“Rad” Ross Schnell, the defending All Mountain world champion mountain bike racer, suffered a broken hip Saturday at the opening round of the French Enduro mountain bike cup, held in Métabief, France. Schnell, 28, was competing in the fourth of 10 races in the Saturday-Sunday event when he slipped on wet grass and hit the deck at 30 miles per hour. He fractured the greater trochanter area of his left femur.
It isn’t often that a 100-mile mountain bike race is decided by who has the strongest legs at the end. But that’s exactly what happened in the open men’s division at Saturday’s Mohican 100, the second stop of the National Ultra Endurance mountain bike series. Reigning marathon and short track national champion Jeremiah Bishop (Monavie-Cannondale) took the win after outfoxing his five breakaway companions in the final three miles. “It was pretty nerve racking,” Bishop said. “I was on the edge of cramping the whole time. My attack was kind of a Hail Mary pass.”
First seen in public at Sunday's Bump n’ Grind event in Alabama (round three of the Pro XCT Tour), Sam Schultz’s pre-production Gary Fisher full suspension bike is full of new features. The team ventured south to participate, and tucked in the race trailer alongside the team-spec Superfly hardtails and Procaliber 26-inch-wheeled, full-suspension bikes was a completely new, full-suspension 29er that incorporates the lightweight carbon of the Superfly, big wheels from the HiFi 29er, plus flagship design elements pioneered in the Trek line.
The tiny central-Ohio town of Loudonville used to be known as the canoeing capital of the state. But this Saturday, the rural community will be ground zero for the growing culture of ultra-endurance mountain bike racing, as Loudonville hosts the Mohican Mountain Bike 100. The Mohican is the second round of the National Ultra Endurance Series (NUE Series), a seven-race collection of 100-mile cross-country races.
The world’s best cross-country mountain bike racers will break out the hardtails this weekend for the fourth round of the UCI World Cup, held Sunday in Madrid, Spain. The dusty course spins an eight-kilometer circuit through an urban park in the Spanish capital, and includes plenty of fast hardpack and flat pedaling sections. Speeds on the track are high — the Madrid course lacks serious technical obstacles, but includes a plethora of punchy climbs, loose corners and gravel.
German cross-country racer Wolfram Kurchat caught and dropped Olympic champ Julien Absalon on the seventh and final lap to win the May 17 Bike the Rock cross-country race in Heubach, Germany. The event was the third round of the 2009 MTB-Bundesliga International, Germany’s national cross-country racing series.
Steve Peat can now stake his claim to be the best World Cup downhiller of all time. One month before his 35th birthday, the British downhiller squeaked by countryman Gee Atherton (Animal-Commençal) to win the fourth round of the 2009 UCI Downhill World Cup in Vallnord, Andorra. In doing so Peat took his 17th career World Cup victory, surpassing Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz as the winningest man in the series’ 16-year history.
Great Britain’s Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) won his 16th World Cup race May 10 in La Bresse, France, tying Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz’ record for wins in the series. Vouilloz, mountain biking’s winningest male downhiller, collected 16 World Cup victories and seven world championships between 1993 and 2002. Peat also took over the series lead from teammate Greg Minnaar, who won the opener in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. “I’m very happy to win after such a long time,” said Peat. “It’s good to keep the jersey in the team.”
American Jill Kintner (Red Bull-Intense) and Australian Jared Graves (Yeti-Fox) took home top honors at the Houffalize, Belgium Four-cross World Cup. The race marked the debut of World Cup Four-cross racing at the Houffalize venue, and was the second round of the 2009 series. Kintner, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in BMX, has been making her return to Four-cross racing after spending a year away from her sport. The three-time world Four-cross champion fumbled her return to the sport at the 2009 World Cup opener in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, where she finished a distant fifth.
Max Plaxton and Georgia Gould currently lead the USA Cycling Pro Cross-country Tour standings. Plaxton (Sho Air-Specialized) is tops in the men’s field with 195 points, 10 points up on Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher). Gould (Luna) leads Canadian teammate Catherine Pendrel 210 points to 195. So far the Pro XCT has completed two of seven rounds, the March 26 Fontana National cross-country race and the April 19 Sea Otter Classic. Plaxton, the bronze medalist at the 2006 U23 world championships, finished second in Fontana and third at Sea Otter.
Frenchman Julien Absalon continued his domination of the 2009 UCI World Cup series, handily taking a win on a dry course in Houffalize, Belgium. The victory was Absalon’s second of the 2009 series, and his second-consecutive win at Houffalize. “Houffalize is the biggest World Cup of the season,” Absalon said. “The spirit is very nice. It is always competitive.”
