Mountain

Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen) and Georgia Gould (Luna) won the fifth round of the 2007 national mountain bike cross-country series, held July 28 at Sugar Mountain resort in Banner Elk, North Carolina. "I had an awesome race, and initially I was thinking that I wish I could have felt this good last weekend [at the USA Cycling national championships]," Bishop said. "But this was a great consolation prize. I got to win the only race of the season that my mom got to go to, my wife, Erin, was here and I had great fan support." Bishop took the third NMBS cross-country race of his career after

Sporting a pink pair of pink “Dopers Suck” socks, Subaru-Gary Fisher rider and regular VeloNews columnist Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski finished fourth in the cross-country at the 2007 USA Cycling national mountain-bike championships. The muddy, technical course didn’t suit JHK’s high-altitude climbing skills, and the Coloradan admitted winner Adam Craig was the best man of the day. As a fan of road cycling, JHK has kept himself glued to the tube, watching the 2007 Tour de France. But like most American viewers, JHK said he’s been blown away by the chaotic state of the sport. VeloNews caught up

For the past four years, Californian Kathy Pruitt has traveled to the USA Cycling national mountain-bike championships as the odds-on favorite to bring home the jersey in the women’s downhill. And from 2004-06, the 2000 junior world champion saw her chances crash and burn —literally. In both 2004 and ’05, Pruitt flew off her bike and landed on her head while speeding down the rocky, dry course at Mammoth Mountain, California. Marla Streb and then Melissa Buhl were the primary benefactors — Pruitt finished second both years.

Ryan Trebon (Kona-Les Gets) and Mary McConneloug (Seven-Kenda) each emerged victorious in Sunday’s short-track cross-country race, the final event of the 2007 USA Cycling national mountain-bike championships held at Mount Snow resort in Vermont. For McConneloug, the win was the second victory of the 2007 championship event — the Fairfax, California, native won Friday’s cross-country race ahead of Georgia Gould (Luna) and Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher). The short-track victory came as a surprise for the Californian, who spends most of her season living and racing in Europe and rarely

Maine native Adam Craig (Giant) used his impressive technical skills to score a decisive victory in Saturday’s 2007 USA Cycling national cross-country championships race, held at Vermont’s Mount Snow resort. The 25-year-old Craig wheelied his bike across the finishing line a whopping four and a half minutes ahead of a cramping Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen), who finished second.

The rooty, rocky trails at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont, are hosting the 2007 USA Cycling national mountain-bike championships July 17-22. An estimated 2000 off-road racers will contest national titles in cross-country, short-track, downhill, dual slalom and super D. And co-sponsor X-fusion suspension has put up $20,000 in prize money for the professional events.

Mary McConneloug (Seven-Kenda) took her third-career national cross-country title on Friday, outlasting defending U.S. champ Georgia Gould (Luna) and Subaru-Gary Fisher rider Willow Koerber at Mount Snow resort in West Dover, Vermont. McConneloug took an early lead in the three-lap race and never looked back. The 36-year-old, who took the one-day national championship win in 2005 and earned the title in 2003 by finishing as the top-ranked American in the NORBA series, finished nearly 1:30 up on Gould. “I perform better when I’m not chasing, but when I’m on my own head finding the perfect

American cross-country Adam Craig claimed the biggest international victory of his young career July 13 at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 25-year-old sprung away from the field in the opening meters of the race, holding his advantage to the end. For Craig, currently the top-ranked American in the UCI and World Cup standings, the win brought in more valuable UCI points needed for the United States’s push for the 2008 Olympic Games. The U.S. men are currently ranked sixth in the UCI rankings, and only the top-five countries will earn the maximum three spots for the

American Adam Craig and Canadian Catherine Pendrel won the 2007 Pan AmericanGames cross-country race, held Saturday, July 14 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.American Mary McConneloug and Brazilian Rubens Valeriano took home thesilver.The 15th edition of the Pan American Games featured a newly built cross-countrycourse called Morro o Outeiro, or Outeiro Hill. Heavy rainstorms two beforemountain biking event transformed the course into a muddy quagmire. Howeversunshine on the day of the event dried out the course enough to preventa rescheduling.The course appeared perfect for Craig, who competed in

Alison Sydor has spent the past two decades making her mark as the most-accomplished Canadian mountain-bike racer ever. But in 2007 Sydor, owner of 13 world championship medals, has gone missing from the starting line of the World Cup. Instead, Sydor has turned her attention to stage races and marathon mountain-bike events, including the June 9-16 Trans Germany off-road race, which she won with Rocky Mountain-Haywood teammate Carsten Bresser. Is her shift in focus permanent? The 40-year-old Sydor said isn’t quite sure yet. VeloNews: What was the reason for your departure from the World

Competing in her first season as an elite, 19-year-old Tracey Hannah (Orange) claimed the first downhill World Cup victory of her career on July 7, winning the fourth World Cup of 2007 in Schladming, Austria. Hannah, who is the younger sister of gravity great Mick Hannah and the reigning junior world champion, bested reigning elite world champ Sabrina Jonnier (Monster-Iron Horse) by nearly two seconds. In 2006, her first season racing outside of Australia, Hannah won the National Mountain Bike Series overall title before taking the junior downhill crown in Rotorua, New Zealand. Canadian

