Levet and Puigblanque win in Prague

Sandrine Levet and Julian Ramón Puigblanque win the sixth stage of the World Cup Difficulty 2003 in Prague

October 2003

You say you want a revolution? Look no further than last weekend's World Cup Difficulty in Prague where, for the second competition running, Julian Ramon Puigblanque took the honours. Alexandre Chabot placed 15th and - unthinkable just a fortnight ago - failed even to qualify for the Final. And while Muriel Sarkany placed eigth, Sandrine Levet won the women's event, ahead of this season's revelations Angela Eiter and Caroline Ciavaldini.

It was a battle for centimeters, won by the Spaniard who climbed one hold higher than FranÃ§ois Auclair and Evgueni Ovtchinnikov. These two were separated by Auclair's Semi-Final result, a round which saw no tops whatsoever. The 1/4 Final was climbed cleanly by six athletes only (Puigblanque, Auclair, MrÃ¡zek, Pouvreau and the Bindhammer brothers) proving that the routes in Prague were bouldery and intense. As intense as the battle for overall first place in the World Cup, which sees Chabot in the lead, (only) 53 points ahead of “Ramonet” Puigblanque. Third placed Mrazek trails 225 points behind the leaders after placing seventh at home.

Sandrine Levet continues to prove that boulder and difficulty events can be mastered simultaneously. But Angela Eiter lies uncomfortably close, and her second place must be somewhat of a disappointment to the young Austrian who, together with Sarkany, was the only athlete to top out in the two preceding rounds. One hold in the Final separated Levet from Eiter, but as all know, one hold is more than enough... But Eiter's fate was nothing compared to that of Muriel Sarkany; the Belgian climbed exceedingly well in the quarter and semi finals, only to slip down to last place in the Final. Her overall lead holds strong though, 123 points ahead of Levet and 207 ahead of Eiter.

With 4 legs still to go, the World Cup 2003 is more open than ever. On their way to the final leg in Edinburgh, the athletes stop off in Valence on the 31st of October. Time for another French revolution?

Results men
1 Puigblanque Julian Ramon ESP
2 Auclair Francois FRA
3 Ovtchinnikov Evgueni RUS
4 Crespi Flavio ITA
5 Millet Sylvian FRA
6 MrÃ¡zek TomÃ¡s CZE
7 Fuselier Mickael FRA
8 Bindhammer Christian GER
9 Preussler Timo GER
10 Usobiaga Patxi ESP
11 Zardini Luca ITA
12 Bindhammer Andreas GER
13 Petrenko Maxim UKR
14 Roth Cody USA
15 Chabot Alexandre FRA
16 Verhoeven Jorg NL
17 Vinokur Vadim USA
18 Pouvreau Gerome FRA
19 Lagni Bernadino ITA
20 Valjavec Tomaz SLO

Results women
1 Levet Sandrine FRA
2 Eiter Angela AUT
3 Ciavaldini Caroline FRA
4 Bacher Barbara AUT
5 Sarkany Muriel BEL
6 Knorr Danaris GER
7 Martin Delphine FRA
8 SchÃ¶pf Bettina AUT
9 HnÃzdilovÃ¡ Sonia CZE
10 Vidmar Katja SLO
11 Lavarda Jenny ITA
12 Franko Lucija SLO
13 Raffetseder Gerda AUT
13 KysilkovÃ¡ Tereze CZE
15 Elez Eva ESP