The UCI mountain bike World Cup heads to the Ardennes region of Belgium this weekend as the town of Houffalize adds four-cross to its popular off-road menu. Houffalize’s history in the World Cup dates back to 1992, and the venue has become a favorite among riders and spectators. Each year tens of thousands of fans fill the small town, which sits in a deep valley 25 miles northeast of Bastogne, to drink beer, ride bikes and cheer for their favorite pros.
Julien Absalon (Orbea) seized the lead of the cross-country Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday after winning round two of the series in Offenburg, Germany.
Weather always affects the racing at Sea Otter. Some years torrential rain changes the course; other years the heat and wind dish out beatings. This year organizers made the game-time decision to shorten the course due to heat. But one thing was for certain this year on the 90-degree day: Christoph Sauser and Georgia Gould were on fire.
Scott Tedro is the man who spearheaded the new US Cup, which has replaced the National Mountain Bike Series as the continent’s premier off-road racing series. VeloNews caught up with Tedro to discuss how the US Cup came together, how the series is organized and what mountain bikers can expect to see in the coming years. This is part 2 of the conversation. Part 1 was published Thursday.
Less than one year ago Scott Tedro was just another passionate and affluent cyclist whose growing love for the sport had persuaded him to invest some cash in at the grassroots level.
South African Greg Minnaar was mobbed by spectators after winning the downhill race Sunday at the UCI World Cup downhill event in Pietermaritzburg. Minnaar received a reception normally reserved for South African football, rugby union and cricket stars after pipping Australian Mike Hannah for first place on a forest-lined course near the KwaZulu-Natal city. Competition was fierce with 28 finalists cracking the four-minute barrier and Minnaar clocked 3:43.44 after sailing over jumps and pedaling furiously through flatter sections.
Olympic champion Julien Absalon of France had to settle for second place behind Spaniard Jose Hermida in the UCI World Cup cross-country mountain bike race in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on Saturday. In a thrilling race, near the KwaZulu-Natal city watched by 6,000 spectators, Absalon moved to the front at the halfway mark with only Hermida and South African Barry Stander able to respond. The lead changed one lap later with Hermida building a 15-second advantage that kept him in front until the finish and Absalon held off a late Stander surge.
Frenchman Miguel Martinez, the 2000 Olympic cross-country champion, has been fired by his Felt international team just days before the 2009 World Cup opener in Pietermartizburg, South Africa. According to Agence France Presse, Martinez, known as "Little Mig," was recently handed a four-month suspended prison sentence for assaulting his wife. Martinez has had similar brushes with the law in the past two years. Felt International released a statement saying it was ending its relationship with Martinez due to “unbridgeable differences.”
The 2009 UCI mountain bike World Cup kicks off this weekend in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The race marks the first time in the series’ 19-year history that an event featuring cross-country, downhill and four-cross racing will be held on the African continent. A gravity-only World Cup was held in the winemaking city of Stellenbosch on the Western Cape from 1997-98. “Mountain biking is taking on a new dimension,” said UCI president Patrick McQuaid.
Pua Sawicki and Sid Taberlay took convincing wins at San Diego’s Sagebrush Safari, the third round of the new Sho Air-Specialized U.S. Cup of mountain bike racing. The race was also the third round of the Kenda Cup West. Although it fell just one week after the Fontana National, which was the opening round of USA Cycling’s Pro cross-country tour, the Sagebrush did not see Fontana winners Georgia Gould or Geoff Kabush in attendance. Both riders were en route to the World Cup opener, held this Sunday in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Short track, the fast and furious format of cross-country mountain bike racing, is coming back to the top end of American mountain bike racing. The ShoAir-Specialized US Cup, the new 13-race series of cross-country mountain bike races nationwide, will feature three stand-alone short track events this year. The races will be held at the April 19 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California; the August 16 Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain, New York; and the September 26 U.S. Cup finals in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Bulls Team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm walked away with the overall win at eight-day 2009 Absa Cape Epic presented by adidas, which ended Saturday in Lourensford, South Africa.
American mountain bike racing begins a new chapter this weekend at Southridge Park in Fontana, California. On Sunday, the hilly park in this Los Angeles suburb hosts the opening round of USA Cycling’s Pro Cross-country Tour (ProXCT), a seven-race collection of UCI-sanctioned events which is set to replace the National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) as the premier cross-country series in North America. The Fontana race is also the second round of the Kenda Cup West, the west-coast wing of the Sho Air-Specialized U.S. Cup.
