The Swiss resort of Champéry hosted the first triple-header round of the 2007 Nissan UCI World Cup, with XC, DH and 4X riders all competing over the weekend.
XC
The 5.7km double-loop XC course was technically tricky, and made more challenging by rain during the men’s race. Swiss riders looked set to dominate on home turf, with the lead group of five including Christoph Sauser, Nino Schurter and Ralph Naef. But the rain worked to series leader Julien Absalon’s favour, allowing the Frenchman to pull away.
Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa didn’t compete at Champéry – she’s been troubled by stomach problems this season and returned to Norway for tests. With the opening round at Houffalize having been won by China’s Ren Chengyaun and the second round at Offenburg being won by Irina Kalentyeva, it was anyone’s guess who’d be on top in Switzerland. As itturned out, it was Margarita Fullana who led the race from start to finish. That put her in the overall series lead, with Kalentyeva running second. Chengyuan could only manage 14th place and slipped to 4th place in the standings.
Results
Men
| 1 ABSALON Julien | ORBEA | 2:12:44.57 |
| 2 SAUSER Christoph | 2:13:35.53 | |
| 3 SCHURTER Nino | SWISSPOWER MTB TEAM | 2:15:06.13 |
| 4 PAULISSEN Roel | CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN | 2:15:33.59 |
| 5 NAEF Ralph | MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM | 2:16:02.02 |
Women
| 1 FULLANA Margarita | SPIUK-TAU CERAMICA | 1:55:49.32 |
| 2 KALENTYEVA Irina | 1:56:09.13 | |
| 3 PREMONT Marie-Helene | ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAYWOOD | 1:56:59.87 |
| 4 SPITZ Sabine | GHOST INTERNATIONAL RACING TEAM | 1:58:08.54 |
| 5 KOERBER Willow | SUBARU-GARY FISHER | 2:00:15.10 |
Overall standings
Men
| 1 ABSALON Julien | ORBEA |
| 2 SAUSER Christoph | |
| 3 HERMIDA RAMOS Jose Antonio | MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM |
| 4 RAVANEL Cedric | TEAM LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL |
| 5 PAULISSEN Roel | CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN |
Women
| 1 FULLANA Margarita | SPIUK-TAU CERAMICA | |
| 2 KALENTYEVA Irina | ||
| 3 PREMONT Marie-Helene | ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAYWOOD | |
| 4 HENGYUAN Ren | ||
| 5 SPITZ Sabine | GHOST INTERNATIONAL RACING TEAM |
4X
The leader of the men’s 4X series before Champéry was Britain’s Gee Atherton, but it was Brian Lopes who triumphed over the 74-rider field. Michal Prokop finished second in the final ahead of Filip Polc and Atherton. Lopes is now the series leader with Atherton in second.
It was a bad day for series leader Anneke Beerten, who didn’t make it into the women’s final. Her subsequent win in the B final wasn’t sufficient to allow her to hold on to the series lead, which went to Champéry winner Jill Kintner.
Results
Men
| 1 LOPES Brian | |
| 2 2 CZE19810401 PROKOP Michal | |
| 3 12 SVK19820410 POLC Filip GRAVITY GROUP | |
| 4 6 GBR19850226 ATHERTON Gee ANIMAL COMMENCAL |
Women
| 1 KINTNER Jill |
| 2 SEYDOUX Rachel |
| 3 GRIFFITHS Fionn |
| 4 SUEMASA Mio |
Overall standings
Men
| 1 LOPES Brian | |
| 2 ATHERTON Gee | ANIMAL COMMENCAL |
| 3 PROKOP Michal | |
| 4 GRAVES Jared |
Women
| 1 KINTNER Jill | |
| 2 BEERTEN Anneke | BIKEPARK.CH TUI |
| 3 SEYDOUX Rachel | |
| 4 SUEMASA Mio |
DH
Changeable weather conditions played in to Marc Beaumont’s hands in the last round of the DH World Cup, but the tables were turned at Champéry. The onset of rain during the finals contributed to Beaumont’s 48th position, although he’s only just slipped off the top of the series leader board – he’s now in second place.
The series leader is now Steve Peat, who had his finals run before the rain. He couldn’t match the time of Finland’s Matti Lehikoinen, but second place was good enough to don the leader’s jersey. In third was Sam Hill, who put in the ride of the day to get within 0.03 seconds of Peat’s time despite having his run in the rain.
Champ&ecute;ry was also notable for the presence of multiple World Champion Nicolas Vouilloz after four years away from the World Cup scene. He amuses himself rally driving these days, but with the fifth-fastest qualifying time he clearly hasn’t lost any speed on two wheels…
In the women’s competition, Swiss rider Marielle Saner won in front of the home crowd ahead of Emmeline Ragot and Sabrina Jonnier. Jonnier maintains her series lead ahead of Ragot, with Saner overtaking Tracy Moseley to take third spot.
Results
Men
| 1 LEHIKOINEN Matti | TEAM G-CROSS HONDA | 4:10.21 |
| 2 PEAT Steve | SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE | 4:11.81 |
| 3 HILL Samuel | IRON HORSE / MONSTER ENERGY | 4:11.84 |
| 4 BAREL Fabien | KONA LES GETS | 4:14.91 |
| 5 HANNAH Mick | CANNONDALE THE CUT | 4:21.52 |
Women
| 1 SANER Marielle | BIKEPARK.CH TUI | 4:59.22 |
| 2 RAGOT Emmeline | 5:01.59 | |
| 3 JONNIER Sabrina | IRON HORSE / MONSTER ENERGY | 5:02.08 |
| 4 SUEMASA Mio | 5:13.80 | |
| 5 HANNAH Tracey | 5:16.89 |
Overall standings
Men
| 1 PEAT Steve | SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
| 2 HILL Samuel | IRON HORSE / MONSTER ENERGY |
| 3 LEHIKOINEN Matti | TEAM G-CROSS HONDA |
| 4 HANNAH Michael | CANNONDALE THE CUT |
| 5 BEAUMONT Marc | TEAM MBUK SANTACRUZ |
Women
| 1 JONNIER Sabrina | IRON HORSE / MONSTER ENERGY | |
| 2 RAGOT Emmeline | ||
| 3 SANER Marielle | BIKEPARK.CH TUI | |
| 4 MOSELEY Tracy | KONA LES GETS | |
| 5 SUEMASA Mio |
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