Tragedy and Triumph - Meribel World Cup XCE / XCO Slideshow

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<b>This weekend the mountain biking community suffered a tragic loss. Annefleur Kalvenhaar crashed in the qualification of the XCE and passed away on Saturday due to her injuries. Everyone was deeply saddened and shocked. It is hard to find the right words. The riders had flowers on their number plates to show their condolences. This plate is a very special one. It belongs to Annefleur's teammate, Helen Grobert, who won the U23w race. I hope I never have to write a caption like this again. <br />
Rest in peace Annefleur. You will be missed.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>The XC Eliminator start light was on for the last time in the UCI World Cup. Eliminator has been eliminated from the calendar in 2015.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>XCE on the left, Trials on the right. The crowds showed up to see both.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Christian Pfäffle, Emil Lindgren and Martin Fanger on of the most photographed obstacles on the course. There was plenty of room on the wallride.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Lining up for one last XCE. The start gate was a nice piece of construction.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Not everyone could fit on the wall ride, however, so riders decided to take the inside line.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>It was a bittersweet weekend of racing in gorgeous Meribel, France.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Everyone tried to get a sneak peek to see if Julien Absalon would actually race on a full-suspension.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Meribel offered the fans a great look at the team pits and they watched the mechanics work on the pro bikes constantly. Here Yanick puts on Nino's number plate for Sunday.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Ghost Factory Racing is fueling up their TEAM Prototype</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Good Morning. 9 minutes for the first XCO start of the day.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>6 laps ahead for the Elite Women's XCO.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Jolanda Neff, strong as always and no sign of weakness.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Jolanda already had the overall in the bag at Windham, so there was no reason to ride with open eyes.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Catherine Pendrel, 4th today, reaching the top of the Meribel course.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Jolanda never had to give away the leader's jersey this season. She put it on in Pietermaritzburg and carried it all the way to Meribel.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>The french crowds surly had their favorites. Pauline Ferrand Prevot was one of them...</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Julie Bresset was the other.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Again eyes closed. Jolanda had the course dialed. Autopilot on!</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Gunn-Rita back in form. After she had to go back home before MSA due to a cold, she recovered, but was still not 100% at Meribel. Incredibly, she finished 2nd. It will be really interesting to see her at the World Champs because Jolanda and Pauline will be back in their category and will be racing U23.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Jolanda with a well-deserved victory celebration.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Left to right - Catherton Pendrel, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja, Jolanda Neff, Pauline Ferrand Prevot and Eva Lechner, Elite Women's XCO podium.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Left to right - Emily Batty, Catherine Pendrel, Jolanda Neff, Tanja Zakelj and , Maja Wloszczowska, 2014 UCI World Cup Elite Women's Overall podium.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>21-years-old and her first World Cup overall trophy.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Manuel Fumic with the finest new XC fashion...the umbrella hat. Rumor has it that he trains with it the same way runners use a parachute, but we're skeptical.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Riders ready?</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>The last World Cup Elite XCO race of the 2014 season stampedes to a start.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Nino's self confidence is massive and there was no sign of struggle.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>DNF for Jaroslav. 2014 will be a season he'll want to forget.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Julien Absalon on the hunt again, doing everything he can to get to Nino's back wheel.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>José Hermida on his birthday, racing to 10th place.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Unfortunately, there's no time to enjoy the view for Absalon, as every pedal stroke counts.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Great to see Manuel Fumic in the front group. Third place for him and some good momentum for World Champs in Hafjell.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Nino railing through the beauty of the French Alps.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Julien Absalon with no shortage of fans at the French venue.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Nino Schurter celebrating his third World Cup in a row.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Podium for the TV. Nino, Julien and Fumic providing a heavy presence. World Champs will be interesting to say the least.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Right to left - Lukas Flückiger, Julien Absalon, Nino Schurter, Manuel Fumic, <br />
Gerhard Kerschbaumer, Gerhard, Meribel Elite Men's XCO podium.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
<b>Left to right - Manuel Fumic, Nino Schurter, Julien Absalon, Daniel McConnell, Maxime Marotte, the 2014 UCI World Cup XCO overall podium. It's been an incredible season adn we look forward to World Champs. A huge thanks goes to Marius for bringing the excitement of World Cup XC to Vital.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
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The 2014 UCI World Cup Cross Country season concluded in Meribel, France. During XCE qualification, the mountain biking community lost Annefleur Kalvenhaar. She crashed during her qualifying effort and was taken to the hospital. She was not able to overcome her injury and passed away on Saturday. RIP, Annefleur. Despite the tragedy, the race continued. Race winners were decided and World Cup overall winners were crowned. Marius Maasewerd was there to capture the action during the last World Cup race of 2014.
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