The top men's teams battled for advantage in the Absa Cape Epic's penultimate stage, with the Trek-Brentjens team winning the stage, but the Bulls team maintaining a tight grip on the overall lead.
Despite some wintry weather, attendance was up for Round 2 of the budding SoCal Interscholastic Cycling League’s 2009 race series. The event was held Sunday at Warner Springs Ranch, 40 miles east of Temecula. High rainfall so far this year had given these rolling hills an emerald green hue, but rain falling in sheets on race day, driven by 20 mph winds, added to the multiple challenges of rocks and thickets of prickly pears punctuating the 4.5 mile course.[nid:89777]
The Songo.info team of Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser partially made up for stage 4's penalty and mechanicals to win stage 5 and move back into contention for the overall. Songo.info finished 1:14 seconds ahead of the second team of Trek-Brentjens on the stage. It was Songo.info's fourth stage win.
The Bulls team of Germany's Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm took over the lead of the Absa Cape Epic following stage 4, as the previously dominant songo.info team suffered a mechanical — and then were penalized for accepting assistance.
The 73km third stage of the Absa Cape Epic presented by adidas took riders from Villiersdorp to Greyton, with 1,976 meters of climbing. The Songo.info team of South African Burry Stander and Swiss rider Christoph Sauser continued their winning streak by again taking top honors.
The South African/Swiss team of Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser (Songo.info) have won the first two stages and the prologue of this year’s Absa Cape Epic. With an overall time advantage of 6:35, the Songo.info pair will wear the yellow leader jersey for stage 3.
Jeremiah Bishop, the reigning marathon and short-track cross-country national champion, is suiting up in the green and purple kit of Monavie-Cannondale.com for the 2009 season. Bishop, 32, found a home with the Utah-based team after spending four seasons as the marquis World Cup rider on the now-defunct Trek-Volkswagen program.
If you pay attention to how mountain bike development goes over at Giant Bicycles, you already anticipated the arrival of the composite Anthem X model. This is how it works at Giant: First they prototype a model, build the first production model in aluminum and then follow it up with a composite flagship after the design has proven itself to the consumer.
California's two high school mountain bike leagues have started the season this month with the SoCal league holding its first race March 1 in Monterey and the NoCal season starting March 8 at Temecula. Both races drew enthusiastic crowds who kept the cowbells and cheers going all day. 100 students representing 14 school and regional composite teams attended the SoCal race, held at the popular Vail Lake Mountain Resort. [nid:89135]
It may strike some as a bit unusual that Giant Bicycles chose to present its 2009 mountain bike team — a team dominated by some of the best endurance riders in the world — at Woodward West, a freeriding, BMX and skate boarding haven in Tehachapi, California. Make no mistake, you can hardly pigeon hole any members of this team into the ‘XC Racer’ stereotype. They like to think of themselves as all-rounders and they did a good job of proving it in this latest meeting with the press.
The rangers at Colorado's Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area weren’t sure what to make of Catherine Shenk when she pulled up to the fee booth on a mountain bike recently. It was, after all, the dead of winter and the entire area was covered in snow. “They weren’t sure if bikes were allowed,” Shenk says. After some deliberation they let her through. With tires built for the terrain, she followed packed snowmobile trails to the town of Minturn, about 20 miles away. Then she turned around and rode back up to the pass.
Solo male and female cross-country racers can race all seven days of the BC Bike Race, from the start in Vancouver to the finish at Whistler Resort. In its third year, the BC Bike Race has decided to open categories for solo men, solo women and solo men 40+. Kathy Lilyholm, the race’s public relations manager, said the move marks a step into unknown territory for the race, which has featured team-only competition since its debut in 2007.
In its eighth year, British Columbia’s TransRockies Challenge will debut a three-day solo mountain bike race that will run concurrently with the first three days of the seven-day duo race. Called the TR3, the three-day event includes 150-200 kilometers of racing, and stretches from the TransRockies’ starting line at Panorama Mountain Village to the town of Nipika.
Canadians Geoff Kabush, Marie-Hélene Prémont and American Lea Davison will highlight the new-for-2009 Maxxis-Rocky Mountain professional mountain bike team. The squad marks a partnership between Maxxis tires and Rocky Mountain bicycles, each of whom supported World Cup-level mountain bike racing programs for much of the last decade.
