Austria
Just got back from Austria, round 4 of the World Cup. I missed the race last year because I got hurt before, but the year before that I won and I was hoping for another good result so I could wrap up the Overall Title before the last race.
A little rain the first day of practice, but the track was layered with gravel so it held the water well. I think it actually made the traction better than when it was dry. We got a good bit of rain through the night, but by the time practice rolled around on day two, it was already drying out.
Practice went well and down the third straight I finally got the balls up to jump this section of bumps that was put in to slow you down into a 180 degree right turn, which I obviously didn't want to slow down for. I had been eyeing it up and finally did it right before practice ended. A few guys saw me do it and in the qualifier I believe Polc and maybe one other person did it besides myself. My run was clean and good, but maybe a bit too cautious in a few turns that were easy to make mistakes in and loose time. In the end I finished 3rd for the quali with Polc only maybe .3 sec in front of me and Gee was second less than .2 in front of me. I think the top 5 were all within a half secon.
Race night was saturday and the track was super dry by then. Actually crashed in my first run down of practice because the gravel was so loose. Prokop crashed in his first race run while in the lead, but had a big enough lead to get up and still make it in.
All my races went well and in the final it was Polc in lane 1, myself in lane 2, Graves in lane 3, and Guido in 4. Prokop didn't make it out of the semi as he had lane 3 in that race and just wasn't able to get close enough to Polc to try a clean move.
The inside was a big advantage here, so a good start was key and I did just that. I got out, moved over on Polc and made it through turn one clean, which was pretty sketchy. Once out of turn two I managed to put a few bike lengths on Guido who was in 2nd. From there I stretched it out a little more out of turn 3 and then was able to be safe through some of the loose turns near the bottom to take my 25th World Cuup win and secure my 6th World Cup title.
Guido finished 2nd and Polc put a clean pass on Graves going into the second to last turn to take 3rd way from him. Prokop took the B final and now Polc and Prokop are tied in points for second with Gee and Graves just behind them.
Jill took the win and took back the leaders jersey, so it will come down to the last race between her and Anaka for the overall.
In the DH Sam was very impressive once again, winning by over 5 seconds on Gee who was 2nd. Peaty ended up 5th, but with a crash in his quali and Sam winning that also, Sam has put a little distance on Peaty for the overall. Mathmatically Matti who is in 3rd in points still has a chance, but it is a real long shot for him. Peaty on the other had has a more realistic shot, but Sam will really have to be off his game and Peaty will have to be on for title to be his.
Home now and off to Whistler soon...
Posted by Brian on July 10, 2007 12:15 AM