On yet another glorious sun-splashed day in British Columbia, the inaugural BC Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse came to an end Saturday. Once again top stage honors went to the Trek-Volkswagen duo of Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk, who after zipping along at 100kph on a Skyline cable ride, zipped around the singletrack-laden Whistler time trial course in 1:29:51. It was their seventh stage win, giving the pair of American east coasters a clean sweep in this race that started a week ago in Sooke on Vancouver Island, and finished more than 500 kilometers later in the shadows of the spectacular

In every stage race there is a day that helps define the event. In the inaugural BC Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse that day came Friday during an arduous 58-kilometer journey from Squamish to Whistler. The sheer amount of climbing — more than 8000 feet — was daunting enough. But when you added in an extensive menu of technical trails and black diamond descents, it was enough to make some of the event’s 160 hardened riders cry — literally. For others it was all smiles and laughter, as riders relished the chance to sample some of the “wicked” trails that have made Whistler a Mecca-like

Trek-Volkswagen’s Jeff Schalk summed up the feelings of nearly every rider who took the start line for stage 5 of the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse with this simple assessment of the 58-kilometer fun ride from Sechelt to the Langdale Ferry Terminal on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. “It was honestly one of the first times I’ve totally forgotten about the race and just enjoyed the ride,” said Schalk, who along with teammate Chris Eatough won their fifth straight stage and maintained a commanding lead in the overall standings ahead of the Rocky Mountain duo of Andreas Hestler and

With yet another day at the B.C. Bike Race being dominated by the Trek-Volkswagen duo of Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk, we opted for a photo gallery to tell the story of stage 4’s 58.5km ride from Earl’s Cove to Sechelt on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. After finishing stage 3 with a thrill ride down the technical trails outside Cumberland, stage 4 kicked off at dawn Wednesday with the entire B.C. Bike Race entourage loading up for the short drive from Cumberland to the BC Ferries terminal at Little River. From there it was an 1:20 ride to Powell River, then a quick bus transfer to the

Coloradans Shonny Vanlandingham and Jay Henry claimed the 2007 USA Cycling marathon cross-country national titles by winning the Firecracker 50 race in Breckenridge, Colorado, on Thursday. Both took their first-ever marathon titles by finishing first over the two 25-mile laps that included a total of 10,800 feet of vertical gain and multiple trips above 11,000 feet altitude. In its seventh year, the Firecracker 50 celebrated its largest-ever field of 710 riders. As per usual, the race kicked off at 11:00 a.m. sharp, and riders enjoyed a neutral start in downtown Breckenridge as the first

Seated at the foot of Colorado’s rugged Tenmile range, the Summit County town of Breckenridge will once again host its marquee fat-tire event, the July 4 Firecracker 50 mountain-bike race. For 2007 the event serves as USA Cycling’s national marathon cross-country mountain-bike championships. The race traces its roots back to 2000 when current race director Jeff Westcott and Mountain States Cup organizer Mike McCormack thought of ways to spice up Breckenridge’s Independence Day parade. “We were hanging around on July 4 watching the usual parade of real-estate agents and commercialism,”

Québec’s Mont-Ste-Anne resort has hosted a stop on the UCI’s mountain-bike World Cup for 17 years, and Chantal Lachance has been there since day one. As the vice president for Gestev, the event’s production company, she has helped the Mont-Ste-Anne race grow into a three-weekend-long festival. Now called Velirium (www.velirium.com), the festival brings tens of thousands of spectators, amateur racers and partiers to Mont-Ste-Anne each year. IThe World Cup has ventured sparingly onto North American soil during the pst half-decade; however, it has always come back to Mont-Ste-Anne. VeloNews sat

Day 3 of the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse saw a repeat of stage 1 and 2, with all five categories featuring back-to-back-to-back winners, including the Trek-Volkswagen teammates Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough. The Trek duo strengthened their grip on the overall standings Tuesday, finishing the 83km run from Port Alberni to Cumberland in 4:00:10, 8:05 ahead of Manuel Prado and Jason First (La Ruta de los Conquistadores-Sho Air). Andreas Hestler and Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain-Haywood Securities) were third on the stage, ceding 10 seconds to the La Ruta team. Trek now leads the

Trek-Volkswagen teammates Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk made it 2-for-2 at the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse on Monday, taking a convincing win on stage 2 of the seven day race and increasing their overall lead in the seven-day event that finishes on Saturday in Whistler. The American east coasters now own two stage wins and a 6:02 advantage in the G.C., with North Vancouver teammates Andreas Hestler and Kevin Calhoun (Rocky-Mountain-Haywood Securities) again settling for second place. Eatough and Schalk covered the 118km from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni in 4:34:06, with