Former world mountain bike champion Christophe Dupouey committed suicide Wednesday, French cycling officials confirmed. Dupouey, 40, was reportedly despondent ever since he was sentenced to three months in jail in 2006 for his role in Belgium’s “pot belge” doping scandal. More than 40 people were arrested in 2003 as part of an alleged distribution network.
Once teammates on the successful Haro mountain bike team, Canadians Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath are together again, this time on Jamis Bicycles’ newly launched cross-country squad. The duo as well as American Blake Harlan and manager/racer Jason Sager complement Jamis' already successful gravity program. The four will focus on cross-country, endurance and all-mountain events in North America.
Editor's Note: VeloNews' new technical editor, Zack Vestal, comes from the Trek-VW mountain bike team, where he was the mechanic for three years and, most recently, the manager for two years. Prior to working for the team, he spent more than 10 years in the cycling industry, both behind a desk (briefly) and in front of a workstand (extensively).
Beijing Olympians Adam Craig and Ollie Beckinsale will lead Giant Bicycles’ global mountain bike racing team in 2009. The American Craig and Brit Beckinsale will be joined by Australian downhill racer Jared Rando. Craig, 27, repeated as U.S. cross-country champion last season. He also collected his sixth consecutive U.S. Super D title. Consistent international results earned Craig a spot on the U.S. Olympic team at the 2008 Summer Games.
Riders at the 2009 BC Bike Race will begin their seven-day journey through British Columbia’s singletrack with a spin over an automobile bridge. Not just any bridge, however. The scenic 1800-foot Lion’s Gate suspension bridge that connects downtown Vancouver with that city’s North Shore municipalities will host the opening miles of the race to Whistler, slated June 28 to July 4. The North Shore area is also home to some of the region’s best riding.
World downhill champion Rachel Atherton of Great Britain dislocated her shoulder after colliding with a car in Santa Cruz, California, on Sunday. Atherton, who rides for Animal-Commençal, was training on her road bike with her brothers Dan and George when the accident took place. The three had been in Santa Cruz on a training trip since January 9. Atherton reportedly hit the car head-on, with her Cervelo road bike taking the lion’s share of the damage. The 21-year-old Atherton also suffered cuts and bruises to her face.
Specialized Bicycles already owns a prolific World Cup-level professional mountain bike racing team, which is home to 2008 world champion Christoph Sauser and downhill great Sam Hill. But for 2009 the California bicycle manufacturer is adding a North American component to its global umbrella of mountain bike racing. Specialized has teamed with Sho Air International, a Huntington Beach, California-based shipping company to sponsor the California-based Sho Air-Specialized mountain bike team.
Anne-Caroline Chausson – the reigning Olympic BMX champion – is taking aim at another landmark: the world speed skiing championships.
The 31-year-old Chausson, who has always been an excellent skier and lived in Andorra for several years, will compete in the “production” category of the competition, which runs January 17-24 at Vars in the French Alps.
According to French wire reports, Chausson will race on traditional ski equipment and could hit speeds nearing 200kph on the renowned Chabrières course at Vars.
The list of riders who have suited up for the Trek-Volkswagen professional mountain bike team over the years reads like a who’s who of North American off-road racing: Travis Brown, Alison Sydor, Roland Green, Susan Haywood and Jeremiah Bishop, just to name a few. But after 13 years, the Trek-Volkswagen program is calling it quits. The news comes after Volkswagen declined to renew its contract with the Wisconsin-based bicycle manufacturer.
IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL MAGURA Durin Race 80/100 Magura USA today announced that long term product testing has revealed a structural flaw in the lower leg assembly of the Durin Race 80 and 100mm suspension forks. The recall only affects early production runs of the fork. If your fork is found to be within the recall serial numbers please do not use it from this point forward. Further use of this product may result in failure and pose a possible risk of danger to the user.
California-based mountain bike race promoters have finalized plans for the 2008 U.S. Cup, a 13-race series set to become the premier cross-country racing series on American soil. The U.S. Cup is being sponsored by the Los Angeles-based shipping company Sho-Air, and will offer competition for both professional and amateur riders. The news answers questions about the future of American off-road racing which were raised when the National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) — North America’s premier off-road series since 2004 — closed shop at the end of 2008.
Superbike racer Ben Bostrom has joined the Sho-Air professional mountain bike race team for 2009. The Yamaha pro, who dominated domestic and international motorcycle racing through much of this decade, will race the 2009 Sea Otter Classic and the 24 Hours of Moab for the Southern California-based Sho-Air team in the pro category. He will jump in other mountain bike races as his motorcycle racing schedule allows.
