Last weekend the 7^th stage of the World Inline Cup 2010 took place in the picturesque capital of Burgundy, Dijon. The who is who of inline sport met there to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the race in Dijon. The WIC organization was especially proud of the fact that the BONT arena Geisingen team - with last year’s world cup winner Diego Rosero - had registered. This team with the world’s best athletes Reyon Kay, DJ Nation, Juan Nayib Tobon, Victor Wilking and Alexander Bastidas with single licence had joined in the WIC at Dijon and raised the status of the top-class WIC team Peloton furthermore. Thus, the best teams and athletes worldwide take part in the World Inline Cup and the season is finally launched now.

The presence of the media showed that the World Inline Cup already plays an important role. Thomas Dauvergne from AM Sports was not only successful in having the world elite of inline sport there in Dijon but also the most important television and radio broadcasting stations as well as all leading newspapers.

Some opinions:

Diego Rosero (BONT arena Geisingen):

“We are extremely happy to take again part in the World Inline Cup, finally, and we love the race here. It goes without saying that we want to set an example and fight for the victory here.”

Scott Arlidge:

“It’s always good to be here for the WIC race in Dijon – although the races are traditionally very hard and aggressive in France. We are glad that the BONT arena Geisingen team around Diego Rosero had joined us here, too.

The men’s start on the city circuit was brilliant. In spite of the two turns at the end of the long straights, they reached an average speed of more than 40 km/h. The Swiss Severin Widmer (Luigino Swiss) was the fastest with 45.23 km/h!

However, the Swiss of the Luigio Team characterized the race. Nicolas Iten and Severin Widmer strongly put pressure on the stars from Powerslide, BONT arena, Alessi and X-tech. As it was their first participation this year, the guys from the BONT arena team played to the gallery and increased speed. Although their team captain Diego Rosero was still hurt after his downfall in Wörgl (A) last weekend, he pressed to the top. Soon the hard fights at the top after 10 of 19 laps took their toll and the gap between the top and the back became larger. The speed was extremely high in the bends so that some skaters fell down in the turns around the Place Wilson. Eight laps before the finish, the Swiss Nicolas Iten, on top with another one, tried everything to increase the margin between them and their pursuers. But the athletes of the Powerslide and BONT arena team didn’t want to let them go and caught up with.

Shortly before the start it had started to rain, so that some skaters preferred rain rolls, what turned out to be the wrong decision in the end, because just after they had started, the sun began to shine. Some, like Reyon Kay, had bad luck, too, as a roll broke in one of the bends and he had to give up.

Four laps before the end Nicolas Iten attacked again and succeeded in breaking away – even if his competitors like Scott Arlidge (Powerslide Matter World), DJ Nation (BONT arena Geisingen), Davide Amabili, Marco Rebagliati (both Alessi) and the strong X-Tech athlete Elio Cuncu were very powerful, too. Nico tried to avoid a sprint decision, pushing forward even in the last lap, but the others didn’t let him go and counterattacked him. On the long slightly ascending finishing straight they started an early sprint with the result that the New Zealander Scott Arlidge from the Powerslide team had the most reserves and really flew over the finishing line. Further results:

1. Scott Arlidge NZ, Powerslide Matter World

2. DJ Nation NZ, BONT arena Geisingen

3. Nicolas Iten SUI, Luigino Rollerblade

4. Davide Amabili, ITA, Alessi

5. Marco Rebagliati, ITA, Alessi

6. Elio Cuncu, ITA, X-Tech

7. Juan Nayib Tobon COL, BONT arena Geisingen

8. Yann Guayder, FRA, Powerslide Matter World

9. Stefano Galliazzo, ITA, Alessi

10. Felix Rijhnen, GER, Powerslide Matter World