Cannondale Factory Racing's Marco Aurelio Fontana, Manuel Fumic and Martin Gujan played their cards impressively well at this weekend's second World Cup race of the season in Dalby Forest, UK. After finishing 3rd in the XC Eliminator race in the town center of Pickering, Fontana grabbed another 3rd place in Sundays XC World Cup. Manuel Fumic finished 5th and Martin Gujan completed the successful event weekend with a 15th place.
Jaroslav Kulhavy made an early move and pulled away from his contenders on the first lap and only Julien Absalon tried to follow. Behind the two leaders, there was a huge battle for the rest of the podium spots, and CFR was represented well at the beginning with all three riders present. "I felt really good this weekend, but eventually pushed a bit to hard at the beginning in the chase group. I had to slow down a little and got dropped, but recovered well and am happy with my 15th place," Martin Gujan said.Teammate Marco Aurelio Fontana rode strong all weekend and showed again that he is one of the future stars of the sport. "I am so happy about my racing at the moment. Things work out great and it is backed up with results. We as a team are on the right path. I rode a calculated race and when it came down to the sprint, I knew that this was one for me. Two World Cups so far and twice on the podium, this is amazing," Fontana said post-race. Manuel Fumic was present at the front of the chase group all race long. "I might have worked a bit too much, but somebody has to do the work. With Marco and at the beginning also Martin in the group, it was such a good feeling and I knew that at least one of us wouldmake it on the podium, now it turned out to be 2. I had a hard time the last lap, but somehow was able to pull out a nice sprint. It feels good to be back on the podium, also for the team. We all work great together," Fumic said. Fontana sits in 4th overall, followed by Fumic in 5th and Gujan in 15th, with the team being second in the Teams ranking.
Manuel Fumic was on his Flash29er, while Marco Aurelio Fontana and Martin Gujan opted for their SRAM-equipped Flash 26.
CFR' s next appearance will be the coming weekend at round three of the World Cup in Offenburg, Germany. On the way there, the team will spend a day of training on the 2012 Olympic course in Hadleigh Park, close to London, to get used to the terrain and get a feel for the course.
Results:
1 Jaroslav Kulhavy
2 Julien Absalon
3 Marco Aurelio Fontana
4 Maxime Marotte
5 Manuel Fumic
15 Martin Gujan
