before the race. He required four stitches, and decided to rest the injured knee for the upcoming Olympics.

Like the women’s race, the men’s event saw a plethora of no-shows. Chief amongst those were the three riders of the Swisspower team; Nino Schurter, Florian Vogel and Thomas Frischknect. Cannondale-Vredestein strongmen Roel Paulissen and Jakob Fuglsang also sat out the Mont-Ste-Anne round, as did Full Dynamix rider Fredrik Kessiakoff.

“I figured this was a great chance to get one of those asterisk podiums,” said American Adam Craig (Giant), who finished fourth. “I’ll take it.”

Absalon surged to a first-lap lead ahead of Jose Antonio Hermida (Multivan-Merida) and Geoff Kabush (Maxxis), with Burry Stander (GT), Lukas Fluckiger and Margin Gujan chasing in arrears. The Frenchman steadily increased his advantage, as Kabush caught and dropped Hermida, who suffered a bad crash and faded to 11th. Stander crashed and tweaked his rear derailleur, but successfully bent the component back into working condition and rode his way into third. Badly timed flat tires derailed Jaroslav Kulhavy and Fluckiger, which allowed American Craig to ride his way into fourth.

“It’s always difficult at Mont-Ste-Anne and this year it was more difficult. Lots of roots and rocks, and that’s why I attacked early because you can ride like you want,” said Absalon, who took the World Cup points lead from Sauser. “After the world championship I decided to race here because of my bad race [at worlds]. It is good for the mind to win.”

While he crossed the line two minutes in arrears, Kabush earned a hard-fought second place, his highest ever finish at a World Cup. The Canadian finished third at Mont-Ste-Anne last year, and also finished third at May round of the World Cup in Andorra.

“I was disappointed some of the Europeans didn’t show up because I like to race agains the best and I feel like I can beat the best,” Kabush said. “I’m glad Absalon was here. I regard him as the best rider in the world.”

Kabush hinted that the technical nature of the Mont-Ste-Anne course played to his technical skills and his equipment choice. Kabush was one of many who rode a full-suspension bike on the bumpy, rocky course.

“The really technical singletrack helped me — I was able to close gaps quickly to everyone except for Absalon,” Kabush said.

Indeed Kabush caught and dropped Hermida on one such band of singletrack. The Spaniard gave chase, but crashed hard moments later, breaking his seat off and cracking his helmet.

“My life is for risk, but today I made the crash of my life. The bike was far away and everything broke,” Hermida said.

Race Notes

• With her victory Prémont now leads the World Cup overall 1220-910 over Spaniard Margarita Fullana. Pendrel is third with 723 points and Gould is fourth with 672.
• With his win Absalon took the World Cup overall lead from Sauser, and he now leads the Swiss rider 1090-855. Absalon will race next weekend’s round in Bromont, Quebec, while Sauser will not. Kabush is now fourth in the rankings with 635 points and Craig is 9th with 528.

Mont-Ste-Anne World Cup
Cross-country
Women
1. Marie-Helene Premont (Can), Rocky Mountain, 2:06:30
2. Catherine Pendrel (Can), Luna, at 2:53
3. Lene Byberg (N), Specialized, at 4:28
4. Georgia Gould (USA), Luna, at 5:06
5. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå (N), Multivan-Merida, at 5:24
6. Mary McConneloug (USA), Kenda-Seven, at 6:27
7. Katerina Nash (Cz), Luna, at 7:33
8. Elisabeth Osl (Aut), Ghost, at 8:41
9. Sabrina Enaux (F), Lapierre, at 11:33
10. Amanda Sin (Can), 3 Rox Racing, at 12:14

Other North Americans
11. Lea Davison (USA), Trek-Volkswagen, at 12:43
13. Wendy Simms (Can), Kona, at 13:52
14. Willow Koerber (USA), Subaru-Gary Fisher, at 15:26
17. Emily Batty (Can), Trek Bicycle Store, at 17:59
20. Jean Ann McKirdy (Can), Rocky Mountain, at 20:14

Men
1. Julien Absalon (F), Orbea, 2:07:44
2. Geoff Kabush (Can), Maxxis, at 2:33
3. Burry Stander (SA), GT, at 4:52
4. Adam Craig (USA), Giant, at 5:16
5. Lukas Fluckiger (Swi), Athleticum, at 5:37
6. Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZ), Czech National, at 6:19
7. Martin Gujan (Swi), Athleticum, at 7:02
8. Seamus McGrath (Can), Canadian National, at 7:33
9. Liam Killeen (GB), Specialized, at 8:30
10. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA), Subaru-Gary Fisher, at 9:31

Other North Americans
14. Derek Zandstra (Can), at 11:09
16. Michael Broderick (USA), Kenda-Seven, at 12:24
17. Jeremiah Bishop (USA), Trek-Volkswagen, at 12:30
18. Matieu Toulouse (Can), Maxxis, at 13:02
20. Raphael Gagne (Can), Rocky Mountain, at 14:32

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