It is becoming clear that there are two dominant riders in this year's cross country World Cup series - Julien Absalon (Orbea) and Irina Kalentyeva (Ergon-Topeak). Both won their respective men's and women's races at the fifth round in St-Felicien, Québec, on Sunday. It was the fourth win for Absalon and the third for Kalentyeva. With one race remaining, Absalon has mathematically won the men's series, while Kalentyeva increased her lead over Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Haywood), virtually assuring herself of the women's title. St-Felicien is a new venue for

Trek-Volkswagen teammates Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk grabbed a hard-fought sprint victory over local favorites Andreas Hestler and Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain-Haywood Securities) on Sunday in stage 1 of the B.C. Bike Race on Vancouver Island. Eatough and Schalk covered the 67 miles from Sooke to Lake Cowichan, primarily gravel road with a pair of swoopy single-track sections, in 4:22:32. Hestler and Calhoun were five seconds back on Canada Day, with Manuel Prado and Jason First (La Ruta-Sho-Air) taking third at 2:14. The race features teams of two riders who must stay within two

The cross-country mountain bike World Cup resumes on Sunday in St-Felicien, Quebec, a small town 300 kilometers northeast of last weekend's race at Mont Ste Anne. St-Felicien is a last minute replacement for Angelfire (New Mexico), after the organizers of the planned triple there abruptly pulled the plug last December. The area is a beautiful but sparsely populated region in the wilderness of eastern Quebec (roads, literally, end not far from St-Felicien). The area has never held a race of this magnitude before (they do have held a well-regarded Canada Cup race), however, Mont Ste Anne

The newest player in mountain-bike stage racing debuts Sunday on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, when the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse kicks off with a 67-mile run from Sooke to Lake Cowichan. It’s the first of seven stages that will see the inaugural event’s 200 racers make a 324-mile single-track-laden trip north and then inland toward the stage-7 finish at the famed Whistler ski and mountain bike resort. Total elevation gain for the week is in excess of 36,000 feet. A ferry ride will get the race caravan across the Strait of Georgia. Taking its cues from the likes of Costa

For the last half-decade, Olympic champion Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjå has been the most dominant force in all of mountain-bike racing. But this year the Norwegian’s famous smile and blonde curls have gone missing from the top step of the podium. After showing uncharacteristic chinks in her armor in losses at the first two World Cup races of 2007, Dahle-Flesjå skipped World Cup rounds in Switzerland and Quebec, retreating to Norway for a round of medical tests discover if the problem was rooted in health issues. The diagnosis? A stomach virus has robbed her of her famously strong legs. Now, the

Monster-Ironhorse teammates and defending world champions Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier took top honors in the third World Cup event on downhill racing’s calendar, held June 24 at Mont-Ste-Anne Resort in Quebec. Jonnier scored a healthy two-second win over Brit Tracy Moseley (Kona-Les Gets), while Hill narrowly edged out South African Greg Minnaar (G-Cross Honda) for his victory. In the small circle of gravity mountain-bike racers, Quebec’s Mont-Ste-Anne resort is known for serving up heavy doses of speed. Along with testing a rider’s technical skills, the mountain’s famed downhill track

Julien Absalon (Orbea) continued his dominance of the 2007 UCI World Cup of cross-country mountain biking, taking his third consecutive World Cup victory of the year at Québec’s Mont-Ste-Anne resort. The 28-year-old Frenchman chased down a surging Jose Antonio Hermida (Multivan-Merida) in the sixth of seven laps to take his second career win at Mont-Ste-Anne. Riding his way into third was a resilient Geoff Kabush (Maxxis), who scored the top North American result. Absalon now commands the 2007 World Cup standings, where he leads Hermida 950-680. “Jose started very fast, and I had to work

It’s no secret as to why Quebéc’s Mont-Ste-Anne resort has become a favorite stop on the UCI World Cup of mountain-bike racing, having been on the calendar every year since the series’ inception back in 1991. Like Kaprun, Austria, or Fort William, Scotland, Mont-Ste-Anne is one of the sport’s hallowed venues, and it underscores the challenges offered by mountain biking in the Northeast. The rooty, rocky cross-country course is both a test of one’s fitness and technical skills, and the steep downhill course tests an athlete’s ability ride at extremely high speed. As sponsorship woes during

Last year, organizers of the National Mountain Bike Series heard gruff remarks from the gravity racing crowd for holding the mountain-cross competition on a BMX track located an hour’s drive from Deer Valley resort. The decision was made after Deer Valley resort predictably balked at the idea of cutting a gated race course into one of its ski runs. For 2007, NMBS organizers convinced resort management to allow a scaled-down dual slalom track built near the base of the mountain’s famed downhill course. While it lacked the steepness and length of most other NMBS dual slalom tracks, it

Defending National Mountain Bike Series short-track champions Geoff Kabush and Katerina Nash each grabbed their second short-track victories of 2007 at the Deer Valley NMBS on Sunday. Nash, ranked 13th in the World Cup cross-country standings, scored a come-from-behind victory against Luna teammate Georgia Gould. Kabush, leader of the 2007 NMBS cross-country standings, stretched a second-lap gap into a winning solo breakaway. Gould seized the lead on the opening lap of the women’s short track after surging up the course’s one dusty climb with Subaru-Gary Fisher rider Willow Koerber in hot

