25 April Sunshine Trophy, Nalles, Italy (E1)
Result: 4th
Although we were officially in Italy, this area called Sud Tirol in Northern Italy was much more Austrian then anything else. Helena was able to come this weekend, and they put us into a really super nice hotel. We also felt the first signs of summer, with temperatures reaching 28 dC one day, beautiful blue skies and flowers blooming everywhere. Then to top it all off, the course was great too. Starting in the village center, we immediately entered into a tight single track climb, which followed tight switch backs for about 1km. At some points it got really steep, but the real killer was all the small accelerations we had to make out of the corners. After 1km of rolling roads at the top, we hit the decent.. a super steep and sketchy single track section which just makes you grin from ear to ear. Helena rode with me the first lap, and she shocked me afterwards saying she actually wanted to race!!!
Coming to the start line I was more nervous then normal, I guess because of the expectations created by winning the race last weekend.
Maybe I was not aggressive enough, but right from the gun I was shoved around, and ended up in around 15th by the time we hit the first single track. This meant I lost contact with the front group, and had to chase hard on the second lap to catch up. But just when I managed to regain contact with 3rd place, I punctured! Thankfully my quick fill worked and I rejoined the race in 11th place again. Not so for Marco Bui, who on the 3rd lap, while in 2nd place, broke his freewheel! This gave Roel Paulissen a big lead, and eventually the win. I managed to claw my way back, one rider at a time to eventually finish 4th. 2nd went to my Swedish buddy, Fredrik Kessiakoff, who's having a stellar season this far.

Kashi

Victory In LiquiGas Cup! (Round 3, Chies d'Alpago)



It was just one of those days... After a great start, I sat comfortably in 2nd place all the way up the long steep climb. Just before the top I attacked, and immediately got a large gap, which I extended on the first long downhill. The course was steeeep! both up and down. Once I was alone, I took advantage of riding my own tempo, and resting when I could. Behind me was 4 riders.. Julian Absalon, Raul Paulison, Marco Bui, and Zoli, who won the first two rounds. I felt awesome, but with such a hard course I had to be careful not to blow. I thought I was just taking it easy, but I managed to put 20-30sec on the others almost every lap. By the final lap Julian had managed to drop all the other chasers, and we rode in for a beautiful 1-2. I'm now really looking forward to the World Cups in May with a greater sense of ease knowing my form is coming on.

http://www.solobike.it/
http://www.federciclismo.it/notizie/index.asp?mcodice=1856&pg=1&riga=
http://www.esmtb.com/mountainbike/noticias/516.html

1 LEUCHS KASHI EL BIANCHI AGOS 1 38 39 NZL19780630
2 ABSALON JULIEN EL BIANCHI AGOS 1 39 59 FRA19800816
3 PAULISSEN ROEL EL SIEMENS MOBILE CANNONDALE / RAINER 1 40 44 BEL19760427
4 BUI MARCO EL FULL DYNAMIX SAS BATTAGLIN G&C 1 41 38 ITA19771017
5 ZOLI YADER EL KTM INTERNATIONAL TEAM 1 42 09 ITA19751001
6 FONTANA ALESSANDRO EL C.S. CORPO FORESTALE DELLO STATO 1 43 31 ITA19700324
7 FRUET MARTINO EL L'ARCOBALENO CARRARO TEAM 1 43 38 ITA19770721
8 PIRAZZOLI MIRKO EL TEAM SALIERI - ARREDOQUATTRO 1 44 46 ITA19740429
9 PALLHUBER JOHANN EL KTM INTERNATIONAL TEAM 1 45 07 ITA19740206
10 BAKKER ERWIN EL NATIONAL TEAM HOLLAND 1 45 23 NED19791010
11 KESSIAKOFF FREDRIK EL SIEMENS MOBILE CANNONDALE / RAINER 1 45 46 SWE19800517

3-4 Apr 04 Swiss Cup, Reinach BC
Short track Result: 5th + 1st (intermediate sprint)
XC: 7th

It was a stella field lining up for the first Swiss Cup of the year, including Team T-Mobile, Siemans Cannondale, Scott Alliance, Orbea, Merida, all the Swiss teams and from Bianchi Agos, Thomas and myself.

I had been warned that this race was flat and fast, but when Florien Vogal (Swiss Power) showed up with his cyclo cross bike, I really started wondering! This is of course legal now, due to the controversial new UCI rule, allowing 29 inch wheels.

The Elite racing started on Saturday, first with the woman's XC at 4pm. Alison Syder (who has just moved to Annecy for the season) pulled off an impressive win against Gun-Rita Dahle and Sabina Spitz, showing that she may well be a force to reckon with come September in Athens.

Next up was our Short Track event. The course zig zagged around a grassy slope, containing a number of short climbs. I managed a good start, but was soon struggling for air. The pace was torturous, but I managed to hold on. With half the race left I managed to get on Jose Hermida's wheel when he made a good attack, and only Florien could join us. With 3 laps remaining there was a sprint prize, so I went for it, and with some luck won it! But then I was wasted.. I tried to hang on, but finally I was passed by Thomas Frishknect and Stephan Same to finish 5th. Florien pulled off the win to raise a few eye brows... lets see just how many CC bikes turn up at the next race!

The XC race ended up being pretty tactical. With so many good riders, it was a real battle to get into the good positions before the few short climbs that ended up separating the field. I had some chance, and managed to make it onto the first really good attack containing Hermida, Fumic and Brentjens. For 3 laps I hung on, but I was losing my sting on all the hard bursts, so eventually I got popped out the back. I ended up being caught by Raul Paulisen and two others, and managed to hang onto them.. just! All in all, it was a quite an interval session!

Some very unfortunate news was that Thomas crashed during the race and broken a collar bone! Thomas has been so strong in recent months, and was looking unstoppable for the marathon races. Now he will have to miss the next few months of racing, but I am sure he will be back strong as ever by the time the marathon worlds come around. Heal fast buddy!