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Maja Leads Giant Pro XC Team with Podium at World Cup opener!
May 19, 2013
Maja Wloszczowska led the women of the Giant Pro XC Team to a dominant showing Sunday at the first round of the UCI World Cup XC series in Albstadt, Germany. In her first World Cup race as a member of the Giant squad, the 2010 world champion from Poland finished a strong second, crossing the line just 8 seconds behind Italian race winner Eva Lechner.
Wloszczowska, riding the Giant XtC Advanced SL 29er, was part of a tight battle among five riders at the front in the second half of the elite women's six-lap race. Rain began to fall during the final lap, making the course slippery -- but Wloszczowska’s technical skills served her well as she hammered home for second place.
Wloszczowska’s podium finish topped a successful World Cup debut for the Giant Pro XC Team women. Under-23 world champ Jolanda Neff, racing up a category with the elites, finished eighth. Also representing Giant were Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. Both are splitting their time between the Rabobank-Liv/giant women’s road team and the Giant Pro XC Team this season.
Vos, the current Olympic and world champion in road racing, finished 11th, an impressive showing in her first World Cup XC race with the team. The Dutch superstar, who is also the defending cyclocross world champion, started at the back of the pack but steadily worked her way up through the field on her prototype Liv/giant 27.5 composite hardtail. And Ferrand-Prevot, a French Olympian, finished 16th, making it four Giant riders in the top-20.
In men’s racing, Michiel van der Heijden scored the team’s first podium of the weekend , finishing third in the men’s Under-23 race on Saturday. Like Vos, van der Heijden rode a prototype Giant with 27.5-inch wheels.
Finally, in the elite men’s race -- held on a slick course after a rainstorm on Sunday -- Swiss rider Fabian Giger rode to a top-10 finish. After leading the race early on, Giger finished eighth. His Dutch teammate Henk Jaap Moorlag had an impressive ride, finishing 14th, and Swedish national champion Emil Lindgren finished 20th.
The UCI World Cup XC series continues with round 2 in the Czech Republic next weekend.
Wloszczowska, riding the Giant XtC Advanced SL 29er, was part of a tight battle among five riders at the front in the second half of the elite women's six-lap race. Rain began to fall during the final lap, making the course slippery -- but Wloszczowska’s technical skills served her well as she hammered home for second place.
Wloszczowska’s podium finish topped a successful World Cup debut for the Giant Pro XC Team women. Under-23 world champ Jolanda Neff, racing up a category with the elites, finished eighth. Also representing Giant were Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. Both are splitting their time between the Rabobank-Liv/giant women’s road team and the Giant Pro XC Team this season.
Vos, the current Olympic and world champion in road racing, finished 11th, an impressive showing in her first World Cup XC race with the team. The Dutch superstar, who is also the defending cyclocross world champion, started at the back of the pack but steadily worked her way up through the field on her prototype Liv/giant 27.5 composite hardtail. And Ferrand-Prevot, a French Olympian, finished 16th, making it four Giant riders in the top-20.
In men’s racing, Michiel van der Heijden scored the team’s first podium of the weekend , finishing third in the men’s Under-23 race on Saturday. Like Vos, van der Heijden rode a prototype Giant with 27.5-inch wheels.
Finally, in the elite men’s race -- held on a slick course after a rainstorm on Sunday -- Swiss rider Fabian Giger rode to a top-10 finish. After leading the race early on, Giger finished eighth. His Dutch teammate Henk Jaap Moorlag had an impressive ride, finishing 14th, and Swedish national champion Emil Lindgren finished 20th.
The UCI World Cup XC series continues with round 2 in the Czech Republic next weekend.
