4X Val di Sole@2010 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.mpeg

4-Cross

Anneke Beerten (Suspension Center) took her second straight win of the season, while Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) locked up the men's overall title despite finishing fourth behind Swiss champion Roger Rinderknecht.

Beerten was clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the women's field. Unlike the rest of the riders, she was clearing the same big jumps as the men on the lower half of the course, and easily took the final. Austrian Anita Molcik, her rival for the overall title, did not have the same ability on the more technical aspects of the course, but used her very fast start to win her semifinal and then take second to Beerten in the final. Beerten now leads Molcik by 45 points in the standings, with one race remaining, so this competition is not over.

In the men's event, Rinderknecht had the rare distinction of beating Graves for the number one seed in qualifying. Both riders advanced steadily to the final by winning all of their heats, and were joined by Tomas Slavik (RSP 4 Cross) and Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) in the men's final. In the final, Graves took the lead, but tangled with Rinderknecht in the second corner, falling back to fourth. With Slavik - Graves' only potential rival for the overall title - finishing second, Graves now has 535 points to Slavik's 400 and, with 125 points for a win, it means that the Australian has won the men's title with one race remaining.

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