K-124 Days, which took place two weeks ago marked the beginning of the 2009 season with style! And this weekend is the first big international UCI meet: the first round of the World Cup, which takes place in Spain, in the town of Ripoll. Below you can find out all you need to know about the event. We will add to this article after the event with complete results for each class as they are published.

Introduction...

Accomodation:

Ripoll, which has an area of almost 74 square kilometres, is the capital of the Ripollès region in Catalonia, in the heart of the Pre-Pyrenees mountains. 691m above sea-level, in a Y-shaped valley between the banks of the river Ter and the river Freser, Ripoll is easily accesible, whether you’re coming by road or by rail.

More info can be found in the official document below, which tells you all that you need to know in order to get there (by road, rail or plane) and to find accomodation (hotels, hostels, camping).

The Sections:

The area reserved for this international UCI meet will be quite close to the Centre Sportif de Haut-Niveau de Ripollès (CTER). All of the sections will be concentrated in an area of 1500m2 and will be composed of rocks, concrete blocks, benches, gaps and logs.

Weather permitting, the 1/4 finals and the women’s final will take place in a completely natural setting, 2km from the Centre Sportif, on the banks of the river Ter.

Programme:

 Thursday 9 April

• • 17:00 - 20:00 Registration and accreditation

 Friday 10 April

• • 16.00 - 19.00 Registration and accreditation
  • 10:00 - 14:00 UCI World Cup - Quarter final 20"
  • 10:15 - 14:15 UCI World Cup- Women’s final
  • 14:00 - 18:00 UCI World Cup - Quarter final 26"
  • 19:00 - 19:15 Women’s awards ceremony

 Saturday 11 April

• • 09:00 - 11:30 UCI World Cup- Semi-Final 20"
  • 12:00 - 14:30 UCI World Cup - Semi-Final 26"
  • 17:00 - 18:30 UCI World Cup - Final 20"
  • 18:30 - 20:00 UCI World Cup - Final 26"
  • 20:15 - 20:30 20" & 26" Awards ceremony
  • 21:00 - 22:00 Buffet.

The current champions:

The two leaders of this event are the two riders who won the 2008 World Cup: World Champions Gilles Coustellier and Benito Ros! Can they do it again this year?

More photos of the 2008 Cup available at Photobysergio !

Results...

Here are the results for each competition, published here as they are issued!

 Women’s final:

The women’s final took place on Friday between 10.15 and 14.15. Swiss rider Karin Moor took first place in this first round with a sizeable lead on the Abant Condal sisters.

• • Women’s final podium:

• • Full results:

WC#1 - Women Final

 Elite 20" semi-final:

The Elite 20" final took place on Saturday morning. Benito Ros takes the lead with just a one point advantage over fellow Spaniard Dani Comas, competing this season on 20" with a very strong start! Keep an eye out for these two riders, who will make sure that the 2009 Elite 20" series will be an exciting one! Rick Koekoek put in another great performance, qualifying in third place. Not so for Loris Braun, whose performance saw him finish in 14th position. He had dedicated most of his time to finishing his studies (in which he did very well) and hadn’t really ridden his bike at all until the Ternero camp in March. He visibly suffered from this lack of training at the start of the season, but we can be sure that he’ll make a comeback in the rounds to come!

• • Elite 20" finalists:

• • Full results:

WC#1 - Elite 20" ½ Final

 Elite 26" semi-final:

The 26" final took place on Saturday afternoon. Vincent Hermance finished in first place, one point ahead of Gilles Coustellier. Marc Caisso is on top form, finishing just three points behind the two leaders! Giacomo Coustellier qualified just ahead of Danny Butler on most cleans, meaning that the UK rider didn’t make it into the final. Aurélien Fontenoy and Nicolas Vuillermot had a very strong start to the season, both qualifying for the final/

• • Elite 26" finalists

• • Full results:

WC#1 - Elite 26" ½ Final

 Elite 20" final:

The 20" final took place on Saturday evening between 17.00 and 18.30. Dani Comas’ presence in this category this season means that the usual dynamic has changed somewhat and promises for a very exciting season! Benito Ros remained in the lead for the semi-final, but only by one point. After the first lap, both riders were equal, each with two fives on their card. However, Benito made a fatal error in the second section, taking a maximum five. Dani got through all of the sections with just 6 dabs on his second lap and took the victory. Polish rider Rafal Kumorowski took up the third podium place with 35 points, ahead of Carles Diaz (47) and Rick Koekoek (48).

