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UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Leogang 4X report & results
 
Saalfelden Leogang in the Salzburger Land, June 11th, 2011 ­ 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
men¹s 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: http://www.mtbworldcup.com/dhi/videos/1014862/uci-world-cup-2011-dhi-3-leoga
ng-aut
 
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 year¹s 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 ladies¹ qualifying as well as final runs, Romana Labounkova clearly dominated every race. It wasn¹t 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:
http://www.mtbworldcup.com/dhi/videos/1014862/uci-world-cup-2011-dhi-3-leogang-aut 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:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/UCI-MountainBike-World-Cup-Leogang/107748589268936
 
More information can be found on the homepage of the Out of Bounds Festival: www.outofbounds.at 

text: Rasoulution
photos: Victor Lucas