Americans Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Georgia Gould scored convincing cross-country victories at the fifth round of the 2007 National Mountain Bike Series, held June 16 at Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah. The first high-alpine race of 2007, Deer Valley’s 8.5-mile cross-country loop sent riders climbing up to 7700 feet above sea level before embarking on a speedy, dusty descent, followed by two more successive climbs and descents. The men completed four laps around the course, with the women tackling three. An unseasonably hot sun beat down on a large crowd of pro racers — 87 men and

American cross-country racer Willow Koerber is enjoying her finest World Cup campaign ever. The 29-year-old collected a ninth-place finish at the May 26 event in Offenburg, Germany, and followed that up with an impressive podium performance at the June 9 World Cup in Champéry, Switzerland. Finishing on the box at a European World Cup is a career accomplishment, and Koerber hopes it’s the first of many. And with the 2008 Olympics looming, Koerber knows that continuing her consistent World Cup performances will earn her a ticket to the Games. VeloNews caught up with Koerber as she was

For the third consecutive year, the National Mountain Bike Series heads into central Utah’s rugged Wasatch Mountains as the Deer Valley resort in Park City hosts the fourth NMBS round of 2007. An 11-year mainstay on the NMBS — formerly called the NORBA and NCS series — Deer Valley is arguably the series’s marquee event, thanks in no small part to community support. On Thursday, pro riders Todd Wells, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Heather Irmiger, Chris Van Dine and Kathy Sherwin held an autograph signing to benefit the local Young Riders recreational cycling club for kids. “The place was packed,”

Despite soggy conditions, Americans and GT teammates Brian Lopes and Jill Kintner won the second round of the Nissan UCI Four cross World Cup, held June 10 in Champéry, Switzerland. The win bumped both Lopes and Kintner into the leaders jersey for the 2007 World Cup. The finals begun after a torrential downpour turned the four-cross track into a muddy quagmire. Large puddles filled the berms, and crashes were many. Lopes, the 2005 world champion, was fastest in the men’s qualifying round, but faced reigning world and World Cup champ, Czech Michal Prokop (Author) in the finals. Prokop,

The cross-country World Cup moved to Switzerland for the third round of the series, and Swiss men stepped up, with three finishing on the podium, and four in the top ten. Ultimately, however, it was still World Cup leader Julien Absalon (Orbea) of France who took the win after a battle with Christoph Sauser (Specialized). In the women's category, Spaniard Marga Fullana (Spiuk-Tau Ceramica) donned the series leader's jersey after an impressive race-long ride from the front. North American riders also had strong rides, with Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) finishing third

Sporting his familiar muttonchops and earring, Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Travis Brown was in Vail, Colorado, for the 2007 Teva Mountain Games. The May 31-June 3 event is an annual gathering of mountain sports, and features competitions for rock climbing, cycling, fly fishing, running, kayaking and even dog jumping.The 38-year-old Brown competed in the 21-mile cross-country race on June 2, where he squared off against a field of Colorado’s best off-road talent. Also present was embattled Tour de France champion Floyd Landis, who made his return to cycling since testing positive for a skewed

Floyd Landis looked a little like a fish out of water as he slung his leg over a green BMC mountain bike and rolled to the starting line of the 2007 Teva Mountain Games cross-country race, held June 2 in Vail, Colorado. Sporting an orange jersey emblazoned the logo of Smith and Nephew — the British medical firm that gave him a new hip in September 2006 — Landis was competing in his first cycling race since learning that his urine sample from Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour tested positive for exogenous testosterone. But Landis — famous for his exploits on the road bike — was also racing in his

The Mountain States Cup held its premier event, the Chile Challenge, May 26-27 at New Mexico’s Angel Fire Resort. For 2007 the event hosted the second round of the National Mountain Bike Series gravity competition. With around 1600 participants, the event is one of the largest off-road races on the continent. Those numbers aren’t a surprise — with seven events, the Mountain States Cup will attract in the neighborhood of 10,000 race starts this year, making it arguably the best-attended off-road racing series in the country. The series will also hand out $125,000 in cash and prizes — another

More than 15,000 spectators from Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium braved rain and mud to cheer on the stars of mountain biking at the second round of the World Cup on Sunday in Offenburg, Germany. Nestled in the southwest corner of Germany, next to Switzerland and France, Offenburg is a region of vineyards on the edge of the Black Forest. The cross-country World Cup was restarting after a month-long break, a respite that meant previous results were no clear indication of form. This indeed proved to be the case, with one leader's jersey changing hands, and neither of the

American Olympic cross-country hopeful Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fisher) of Boulder, Colorado, scored an impressive third place finish at the sixth round of Germany’s Budesliga national series in Albstadt on May 20. Irmiger finished four minutes down on Russian Irina Kalentyeva (Ergon-Topeak) and three minutes behind German national champion Sabine Spitz (Ghost International). “The course really suits me,” Irmiger said. “The long climb mentally is very [good] for me. The people were screaming so loud, it was amazing. I never had [a race] like this.” Irmiger’s podium performance came

