The final XC race of the Worlds was the Elite Men's XC. Reigning champion Julien Absalon was the pre-race favourite, but the likes of Christoph Sauser, Roel Paulissen and Jose Antonio Hermida-Ramos would fancy their chances. Hermida must have known every metre of the circuit, after doing more laps of the course in practice than any other rider. Making a return to top-class competition after an illness-hit season was GB's Liam Killeen, but starting 112th on the grid due to his low ranking.
With the TV helicopter providing a noisy backdrop, the leaders were soon up the first climb, and Florian Vogel (pictured) was the first to make an early showing, and led at the end of lap 1, 25 seconds ahead of a group containing Manuel Fumic, Absalon, Sauser, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe), Ralph Näf (Swi) and others.
Hermida moved to the front up the main climb on lap 2, and led over the start/finish line with Vogel and Absalon in close support. Absalon broke away from those chasing him on lap 3 and pulled out a 19s lead over the chasing group including Hermida, Vogel, Kessikoff and Fumic. Sauser meanwhile had slipped back down the field after suffering a broken shoe binding and was chasing hard to make up lost time.
By the end of lap 4, Absalon's lead was up to nearly a minute after his fastest lap of the race, but those chasing him began to slowly close the gap. Hermida was losing time however, his chances of victory hit by a damaged fork. Ralph Näf had moved up to 2nd on his own, with the pair of Vogel and Fumic and group of Sauser, Kessiakoff and Paulissen following on.
Despite the best efforts of Ralph Näf, who closed the gap to Absalon by 32s over the final 2 laps, the Frenchman won another World Championship with a controlled ride, with Näf an impressive 2nd. Vogel just about hung on for the Bronze medal, 8s in front of a very fast finishing Kessiakoff, who produced the fastest lap of the entire race on his final circuit. Fumic rode well to 5th, in front of another fast finisher in Sauser.
Of the GB riders, Oli Beckingsale finished a disappointed 35th, with Ian Wilkinson an excellent 42nd. Liam Killeen got some serious overtaking practice in, rising from 112th on the grid to 44th, as did Paul Oldham, 55th from 108th at the start. British MTB legend Nick Craig, in his last ever MTB XC Worlds, finished 61st. Simon Richardson didn't have one of his best days and retired.
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