Mathias Flueckiger 6th In Offenburg, Extends Lead in Under 23

21 year old Trek World Racing's Mathias Flueckiger came out of a difficult week of studying and exams, with little preparation for today's race, and surprised everyone, including himself, with an impressive 6th place today at Round 3 of the World Cup, and 1st place in Under 23. He is now 6th overall in the ranking, a career best. Brother Lukas was with Math for most of the race until tire trouble forced him to lose valuable time. In Women's XC Emily Batty (CAN) survived a serious crash to finish just outside the top 50. The stand out ride for the team today was Mathias who as recently as a 5 days ago wasn't sure he'd be in the shape needed for a World Cup race. His exam schedule has been super tough these past 2 weeks, and he wasn't expected to be ready for a full on race until Round 4, when he becomes a "full time" pro. But this week he showed that his legs still have the power, riding a smart race with the chase group that had him as high as 3rd place at one point. Lukas was with Math while they rode together in the chase group, in what was a fine and sunny day, the first ‘hot’ race of the 2010 season. While eventual race winner Julien Absalon (FRA) and Nino Schurter (SUI) were fighting it out up front, the chase group of 8 that included Math and Luk, was where the action was. Unfortunately Luk lost pressure in his rear tire on lap 4 of 7, after it burped on one of the descents, and he lost 1 minute to the group as he came in for the tire change. He never recovered from that stop. The drama for the team came early with Emily crashing out after her front tire punctured just before a steep drop. She had no chance but to continue riding the drop, but her deflated front tire skewed sideways, hooked on a root, folded, and sent Emily flying over the bars and her bike into the crowd. Emily then had to run 1000m to the next technical zone where mechanic Sander Gijs fitted a front wheel and she rode on tenaciously to pull back another 30 places. Emily Batty said: "It's a real shame because I love the Offenburg course, but I guess today just wasn't my day. I didn't have the best start and then lost too much time when I crashed on lap one, but I didn't stop racing and gave it my best shot to fight back". Mathias said: "I was a bit worried as I had exams this week and my preparation wasn't perfect. But I got a good start and although I had a few problems with my legs in the first lap I managed to find my rhythm and caught up with Luk and the others in the main chase group. I held my position and I'm really happy – it's a perfect position to be in going into June". Lukas said: "The first half of the race was good, not perfect, but my legs were good and I felt fine. Then I got a flat in my rear wheel and at Dual Speed and it lost a lot of air. I changed my rear wheel but found it really tough after this, because I didn't find my rhythm and just wasn't able to fight back". Results: Women Elite: 1: Catharine Pendrel (CAN) 1hr 37mins 24secs 2: Georgia Gould (USA) @ 28secs 3: Esther Süss (SUI) @ 38secs 51: Emily Batty (Trek World Racing) @ 14mins 18secs Women Overall: 1. Catharine Pendrel (CAN) 520pts 2. Willow Koerber (USA) 480pts 3. Eva Lechner (ITA) 455pts 28. Emily Batty (Trek World Racing) 143pts Men Elite: 1: Julien Absalon (FRA) 1hr 53mins 36secs 2: Nino Schurter (SUI) @ 49secs 3: Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZE) @1min 08secs 6: Mathias Flueckiger (Trek World Racing) @ 2min 20secs 19: Lukas Flueckiger (Trek World Racing) @ 5mins 53secs Men Overall: 1. Julien Absalon (FRA) 570pts 2. Nino Schurter (SUI) 526pts 3. Jose Hermida (SPA) 470pts 6. Mathias Flueckiger (Trek World Racing) 340pts 11. Lukas Flueckiger (Trek World Racing) 273pts The next XC World Cup is on the weekend of July 24/25 in Champery, Switzerland. Follow the team on Twitter: www.twitter.com/trekworldracing