World Cup Difficulty Nantes - Hirayama and Sansoz victorious

The Frenchwoman Liv Sansoz and the Japanese Yuji Hirayama win the fourth stage of the World Cup Difficulty 2000 at Nantes, France
The fourth stage of the World Cup Difficulty, won by Yuji Hirayama and Liv Sansoz, was characterised by a large number of athletes topping out of their routes.

In the Qualifiers 8 women and 17 men topped out, while in the women's Semi-final a staggering 14 athletes finished the route. Half of these were not enough though to guarantee a place in the Final, since Elena Choumilova, Sandrine Levet, Hyun Jung Kim, Leire Aguirre, Mi-Sun Go, Anna Tina Schultz and Damaris Knorr had failed to top out the previous day.

The women's Final was composed of Jenny Lavarda, Martina Cufar, Liv Sansoz, Muriel Sarkany, Chloè Minoret, Stéphanie Bodet and the recent European Champion, Katrin Sedlmayer. But just like in Lecco and Cormayeur, the Final failed to produce a clear winner: Liv Sansoz, Muriel Sarkany, Katryn Sedlmayer and Stéphanie Bodet all topped out, and another Superfinal was needed.

Liv Sansoz convincingly settled the score by topping out yet again, while Katrin Sedlmayer placed second, ahead of Stéphanie Bodet and Muriel Sarkany joint third-equal. Martina Cufar placed fifth, while Jenny Lavarda and Chloé Minoret joint sixth-equal.

In the men's Semi-final Yuji Hirayama, Christian Bindhammer, Alexandre Chabot, Paul Dewilde, Maxim Petrenko and Cristian Brenna all topped out and qualified for the Final, together with Arnaud Petit who managed to hold the last hold which Francois Legrand, Daniel Andrada and Yvhen Kryvosheitsev only managed to touch.

The men's Final, once again, produced three joint-firsts with Yuji Hirayama, Paul Dewilde and Alexandre Chabot. Yuji Hirayama climbed highest in the ensuing Superfinal, while Chabot fell one meter lower and Dewilde considerably lower still. Arnaud Petit finished 4th, ahead of Cristian Brenna, Maxim Petrenko and Christian Bindhammer joint fifth-equal.

So the stage is now set for the final leg of the World Cup Difficulty 2000 in Kranj. Yuji Hirayama has consolidated his lead of the World Cup ranking and Alexandre Chabot trails 32 points behind. Maxim Petrenko has moved into third place, separated though by only two points from Dino Lagni.

Liv Sansoz has now taken the lead in the women's event leaving Muriel Sarkany 35 points behind in second place. Stéphanie Bodet is 25 points away from the Belgian, but one never knows what might happen in a fortnight's time…












Liv Sansoz and Yuji Hirayama, victorious in Nantes and leaders of the World Cup ranking photographs by F. Tremolada

Results women
1 Sansoz Liv
FRA
2 Sedlmayer Katrin
GER
3 Bodet Stéphanie
FRA
3 Sarkany Muriel
BEL
5 Cufar Martina
SLO
6 Lavarda Jenny
ITA
6 Minoret Chloé
FRA
8 Choumilova Elena
RUS
8 Levet Sandrine
FRA
8 Kim Hyun Jung
KOR
8 Aguirre Leire
ESP
8 GO Mi-Sun
KOR
8 Schultz Anna Tina
SUI
8 Knorr Damaris
GER
15 Kotasova Vera
CZE
16 Busheva Olena
UKR
16 Trnkova Lenka
CZE
18 Novikova Natalia
RUS
19 Perlova Nataliia
UKR
20 Kimura Rie
JPN
21 Theroux Corinne
FRA
22 Cruz Esther
ESP
23 Panells Ruth
ESP
24 Martha Cécile
FRA
25 Lage Lisa
USA
Results men
1 Hirayama Yuji
JPN
2 Chabot Alexandre
FRA
3 Dewilde Paul
FRA
4 Petit Arnaud
FRA
5 Brenna Cristian
ITA
5 Petrenko Maksym
UKR
5 Bindhammer Christian
GER
8 Andrada Daniel
ESP
8 Kryvosheitsev Yvhen
UKR
8 Legrand François
FRA
11 Koyamada Dai
JPN
12 Caude David
FRA
12 Kazbekov Serik
UKR
12 Wandeler Simon
SUI
15 Pouvreau Gérome
FRA
16 Boudier Laurent
FRA
16 Lagni Bernardino
ITA
18 Chabaud Clément
FRA
19 Bindhammer Andreas
GER
20 Gnerro Alberto
ITA
21 Gallot Lavalee
FRA
22 Grom Aljosa
SLO
23 Vinokur Vadim
USA
24 Millet Sylvain
FRA
25 Mrazek Tomas
CZE


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