Race Report: Leogang World Cup 4X Finals

The wet course is still hot from the action of the last four men who just finished the last heat. Saalfelden Leogang witnessed some extremely exciting races at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 4X finals. Jared Graves (AUS) clearly dominated the men's race while Romana Labounkova (CZE) was the fastest woman. With the downhill finals tomorrow from 1.15pm the final highlight of the World Cup weekend is right around the corner. Watch it live on: www.mtbworldcup.com The pros who had traveled from all over the world only had two official days of training to get used to the changes on the course. The track that had been constructed by Guido Tschugg (SUI) for the World Cup last year was improved and redesigned for this year's race. The final runs on Saturday night showed some multifaceted and exciting battles. The course was filled with many tricky features, such as a steep start, doubles, triples, a step up – step down combination made of wood and a rock garden. The track stayed very rideable during the pouring rain so that there were barely any crashes. Already during the qualifying Australian Jared Graves (AUS) was the fastest rider and in the finals nobody could touch him. Michal Prokop (CZE) also clearly dominated each of his runs. The final run was, as is to be expected in 4X, exciting until the end. Graves and Prokop were the first to leave the gate. Graves was able to take the better line, since he had the inside starting position. In the first corner, Prokop was pushed to the outside which allowed David Graf (SUI) to move from the fourth position to the inside line into the second spot. Graf was the only one who chose the pro section and was able to defend second place all the way across the finish line. Prokop still tried to attack Graf but lost his rhythm and was passed by Tomas Slavik (CZE). The Ft William winner Roger Rinderknecht (SUI) won the small final ahead of Romain Saladini (FRA). 1st Jared Graves (AUS) 2nd David Graf (SUI) 3rd Tomas Slavic (CZE) 4th Michal Prokop (CZE) 5th Roger Rinderknecht (SUI) 6th Romain Saladini (FRA) 7th Lukas Mechura (CZE) 8th William Evans (GBR) During the ladies' qualifying as well as final runs, Romana Labounkova clearly dominated every race. It wasn't until the final that she met Anneke Beerten (NED) who had also won every one of her runs. Labounkova was able to use her strong BMX background to secure a start-finish victory in the final. Melissa Buhl (USA) celebrated her comeback after a longer break with a solid second place. Beerten had to settle for third place ahead of Swiss Lucia Oetjen. The best Austrian woman was Helene Frühwirth in sixth place. 1st Romana Labounkova (CZE) 2nd Melissa Buhl (USA) 3rd Anneke Beerten (NED) 4th Lucia Oetjen (SUI) 5th Céline Gros (FRA) 6th Valerie Frühwirth (AUT) 7th Fionn Griffiths (GBR) 8th Steffi Marth (GER) The 4X athletes can now enjoy a short break, before they as well will make their way to the concert of Polarkreis 18, where they can relax and celebrate their victory. Any fans in Saalfelden Leogang or at home can look forward to an exciting downhill final on Sunday after 1.15pm: www.mtbworldcup.com On the technical course spectators can expect peak velocities of up to 80 km/h, jumps of up to 20 meters in length and extremely demanding forest and root sections. You can find the latest updates on the official facebook fanpage of the UCI World Cups in Leogang: www.facebook.com