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Specialized wins team competition at Czech World Cup

Oct 20, 2009
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<p>Specialized Racing topped the team results at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic on Sunday, thanks in part to Jaroslav Kulhavy, who rode to a strong second place and to Burry Stander, who finished third in a blisteringly fast elite men's cross country race.</p><p>
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"There were five of us fighting the whole way. I've never seen a race with so many different guys attacking so many different times," said Stander.</p><p>
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Kulhavy and Stander both got excellent starts. In front of a home crowd, Czech star and reigning cross country world champion Kulhavy blazed across the line on his Specialized S-Works Epic 29 (with S-Works Renegade 29x1.95 tires) in first place at the end of the start loop. </p><p>
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"I had my best start of the year," said Stander. "I had a lot of punch from the beginning. We were quite a big group in the beginning with five or six guys." </p><p>
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Kulhavy and Stander were joined initially by Nino Schurter, Marco Fontana, Ralph Naef and Florian Vogel, although Vogel soon fell off the lead pace, leaving a core group of five men who would stick together through the beginning of the fifth lap of the six-lap race. </p><p>
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Kulhavy looked strong throughout and often powered through the start/finish line in first place. Stander was also riding well, but had one close call on the first full lap.</p><p>
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"I got into a rhythm, but then I made a stupid mistake on a dumb corner and fell down and hit my knee, which kind of sucked, but it didn't bug me during the race. However, on that course, it's hard to make up that 10 seconds back to the leaders," said Stander. "Luckily, Nino was behind me at that point, and I could let him do a lot of the work on the pavement section because Jaroslav was at the front. We got back to them at the beginning of the second full lap."</p><p>
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On the second to last lap, Fontana and Naef fell off the pace still held by Kulhavy, Stander and Schurter. The last three men left at the front would continue their tactical and physical battle into the final lap.</p><p>
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"At the end, it was about who could attack on the last lap," said Stander. "I attacked at the beginning on the pavement because I knew then Jaroslav could attack Nino, but Nino was quick to get on my wheel and then attacked us again on the first climb. I went with him for a little while and I thought I had enough going up the last climb, but when we were sprinting for the last singletrack section, my legs were basically done."</p><p>
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Stander came off, leaving Kulhavy and Schurter to continue ruthlessly attacking each other. In the end, Schurter proved stronger and gapped Kulhavy, who rode across the line in second place, a mere six seconds back.</p><p>
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"I'm happy with my race and my performance today," said Kulhavy.</p><p>
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"It was a close race," said Stander, who rolled across the line in third place, just 11 seconds further behind Kulhavy. "My bike worked awesome - this was a really good track for my 29er. I could make up time on the flat section and on Nino on his 650B wheels. He would attack Jaroslav and me on the climbs and get a few meters, but we would come back to him on the flat, rough stuff with our bigger wheels." </p><p>
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Unlike Kulhavy, who rode a full suspension 29er, Stander was onboard his Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper hardtail 29er with S-Works Fast Track 29x2.00 front (at 21.5 psi) and S-Works Renegade 29x1.95 rear (at 23 psi) tires. Both Stander and Kulhavy used forks with 80mm of travel although Stander opted for the single front Rotor chainring (36-tooth) with cSixx Products chain guide.</p><p>
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Christoph Sauser, on a Specialized S-Works Epic 29er with his own limited edition Sauser World Champion S-Works Renegade 29x1.95 tires (front and rear at 25 psi), finished as Specialized's third fastest man, in 11th place at 2:03. "I had an awesome start - my best of the whole year," he said. </p><p>
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"It was so fast, the speed never slowed down today. I was pretty much stuck in around 10th place." Sauser stuck with his favorite single front chainring World Cup set-up - this time with 34 teeth and run with a Specialized Epic chain guide.</p><p>
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Sauser has been hoping to earn a place on the super competitive Swiss Olympic team, but with just one World Cup race remaining in the process, he is realistic about his chances of doing so. "It's going to be hard for me to qualify for the Olympics - I'd need the race of my life next Sunday."</p><p>
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Todd Wells, a hopeful for the US Olympic Team, raced to 32nd place as the second fastest American of the day, at 5:10. "There was a big crash at the start that I got held up a little bit behind, but luckily I didn't go down. I picked off guys throughout the whole race. It was a short race, but toward the end, I was running out of steam anyway."</p><p>
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Wells, who raced his Specialized S-Works 29er, described his result as "not a great race", but noted optimistically that it was better than the last one and that he is moving in the right direction. The US cross country national champion had to sit out round 1 of the World Cup due to an ankle injury and has been racing himself back into form the past few weeks. For the day's technical and fast conditions, Wells had chosen Specialized S-Works Fast Trak 29x2.00 front (at 26 psi) and S-Works Renegade 29x1.95 rear (at 27 psi) tires.</p><p>
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Kohei Yamamoto rounded out the team's places with a 56th place. Luck was not on the side of the Japanese rider, who finished 56th at 6:55. An untimely sidewall cut on one of his tires while riding through a rock garden on lap two meant that he lost some places and had to chase thereafter. Yamamoto raced his Specialized S-Works Epic 29er with Fast Trak 29x2.00 tires (at 26 psi).</p><p>
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World Cup standings</p><p>
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The day's win for Specialized Racing helped the team to a more comfortable lead in the World Cup standings. After three rounds, Specialized leads by 46 points.</p><p>
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Individually, several riders moved up the World Cup standings. Stander now sits in second place overall, with 510 points to Schurter's 700 points. Kulhavy is just behind them in third with 425 points. Sauser sits in 14th (234 points); Yamamoto is 31st (with 118 points); while Wells is in 48th with 65 points after missing round 1.</p><p>
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Early crash detains Davison</p><p>
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Just 50m into the start of the elite women's cross country race, also on Sunday, a pile of riders crashed on the initial pavement section. Unfortunately, Specialized Racing's Lea Davison was one of the downed women.</p><p>
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"I took the hardest fall I've ever taken on the pavement," said Davison, who was racing her Specialized Fate Pro 29 with S-Works Fast Trak 29x2.00 tires (pumped to 22 psi up front and 24 psi in the rear).</p><p>
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"I was kind of the last one to get up, then I had to stop at the tech zone for a wheel change. I was hurting after that. By the time I went around the start loop, they were already letting people cross - they were closing down the start loop."</p><p>
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At the end of the start loop, Davison was in 71st place.</p><p>
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Shaken, but determined to persevere, Davison adopted a positive attitude and tried to make the most of her race. "I then focused on passing as many people as possible, relaxing and getting myself back in the race."</p><p>
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By the end of lap 1, she'd moved up to 53rd. For the next three laps, she picked other women off one at a time and moved up through the 40s, and at the end of her five-lap race, she crossed the line in 37th place, 8:36 after winner Julie Bresset.</p><p>
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"I definitely have some bruises, and I'm grateful everything is ok and it's just bumps and bruises."</p><p>
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After three rounds of the UCI World Cup, Davison is ranked 23rd in the elite women's standings with 178 points. She is the second-ranked American woman, with one more round of World Cup racing to go before the United States picks two women for its Olympic team.</p>

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