Team Rocky Mountain-Haywood's World Cup pros Max Plaxton and Marie-HelenePremont dominated the cross-country today at the second round of the CanadaCup in Bromont, Quebec.  Both riders rode away from their respectivefields to win.  Premont leads the Canada Cup standings for women witha perfect win record, while another Rocky Mountain-Haywood rider - RaphaelGagne - takes over the men's lead from Neal Kindree (Kona) after finishingthird.The Bromont circuit is one of the oldest and most respected of the internationalcircuit, with a tradition stretching back to the world championships

Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) currently sits atop the UCI’s men’s cross-country rankings with 435 points, 15 points more than second-place ranked Roel Paulissen (Cannondale-Vredestein) of Belgium. The Canadian enjoyed a 12th place finish at the World Cup cross-country opener, held April 21 in Houffalize, Belgium. Most of Kabush’s points have come from his early season undefeated streak in the Western Hemisphere UCI races. Kabush won the March 11 Pan American championships in Villa la Agostura, Argentina, the April 15 Sea Otter Classic and the opening three rounds of the National Mountain

For the two years four-cross racer Jill Kintner has been America’s best hope to bring home a medal from the mountain-bike championships. She has delivered wonderfully, collecting the rainbow stripes in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, her gold at the world’s was America’s only medal in the sport it created back in the late 1970s. Over the last two years, Kintner has seen few women racing four-cross. Some have traded in their mountain bikes for BMX rigs to chase after the 2008 Olympics. Others have been scared away by the World Cup’s monstrous four-cross courses. Kintner, a former world champion BMX

Organizers of Costa Rica’s famed La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race unveiled an updated course Monday. For the first time in the event’s 15-year history, there will be a fourth day of racing. “We included a new stage on day 2 that will link the finish venue of day 1 with the start venue of day 3,” said La Ruta race director Luis Viquez during a press conference in San José, Costa Rica’s sprawling capital city. “Now we will truly cross Costa Rica from coast to coast.” Day 1 will depart from the Best Western Jacó Beach Hotel on the Pacific Coast, and finish 96km later at El Rodeo

Americans Georgia Gould (Luna) and Ryan Trebon (Kona) won the short-track cross-country at the National Mountain Bike Series stop at Southridge Park in Fontana, California. The May 4-6 event was the third round of the 2007 NMBS. Undefeated in 2007 NMBS cross-country races, Gould came into the race facing the toughest challenge from her Luna teammate Katerina Nash, Canadian great Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) and reigning American cyclo-cross champion Katie Compton (Spike). Compton, winner of the April 14 Sea Otter Classic short track, and Nash, victor at the second NMBS short track

Georgia Gould (Luna) and Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) won the May 5 National Mountain Bike Series cross-country race at Southridge Park in Fontana, California. The two, who both won the NMBS cross-country rounds in Fountain Hills, Arizona, and Santa Ynez, California and claimed the April 15 Sea Otter Classic cross-country, are unbeaten this year on North American soil. As she has done all season, Gould simply rode away from the women’s field from the get-go. Her teammate Katerina Nash held Gould’s wheel for the first of two laps around the 7.5-mile course, but then Gould powered away on

The National Mountain Bike Series heads to dusty Southridge Park in Fontana, California, this weekend for its third round of 2007. The Fontana NMBS runs from Friday through Sunday and features the full collection of series events: Super D, short-track, cross-country, downhill and mountain cross. Southridge Park has a long history in off-road racing, and each winter hosts a popular winter mountain-bike series. In 2006, the park made its debut as a NMBS stop, and the event gave the continent’s premier off-road series a new foothold in the lucrative Southern California market. The NMBS lost

Jeff Frost and Tom Spiegel took over race organization responsibilities for NORBA in 2003; the year after the governing body’s national series saw its major cash sponsors jump ship. Since then the continent’s largest off-road racing series — now called the National Mountain Bike Series or NMBS — has operated solely under their direction. That was supposed to have changed at this weekend’s Santa Ynez Valley Classic mountain-bike festival, which hosted the second round of the NMBS’s cross-country competition. Spiegel and Frost outsourced organization of the event out to local promoter Mike

A patient Geoff Kabush used his experience to win the Santa Ynez Valley Classic, the second round of the 2007 National Mountain Bike Series. The Canadian, suffering from admittedly bad legs, spent the day riding in the draft of Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Barry Wicks (Kona), before out sprinting the two Americans for the win. “I took one pull today and it was in the last 50 meters of the race,” Kabush conceded after the win. “Something wasn’t right with me from the get go, and I just tried to hang on today as long as I could. Luckily I just let Wicks and JHK chase each

Southern California’s picturesque Santa Ynez Valley is internationally renowned for its miles of grapevines and upscale wineries. But this weekend it’s the area’s singletrack earning the attention, as the National Mountain-Bike Series rumbles into town for the April 28-29 Firestone Santa Ynez Classic mountain-bike festival. In its eighth year, the Santa Ynez Classic has become the largest off-road festival in Southern California. The weekend features cross-country, short-track, downhill and Super D competition. New for 2007, all the events are part of USA Cycling’s National Mountain-Bike

