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2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup R2, Dalby Forest
Junior & Under-23 Cross-County & Dalby Dare
Words and Photography By Luke Webber & Phil Ingham
Posted May 21 2011
Under-23 Men: The Under-23 Men's World Cup race again uncovered the Dalby course's tendency to produce outstanding racing. Austrian national champion Alex Gehbaur was a worthy winner after a race-long battle with Gerhard Kerschbaumer of Italy and Markus Schulte-Luenzum of Germany.
Using the full World Cup start loop which the elite riders will tackle on Sunday, the big 82 rider under-23 field was led out onto the course by GB's David Fletcher, much to the delight of the big crowd which had gathered on the rails to watch the start.
By the end of the first full lap, Alex Gehbaur and Gerhard Kerschbaumer were out at the front a couple of seconds clear of Markus Schulte-Luenzum and Markus Bauer and Fabien Canal of France. Behind them the field was more fragmented with David Fletcher holding 7th place.
The middle laps of the race took their toll on a lot of riders, including Canal who dropped out on the third circuit. Kenta Gallagher of the GB Team was also in the wars, clipping another rider at the bottom of the dual-descender section early on lap two. He was down for several minutes before re-mounting, but his race was effectively over and he withdrew later in the lap to let the medics have a look at his injuries.
Meanwhile, back at the front, Gehbaur and Kerschbaumer continued to set the pace, though they did have company for a time on laps two and three in the form of Markus Schulte-Luenzum and Markus Bauer. Both were eventually dropped towards the end of the third lap, though Schulte-Luenzum put in a big effort and regained contact and stayed with the leading duo until well into the final lap.
Eventually the German lost contact again, leaving Gehbaur and Kerschbaumer to sort out the top spot on the podium, Gehbaur was relentless in the sapping run in back to the finish on the last lap: this section is almost flat, but heavy going on soft trails and in the end Kerschbaumer just lost contact.
Gehbaur entered the finish straight knowing he'd got it wrapped up and claimed the win by 6 seconds from Kerschbaumer. Markus Schulte-Luenzum took third, with Bauer of Germany just getting the better of Huguenin of Switzerland for fourth.
David Fletcher's race saw him grimly hanging on to a top ten position in the early laps. He then seemed to get into his rhythm as the race moved into its second half. With a lap to go he was in a group of three contesting seventh, but he really turned on the gas on that final circuit and not only disposed of his two companions, but also bridged almost half a minute across to sixth placed Michiel Van Der Heijden of the Netherlands, whom he then narrowly out-sprinted in a dramatic run up to the line.
It was a crowd-pleasing end to a highly entertaining race. Seb Batchelor was the second Brit across the line in 30th, with first year Under-23 Steve James finishing strongly in34th place.
1 GEHBAUER Alexander (AUT) 01:29:25
2 KERSCHBAUMER Gerhard (ITA) TX ACTIVE BIANCHI +00:05
3 SCHULTE-LUENZUM Markus (GER) FOCUS MIG TEAM +00:22
4 BAUER Markus (GER) +00:38
5 HUGUENIN Jérémy ( SUI) GIANT SWISS SR - SUNTOUR +00:39
6 FLETCHER David (GBR) +00:57
7 VAN DER HEIJDEN Michiel (NED) RABOBANK - GIANT OFF-ROAD TEAM +00:58
8 CARABIN Sebastien (BEL) VERSLUYS - EVENZA TEAM +01:15
9 ROSA Diego (ITA) GIANT ITALIA TEAM +01:23
10 ETTINGER Stephen (USA) +01:41
other
30 BATCHELOR Sebastian (GBR) INFOTRE - BI & ESSE - LEECOUGAN +05:09
34 JAMES Steven (GBR) +06:03
63 WHENMAN Billy Joe (GBR) +12:18
Full Results
Junior Men: Jen's Schuerman of Belgium took a decisive victory in the opening World Cup race of the weekend, the Junior Men's event. GB's Grant Ferguson had the home crowd's hopes in his hands after a strong start and he played a full part in a very close and competitive race, finishing fifth.
