Caroline Alexander continued her usual excellent early season form with a strong second place behind Spanish fly in the ointment, Marga Fullana, at round 2 of the XC World Cup this weekend.

Fullana led from the gun, opening up a 12 second gap after the first lap at a pace that only Caroline could follow. Alexander pegged Fullana for the next two laps as various riders struggled to catch the two front runners, and then the Spaniard extended her lead to 40 seconds in the closing stages.

Despite a clear and unchallenged second place Caroline gave her usual self-critical version of events;

“I was too cautious today, I should have put the race to [Marga], I shouldn’t have waited for her. It’s the strongest I’ve felt in a long time though.”

Caroline is now setting her sights on the Commonwelth games title, although she’ll have strong competition from Alison Sydor (Can), Mary Grigson (Aus), and Chrissy Redden (Can) who all finished in the top fifteen. Sue Thomas (38th this weekend) will also be looking to put in a strong performance at Rivington.

Over on the men’s side, Liam Killeen was first Brit finisher in 41st, with Barrie Clarke in 51st while Swiss rider Christophe Sauser took the victory ahead of a huge 209 rider field.
His constant attacks gradually fragmented the lead group with his victory finally assured as Raul Paulissen crashed out of a two up sprint in the final metres. Bart Brentjens took 4th to keep his overall leaders jersey, while Commonwealth Games favourite – Canadian Roland Green – rolled in fifth after his attacks in the opening laps took their toll on the final circuit.

For full race reports and pictures head for the UCI Website.