Next onto the men’s race, and with Absalon was already the World Cup Champion again, it was up to the other racers to chase for a win to end the season on a high of their own. Pendrel was 3rd, new World Champion Irina Kalentieva of Topeak-Ergon was 4th and an absent due to injury Margarita Fullana of Massi held on to 5th.
Osl thus secured her first World Cup overall title, while Byberg took second. Osl took the win in 1:19:10 – a short race by UCI World Cup standards – and was followed home by Byberg 1:05 later, then Pendrel just 8 seconds later and then Poland’s Anna Szafraniec of JBG-2 Professional MTB Team, while Marie-Helene Premont of Maxxis Rocky Mountain, who crashed in the last lap, took the last podium spot. Byberg had a slow start but managed to chase her way through the pack to overtake another outside overall rival Catharine Pendrel of Luna Chix right down to the wire. When racing started Osl decided the best form of defence is attack and just rode an amazing tempo off the front leaving the others trailing in her wake.
Knowledge it was going to be tough for Byberg to make up the gap and overtake her. Osl, fondly known as Lisi round these parts, had a 75 point advantage of Byberg coming in to final round, and with her massive crowd support and local and it was here that the UCI World Cup finals took place to conclude the 2009 race season.įirst up was the XCO, and while Julien Absalon of Orbea had already secured the overall title the weekend before in Champery, the women’s race was wide open – with local favourite Elisabeth Osl of Central Ghost Pro Team & Norway’s Lene Byberg of Specialized Factory Racing going head to head in a points chase down to the wire. The downhill course is where most of these terms apply to best, but the XC has its place here too. In just a few short years Schladming has become the place of legend in the mountain bike scene – super steep, rooty, technical and whole bunch of similar superlatives. Mountain bike Champions crowned in the high mountains of Schladming in the heart of the Austrian Alps.
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