04/05/08. Source UCI. Julien Absalon lived up to expectations in Madrid, winning for the third week in a row! In doing so, the French rider (Orbea) outstripped Hermida and his team mate Peraud. The women’s race was marked by the come back of Gunn Rita Dahle.

Absalon, of course

After Houffalize and Offenburg, the four times World Champion tormented his opponents in Madrid. And after three stages of the UCI Nissan Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano, the Olympic Champion easily dominates the overall ranking. On the Spanish course, even the pressure of the local public fully committed to the cause of their national champion Jose Antonio Hermida (Multivan Merida Biking Team), did not affect the French rider’s mental strength.

It took a few laps for the race to settle down, but the top two rivals quickly took the front positions to battle out the lead. For the first time, Sauser (Specialized Factory Racing) appeared unable to keep up in Madrid. Absalon has always said he would like to beat Thomas Frischknecht's record of victories (The Swiss won 17 World Cups during his career): "It's a beautiful proof of longevity." In Madrid, he took his fifteenth victory at this level. It should not take long now to overtake the Swiss rider’s record.

Overall, Absalon has now 750 points while Christoph Sauser has 445 points. Jean-Christophe Peraud went up to the third place with 430 points. Despite abandoning the race, Switzerland’s Nino Schurter is still the boss of the Under 23 category.

Dahle is back!

A week after abandonning in Offenburg, Gunn Rita Dahle signed a splendid come back and won for the fourth time (after 2004, 2005 and 2006) on the fast course of the Casa de Campo. Without Irina Kalentieva (leader before the start) due to illness, the run for victory was played between Dahle (Multivan Merida Biking Team), Marie-Helène Premont (Rocky Mountain) and Margarita Fullana (Massi). Unlike her first two performances, Ren Chengyuan was not in the forefront this time. Fullana was the first to detach from the top three. And in the last lap, Dahle and Premont came back together. It was only the final sprint that decided the winner. It was Gunn Rita Dahle’s first World Cup win since her victory in Spa (Belgium) on 21st May 2006. Last year, she had to put a cross on her season to cure a stomach virus.

But Marie-Helène Premont can afford to smile after this third round. The Canadian takes the overall lead, just three years after wearing the leader's jersey for the first time. And for the record, she lost it in Madrid.

The Nissan UCI World Cup presented by Shimano continues next week in Maribor (Slovenia) with the first Downhill and 4X round.

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