At just 22, Canadian cross-country rider Max Plaxton (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) already owns palmarès worthy of envy. He is twice the Pan-American U-23 champion (2006 and ‘07) and owns a bronze medal from the 2006 world championships U-23 cross-country race. Now, with countrymen Geoff Kabush and Seamus McGrath entering their 30s, Plaxton is undeniably the future of Canadian cross-country racing. “Young Max,” as his peers call him, took another step toward the big time by winning his first NMBBS race — Saturday’s short-track cross-country at the National Mountain Bike Series’s Santa Ynez

Chris Eatough appeared less of a world champion mountain bike racer than a movie star as he entered Monterey’s Golden State Theater for the debut of "24-Solo" the new feature documentary based on his 2006 season. Dressed to the nines and accompanied by his wife, Alison, Eatough received a red carpet treatment worthy of Hollywood’s best. It was Friday, April 13, the second night of the 2007 Sea Otter Classic, and exactly two years since 24-Solo’s filmmakers Ken Bell and Jason Berry debuted their first film, “Off Road to Athens” at the same theater. I stood in line to shake Eatough’s hand, and

Canadian Geoff Kabush and American Georgia Gould continued their strong early season run in cross-country events by winning at the Sea Otter Classic on Sunday. The two won their respective races in different fashion — Kabush in a sprint and Gould in a breakaway. Both riders left the Sea Otter Classic with an elevated sense of confidence heading into next week’s World Cup opener in Houffalize, Beligium. Unlike previous years, the 2007 Sea Otter Classic’s cross-country race was not part of a multi-day stage race, but the event held extra importance for cross-country riders looking to qualify

After two days of mild temperatures and sunshine, Central California’s skies served the 2007 Sea Otter Classic a full dose of rain, wind and chills. Raindrops began hitting Laguna Seca’s tarmac at 10 a.m. and by noon, gusting winds had that rain falling horizontally. The weather quickly reduced the usually busy Sea Otter expo area into a soggy ghost town. A few brave souls ventured out to watch the races, clad in blue ponchos handed out by Volkswagen. The foul weather led to an early end to the women’s NRC road race and a postponement for the men. But for mountain-bike racers, who had

Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) and Czech Katerina Nash (Luna) showed off their early season fitness by winning a short cross-country time trial at the 2007 Sea Otter Classic on Friday. Once an important component of the Sea Otter Classic’s mountain-bike stage race, the time trial provided the first serious separation in general classification. But with Sea Otter ditching the stage-race format for 2007, the time trial offered little more than an opportunity to tests their legs and to give winners bragging rights and a chance to stand atop a podium. That’s not to say the riders didn’t take

California’s coastal winds bombarded the hundreds of riders, spectators and vendors gathered at the Laguna Seca speedway near Monterey for the opening day of the17th annual Sea Otter Classic. But despite the threatening conditions, the skies offered sunshine and no rain, leaving the Otter’s traditional footwear of choice — knee high mud waders — nowhere to be seen. Traditionally, gravity and cross-country mountain-bike riders use Sea Otter’s opening day to pre-ride the courses crisscrossing Laguna Seca’s grounds. This year was no different — long lines of full-face-helmet wearing gravity

It’s sort of like cycling’s version of the swallows coming back to Capistrano… well, at least it’s been that way for the past 17 years. Just like clockwork, every spring a large contingent of North American cyclists - of all stripes - descends on the Laguna Seca speedway outside of Monterey, California for the Sea Otter Classic. This year’s edition, easily the largest cycling festival in North America, kicks off on Thursday, April 12 and runs through Sunday, April 15. For 2007, the event boasts a new look, new events and a new, somewhat brash, motto: “The greatest Celebration of Sport in

Crankworx ColoradoWhistler Resort, home of the Crankworx Freeride Festival, has partneredwith Colorado’s Winter Park Resort to produce Crankworx Colorado. The eventwill be held at Winter Park, Colorado July 5-7, 2007. Like the Canadian event, the Colorado Crankworx will feature a cross-countryrace, a downhill event modeled after Whistler’s notorious Air Downhill,a Super D and a Big Air competition. The Colorado event will also featurea Slopestyle competition, which combines dirt jumping and on-bike aerobatics.The Winter Park Slopestyle course will be designed by famous course designerJohn

Georgia Gould (Luna) and Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) each won their respective NOVA National cross-country races in Fountain Hills, Arizona, on Sunday, scoring 30 UCI points as pro riders begin to rack up valuable points in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. For Gould the win completed a sweep of the weekend events, where the Luna rider was the golden girl of the three days of racing at and near McDowell Mountain Park in Fountain Hills. Sunday proved the hottest day of the weekend with temperatures rising into the 90s by the time women started racing at 1:00 p.m. The men’s event started in heat

Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm locked up their overall victory at the 2007 Absa Cape Epic on Saturday, finishing third in the eighth and final stage of the weeklong mountain-bike race across South Africa. While the day was won by the Swiss duo of Thomas Zahnd and Sandro Spaeth (Texner-Stoeckli), overall honors at the weeklong stage race depended on the outcome of a tough final-day battle between the two Germans from Team Bulls and Jakob Fugelsang and Roel Paulissen (Cannondale-Vredestein). While Platt and Sahm enjoyed a four-minute buffer over the pair in second place, the contest was far from

