The UCI MTB World Cup season started at the weekend with a new title sponsor (Nissan) but a classic venue - Houffalize, Belgium.

Men

The first race of the season is always something of an unknown quantity, as much for the racers as for the pundits. Pre-race favourites, though, included defending champion Julien Absalon (now with Orbea) and local hero Roel Paulissen (Cannondale-Vredestein).

In the event, it was neither of those. The race developed into a battle between Absalon and Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida), with Hermida opening up a gap of almost a minute by the end.

Not too much joy for British riders - Oli Beckingsale was 25th, while Liam Killeen is recovering from a virus and didn't race.

Results

1. HERMIDA RAMOS Jose Antonio MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM 2:04:22.06
2. ABSALON Julien ORBEA 2:05:10.34
3. SAUSER Christoph 2:06:10.21
4. PAULISSEN Roel CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN 2:06:37.12
5. KESSIAKOFF Fredrik CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN 2:07:13.43
6. SCHURTER Nino SWISSPOWER MTB TEAM 2:07:57.92
7. FUGLSANG Jakob CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN 2:08:04.20
8. LEUCHS Kashi CANNONDALE-VREDESTEIN 2:08:38.89
9. ZOLI Jader KTM INTERNATIONAL TEAM 2:09:13.21
10. LEJARRETA ERRASTI Inaki ORBEA 2:09:21.98

Women

You can't win 'em all, they say, but over recent years Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Multivan Merida) has done her best to prove the old adage wrong. As the 2007 season gets underway, though, she faces strong new opposition. With the Beijing Olympics approaching, the Chinese are coming, and 2006 Under-23 World Cup and World Champion Ren Chengyuan (still only 21) is now lining up with the Elite racers.

Dahle-Flesjaa and Chengyuan were out on their own on lap three, having dropped Spain's Margarita Fullana, and on the finishing straight it was Chengyuan out in front, crossing the line a second ahead of the defending champion. With Jingjing Wang in 5th and Ying Liu in 7th, there were three Chinese riders in the top ten.

Results

1. CHENGYUAN Ren 2:00:23.06
2. DAHLE FLESJAA Gunn-Rita MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM 2:00:24.06
3. FULLANA Margarita 2:00:38.46
4. SPITZ Sabine GHOST INTERNATIONAL RACING TEAM 2:02:58.60
5. WANG Jingjing 2:03:30.18
6. PREMONT Marie-Helene ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAYWOOD 2:03:51.82
7. LIU Ying 2:04:45.25
8. GOULD Georgia LUNA WOMENS MTB TEAM 2:05:12.06
9. NASH Katerina LUNA WOMENS MTB TEAM 2:06:34.70
10. KRAFT Ivonne 2:06:48.28

The next XC round is at Offenburg (27 May), with the DH and 4X Championship starting at Vigo on 12/13 May.