The third round of the UCI MTB XC World Cup was held in Offenburg, Germany and saw Julien Absalon take the victory and also the lead in the standings.

Absalon faced stiff competition from rival Nino Schurter but he was able to gradually get ahead of his Swiss rival, take his first victory of the season and his fourth straight victory at Offenburg.

Absalon was thrilled to win and said afterwards: “I like this course very much, it has very technical sections, plus good climbing.  It was a very close race with Nino at the beginning, but I finally managed to get a little gap on him on the longer climb and was then able to increase it a little more every lap.”

Liam Killeen was the best of the Brits in 41st place.

In the Men’s junior race the Dutch Michiel van der Heijden took the victory by 52 seconds from Switzerland’s Roger Walder and France’s Julien Trarieux. The best placed British rider was Grant Ferguson who finished 11th.

Catharine Pendrel of Canada dominated the Women’s race leading American Georgia Gould for the first two laps before dropping her on the third and soloing to victory. This was Pendrel’s first race win in Europe and she commented: “I had a bit of a poor start, but I was able to make my way up to Georgia by the end of the first lap, and we rode together for the first couple of laps.  When I heard that some chasers were catching us, I decided that it was time to go.” The best placed Briton was Annie Last in 53rd place.

In the Women’s Junior race the event was won by France’s Pauline Ferrand Prevot ahead of Germany’s Johanna Techt and Helen Grobert. The best placed Briton was Katy Winton in 22nd place. Brief results appear below.

Men’s Elite XC

1. Julien Absalon (FRA)
2. Nino Schurter (CH)
3. Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZE)

Men’s Junior

1. Michiel van der Heijden (NED)
2. Roger Walder (CH)
3. Julien Trarieux (FRA)

Women’s Elite

1. Catharine Pendrel (CAN)
2. Georgia Gould (USA)
3. Esther Suss (CH)

Women’s Junior

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