World Championship Results leave SsangYong-fusion team smarting - but still wanting more

The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships again lived up to their reputation for creating heroes and drama, with another event to remember being played out on the rain soaked mountains at Fort William. The event started for the SsangYong-fusion team on Friday night, with all three of our male 4X riders lining up for the main event. Roger Rinderknecht (SUI - SsangYong/GT/Oakley) and Guido Tshugg (GER) had qualified strongly in the top 15. whilst Luke Strom (AUS), who had been riding well in practice was unlucky to slip from his pedal in his run and had to look forward to tough early rounds from 36th position. Unfortunately for the team - the first round saw Strom coming up against Guido Tschugg in they enjoyed a tight tussle to the line, with Luke just pipping the German to take second and progress. Tschugg was bitterly disappointed with the result - after taking a medal in 2006 - but he will go into the last round of the World Cup determined to make amends and with the possibility of climbing a few steps up the ladder in the World Cup rankings. The next hurdle that faced Luke Strom proved to great, going down to hot favourite Jared Graves (AUS) and current World Cuo number 3, Jurg Meijer (NED). Despite losing to two great riders, Strom was not happy with this result and he now heads home to prepare himself for another summer of racing in the Southern Hemisphere. Roger Rinderknecht had no such problems and again proved why he is considered one of the best riders on the circuit. He made his way through the early rounds and found himself lining up for the finals along side mercurial American, Brian Lopes, Jurg Meijer and Romain Saladini (FRA). He got a great gate and was fighting for position with Lopes down the first straight. He was looking to take a tighter, inside line into the first corner, but Saladini seemed to have picked the exact same line and Rinderknecht clipped the Frenchman's wheel, going down heavily. He was not able to recover from the crash, cruising down the hill to 4th spot in the final. A full video replay of the final can be found at Freecaster. With another medal in his grasp, Rinderknecht will know this was an opportunity missed, but his sights have been set on the 2008 Olympic BMX qualifiers this year - so he will also take the result in his stride. He looks to have done enough this year to be fulfilling his Olympic dream in Beijing next year. Final Men's 4X Results 1. Brian Lopes, USA 2. Romain Saladini, FRA 3. Jurg Meijer, NED 4. Roger Rinderknecht, SUI Sunday brought out the big crowds and the weather as the DH riders took centre stage. The Fort William track had held up remarkably well to the constant rain of the week and the riders were looking forward to some quick times. The Junior brigade of under-19 riders took to the track first and after a slow qualifying run, it was James Maltman who took the hot seat early. He had qualified in 56th, but his time in the finals saw him maintaining top position until John Swanguen took the lead late in the proceedings. It was a case of then watching the medals slipping from his fingers as the final 10 riders came down and Maltman dropped to 6th. Final Junior Men's DH Results 1. Ruardh Cunningham (GBR) 2. John Swanguen (USA) 3. Matthew Scoles (NZL) 4. Mitch Delfs (AUS) 5. Joel Bain (AUS) 6. James Maltman (AUS) "Considering some of the issues young James has coped with in the last two weeks, with his bike being destroyed in transport and the folks at Santa Cruz pulling us out of the fire with a replacement at the last minute, this is a strong result. He has not ridden this bike all year, so it is a great result," commented SsangYong Team Manager, Alex Bastien. The women were off next and Jenna Makgill (NZL) was determined to have a solid ride in the final. Some minor mistakes cost her valuable time, and in the end she had to settle for 13th position in this strong field of riders. She has shown some real talent this year and has a lot to offer for the future - still being relatively inexperienced compared to the other riders around her. Almost all of top 15 place getters have all been riding World Cup for several seasons, whilst Makgill is a debutante, so her progression as a rider will certainly continue. Final Women's DH Results 1. Sabrina Jonnier, FRA - 5.28.35 2. Rachel Atherton, GBR - 5.32.36 3. Tracey Hannah, AUS - 5.39.89 13. Jennifer Makgill, NZL - 5.57.48 Ending the day and the event was the Men's DH and this was what the 30,000 fans had really come to see. With so many of the top riders having done slow qualifiers it was difficult to get a read on who was really quick on the course, but the buzz started early on the mountain that Sam Hill from Australia would be the man to beat. Hill is perhaps the worlds greatest rider and in the wet he is without equal. As the earlier drizzle became rain and began to fall more heavily around half way through the final runs it was looking like even he may struggle to catch early pace setter, Pasqual Flix Canals (ESP), who had set the super quick time of 5.00.29 very early proceedings. Our first rider off, Antonio Leiva (CHI), has struggled in his first full season abroad, but with some good results over the last two weeks he was in some good form. He rode a solid race to take 28th with a 5.13.19, which saw him matched with some very distinguished company and taking the honours as the fastest South American by a long way. Hill started from 24th position, but from the very first corner he was on form. He was 8 seconds up at the intermediate marker and by that time everyone in the crowd and on the slopes knew who the man was to beat - Sam Hill. He set a blistering time of 4.52.01 and was a case of 'catch me if you can'. The riders came down the track in worsening weather, making the job of matching Hill's time all the more difficult, but when two-time World Champion, Fabien Barel (FRA) came within 0.64 seconds of snatching the win in his run, people started to wonder if it was possible. The rain 'seemed' to be easing - the track 'seemed' a little drier perhaps to those of us watching the coverage online. Florent Payet was the second last of the French riders and our best qualifier, coming from 5th. His start could not have been worse - coming out of the gate he stripped one of the rings on his rear cassette and was left floundering on the start line. He somehow recovered from this to get his run underway, but early on it looked like the incident was playing on his mind. He got his riding back on track and by the time he had reached the intermediate marker he had clawed his way to within 10 seconds of the leader and an unlikely shot at a medal. Finishing with 5.01.51 in these conditions was an amazing run and saw Payet take home 8th place overall, being forced back in the order by riders such as Greg Minaar (RSA) and Gee Atherton (GBR). At just 20 years of age, Payet is already showing he will be a podium threat at World Cup level within a year and has come a long way from his ranking of 33rd last year. Allowing for his cassette incident at the start of his run, he could so easily have finished in the top five at his first Elite World Championships. Final Women's DH Results 1. Sam Hill, AUS - 4.52.01 2. Fabien Barel, FRA - 4.52.65 3. Gee Atherton, GBR - 4.56.38 4. Greg Minaar, RSA - 4.59.96 5. Pasqual Flix Canals, ESP - 5.00.29 8. Florent Payet, FRA - 5.01.51 28.Antonio Leiva, CHI - 5.13.19 Unlike last year, where the team claimed two medals, this years Championships was without podium success - but in many ways the team has actually improved. We had three riders finish within the top ten and with Makgill and Leiva both providing strong performances, the overall results show the depth and strength we have developed this year. With the riders all packing furiously to leave our season home of Pila and head to the last World Cup at Maribor next weekend - the team will be looking to improve on these results. www.syfmtb.com

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