After a solid season of wearing the rainbow stripes as defending champion, Roland Green (CAN, Trek-Volkswagen) showed the world that he's still the man to beat when he raked over two of the sport's toughest characters in Filip Meirhaeghe (BEL, Specialized) and Thomas Frischknecht (SUI, Ritchey Yahoo).

Green achieved remarkable back-to-back wins, finishing a scant 19 seconds ahead of Belgian silver medalist Meirhaeghe and 1:45 in front of last year's silver medalist Frischknecht.

"That's the best race I've ever had," said a delighted Green after he arrived at the finish covered in dark mud. "This is it. To win two in a row, and to do it in Europe on a course like this... it's just so great. I couldn't even feel my legs in the last lap from the adrenaline."

All three medalists went out hard off the gun, spurred on by a motivated Frischknecht, a mud-racing specialist who set a brutal pace, wanting to decisively earn his first championship after being awarded the 1996 title by default.

"I've been to all 13 World Championships and raced in 12," said Frischknecht in a press conference later. "And this was the toughest course I've raced. But it wasn't as hard a competition as last year in Vail where I was battling with six other people."

Only Green and two-time worlds bronze medalist (and current Olympic silver medalist) Meirhaeghe were able to follow his pace early on, the three having been joined by Seamus McGrath (CAN, Haro/Lee Dungarees) in the first lap. But by the end of lap one, Green had asserted himself in the front, showing that he alone had the legs to carry himself up the super-steep climbs and down the slick descents of this tough course.

"Thomas started really hard," confirmed Green. "I was almost ready to back off, but this is the World Championships and you have to take risks, so I went as fast as I could."

While Green was able to take the lead after one lap, it took him the entire race to completely shake the fast descending of former downhill racer Meirhaeghe. "I knew Filip would be chasing hard," he said.

"When I saw the rain I thought this race would work on the mental condition of the riders," said Meirhaeghe. "And I thought 'I'm not going to let it happen to me.'"

Green and Meirhaeghe broke away from "Frischi" in lap three after Meirhaehge moved up into 2nd position for the last time of the race. Frischi was soon 10 seconds off the lead, but by the beginning of the 4th lap he was 22 seconds down as the leaders rode side-by-side.

But Meirhaeghe couldn't hold on to Green's wheel and began to fade during the climbs as he tried to catch Green on the descents. "I felt my power going away," he said.

That worked until the final lap, in which Green built up 30 seconds at the top of the course. "At that point I was just racing to keep 2nd place and am happy to finish with the silver," said Meirhaeghe.

Frischknecht was fading as well, his gap narrowing from 47 seconds in lap four to over a minute in mid-lap five. "Roland was the stronger one and to win here and last year in totally different conditions... he is the true champion."

— Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Correspondent