Absalon Victorious Down Under in Cairns br br Absalon was the prohibitive favourite for the men's race, especially given the absence of his usual rival, Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo), who is taking a respite from mountain biking to race on the road. The chaotic start saw two crashes in the start loop of the six lap race, but the top riders all managed to avoid getting tangled up. Thomas Litscher (Multivan Merida) jumped into the lead in the confusion and rode to an 11 second gap at the end of the first lap, ahead of Marco Fontana (Cannondale Factory) and Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing), with Absalon and Mathias Fluckiger (Stockli Racing) at 19 seconds. br br More videos from UCI here: br br br ****************************** br Best extreme sports videos are now on : br www.ridersmatch.com br br FOLLOW RIDERS MATCH : br Facebook : ‬ br Twitter : ‬ br Google + :‬ br br CONTACT US : br contact@ridersmatch.