We stand to be corrected on this, but as far as we can remember the weekend's UCI World Cup XC race on the Caribbean island of Curaçao was the first to have the finish line on a beach. And it was former Olympic Champion Bart Brentjens (Netherlands, Giant) who crossed it first - his first World Cup win for four years.
Brentjens may have had a hint of an advantage - he's been working with the race organisers on Curaçao and designed the 6.8km course. But no amount of local knowledge would have helped with the roasting temperatures (the races were shortened, but several riders still struggled with the heat), and Brentjens fought off a strong challenge from World Champion Julien Absalon (Bianchi). Commonwealth Champion Liam Killeen (Specialized) was third, with Brentjens's Giant team-mate Roel Paulissen and Killeen's Specialized team-mate Christoph Sauser rounding out the podium.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Oli Beckingsale (Giant) was 17th. A noteworthy appearance further down the rankings was that of Filip Meirhaeghe in 31st place, making his World Cup comeback after testing positive for EPO in 2004.
In the women's race it was almost business as usual for defending World Cup champion Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida). She rode off the front after the short opening loop, but couldn't open her usual enormous gap over the rest of the field. Sabine Spitz (Specialized) managed to keep Dahle's pace (albeit a little way behind) for several laps, although Dahle eventually won with a healthy 1:38 margin. Margarita Fullana was third, with North American riders Marie-Helene Premont (Canada) and Mary McConneloug (USA) coming in fourth and fifth.
The next XC round is Madrid (13/14 May) but before that there's the opening rounds of the DH and 4X series (Vigo, Spain, 6/7 May) and the Marathon series (Naoussa, Greece, 6/7 May).
Results
Men
| 1 | Bart BRENTJENS | 1:48:52 | +0:00:00 | NED | Giant |
| 2 | Julien ABSALON | 1:49:13 | +0:00:21 | FRA | Bianchi Agos |
| 3 | Liam KILLEEN | 1:49:19 | +0:00:28 | GBR | Specialized |
| 4 | Roel PAULISSEN | 1:49:36 | +0:00:45 | BEL | Giant |
| 5 | Christoph SAUSER | 1:50:20 | +0:01:28 | SUI | Specialized |
|
| 17 | Oli BECKINGSALE | 1:55:35 | +0:06:43 | GBR | Giant |
| 33 | Philip SPENCER | 1:58:03 | +0:09:11 | GBR | Bikin' Cyprus Int. |
| 44 | Simon RICHARDSON | 2:00:05 | +0:11:13 | GBR |
| 55 | Steven ROACH | 2:02:25 | +0:13:33 | GBR |
| 80 | Adrian LANSLEY | | +1 Lap | GBR |
| 81 | William BJERGFELT | | +1 Lap | GBR |
| 93 | Lee WILLIAMS | | +3 Laps | GBR |
Women
| 1 | Gunn-Rita DAHLE | 1:45:54 | +0:00:00 | NOR | Multivan Merida |
| 2 | Sabine SPITZ | 1:47:33 | +0:01:38 | GER | Specialized |
| 3 | Margarita FULLANA | 1:49:00 | +0:03:05 | ESP | Spiuk Illes Balears |
| 4 | Marie-Helene PREMONT | 1:49:33 | +0:03:39 | CAN |
| 5 | Mary McCONNELOUG | 1:49:43 | +0:03:49 | USA |
