Val di Sole World Cup preview
This weekend, Italy hosts the fifth event of the International Cyclist Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Cup downhill and cross-country competitions. The second half of the World Cup season began last weekend in Champéry, Switzerland, and was plagued by weather conditions that some of the cyclists described as the worst they’d ever seen.
"It was probably one of the toughest conditions and tracks I've had to race for many, many years," said Tracy Moseley, downhiller for Trek World Racing. "I found it hard to more than just get down the course and never felt like I was really racing, just surviving. I lost time with my crash and I'm disappointed but also relieved not to crash out completely. I look forward to Val di Sole, where hopefully conditions will make it more of a race!"
The downhill race suffered the most, with many cyclists airlifted from the course after crashes, and the loss of overall contender Cameron Cole due to a broken wrist. Gee Atherton took the victory in the downhill and moved up to second place overall after the fourth of six events, behind the leader Greg Minnaar.
The cross-country races were less treacherous. Both races were won by Swiss contenders in their native land – the women’s race in the early part of the day was won by Nathalie Schneitter and the men’s race in the afternoon was won by Florian Vogel.
"It was a dream," said Schneitter. "I knew that if it stayed muddy in the forest, I could do well, and I was thinking that it would be possible to be on the podium, but I did not think of winning."
"This is a very big win for me, only my second World Cup, and to win in Switzerland is very special," said Vogel.
From h**l, to Sunshine Valley
The international circuit will spend the weekend in Val di Sole, the mountainous countryside in the northeast of Italy. The World Cup visited the area in 2008 for the Championships, and it the first time that all three events take place over the same season. The third event, the four-cross, is typically held independently of the cross-country and downhill, but traditionally the World Cup includes at least one triple event.
The champions of 2008 who are competing this year can’t expect favouritism – the organizers have adjusted the courses to make sure of that. The downhill will be similar to the course in Chaméry, though the expected good weather of this weekend will make for a very different race compared to last. Sabrina Jonnier leads in the women’s downhill, over 200 points ahead of second place Floriane Pugin and third place Emmeline Ragot. Individual victory will be the goal in this race.
The men’s downhill is a much closer competition, so we can expect a much more aggressive fight between the Minnaar and Atherton, only 13 points apart. Atherton won the race in Champery and won the title in Val di Sole in 2008.
There is only a 20 point spread between the top three in the women’s four cross, while Jared Graves, the men’s leader and World Champion is 175 points ahead of Tomas Slavik. The course will be asking a lot of pedalling, and the women’s race will be a one-on-one between Anneke Beerten and Anita Molcik.
No cross country competitor this year has won more than one events, and the women’s has had a different overall leader after every race. The circuit in Val di Sole is not a technical one, but includes more climbs than the riders have been used to. Eva Lechner wears the women’s yellow jersey, 15 points ahead of Willow Koerber. The men’s is almost as tight – Julien Absalon holds a lead of 24 points of runner-up Nino Schurter.
Qualification is Friday, the cross-country and four-cross races will be held on Saturday, and the downhillers compete on Sunday. After a three weekend break, the sixth cross-country and downhill events be will be held in Windham, New York, and the championships will be held from 31 August to 5 September in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada.
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