Mrazek and Gros win first stage of World Cup Difficulty

Tomas Mrazek and Natalija Gros win the first stage of World Cup Difficulty 2004 in Puurs (BEL).

April 2004

The World Cup Difficulty got off to a blazing start in Belgium last weekend with a new set of winners: Tomas Mrazek and Natalija Gros.

Mrazek, unpredictable and strong as ever, was the only to top out in the Final, beating two eternal outsiders, CÃ©dric Lachat and FranÃ§ois Auclair. Ramon JuliÃ n Puigblanque and Alex Chabot, last year's undisputed protagonists, performed somewhat under par, finishing 8th and, first excluded from the final, 9th, respectively.

Natalija Gros, Slovenia's most promising youngster, made an incredible comeback after a year away from the competition circuit, winning her first ever World Cup event. Muriel Sarkany, still a serious force to be reckoned with, placed second, while Jenny Lavarda added an impressive third 3rd place to her 2004 Difficulty and Bouldering performances.

Results men
1 Mrazek Tomas (CZE)
2 Lachat CÃ©dric (SUI)
3 Auclair FranÃ§ois (FRA)
4 Pouvreau GÃ©rÃ´me (FRA)
5 Verhoeven Jorg (NED)
6 Petrenko Maxim (UKR)
7 Becan Clemen (SLO)
8 Puigblanque Ramon JuliÃ n (ESP)
9 Favresse Nicolas (BEL)
9 Chabot Alexandre (FRA)
11 Winkler Daniel (SUI)
12 Millet Sylvain (FRA)
13 Desgranges Romain (FRA)
14 Petit FranÃ§ois (FRA)
14 Felix Roman (SUI)
14 Valjavec Thomas (SLO)
14 Bernardino Lagni (ITA)
17 Brenna Christian (ITA)
18 Vikonur Vadim (USA)
19 Bindhammer Christian (GER)
21 Dugit Fabien (FRA)
22 Thomas Jonathan (BEL)
23 Mus Johan (BEL)
24 Reis Juergen (AUT)
25 Baxter Adrian (ENG)
26 Mol Dirk (NED)
27 Usobiaga Patxi (ESP)
28 Gambaro Matteo (ITA)

Results women
1 Gros Natalija (SLO)
2 Sarkany Muriel (BEL)
3 Lavarda Jenny (ITA)
4 Vidmar Maja (SLO)
5 Levet Sandrine (FRA)
6 SchÃ¶ppf Bettina (AUT)
7 Ciavaldini Caroline (FRA)
8 Eiter Angela (AUT)
9 Graftiaux Chloe (BEL)
10 Saurwein Katharina (AUT)
11 Stendal Linn Karin (NOR)
11 Bacher Barbara (AUT)
13 Martin Delphine (FRA)
14 llic Caroline (FRA)
15 Cintalova Zuzana (SVK)
16 Giroux Elodie (FRA)
17 Vidmar Kathja (SLO)
18 Raffetseder Gerda (AUT)
19 Eyer Alexandra (SUI)
20 Anthoni Kim (BEL)