Olympic Champion Julien Absalon has beaten Thomas Frischknecht's record of 17 World Cup race wins by taking his 18th victory at the second round of the Nissan UCI XC World Cup in Offenburg, Germany. Early in the race, Absalon was part of a large leading group but despatched the lot of them with an attack on the main climb of the 6km course during lap three.
Absalon extended his lead to the finish, leaving the rest to fight for the scraps. Specialized team-mates Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander tried hard, but Sauser crashed out and Stander couldn't maintain the momentum on his own, being reeled in by Wolfram Kurschat and Jean-Christoph Peraud. Stander held on for fourth, though, and another U23 win will be some consolation.
In the overall standings, Absalon has a 110 point lead from Kurschat, with Stander lying third. Peraud and Jose Hermida round out the top five.
In the Women's Elite race, the early running was made by Margarita Fullana, Lene Byberg and Irina Kalentiava, with Fullana subsequently going out on her own and pulling nearly a minute ahead by lap four. Meanwhile former U23 World Champion Ren Chengyuan had worked her way up from a slow start to join the chasing group before launching her own attack on lap five. Catharine Pendrel went with her but couldn't hang on, leaving Ren to catch and pass Fullana on the last lap. Fullana kept second place, with Byberg, Kalentieva and Elisabeth Osl taking the other podium spots.
After her first-round win, Osl holds on to the series lead with 390 points, with Fullana moving up to second with 350, level on points with Kalentieva. Byberg is fourth with 320, while Ren Chengyuan's 250 points at Offenburg move her straight in to fifth spot.
As per usual, the opening rounds of the XC World Cup come thick and fast, with the next round being next weekend at Houffalize, Belgium.
