9-8-07 // Online Exclusive: World Championship Cross Country

JHK putting the pressure on with some big wheels at the big race Morgan Meredith

Three laps into the men’s cross-country race, Julien Absalon attacked. He stood and sprinted up the course’s major climb opening nearly a minute lead on the rest of the field. A helicopter hovered overhead and the entire scene was played out on the venue’s massive big-screen television.

By the time the course began its long descent back to the start/finish line, Absalon had securely locked in his fourth-consecutive world championship title. Although he was trailed by a group of 10 riders for the final three laps, only Ralph Naef would eat into the Frenchman’s margin. The rest could only hang on.

Absalon finished with a time of 2:17:06, followed by two Swiss riders. Naef finished second, 25 seconds behind and Florian Vogel took third nearly a minute back.

The American men, led by Adam Craig entered the race with high hopes, but none played a significant role in the race’s outcome. Craig started in twelfth, but quickly fell back a dozen places. The other men, including Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Jeremiah Bishop, Michael Broderick, Carl Decker and Barry Wicks, started even further behind.

The Fort William course made improving one’s position difficult. Fast and smooth, it featured a long climb, followed by a long descent and few technical sections. “If you weren’t in the lead group by the first climb, your race was over,” said World Championship veteran Thomas Frischknecht.

But the course wasn’t entirely to blame for everyone’s poor performance. “I wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders out there but I made the best of it. That’s all you can do,” said Horgan-Kobelski, who finished thirty-ninth, 8:18 back.

The women’s race proved a bit more interesting with the top three riders battling for almost the entire of race. Additional fireworks were provided by a lead change in the final lap.

Jingjing Wang of the upstart Chinese team led for much of the way, followed closely by Irina Kalentieva of Russia and Sabine Spitz of Germany. The latter two racers came into the event ranked one and two in the world and had been expected to contend for the gold. Wang, on the other hand, has been overshadowed this season by her teammates Ren Chengyuan and Ying Liu, but those riders competed in the U23 class instead—finishing first and second in that race.

After an initial attack by Canada’s Marie-Helene Premont, Wang pulled to the front on the first climb, followed by Kalentieva and Spitz. By the second lap, however, Spitz had fallen slightly off the back leaving Kalentieva and Wang fighting at the front. Wang led most of the way, but Kalentieva finally overtook her on the last technical descent. Wang eventually fell to third, with Spitz finishing second.

This was the first world championship title for Kalentieva, who finished second last year. She also won the world cup overall this year.

“It was my dream to be world champion - the dream came true and it was today,” she told reporters after the race.

Like last year, American women delivered a solid performance. Georgia Gould, Mary McConneloug and Willow Koerber finished ninth, twelfth and fifteenth respectively, but none ever challenged for the lead.

The men’s and women’s elite downhill races start tomorrow at 12:30. Organizers estimate between 40,000 and 70,000 spectators will be on hand for the event. One of those spectators will be Cedric Gracia, who broke his hand during the four-cross competition Friday night and won’t be able to compete in the downhill.

Adam Craig finished 22nd at the World Championships Morgan Meredith

1. Julien Absalon (FRA), 2. Ralf Naef (SUI) and 3. Florian Vogel (SUI) complete the World Championship podium. Morgan Meredith