It wasn’t a real Fat Boy criterium, but it sure felt like one. Call it what you like, but Georgia Gould (Luna) and Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) took convincing wins at the first NMBS short track in Fountain Hills, Arizona. The races were run in an unusual format; both the men and women started after dark. The women sprung from the line just before 8 p.m. and the men had to wait until half past eight for their start. However inconvenient the late hour, riders and spectators seemed to relish it was truly an exciting race. The surprisingly challenging course ran through an abandoned downtown lot

There was a time, before Sea Otter, Fontana or Waco, when the Specialized Cactus Cup signaled the official kick-off to the domestic mountain-bike season. In the early 1990s, when mountain-bike racing was at its peak, the Cactus Cup near Phoenix served as a rite of spring for the likes of John Tomac, Tinker Juarez and Ned Overend as they battled under warm skies and among towering saguaros. As is now the case with Sea Otter, the Specialized Cactus Cup races filled many needs, from warm-weather retreat to consumer trade show to early season reunion for scores of riders who had not seen one

Germans Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm (Bulls) regained the overall lead of the Absa Cape Epic on Friday after finishing second in the penultimate stage. The stage win went to Bart Brentjens and Rudi van Houts (Dolphin), but the real contest was between the Bulls and Roel Paulissen and Jakob Fugelsang (Cannondale-Vredestein), who snatched the leaders’ jerseys from Platt and Sahm after winning the previous day’s stage. Platt and Sahm caught and passed their rivals with 30km to go in the 116km stage from Villiersdorp to Kleinmond and will take an advantage of three-and-a-half minutes into

The NOVA National opened Friday with Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Georgia Gould (Luna) winning their respective time trials at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Horgan-Kobelski covered the 7-mile course in 19 minutes and 44 seconds, while Gould finished in 22:47. The time trial used some of the park’s roughest trails — undulating with sharp corners, drops and dips. And the vegetation lining the course was even rougher, as Horgan-Kobelski learned after cutting one of the final corners a little too close. “I came in a little hot to one of the

A few locals from Barrydale, host of the finish of the fourth stage of the Absa Cape Epic, turned out to greet the riders slogging through the final kilometers of a long, hot day. The fans ran around in the nude, spraying each other with hoses in the sweltering South African afternoon. At least so I heard. I didn’t even see them. By the time I rolled into Barrydale, I was so cross-eyed from the 121km journey that I could only picture myself stepping off of my bike. Not a fire, a free beer tent — and definitely not a gaggle of naked people — could sway me from that. Before embarking on this

The rider list for the 2007 Absa Cape Epic speaks volumes of South Africa’s appreciation for off-road racing. Fully three-quarters of the 1200 competitors hail from the host country. Fewer than 50 cyclists from the United States and Canada made the journey to Africa’s southernmost nation for the Cape Epic, yet the event boasted its highest ever population of North Americans. From 'cross racing in Carolina to...Jason Morgan and Tim Hopkin are two Americans currently tackling the 900km race. The two are riding partners, and race cyclo-cross in North Carolina. Hopkin and Morgan are not

VeloNews associate editor Fred Dreier is spending the week in South Africa, attending the Absa Cape Epic mountain-bike race. In addition to regular coverage of this growing event, Dreier has been sending a selection of images from his first trip to Africa.

The first stage of the 2007 Absa Cape Epic produced an unpredicted twist when defending champion, Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser, fell out of contention for the overall on the 101km journey from Knysna to Uniondale. The two-time World Cup champ and his partner, Italian Johan Palhuber, crossed the line nearly 10 minutes down on the Bulls team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, and the Cannondale-Vredestein squad of Roel Paulissen and Jakob Fugelsang. Sauser’s legs weren’t to blame for the time gap. While trying to hold pace, Palhuber, a last-minute replacement for the ailing Liam Killeen,

A volley of shouts greeted the lead group of 20 riders as they sped toward the wooded summit of the Buffelsnek climb, the first serious incline of the 2007 Absa Cape Epic. The upcoming feed zone would be the only chance for a water fill for the next 45km, they said, and anyone who had doubts about running on empty under the African sun should stop for a bottle. A collective moan came from the pack as the athletes hit their brakes. Everyone in the group stopped. The problem was caused by a broken-down truck on Prince Alfred Pass, the day’s highest and final climb. The obstacle prevented the

The world’s longest mountain-bike stage race, South Africa’s Absa Cape Epic, kicks off on Saturday. The eight-day event, which bills itself as “The Magical and Untamed African Mountain-Bike Race,” begins at the seaside resort town of Knysna (pronounced nice-nuh), and traces a winding line through South Africa’s vast interior before finishing on March 31 at the Lourensford Wine Estate, just outside of Cape Town. The 1086 professional and amateur mountain-bike racers participating in the 2007 event face intimidating statistics: 886 kilometers of pedaling and 15,045 meters of climbing separate