The scabby blisters on my hands are all-but healed, and only a few bits of red clay remain buried in my fingernails. The dull soreness that, just days ago, throbbed in my calves and quads is long gone. After all, I’ve enjoyed four days of rest and downed an uncountable number of bottles of Imperial. My recovery from this year’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race is nearly complete.
A buzz of nervous anticipation hangs thick in the air at Jaco Beach today, as the 400 or so participants in Costa Rica’s 2008 La Ruta de los Conquistadores are picking up race packets, packing bags and preparing for tomorrow’s opening stage. The first of four days packs a serious punch — 68.7 miles and roughly 14,500 feet of elevation gain from Jaco to Ciudad Colon. The day also includes a plethora of super steep ascents, muddy hike-a-bike sections, river crossings and plenty of pain.
A federal jury has awarded more than $300,000 to mountain bike racer Susan Haywood for USA Cycling’s failure to report race results to the UCI, an act of negligence, the court concluded, that cost her a spot on the 2004 Olympic team. In the summer of 2004 Haywood was embroiled in a global race for UCI points with Mary McConneloug to secure a nomination to the country’s only slot for women in the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens. By mid-July, Haywood was initially given the nomination, leading McConneloug by a single point, 1489 to 1488.
Fellow Boulderite Brandon Dwight greeted me at the final finish line of last year’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores with a chilled bottle of Imperial in one hand and a digital camera in the other. The cold booze momentarily soothed the numerous aches and pains I had accrued during the four-day, 250-mile race from Costa Rica’s Pacific to Caribbean coasts.
The Iceman Cometh seems likely to live up to its moniker on Saturday, when some 2000 mountain bikers will start the 19th annual race along the northwestern bank of Lake Michigan. The 27-mile race from Kalkaska to Traverse City has gained a reputation for chilly temperatures and variable weather. The National Weather Service predicts heavy showers and a high of 40 degrees, although temperatures will be much lower when the race starts at 9 a.m. start at Kalkaska middle school.
Australia’s Naomi Hansen, the woman who for the past ten days has managed a smile, even in her darkest moments, was handed the ultimate accolade by her fellow Crocodile Trophy combatants Friday when the race reached its final destination of Cape Tribulation in Tropical North Queensland. As the peloton rolled onto the beautiful beach, fringed with World Heritage-listed Rainforest, race winner Ondrej Fojtik (VIG+ Racing) steered his bike to one-side, making way for the Coopers Shimano Dream Team cyclist, who crossed the finish line in first place to claim the stage winner’s boomerang.
Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen) and Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) won the National Mountain Bike Oktoberfest in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday. The eight-hour cross-country race was the final event of USA Cycling’s National Ultra Endurance calendar.
The elite event capped of a weekend of four different cross-country races.
Lees-McRae College will once again host the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships, starting Friday in Banner Elk, North Carolina. The action begins Friday morning with the cross-country races held on a five-mile loop through the Appalachian Mountains. Both Division I and II men and women will compete over the varying, half-single track course, which is a permanent fixture on the Lees-McRae campus. Later that afternoon, gravity riders will attempt to qualify for the finals on the technical downhill course at Sugar Mountain Resort.
Colorado’s Summit County has granted provisional approval for a six-day endurance mountain bike stage race in Breckenridge for 2009. The “Breck Epic,” is tentatively scheduled to run from July 5 to the 10th. Mike McCormack, former director of the Mountain States Cup, is spearheading the Breck Epic’s organization. McCormack said the last hurdle the race needs to clear is approval from the United States Forest Service.
Temptation was all around during the second stage for Belgian cycling great Eric Vanderaerden as the race passed by more than a few outback watering holes. But the man who has shed 20 kilos to return to competition held steadfast against the lure of a cleansing ale, especially while the cameras were upon him. Photographed passing by the pub in the Atherton Tableland Town of Herberton, the former winner of Paris-Roubaix had his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead and his ultimate objective of finishing the Crocodile Trophy. [nid:84454]
Shedding more “largesse? in recent months than most European banks, an almost unrecognizable Eric Vanderaerden has arrived in Cairns, Australia, fit and ready to complete his long-held dream of finishing the Crocodile Trophy, the 1200-kilometer mountain bike race across Australia. Gone are the mullet and spare tire, which the 46-year-old Belgian cycling great carried as excess baggage on his last journey to Tropical North Queensland, when he drove the Crocodile Trophy course as a team assistant.
