Dalby World Cup XC 2010 - Report

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Published: 29th April, 2010

Joolze Dymond reports from an amazing weekend in and around Dalby Forest.

They came, they saw, they raced…

The weekend saw 3 action packed days of hard core racing as the good and the great from all over the world found the means to dodge the great ash cloud debate to descend on Dalby Forest for the opening round of the World Cup season.

Events kicked off with a little warm up in the town centre of Pickering where 55 men and 17 women competed on a tight, twisty eliminator that took them sprinting around the town on the hunt for the £1000 top prize, which included a lots of thrills and a few spills! Even a few legends of the MTB world were convinced this was a good idea, so spectators were treated to a showdown including Nick Craig, Gary Foord, Bart Brenjens,Thomas Frishknecht and Rune Hoydahl. Lining up for GB were Kenta Gallagher & Steve James, along with Orange Monkey Paul Beales and TORQ boys Ben Thomas, Anthony O'Boyle, Tim Dunford.




While the girls were represented by Lee Craigie, Lesley Ingram and Morven Brown. Despite a good effort no GB rider made it to the final but the crowds were loving it and the GB team kit riders were resolutely cheered at every opportunity, which was convincingly carried off by Thomas Litscher.

Saturday saw the Juniors crank into action around the 6.7km course. Conditions were near perfect with hardly a breath of wind and not a cloud in the sky, ideal for tackling a course that commanded total concentration.  The crowds were delighted and a huge cheer reached the skies when GB rider Steve James roared into view leading the race in the opening laps. However it was Dutch Champion Michiel Van Der Heijden who proved the stronger opponent as he rode effortlessly away from the head of the race leaving James to battle for 2nd with Jens Schuermans. James was unable to match the pace of his rival and in the closing stages drifted off his wheel but still arrived home in a crowd pleasing 3rd spot to grab a podium position, something we've not seen from a GB rider in a long time (well done steve-ed). Kenta Gallagher made steady progress finishing in 13th with teammate Luke Gray coming home in 19th. Grant Ferguson must think that Dalby is a cursed circuit from him as he suffered a broken chain in the first lap an almost identical replay of what happened in the BMBS round here last year. He finally finished in 23rd and in no way reflects this talented young rider! In the junior women's race our sole representative Katy Winton was certainly holding her own especially in the technical section, she finally came home in 5th.

Fast forward to Sunday and with the fine performances of the GB juniors on home soil now in the bag the gauntlet was down for our elite riders to produce similar results. To start with conditions were looking a bit damp with a typical Yorkshire downpour looking to set the scene. Riders weren't at all fazed by this turn of events, in fact they were delighted that the dust would now be less of a problem then they first anticipated.



However by the time the women's elite race got underway conditions were definitely improving with glimmers of blue sky and not a drop of the wet stuff. Within yards of the women's race starting the first major pile up occurred, leaving riders at the rear of the field at even more of a disadvantage. Then just minutes later another crash caused further problems, but by this time the leading echelon was long gone, not trouble by the chaos behind them. Heather Irminger led the race out with fellow American Willow Koerber close behind along with Eva Lechna and world Champion Irina Kalentieva. Koerber soon pushed to the front smoothly leading up the climbs and losing a little in the tech sections, notably Willow chose to ride the B line in Worry Gill each lap with Kalentieva taking the A line and nipping in front each time. As the race unfolded it was Koerber who seemed to be doing all the work with Kalentieva sticking glue like to her rear wheel. On the final lap the world Champion made her move opening up a gap of a handful of seconds that proved enough to hand her victory, Koerber trailed home in 2nd  just 11secs adrift and a hard chasing Katherine Nash bagged third another 17 secs down.



GB hopes were firmly pinned on youngster Annie Last and team mate Lily Mathews. In the opening laps Matthews was looking strong, but ultimately faded as the race progressed to finish in 50th spot. However Last grew increasingly confident as she charged through the field, moving herself with a final all out sprint into 19th spot, but also securing another GB place on the podium with a fine 3rd in the under 23's race.



Being on home soil GB saw a healthy turn out of women riders who wanted a taste of World Cup racing. However for two riders it was game over even before they hit the start line with both Mel Alexander and Maddie Horton crashing heavily in training leaving both battered and bruised and in Mel's case broken! For those who actually got to the start line, the racing was fierce and not helped by two crashes early on the opening start loop which left those gridded at the rear of the race at even more of a disadvantage! Adopted Brit Kate Potter reluctantly called it a day after 4 laps, having not recovered from a virus she was suffering big time. TORQ rider Lee Craigie was the next GB finisher after Matthews claiming 68th spot with BUCS Champ Jess Roberts taking 75th. Maxine Filby in only her second year of racing and with just one elite race under her belt stepped up to the World Stage and finished 78th, while Lesley Ingram picked up 81st just ahead of Morven Brown in 82nd and finally a gutsy performance by Anna Buick after getting tangled up in the crashes saw her finish in 84th spot.



With the massive crowd being entertained by Chris Furber and Dan Jarvis the excitement was growing for the final race of the weekend and all the big guns were out; Absalon, Schurter, Stander, Naef, Hermida, Sauser just a few of the names on the start grid. For GB watchers the field was littered with a good showing of homegrown talent, with Beckingsale, Fletcher, Killeen and Williams heading up a healthy turn out of 12 British men.



On the gun the whole group surged through the start lap into Dixon's Hollow with some inevitable start loop carnage and tape breaking along the way, moving fluidly, seemingly as one entity on the start loop. It was the Swiss that surged to the front with Lukas Fluckiger and Ralph Naef leading the race through onto the first of the proper laps. By lap two Absalon had moved into the commanding seat with Naef and Schurter tucked in behind while a chasing group hung tantalising off the pace by a mere 4 secs behind.



By lap 4 of the 6-lap race Burry Stander had crossed the gap to the leaders and had established himself up front, looking the strongest of the trio and with his 29er enjpying the course, putting in all the work to drive the train home. However with just one lap to go that train for Stander just ran out of steam leaving Schurter and Absalon to fight it out amongst themselves.



As they entered the finishing straight it was neck and neck with nothing to choose, to the roar of the approving crowd they sprinted as if their lives were hanging in the balance neither giving an inch to his rival, until just a width of a tyre decided the winner, Schurter had once again outsprinted Absalon in what could almost have been an exact replay of their encounter in the World Champs. We later found out that Absalon was riding with a single front ring giving him nowhere to hide in an all out sprint then!



In the GB camp, it wasn't such a great day in the office. Beckingsale came home, as first Brit in a disappointing 37th place while Killeen was equally unimpressed with his 51st spot, while Fletcher came home in 79th.  Lee Williams was disappointed in having to retire 3 laps in, a puncture coupled with a sore Achilles put paid to his race, while Paul Oldham went through the paces, a growing family and a house move putting him on a back foot recently.



But all the GB riders won't let the grass grow under their feet with despondency, they know it's just the opening round and although GB fortunes were a mixed bag over the weekend, sights are now firmly set on moving up a notch, with this in mind the future is bright.



The World Cup series now heads off to Belgium for the next round of all out action, TORQ riders Tim Dunford, the O'Boyles and Ben Thomas will be in town along with Orange Monkey's Chris Andrews and Paul Beales, as well as the GB regulars. The only way is up!



Words and pics: www.joolzedymond.com

Other Dalby 2010 XC World Cup articles:

Results | Mens Elite Race Video | Womens Elite Race Video | Course Preview