Burry Stander wins his first UCI World Cup in Champery!
After a long travel back from a successful Canberra trip it was going to be interesting as to how everyone’s legs would be on the short but tough circuit in Champery, Switzerland.
Needless to say the wry smile that Burry had given a week ago after watching the men’s elite race was something he would back up with an impressive performance.
The first lap was led out by the young Frenchman who had finished second to Burry in Canberra the previous week followed closely by Hermida with Christoph and Burry in and around the top 10. Todd had a bit of a slow start and found himself in the mid twenty’s and that was where he stayed throughout the race.
As the riders came through the feed zone on lap two it was suddenly Julien Absalon on the front with a look in his eyes that said he was out here to make amends for finishing second to Nino Schurter at World Champs. Trailing by about 20 seconds was the Frenchman who had led the first lap with Burry not too far behind.
As the laps ticked off the characteristic Absalon charge was looking convincing yet the gap never grew to more than a minute and behind him some great racing was unfolding. The Fluckinger brothers were mounting an impressive chase working together to claw back lost seconds as well as Ralph Naf who had recovered from an early crash. Christoph was still riding well after a good start and was constantly around 10th place.
With two laps to go Absalons lead was just over 45 seconds, Burry sensing the charge from behind opened up the throttle to leave his French counterpart behind and surprisingly started closing the deficit to the front. A lap and a half to go and he had gained another 10 seconds but with the steep climb on the last half of the lap the 25 seconds gap looked like it would stay giving Absalon another victory.
As with mountain bike racing it is never over till the finish line and when Burry saw Absalon ahead on the climb he went for it and closed onto his wheel right at the top…waited a few pedal strokes and gapped him with two minutes of racing left! Unclipping on the final technical downhill had the crowds going wild but coming into the final straight it was clear that Burry Stander was crossing the line to take his first World Cup win of his career.
With Burry’s win and Christoph’s top ten placing the Specialized Factory Racing team also walked away with the team prize for the day.
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