Known to many as “Toast,” Josh Tostado (no, not Tostada) smoked an all-star field at last weekend’s Suzuki 24 Hours of Moab in the solo competition. Tostado completed 17 laps of the 15.5-mile course for a grand total of 263.5 miles of riding. He opened his gap on the opening lap and then held off Tinker Juarez and the sport’s heaviest hitter, Chris Eatough.
Quebecer Marie-Héléne Prémont has changed her mind about retiring at the end of the 2008 season. The 31-year-old Premont — who in 2007 announced she would hang it up after 2008 — will race the UCI World Cup and world championships. The news comes after Prémont enjoyed her best-ever season, which saw her claim the 2008 World Cup overall title.
With three weeks to go until its November 5 kickoff date, the Baja Epic — a four-day cross-country race in northern Mexico — has finalized its route. The race will cover approximately 250 miles and include 24,000 feet of climbing. The race runs November 5-8. The opening stage starts on the beach at the resort city of Rosarito and runs 65 miles to Santa Veronica, and includes 7800 feet of elevation gain. Stage 2 is the longest day, and includes 81 miles as riders journey from Santa Veronica to Ojos Negros.
Three-time Vuelta a España winner Roberto Heras will toe the line at next month’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race in Costa Rica. The four-day race covers 250 miles from Jaco Beach on the Pacific coast to the finishing city of Limon, on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. The race will mark a return to top-level racing for Heras, who retired from competitive cycling in 2005 following his record-breaking fourth Vuelta win. That victory, however, was negated after Heras’ urine sample tested positive for the blood booster EPO.
Roughly 2000 mountain bikers will head into Southeastern Utah this weekend for the Suzuki 24-Hours of Moab, the largest 24-Hour race on North American soil. In its 13th year the race — organized by the West Virginia-based Granny Gear Productions — has come to own the title “Galactic Championships” of 24-Hour racing, a direct challenge to the 24 Hours of Adrenaline’s World Championships event.
Trek Bicycles will sponsor a World Cup-level mountain bike team for 2009 built around cross-country racers Liam Killeen and brothers Lukas and Matthias Fluckiger. The squad will also have a gravity component, although that roster has not yet been announced. Australian Martin Whiteley, former boss of the successful Global and G-Cross/Honda downhill teams, will manage Trek’s new team, which will be based in Europe.
Two-time Olympian Todd Wells is heading back to his roots for 2009, leaving GT Bicycles to join the Specialized factory mountain bike team. Wells, 32, raced for Specialized as a semi pro and neo pro from 1996-1998, riding alongside Ned Overend, Steve Tilford, Shaun Palmer and Bart Brentjens. After taking a break from racing, Wells rode with Pacific Cycles from 2001-2008, for the company’s Mongoose brand from 2001-2004 and then for the GT Bicycles brand from 2004-2008.
The 2009 USA Cycling mountain bike calendar boasts higher cash prizes and a more logical travel schedule, the organization said Thursday. The third annual USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendar includes 34 events; the calendar is intended to boost top tier events that have not traditionally been part of a national series. The 19-event cross-country calendar kicks off with the Fontana United States Cup in Fontana, California, on March 20 and ends seven months later on the last weekend in October with the Piney Hills Classic in Ruston, Louisiana.
NorCal League Heading South
The organizers of the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League, America’s largest interscholastic bike racing league at the high school level, have taken their successful model south. On August 4, the NorCal league helped launch the Southern California Interscholastic Cycling League.
South African Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and American Melissa Buhl (KHS) won the second round of the 2008 Jeep 48Straight mountain bike series, held Saturday at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah. The two took wins under dark skies and rain, which muddied the racecourse. Formerly known as the Jeep King of the Mountain Series, the newly titled 48Straight events pit the world’s premier gravity mountain bike racers in a dual slalom/mountain cross hybrid event. Riders race each other twice, with the rider with the fastest combined time advancing to the next round.
GT Bicycles will not hire back Jill Kintner, the Olympic bronze medalist in BMX, for 2009. Kintner, 26, signed with the Madison, Wisconsin-based bicycle manufacturer at the onset of the 2006 season to race Four cross. During her three years with GT, the Seattle native won two national and two world championships titles as well as the 2006 World Cup overall in that discipline. In 2007 Kintner turned her focus toward BMX racing in preparation for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. In August Kintner claimed Bronze in Beijing.
Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) has won the 2008 the UCI downhill mountain bike World Cup. The South African finished fifth at the World Cup finals in Schladming, Austria, on September 13 to inch his way by two-time defending champ Sam Hill (Monster-Ironhorse) 1354 points to 1293.