You can’t mention the words "mountain biking" and "USA Cycling" without dropping the name Matt Cramer. Cramer heads up USA Cycling’s mountain-bike development team of Sam Jurekovic, Collin Cares and newcomer Tad Elliot, and helps keep elite athletes informed on the ever-changing rules, regulations and policies governing fat-tire racing in America. With the 2008 Olympics in Beijing looming on the horizon, Cramer will be an integral cog in USA Cycling’s machine for picking the America’s Olympic cross-country team. VeloNews readers may remember that USA Cycling’s lack of action led to much

Angel Fire ski resort sits in a secluded corner of northern New Mexico, about two hour’s drive from Santa Fe. A far cry from the mega resorts in neighboring Colorado, Angel Fire prides itself as a winter and summertime playground where the crowds are light and the price of admission is low. Like many other ski areas, Angel Fire hosts mountain-bike races in the summer — the Chile Challenge is a regular stop on the Mountain States Cup. In 2005, the venue hit the pinnacle of its mountain-bike racing when it hosted a stop on the UCI World Cup — the first American World Cup since 2001. Angel Fire

On Tuesday, the United States Anti Doping Agency cleared mountain bikers Cale Redpath and Alice Pennington of any wrongdoing, months after the two athletes accepted one-year suspensions for no showing at post-race doping control tests during the 2006 season. According to USA Cycling, the decision was made because both athletes were reserves in their respective tests. The automatic selected and random selected athletes were on hand to be tested at both races, meaning Redpath and Pennington would not have actually been tested. The decision to reinstate their eligibility was made after a

Just when the competition thought it could relax, the once-retired Anne-Caroline Chausson says her sights are now set on the first-ever Olympic BMX competition at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Chausson, the most-decorated female mountain-biker of all time, announced her plan last week on her web site. Chausson took BMX world titles in 1992 and 1993 before switching over to downhill mountain-bike racing. For more than a decade the Frenchwoman virtually owned gravity racing, taking 12 world titles in downhill, two in dual slalom and two in four-cross. Her final appearance on the mountain-bike

USA Cycling has released the dates for the inaugural Mountain-Bike Racing Calendar (MBRC), which features competition in three individual categories: cross country, gravity and ultra-endurance. Cross country events include cross-country, short-track, time-trial and stage races; gravity includes downhill, four cross, dual slalom and Super D; and ultra endurance includes 100-mile, 12-hour, 24-hour and marathon cross-country races.The calendar, modeled after USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar (NRC) on the road side, features 53 races at 37 individual events. The total prize purse for the 53

One of Southern California’s largest mountain-biking festivals, the eighth-annual Firestone Santa Ynez Valley Mountain-Bike Classic will be held April 27-29, 2007. The event, which features downhill, cross-country and an endurance cross-country race, is sponsored by Platinum Performance nutrition and is held at the Firestone Vinyard outside of Buelton, California. Last year the Classic attracted about 1000 racers. Race organizer Mike Hecker hopes to offer $8000 in pro prize money this year. The amount would give the event Category II status in USA Cycling’s new Mountain-Bike national racing

Embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis will compete in a 100-mile mountain-bike race in Colorado. The Leadville Trail 100 in August will mark Landis' return to off-road racing, which he left in 1998 to focus on road competition. "I'm looking forward to getting back to my roots. Training for Leadville will be great preparation for a return to the Tour de France," Landis said in a statement Tuesday. Landis, however, would not be able to compete in the NORBA-sanctioned event if he is suspended for a positive testosterone test at the Tour de France. Seven-time Tour winner Lance

On September 25, cross-country mountain biker Jimi Mortensen received a two-year doping suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for missing three out-of-competition tests during an 18-month period from late 2004 to early 2005. Mortensen wasn’t exactly dodging the tests. The Eagle, Colorado, resident says he simply stopped filling out his USADA paperwork because he was fed up with being a part of USADA’s out-of-competition testing group. Mortensen became a member of the group after representing the United States at the 2003 world mountain-bike championships in Lugano,

The Australian Cycling Federation recently named downhill mountain-bikecoach Scott Sharples as its 2006 cycling coach of the year. Sharples, whoraced downhill as a pro with Trek-Volkswagen in the 1990’s, helped guideSam Hill (Monster-Ironhorse), who claimed the country’s first-ever downhillelite world title at the 2006 World’s in Rotorua, New Zealand. Sharples runs and operates his country’s downhill training center outof his home in Nevada City, California. Most of Australia’s top gravitytalent spends half the year living and competing in the United States,and Sharples’ training center has

Fat-tire fans will remember Costa Rica’s 2006 La Ruta de los Conquistadores for the race’s epic, 60-mile stage 1 from Jaco to El Rodeo, which included 14,500 muddy feet of climbing and sent 50 percent of the field home early. They will also remember the triumph of the skinny 24-Colombian Leonardo Paez, who dominated the three-day race in just his first attempt. But for many, the lasting image of the 2006 la Ruta is that of bloodstained American Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen) rolling across the finish of Stage 2 after hitting the deck in the final kilometers. The high-speed crash mangled