Riding in the Australian rainforest was certainly a new experience for many World Cup athletes. World Cup leader Julien Absalon (BMC) appeared unimpressed by the conditions on site in Cairns. After a rather cautious start and a flat tire, he pushed his way forward lap by lap. In the penultimate lap he was finally able to catch up with the leading Swiss rider Mathias Flückiger (Stöckli) and trump him in the end. The Frenchman Maxime Marotte (BH) came in third.
Things didn't go so well for the German starters. Manuel Fumic (Cannondale), who finished second in Pietermaritzburg two weeks ago, had a bad day and had to settle for 20th place in the end. It would have been better for the German champion Moritz Milatz (BMC), who came thirteenth.
Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized), who had to pause at the beginning of the year due to a broken kneecap, celebrated his World Cup debut. He finished tenth. The drivers of the Multivan-Merida team presented themselves with a similar strength. Jos#e Hermida, Thomas Litscher and Ondrij Cink all made it into the top 10 and thus secured the team classification.
The South Tyrolean Eva Lechner (Colnago) was the driving force behind the women's race. From the start she set a high pace and was able to keep the overall leader from Switzerland, Jolanda Neff (Liv), in check. In the end, Lechner celebrated her third World Cup victory ahead of Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) and Irina Kalentieva (Russia). Sabine Spitz (Haibike), who took part in Cairns twenty years ago, took a strong fourth place.
The performance of the Ghost Factory team was also pleasing from a German point of view. Katrin Leumann and Lisi Osl finished seventh and eighth. In the U23 class, Helen Grobert won.