• • Elite 20" final results:

• • complete section by section results:

WC#1 - Elite 20" Final

 Elite 26" final:

The 26" final took place just after the 20" final, between 18.30 and 20.30. World Champion Gilles Coustellier, true to form, put in an excellent performance, finishing his second lap with just one point (a feat that no other rider managed) and winning the competition. Kenny Belaey finished 12 points behind him, ahead of Vincent Hermance on 29. Marc Caisso finished in 4th place, just three points behind hermance, and 7 ahead of Aurélien Fontenoy in 5th. Giacomo Coustellier had to be content with 6th place in this exciting final, in which, interestingly, half of the riders were on the new Atomz Quark.

• • Elite 26" final results:

• • complete section by section results:

WC#1 - Elite 26" Final

Mini-Interview with Gilles Coustellier...

A short interview with the current World Champion, the day after his first round victory.

Jébegood : Well...a great start to the season for you! How were the sections?

Gilles Coustellier : Yeah, it’s been good, a win at K-124 Days and then first round victory at Ripoll. The sections weren’t bad, they had a bit of everything - gaps, precision moves, big steps and so on...

Jébegood : It was 100% man-made this year, did that bother you?

Gilles Coustellier : Yeah, all man-made, 2 rock sections, one of cable reels and stuff, a log section and a precision beam section. We were unlucky with the weather, it was forecast for rain. In the end we just had a few drops during the warm-up, but nothing to bad!

Jébegood : So the semi-final and the final used the same sections?

Gilles Coustellier : Yeah, the same sections, but ridden backwards for the final, which made things a lot harder. The semi-final was pretty easy, nothing too big, but the final was harder, which is what made the difference in the end.

Jébegood : You manged to take a big lead over your competitors - Kenny finished on 19 and Vincent Hermance had 29! It’ll be hard to take the jersey off you this year!

Gilles Coustellier : That’s right, I’ve got a good lead. 12 points ahead of 2nd place and 22 ahead of 3rd. I give my all to retain my jerseys titles, they’ll have to work hard! I will be, and I’m really motivated this season!

Jébegood : Spoken like a true champion ;-) Congratulations on your victory! The next meet is in May in Heubach in Germany for the 2nd round right?

Gilles Coustellier : Cheers man! That’s right, next stop Heubach! I’m hoping to win and get a bit further ahead! I like the venue too, that’s where I became European Champion for the first time!

Jébegood : Good luck! Thanks for answering our questions, anything else you’d like to add?

Gilles Coustellier : Ummmmmm... Just that I’m off to have some food. My sister’s boyfriend Francesco is staying with us and they’re great cooks! He’s making risotto and I’m starving!

Jébegood : He’s part of the family now then?

Gilles Coustellier : Yeah, we’ve even got his parents staying with us :-)

Jébegood : Wow, it’s serious then ;-) Anyway, thanks again and bon appetit! Congratulations again, see you in Germany!

Gilles Coustellier : Cheers, bye!

Vincent Hermance gives us his impressions of the first round...

Jébegood : Did the competition start well for you?

Vincent Hermance : Yeah, I started pretty well, with a win in qualification.

Jébegood : What happened in the final?

Vincent Hermance :The final was a bit different... After the first lap, I had quite afew problems. I lost grip on my rear tyre a couple of times without being able to save it and ended up on the floor. Maybe I was a bit over-confident? After that my chances of victory had slipped away, si I went for damage limitation and made sure of 3rd place behind Gilles Coustellier (Koxx) and K.Belaey.

Jébegood : Still confident for the rest of the season?

Vincent Hermance : I don’t think I need to be to worried about this result, I’ve come on quite a bit over the winter and I just need to put it all into practice. The main problem is the loss of points in general, but I’ve got four rounds to make that up, starting in January in a month’s time!

A big thanks to à Nando Estarellas, alias El Rebostet, for the photos! Hundreds more to follow!