The third round of the UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup powered by citymountainbike.com took place in Graz, Austria, hot on the heels of the European Championships. Although the two competitions were held on consecutive days in the same town, the course was modified for the UCI World Cup: a climb of almost 200 metres offered plenty of opportunity to overtake and the home straight was longer.
Disqualified in the final of the Europeans the day before after two false starts, Austria’s Daniel Federspiel got his revenge at the UCI World Cup, taking victory in front of Hugo Briatta (France) and Fabrice Mels (Belgium). Fourth place went to European and UCI World Champion Titouan Perrin-Ganier.
Women’s racing: Terpstra interrupts Jacobsen’s domination
Undefeated in the first two rounds, Norway’s Ingrid Sofie Bøe Jacobsen could only manage fourth place in the final in Graz. Dutch cross-country Olympic specialist Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory Racing Team) remained strong throughout the qualification runs to take victory in the four-rider final in front of newly-crowned European Champion Irina Popova (Ukraine) and Marion Colin (France).
“Winning is always cool,” said Terpstra. “I gave it everything.”
The racing in Graz saw lead changes in the men’s overall standings, with Dutch champion Jeroen van Eck moving into the leader’s jersey after claiming second in the small finals. Van Eck has 108 points, 15 more than Lorenzo Serres (93), with Hugo Briatta lying in third with 65 points.
Meanwhile, Ingrid Bøe Jacobsen strengthens her lead in the women’s overall standings with a total of 145 points.
The fourth round of the UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup powered by citymountainbike.com will take place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, on September 2nd.
Full results