Straight from the start, Cyril Grangladen of France and Lami Frantisek of Slovakia moved into the lead as the field of 40 plus riders hurtled round the big, gravel-covered left-hander which took them out of the start area. Ferguson had made his front row grid place count and was well out of trouble in sixth place.
The first lap saw a lead group of three riders form, including Ferguson, Geneste of France and Frischenecht of Switzerland. They had a narrow 6 second lead over Urruty of France and Schuermans.
The second and third laps saw further consolidation of the lead group which swelled to five riders, as Urruty and Schuermans made contact. A further group of four riders began to close up on them and by the mid-third-lap point, were only 4 seconds down and the lead group threatened to grow even more.
At this point, Schuermans made the decisive move of the race, breaking the rest of the lead group on the climbs at the back of the course and as he took the bell, he had a lead of over half a minute over Urruty and Frischenecht, with Geneste just behind them. Ferguson's brave effort had finally faltered and he was back in fifth a further 21 seconds down.
Schuermans duly came in to claim the win, lifting his bike in triumph as he crossed the line, with Frischenecht - son of the legendary Thomas - claiming the runner-up spot ahead of Urruty. Geneste was fourth and Ferguson a commendable fifth, just over a minute and a half down. Matt Sumpton made it two GB riders in the top twenty, taking a solid 12th place.
1 SCHUERMANS Jens (BEL) TEAM MERIDA COMBEE 01:10:03
2 FRISCHKNECHT Andri (SUI)SCOTT - SWISSPOWER MTB - RACING +00:29
3 URRUTY Maxime (FRA ) SCOTT LES SAISIES +00:48
4 GENESTE Thibault (FRA) SCOTT LES SAISIES +01:00
5 FERGUSON Grant (GBR) +01:38
6 KORETZKY Victor (FRA) +01:46
7 GELUYKENS Pieter (BEL) TREK - KMC TRADE TEAM VZW +01:50
8 ZUURBIER Thijs (NED) TEAM MERIDA COMBEE +02:10
9 BATS Didier (BEL) +02:18
10 KRISTIANSEN Sondre (NOR) +02:22
other
12 SUMPTON Matthew (GBR) +02:25
27 SUMNER Ben (GBR) +06:20
29 BAKER Alex (GBR) ORANGE MONKEY / CANNONDALE +08:07
Full Results
Junior Women: The Junior Women's race was dominated by Romona Forchini of Switzerland, who established a lead on the first lap and them comfortably held off the chasing riders to win alone after just over an hour of racing over three laps of the Dalby course.
The race was led away by Perrine and Delaire of France, with the GB duo Bethany Crumpton and Katy Winton just behind in third and fourth. However, Forchini was already away on her own at the front by the end of the first lap, some 25 seconds clear. Moschetti was leading the chase, with Crumpton just 5 seconds behind her in third and well clear of Winton in fourth.
Forchini simply held her pace over the remaining two laps, losing a little of her lead but never looking in any danger of being caught. But, behind her, the race shape changed as Perrine Clauzel of France came through after a slow start and caught Winton and Crumpton, riding for a time with the latter before dropping her soon after the bell.
Clauzel went after the two leading riders, but they had too great a cushion by now and she had to settle for third as Forchini took the win just 13 seconds clear of Moschetti. Crumpton completed an excellent ride - she is only a first year Junior - by climbing fourth with Winton hanging in well in the latter stages to claim fifth and to complete a solid showing by GB's Junior riders.
Junior Women
1 FORCHINI Ramona ( SUI19940614 ) MK - ZENTRALSCHWEIZ 01:04:41
2 MOSCHETTI Margot ( FRA19940119 ) +00:14
3 CLAUZEL Perrine ( FRA19940405 ) +01:21
4 CRUMPTON Bethany ( GBR19940610 ) +02:54
5 WINTON Katy ( GBR19931031 ) +03:40
Full Results
