Jaroslav Kulhavy charged to a solo victory on his home turf in Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic. With this win, Jaroslav secures himself the World Cup overall title for 2011. Nino Schurter rode to the silver medal, nine seconds ahead of Julien Absalon.

The 4.2 kilometre lap was described as one of the best ever World Cup laps. Being very compact, it offered spectators the chance to view the race several times per lap. The circuit gave little opportunity to rest, with riders either climbing short power climbs, or descending only to immediately face another climb.  With the exception of the start-finish in the nordic skiing stadium, the course was in forested terrain, with twisty single-track and technically demanding sections as well as obstacles. The first lap cut out a narrow climb, descent and a drop-off.

Kulhavy took no chances, attacking on the start loop and opening a gap on Nino Schurter by the start of the first lap, and then extending it steadily through the rest of the seven laps. Schurter, fighting an infection and having just finished a training camp at altitude, dropped back after he realized he could not match Kulhavy’s pace.  Absalon, another favourite, had a slow start to the race.

“I wanted to get away early,” explained Kulhavy, “so that I could avoid any traffic and ride at my own pace.  It was almost a perfect race for me, with only some little mistakes.  It was incredible.”

South African Burry Stander had an off day by his standards finishing in 19th position, 5:10 min off the pace. Burry stated the following on his twitter account: “Weird race for me. felt great early on and then the switch flipped. Eina….”

The following round of the XCO World Cup is next weekend in Val di Sole, Italy.

XCO #6 Results:

1 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing 1:41:52
2 Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott – Swisspower MTB – Racing 0:00:45
3 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea 0:00:54
4 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 0:01:23
5 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Wildwolf – Trek Racing 0:01:51
6 Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing 0:02:11
7 Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH – Suntour – Peisey Vallandry 0:02:32
8 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Racing 0:02:46
9 Moritz Milatz (Ger) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 0:02:54
10 Mathias Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing 0:03:03
11 Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing 0:03:16
12 Florian Vogel (Swi) Scott – Swisspower MTB – Racing 0:03:23
13 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Multivan Merida Biking Team 0:03:25
14 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Wildwolf – Trek Racing 0:03:37
15 Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru – Trek 0:03:43
16 Martin Gujan (Swi) Cannondale Factory Racing 0:04:35
17 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 0:04:47
18 Fabian Giger (Swi) Rabobank – Giant Off-Road Team 0:05:02
19 Burry Stander (RSA) Specialized Racing 0:05:10
20 Karl Markt (Aut) Felt Oetztal X – Bionic Team 0:05:14
21 Stéphane Tempier (Fra) TX Active Bianchi 0:05:19
22 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru – Trek 0:05:27
23 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Cannondale Factory Racing 0:05:36
24 Kristian Hynek (Cze) 0:05:39
25 Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) Versluys – Evenza Team 0:05:51
26 Henk Jaap Moorlag (Ned) Rabobank – Giant Off-Road Team 0:05:56
27 Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 0:06:20
28 Jiri Friedl (Cze) Rubena – Birell – Specialized Cycling Team 0:06:28
29 Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) Rubena – Birell – Specialized Cycling Team 0:06:34
30 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis – Rocky Mountain 0:06:41
31 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea
32 Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop 0:06:52
33 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Milka Trek MTB Racing Team 0:06:59
34 Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) Team Protek 0:07:03
35 Christoph Soukup (Aut)
36 Lukas Kaufmann (Swi) 0:07:18
37 Milan Spesny (Cze) S&H Superior MTB Team 0:07:33
38 Liam Killeen (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team 0:07:50
39 Jelmer Pietersma (Ned) Milka Trek MTB Racing Team 0:08:02
40 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) GT Skoda Chamonix 0:08:10
41 Adam Craig (USA) Rabobank – Giant Off-Road Team 0:08:25
42 Anton Sintsov (Rus) 0:08:34
43 Derek Zandstra (Can) 0:08:37
44 Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 0:08:42
45 Umberto Corti (Ita) Team CBE Tecnoimpianti A.S.D.
46 Filip Eberl (Cze) 0:09:02
47 Matous Ulman (Cze) S&H Superior MTB Team 0:09:22
48 Martino Fruet (Ita) 0:09:40
49 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 0:09:53
50 Balz Weber (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 0:10:00
51 Jochen Kass (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team 0:10:08
52 Hannes Metzler (Aut) Muskelkater Genesis Team 0:10:09
53 Robert Gehbauer (Aut) 0:10:41
54 Robert Mennen (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 0:10:58
55 Marek Galinski (Pol) JBG – 2 Professional MTB Team 0:11:01
56 Tony Longo (Ita) TX Active Bianchi 0:11:34
57 Emil Lindgren (Swe) Rabobank – Giant Off-Road Team 0:12:30
58 Uwe Hochenwarter (Aut) Muskelkater Genesis Team 0:13:09
-1lap Ralph Naef (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team
-1lap Simon Scheiber (Aut) Felt Oetztal X – Bionic Team
-1lap Rene Tann (Ger)
-1lap Michal Lami (Svk)
-1lap Sid Taberlay (Aus)
-1lap Andras Parti (Hun) Euro One – Cube MTB Team
-1lap Spencer Paxson (USA) Kona
-1lap Michael Broderick (USA)
-1lap Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team
-1lap Adam Morka (Can)
-1lap Pascal Meyer (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team
-1lap Giuseppe Lamastra (Ita) Elettroveneta – Corratec
-1lap Robby De Bock (Bel)
-1lap Niels Wubben (Ned) Rabobank – Giant Off-Road Team
-2laps Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) Elettroveneta – Corratec
-2laps Steffen Thum (Ger)
-2laps Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team
-2laps Szilard Buruczki (Hun)
-2laps Carl Jones (NZl)
-2laps Kazuhiro Yamamoto (Jpn)
-2laps Cameron Jette (Can)
-2laps Matthias Waldhart (Aut)
-3laps Ken Onodera (Jpn)
-3laps Oleksandr Gerashchenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team
-3laps Sang Hoon Na (Kor)
-3laps Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)
-3laps Eddie Andres Rendon (Col)
-3laps Martin Fanger (Swi) Giant Swiss Sr – Suntour
-3laps Martin Loo (Est) Infotre – Bi & Esse – Leecougan
-3laps Seiya Hirano (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor
-3laps Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) Lapierre International
-3laps Chun Hing Chan (HKg)
-3laps Kyosuke Takei (Jpn)
-3laps Renay Groustra (RSA)
-3laps Giancarlo Sax (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team
-3laps Cristobal Silva Ibaceta (Chi)
-3laps Ludovic Dubau (Fra) Team Newcycling
-3laps Marco Schätzing (Ger) Team Firebike – Droessiger
-3laps Luis Anderson Mejia Sanchez (Col) Asptt Definitive Gitane
-3laps Gabor Bogar (Hun) Euro One – Cube MTB Team
-3laps Lukas Sablik (Cze)
-3laps Periklis Ilias (Gre) Team Protek
-4laps Martin Haring (Svk)
-4laps Oliver Munnik (RSA)
-4laps Georgios Pattes-Toumanis (Gre) Team Protek
-4laps Marc Colom (Fra) Team Newcycling
-4laps Paul Remy (Fra)
-4laps Severin Disch (Swi) Thoemus Racing Team
-5laps John Whittington (GBr)
DNF Thomas Litscher (Swi) Felt Oetztal X – Bionic Team
DNF Patrik Gallati (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team
DNF Oliver Beckingsale (GBr)
DNF Irjan Luttenberg (Ned) Mpl Specialized MTB Team
DNF Sven Nys (Bel)
DNF Sergji Rysenko (Ukr) ISD Cycling Team
DNF Michele Casagrande (Ita) Elettroveneta – Corratec
DNF Daniel Mcconnell (Aus)
DNF Jiri Novak (Cze) S&H Superior MTB Team
DNF Michal Prokop (Cze)
DNS Ola Kjören (Nor) Team Fokus – Danica
DNS Daniel Federspiel (Aut)
DNS Pierre Lebreton (Fra) BH – Suntour – Peisey Vallandry