Mathias Flueckiger 1st U23 and 3rd at World Cup Finals, His Best Ever
Less than a week after finishing with his first ever World Cup elite podium at Champery, 20 year old Mathias Flueckiger showed what an incredible future star he is for the sport by taking 3rd place here at the final round of the World Cup in Schladming, Austria.
Mathias had a great start on his Top Fuel dual suspension bike, moving from 25th on the grid to be in the top 15 early in the race, and continued to make progress through the field to be in the lead break during the latter stages of lap 2 in the 6 lap race. Together with Jose Hermida (ESP), the pair rode together for a lap as the 2009 World Cup Champion Julien Absalon (FRA) tried to make a pivotal break and get away. The pair didn't let him get any more than a 20 second lead, and then Hermida left Mathias and chased down Absalon who then fell back into the reach of Mathias. In the 5th lap Mathias had passed Absalon and was well on the way to a 2nd place. Absalon later punctured and withdrew but his team mate Ruben Ruzafa was on a charge through the top 10 and eventually caught Mathias. On the last lap Mathias maintained his pace and rhythm and went on to complete the 6th lap in 3rd place.
Older brother Lukas was out to defend his 5th place in the World Cup standings. He had a narrow 5 point margin over reigning World Champion Nino Schurter (SUI), but unfortunately while in a solid 8th place, suffered two mechanical, costing him time in a climb. He went back as far as 20th but managed to come back to 13th in the final stages of the race.
Liam Killeen returned to racing this week and was as high as 19th during the race but suffered a puncture and dropped back into the 40's. He managed to fight back to 30th by the end of the race.
Mathias said: "I felt really strong today. I have done well on this course in the past so I was hoping to get another top 10, but to finish 3rd, well it's a dream really. To be the 1st of the Under 23 riders today was also a great feeling. I'm happy to finish the season so strong. It's been difficult to manage my studies, work and training, and I know that next year it will be a little easier."
Lukas said: "It would have been great to finish top 5 overall, but I was unlucky today. After recovering from the start, I was having good pace in the top 10, but then I had an issue with my pedal and needed to change it. Later the chain came off on the tough climb and I lost quite a lot of time. I pushed hard in the last lap to catch many people but it was already done. I am 7th for the overall and looking forward to next season getting much higher."
Liam said: "I was feeling really good today and got myself up to 19th and was ready to start moving towards the top 10 when I had a puncture. It seems that I slit the tyre on a rock and therefore I needed to change the whole wheel. I was stuck between the 2 Technical Zones and lost a lot of time getting back around for a repair. Once I got going I chased down as many riders as I could and ended up 30th."
The results today had Trek World Racing as the 3rd best team of the day, and moved the team up from 6th to 5th in the overall team ranking. Top 5 in XC was the teams stated target pre-season and given that not all races had all three riders, there is so much to come for 2010.
Men's Results:
1.Jose Hermida (ESP) 1hr 40m 42secs
2.Ruben Ruzafa (ESP) @30secs
3.Mathias Flueckiger (Trek World Racing)@1m 26secs
13.Lukas Flueckiger (Trek World Racing)@4m 05secs
30.Liam Killeen (Trek World Racing)@7m 42secs
Men's Overall Standings:
1.Julien Absalon (FRA) 1472 pts
2.Jose Hermida (ESP) 1190 pts
3.Burry Stander (RSA) 1166 pts
4.Ralph Naef (SUI) 970 pts
5.Nino Schurter (SUI) 859 pts
6.Wolfram Kurschat (GER) 796 pts
7.Lukas Flueckiger (Trek World Racing)794 pts
20. Mathias Flueckiger (Trek World Racing)507 pts
39. Liam Killeen (Trek World Racing)244 pts
Team Ranking (22 Ranked Teams)
1.Multivan Merida Biking Team 603 pts
2.Specialized Factory Racing 429 pts
3.Orbea 391 pts
4.Cannondale Factory Racing 296 pts
5.Trek World Racing 276 pts
Lukas and Liam will race the Roc dAzur in southern France next month, while Mathias takes time of to catch up on his studies.
