The second round of the UCI World Cup was held in Offenburg, Germany. It appeared to be not an easy day for the Cannondale-Vredestein riders. The course was really fast, and in dry and warm conditions the speed was very high. Jakob, Kashi and Roel started well in the front group, after one lap they were all in the leading group of 11 riders.

Roel felt from the beginning he did not have a good day, and struggled the entire race to keep his speed. He dropped from the leading group in the second lap and couldn’t hold the wheels of the riders passing him. He finally finished 32nd, after a race that he described as “nothing but survival”.
   
Kashi and Jakob kept their place in the front group for quite a while, but in the end both of them could not battle for the top rankings any more. Kashi dropped back a little bit in the second part of the race, but still finished 14th.

Jakob did well in the leading group and it looked like he would be getting a top position again, like in the World Cup race in Houffalize last weekend.  However, he dropped from the leading group after a crash and couldn’t get back to them. He finally finished 11th, and is still 5th in the overall ranking. “The speed was extremely high, I just didn’t make it to get back after my crash” Jakob said. “It still is an acceptable result, it was the maximum I could get today and I am happy to be still in the top 5 of the overall ranking”.

The first UCI World Cup race was held in Houffalize, Belgium. After the successes of last year, the biggest question was if the riders would be able to perform on the same high level again. With Jakob finishing in 4th position, Roel in 8th and Kashi in 9th, the answer was clear: yes.

Roel started fast, riding in the front group in the first part of the race, but after one hour of racing he felt he would not be able to catch up with the front riders and dropped back. He stayed in the top 10 however, and was happy with the result after the finish. “My back became really sour in the second half of the race, and it felt like I was not completely recovered from the Cape Epic yet. A top 10 finish is a good result though, it proves my shape is very good” he said after the finish.

Kashi started slow, but rode a clever race. He had to fight his way back from the 35th place after the first lap. “I could keep the same speed and even accelerate in the last lap, at the same time I saw many riders getting in trouble in the last to laps. I am happy to be in the top 10 yet, and I am confident I can still improve” Kashi smiled.

The most impressive performance came from Jakob. During the race he kept riding around the 10th position, which would have been an acceptable result. But in the last two laps he accelerated, and started to overtake the riders in front of him one by one, finally finishing in 4th place, his best World Cup result ever. Of course he was happy and proud after the finish: “I really felt like flying in the last two laps, it is good to find out I can still have so much power in my legs in the last part of the race”.

The Cannondale-Vredestein stars took the second place in the team ranking, finishing just behind Orbea. Big difference however is that Orbea has 4 riders that collect points, which compensates the better individual results of the Cannondale-Vredestein riders.

Next week the riders will battle in the second race of the UCI World Cup in Offenburg, Germany. After the promising start in Houffalize there is reason for confidence in more success to come!

After losing the race in a dramatic way last year, the two Cannondale-Vredestein cracks are really happy to finally have taken their well-deserved win in this race, which is without any doubt the most prestigious stage race of the year in the mountain bike scene.











Click on "Read more" to find out about the last 2 stages.