Being single doesn't pay

The Canberra's mountain bike course that host 2009 UCI Mountain Bike World Championship is quite a fast course, with no long climbing section and the technical downhill sections are relatively easy compared to the Beijing 2008 Olympic course. But they have several sections of technical climbs including uphill switchbacks. You can watch the full coverage here.

In the UCI Mountain Bike World Championship on 5 September 2009, multiple Olympic & World Cup winner, Julien Absalon, decidedly and presumptuously went to use single crank ring with 10-speed cassette.

The result! He lost in a pathetic way.

The photo below shows the Nino Schurter is celebrating the win, and look at Julien Absalon uncharacteristically trying to spin the large gear.

In my opinion, Julien Absalon should be also to go faster and smoother on the uphill technical if he chose dual chainrings, because sometimes he was pushing up (briefly) rather than cycling up. During this time, Nino Schurter was able to catch up easily with his smaller ring.

Even his new helmet looks odd. His previous Catlike helmet is much more handsome and functional.