MTB Worlds - Pure Swiss Dominance

by Ryan_Liles on Jun 22, 2008 11:19 PM EDT

For those of you who don't keep up on what happenens offroad, what occurred this week in the world of XC MTB has been an amazing display of consistency.

For all three mens races (JR, U23, & Elite), the Swiss team always had one spot on the podium and at least three riders in the top 10!

In the Elite men's race, they swept the podium entirely.

Below are the results pulled from CN -

Junior men cross country

1 Peter Sagan (Slovakia)                     1.35.21 (18.48km/h)
2 Arnaud Jouffroy (France)                      1.34
3 Matthias Rupp (Switzerland)                  2.51
4 Fabian Strecker (Germany)                    5.34
5 Mirco Widmer (Switzerland)                    5.42
6 Luca Braidot (Italy)                               5.43
7 Henk Jaap Moorlag (Netherlands)           6.07
8 Marcus Schulte-Luenzum (Germany)       6.15
9 Mattthias Stirnemann (Switzerland)         6.33
10 Marek Konwa (Poland)                         7.01

U23 men cross country

1 Nino Schurter (Switzerland)               1.44.34 (20.03 km/h)
2 Burry Stander (South Africa)                 0.41
3 Matthias Flückiger (Switzerland)           3.46
4 Fabian Giger (Switzerland)                   4.54
5 Stéphane Tempier (France)                  5.55
6 Dario Alejandro Gasco (Argentina)         8.26
7 Raphael Gagne (Canada)                     8.46
8 Frank Beemer (Netherlands)                 9.00
9 Pascal Meyer (Switzerland)                  9.22
10 Robert Gehbauer (Austria)                  9.50

Elite men cross country

1 Christoph Sauser (Switzerland)                1.58.26
2 Florian Vogel (Switzerland)                      2.55
3 Ralph Naef (Switzerland)                         4.20
4 Liam Killeen (Great Britain)                       4.43
5 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Sweden)                      4.48
6 Christoph Soukup (Austria)                       5.08
7 Roel Paulissen (Belgium)                          5.40
8 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spain)                    6.04
9 Moritz Milatz (Germany)                            6.52
10 Oliver Beckingsale (Great Britain)             6.58

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Comments

Absalon's streak finally ends...

What was that, four straight for Absalon? Crazy stuff.

Amazing riding from the Swiss kids. Maybe a little Frischy effect there.

by Jen See on Jun 23, 2008 10:46 AM EDT reply actions

Sauser's been good for a long time

and that is a great result from Liam Killeen. He’s really starting to get it the last couple of years.

"Hey, hey, settle down boys and girls or Krusty will have to bring out his old friend Corporal Punishment again."

by Drew Davis on Jun 23, 2008 12:30 PM EDT reply actions

You know, I'm not one for

nationalism (grew up in too many places for that), but the lack of any US riders in there? Is sad sad sad. (In the same way the absence of England from any decent cricket results is, now that I think about it.)

by Sui Juris on Jun 24, 2008 11:32 AM EDT reply actions

US has been lagging

at the WC level for a long time, due to various reasons. I haven’t followed the scene much in recent years but some of it comes down to is there isn’t much money to be made riding in the woods domestically. There is also less of a focus on developing US talent than some of the other countries across the pond have.

"Hey, hey, settle down boys and girls or Krusty will have to bring out his old friend Corporal Punishment again."

by Drew Davis on Jun 24, 2008 1:51 PM EDT reply actions

all true

but it still makes me ask – WHY???

Who are the biggest MTB manufacturers in the world? Umm, US manufacturers. Where was it started? Umm, the US. in what country is it considered good business sense to blow your wad of money on speculative marketing efforts? That’s right, the US of A.

(do I sound annoyed?)

by Sui Juris on Jun 24, 2008 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Not at all ;-)

Lots of reasons for the laggage in US mountain bike racing. Only so many talented guys and girls in the US find their way to bikes. Now, more are going road, leaving fewer for dirt. The sponsorship thingy has really dried up, and the races are increasingly fewer. One answer is simply insurance costs. A bunch of US venues have slammed the doors on mountain bike races – too much liability – and a some promoters have found it tough going to keep the races running. Without good venues, it’s harder to keep the sport going. Also, in the US, the mountains are pretty remote – You have to drive far to get to a mountain venue, one of the reasons the Tour of Cali orgs have wisely steered clear of the real mountains. In Europe, the distances are short, so it’s a bit easier to draw in a crowd – and keep the sponsor happy – at a ski resort in the summer. Look at the crowds at a European world cup race vs a US national. No comparison, really.

Anyway, there’s probably a whole post on this topic, but I’ll stop now ;-)

by Jen See on Jun 24, 2008 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions