Pouvreau and Bibik win at Fiera di Primiero

Gerome Pouvreau and Olga Bibik have won the third stage of the Bouldering Worldcup 2005 at Fiera di Primiero, Italy
Is the 2005 bouldering season not dominated by anyone in particular, or is it simply that bouldering, and climbing, are such fickle sports where the outcome is always uncertain? The thought arises when you analyse the results of the third (and penultimate!) round of the Bouldering World Cup at Fiera di Primiero.

In particular the men's competition: ex world difficulty champion Jerome Pouvreau surprised and astounded all to beat the bouldering specialists Kilian Fischhuber from Austria and vice European Champion 2004 Andrew Earl from Great Britain. In the women's event Olga Bibik from Russia beat Sandrine Levet, only just, and teammate Ioulia Abramtchouk in a deja-vu replica final result. Although the duel for supremacy is almost exclusively a French-Russain affair between Sandrine and Olga, the other female cyborg, Ioulia, remains a constant threat to be reckoned with.

Uncertainty reigned supreme in the men's event: Jerome Meyer and Christian Core slipped from provisional first place to 6th and 12th respectively. No doubt expectations must have weighed them down, as Jerome attempted to widen the gap between him and Christian, while the Italian, competing in front of the home crowd, knew that he had to do his very best to stand a chance of winning his fourth World Cup title at the final event in Firminy.

But as so often happens in psychological headgames (and bouldering is exactly this) the two eliminated each other in the final. Meyer remains in the overall lead, while Core slips to 3rd in the provisiaonl ranking, 53 points behind the Frenchman. Thanks to an excellent second place in Fiera highly motivated Fischhuber squeezes in between the two, and with just 12 points separating him from Meyer, he's suddenly a strong candidate for his first world Cup victory. It'll go right down to the wire.

It must be said though that the hard final, set by Marzio Nardi and Laurent Laporte, changed many a prediction. Not only did Pouvreau win by improving 5 places from qualifier, but Daniel Dulac (winner of the World Cup in 2004) improved an astounding 7 places, from 11th to 4th. Fischhuber, too, made the most of the cool night air: starting 9th he finished second. The flip side of the coin is of course Core and Meyer, mentioned earlier, and Serik Kazbekov, who finished a disappointing 8th after his provisional 3rd.

Perhaps this is what renders bouldering great - its total lack of certainties. The next Bouldering World Cup takes place after the World Championship, at Firminy on 29 - 30 September. One thing is sure: the final chapter has yet to be written. See you in France after the holidays.


FIERA DI PRIEMERO 2005
Bouldering World Cup

Final results men
1 Pouvreau Gérome FRA
2 Fischhuber Kilian AUT
3 Earl Andrew GBR
4 Dulac Daniel FRA
5 Julien Stephane FRA
6 Meyer Jérôme FRA
7 Croxall Mark GBR
8 Kazbekov Serik UKR
9 Moroni Gabriele ITA
10 Laurence Ludovic FRA
11 Caleyron Thomas FRA
12 Core Christian ITA
13 Samyn Remi FRA
14 Pribil Jiri CZE
15 Dutray Mathieu FRA
16 Borowka Karsten GER
17 Meral Julien FRA
18 Neuhaus Thorsten GER
18 Selica Gregor SLO
20 Würth Peter GER
21 Calibani Mauro ITA
21 Pringle Ethan USA
23 Gaidioz Loïc FRA
23 Parry Gareth GBR
25 Wilhelm Heiko AUT
26 Pezzulo Giovanni ITA
27 Caminati Michele ITA
27 Preti Lucas ITA
29 Thomassin Matthieu FRA
30 Jalmain Sebastien FRA
31 Duroche Pierre FRA

PROVISIONAL WORLD CUP MEN
1 Meyer Jérôme FRA p. 212.00; 2 Fischhuber Kilian AUT p. 200.00; 3 Core Christian ITA p. 159.00; 4 Croxall Mark GBR p. 143.00; 5 Samyn Remi FRA p. 140.00; 6 Dulac Daniel FRA p. 129.00; 7 Laurence Ludovic FRA p. 122.00; 8 Pouvreau Gérome FRA p. 108.00; 9 Gaidioz Loïc FRA p. 95.00; 10 Julien Stephane FRA p. 85.00; 11 Kazbekov Serik UKR p. 83.00; 12 Rakhmetov Salavat RUS p. 79.00; 13 Müller Matthias SUI p. 74.00; 14 Earl Andrew GBR p. 73.00; 14 Parry Gareth GBR p. 73.00; 16 Moroni Gabriele ITA p. 53.00

Final results women
1 Olga Bibik RUS
2 Sandrine Levet FRA
3 Ioulia Abramtchouk RUS
4 Corinne Theroux FRA
5 Emilie Abgrall FRA
6 Olga Bezhko UKR
7 Barbara Bacher AUT
8 Elizabeth Asher USA
9 Mélanie Son FRA
10 Celine Combaz FRA
11 Esther Cruz ESP
12 Leire Aguirre ESP
13 Juliette Danion FRA
14 Emily Harrington USA
15 Katja Vidmar SLO
16 Anna Stöhr AUT
17 Nicola Haager GER
18 Natalia Perlova UKR
19 Emilie Verdier FRA
20 Samantha Berry AUS
20 Jenny Lavarda ITA
22 Stella Marchisio ITA
23 Helena Lipenska CZE
24 Giulia Giammarco ITA
25 Lisa Benetti ITA
26 Nina Arch AUT
27 Angelica Lind SWE
28 Jasmin Kremser AUT
29 Kimie Kon POR
30 Katherin Mills GBR
31 Zuzana Ulrichova CZE

PROVISIONAL WORLD CUP WOMEN
1 Levet Sandrine FRA p. 280.00; 2 Bibik Olga RUS p. 214.00; 3 Abramtchouk Ioulia RUS p. 177.00; 4 Abgrall Emilie FRA p. 167.00; 5 Stöhr Anna AUT p. 128.00; 6 Aguirre Leire ESP p. 106.00; 6 Ansade Maud FRA p. 106.00; 8 Son Mélanie FRA p. 101.00; 9 Verdier Emilie FRA p. 80.00; 10 Theroux Corinne FRA p. 73.00; 11 Giammarco Giulia ITA p. 70.00; 12 Marchisio Stella ITA p. 66.00

Portfolio Malfer 2005
Olga Bibik

FIERA DI PRIMIERO
17 -18 June 2005
BOULDERING WORLD CUP THIRD ROUND

Gerome Pouvreau
Fischhuber Kilian
Daniel Dulac
Photos: Olga Bibik; Gerome Pouvreau; Kilian Fischhbucher; Sandrine Levet (ph Giulio Malfer - Fiera di Primiero World Cup 2005)


Portfolio Malfer 2005
www.usprimiero.com
Bouldering 2005
1. Birmingham
2. Moscow



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