Following the success of the first round of the World Cup at Dalby Forest recently, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup circus moved on to Houffalize in Belgium last weekend.

Amongst the winners were Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos in the elite men’s XC and Eva Lechner in the coming from Scott Beaumont in the men’s 4X and Kenta Gallacher in the junior XC who both finished sixth.

The men’s six lap XC race saw a series of upsets, beginning with a crash on the start line that blocked many of the top riders. Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory) escaped the chaos, and immediately gained more than 30 seconds on chasers Julien Absalon (Orbea), Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak-Ergon) and Under-23 rider Matthias Flückiger (Trek World Racing).

The chase received a blow when Absalon flatted late in the first lap. The defending Houffalize champion had to run for almost half a lap to the tech zone, dropping back to around 30th position before beginning an impressive chase back to finish seventh.

Meanwhile, Fumic was held his lead until Hermida, making his way up the field after being caught in the crash at the start, caught the chasers and then Fumic at the beginning of the final lap. The 2007 Houffalize winner was then able to pull away from his rival to win the sixth World Cup race of his career.

“After the start problem, I knew that I just had to be patient,” explained Hermida. “I did not know who was in front, but once I caught him, I knew that on this course I could not be beaten. To win in Houffalize is always special, and to take the World Cup lead going into to Offenburg, in front our sponsors, is incredible.”

Raced at night under artificial lighting, the Houffalize 4X competition attracted large crowds. The extremely dry, dusty conditions and gravel-covered corners made for spectacular racing.

Graves was already untouchable in the men’s heats. He was joined in the final by Tomas Slavik (RSP 4 Cross Racing), Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) and Dutch mainstay Roger Rinderknecht. Once again, Graves got the fastest start, with the two Czech riders Slavik and Prokop bumping elbows through the first couple of corners before Slavik finally pulled ahead in the lower half of the run.

“On those first two turns you had to be careful,” Grave explained “because anything can happen there. A good start definitely helps on this course, but you still aren’t completely safe, because there are plenty of spots to get passed. It is definitely good to start the season off with a win, because it takes the pressure off, so I’d say am pretty happy right now.”

Men’s elite XC

1. Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos (ESP)
2. Manuel Fumic (GER)
3. Wolfram Kurschat (GER)

Women’s elite XC

1. Eva Lechner (ITA)
2. Willow Koerber (USA)
3. Elisabeth Osl (AUT)

Men’s 4X

1. Jared Graves (AUS)
2. Tomas Slavik (CZE)
3. Michal Prokop (CZE)

Women’s 4X

1. Jana Horakova (CZE)
2. Anita Molcik (AUT)
3. Emmeline Ragot (FRA)

Men’s junior XC

1. Michiel Van der Heijden (NED)
2. Jordan Sarrou (FRA)
3. Jens Schuermans (BEL)

Women’s junior XC

1. Johanna Techt (GER)
2. Pauline Ferrand Prevot (FRA)
3. Helen Grobert (GER)

www.uci.ch