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2015’S SEASON IN RETROSPECT In 2015, the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM again scored a couple of impressive successes. Above all, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå not only added another World Championship title to her palmares – her 10th! – and finished the World Cup season 2nd overall but managed to become the most successful female mountain biker of all time by winning her 29th World Cup race. Furthermore, still young Czech rider Ondrej Cink managed to win his first medal at Elite World Championships. The racing season for the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM started early in March. First, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå used the Cyprus Sunshine Cup to loosen her legs. Three weeks later, the Norwegian started at the prestigious Cape Epic stage race for the first time ever, teaming up with Switzerland’s Kathrin Stirnemann for the “World Bicycle Relief” organisation. Unfortunately, Gunn-Rita’s team partner had to pull out in the 4th stage already due to a stomach bug. South Africa saw another MMBT rider with digestive problems: José Hermida, who had started together with Rudi van Houts, struggled too. Still, the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM duo managed to score two podium finishes at the first couple of stages, but then they lost a lot of time. But Hermida hung on thanks to the unselfish support of van Houts, and this great team work was rewarded with a 2nd place in the final stage and a 4th place in the overall standings. The World Cup season 2015 once again showed that Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå is still a force to be reckoned with: the Norwegian finished in 2nd both in Nove Mesto and in Albstadt. For her male team mates, the season’s kick off in Nove Mesto didn’t work out too bad either. Thomas Litscher managed to finish the men’s race in 8th, coming from way back, and José Hermida also made it into the top10. Unfortunately, the following race in Albstadt was quite a disappointment for the men of the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM, as Rudi van Houts was the bestplaced rider in 17th. But with performance number three in Lenzerheide, the team again got plenty of reasons to celebrate: having won the World Marathon Championships in South Tyrol just a week before, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå turned her confidence into a strong performance. This was rewarded with the win – the 29th World Cup victory in her career! Thus, the Norwegian made history in the sport of mountain biking again by crowning herself the most successful female rider of all time. Powerful too: in the men’s race, Ondrej Cink also made it to the podium finishing in 3rd, and the men won this weekend’s team ranking. Two weeks later, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå and Ondrej Cink again made good use of their form to win their respective National Championships. In Spain, José Hermida missed out on the win by about a minute, and Rudi van Houts achieved a 3rd place. Julian Schelb on the other hand scored his most valuable result of the season at the German National Championships: In his first year in the Elite category, Schelb finished the race in 5th. The two freshly crowned National Champions also scored the best results for the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM at the overseas World Cup races: Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå took another podium finish with a 5th place in Mont Sainte-Anne, with Ondrej Cink riding into the top10 in 9th. Cink repeated this performance a week later in Windham while Dahle Flesjå finished the women’s race in 7th. And at the World Cup finals in Val di Sole, José Hermida scored his second top10 result of the season with a 7th place. With that, the men finished in 2nd in the team’s World Cup overall standings as well. With the 2015’s XC World Championships held in Andorra, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå showed a courageous race: She looked to be on her way to another medal for quite a while but had to settle for 4th, being beaten in the fight for Bronze by Ukraine’s Yana Belomoina. Ondrej Cink had prepared for the World Championships meticulously, and it paid off: For a while he even managed to stay with super strong Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon. In the finale of the race, the young Czech had to let these two riders go and focused on defending his 3rd place – which he did successfully. Thus, the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM got to cap off the season with a beautiful success.
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#CAPE EPIC
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#WORLD CUP NOVE MESTO
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#WORLD CUP ALBSTADT
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#WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MARATHON VAL GARDENA
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#WORLD CUP LENZERHEIDE
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#WORLD CUP WINDHAM
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#WORLD CUP VAL DI SOLE
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#WORLD CHAM VALLNORD
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MORE SUCCESS. MORE BIKE. As for the Olympic season ahead, the targets are clearly defined for Fabian Aust, manager of the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM. “In the World Cup, we want to finish on the podium regularly not just in the women’s but also in the men’s races, thus confirming our status as one of the strongest teams in cross country racing. This is well within reach if José, Thomas and Julian get through the next season without major health issues. Naturally, the World Championships are another important target, all the more so as Ondrej Cink gets to compete on home turf in Nove Mesto. And then there are Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic games, of course, where the MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM will be competing with at least three riders. As for José Hermida, these will be his fifth Olympic games already, a feat that has only been accomplished by a few select athletes. And for Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå, Rio will be her fifth Olympic games as well.”
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