Mountain

I know this isn’t a big secret, but if you like riding mountain bikes but have never done so in Crested Butte you really are missing out. I say this after spending three days down there this past weekend, when I had a chance to sample some of the trails and check out the new home of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. The MTB Hall had been homeless for the past two years, but thanks to an influx of cash and the generosity of the people who run the local Heritage Museum, it has moved into the back of the remodeled Tony’s Conoco (also home of the Heritage Museum). And while a spot in the back of

Theonly thing that came close to ending Gunn-Rita Dahle's World Cup winningstreak was one of the Mont-Sainte-Anne course's many tight, technical singletracksections. But Dahle (Merida) overcame a second-lap endo to crush the 87-riderfield, just like she'd done in the first two World Cup stops. The30-year-old Dahle led from the gun, gapping the field on the first of fivelaps, her closest pursuers were her own teammates Sabine Spitz and IrinaKalentieva. On the second lap, however, Dahle went over the bars and landedon her side in the dusty singletrack."Iwasn't worried about me," said Dahle, "I

When Nico Vouilloz and Anne-Caroline Chausson bowed out of the mainstream gravity scene, the possibilities opened back up for riders who carried something other than a French passport. But, at Sunday's inaugural Jeep King of the Mountains event, which paired male and female racers into “national” teams, Cedric Gracia (Siemens-Cannondale) and Sabrina Jonnier (Intense) recaptured the glory of yesteryear for France, taking both the men’s and women’s titles and a commanding lead in the country standings. The made-for-TV event, held in Wintergreen, Virginia on June 29, was the first of a three

Unlike baseball or basketball, there’s no official halfway point in themountain biking season. But with three of five NORBAs in the books andthe World Cup slate well underway, it seems like an appropriate time tohand out some midseason awards. So without further ado, here’s the bestand worst from the opening stanza of the 2003 mountain bike season. Biggest SurpriseSo many candidates here that’s it’s hard to pick just one. Right fromthe beginning, at the NORBA opener in Big Bear Lake, there’s been a steadystream and new faces gracing the top of podium. There was Eric Carter’sstunning double

It may have come a day later than he would have liked, but Seamus McGrath (Haro-Lee Dungarees) finally won his first NORBA race, taking Sunday’s short track at Mount Snow. After finishing second to Roland Green (Trek-Volkswagen) in Saturday’s cross-country, McGrath left nothing to chance today, attacking breakaway compatriot Filip Meirhaghe (Specialized) with three laps to go, just as Green was about to bridge to the leading duo. McGrath kept his margin through to the finish, celebrating a win that was a long time coming only after checking to make sure Meihaghe was well in the rearview

Not even losing the ability to sit down could slow Cedric Gracia at Mount Snow. The 25-year-old Siemens-Cannondale rider closed out the weekend’s racing by winning the men’s downhill, even though he broke off his saddle midway through his winning run. “I tried sitting back down [on the rails],” said the charismatic Frenchman. “But it was no good, I just had to ride standing up, which isn’t so easy.” With the infamous Yard Sale rock garden section of the course shortened due to safety concerns, riders depended on skill more than luck. In order to negotiate what remained of the Yard Sale

France’s Sabrina Jonnier (Fox Racing) took advantage of a bottleneck atthe start of the mountain cross finals and cruised to an easy win on thehigh speed Mt. Snow course near Dover, Vermont. With everyone keen to get the holeshot to the first corner, Jonnier,Katrina Miller (Jamis), Marla Streb (Luna) and Jill Kitner (Staats Bike-Fox)tangled in the first 50 meters of the finals, with only Jonnier exitingthe scrum cleanly. From there, the 22-year-old woman from Nice just hadto stay upright, which she did. “Everyone was leaning all over each other,” said Jonnier, “I pushedback and that’s how I

Riding for a local New England bike manufacturer and cheered on by a crowd that could sense an upset, Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) won Saturday’s Mount Snow NORBA cross-country. McConneloug, who spends half her year training on Martha’s Vineyard, dropped three-time world champion Alison Sydor (Trek-Volkswagen) on the last climb of the last lap and held her advantage on Mt. Snow’s infamous, rooty, rocky, singletrack descent. “I’d always thought I could do this,” said McConneloug of her win, “but actually doing it never seemed to happen.” The win was McConneloug’s first ever podium in

Mountain bike racing will be without two of America's top female riders for a while after both Alison Dunlap and Tara Llanes suffered injuries that have derailed promising 2003 seasons in the span of three days. Dunlap went down first over the weekend, separating her shoulder in a crash at the NCS cross-country race in Snowshoe, West Virginia. Initially it was called a third degree separation, but when Dunlap got back to Colorado Springs doctors told her it was actually a fourth degree and that without surgery she wouldn’t be able to race at an elite level again. “I completely tore all the

Got a message this week and it’s for the vast majority of the world’s elite gravity racers — or at least the ones who were at Alpe d’Huez. You all need to stop whining, bitching, moaning and protesting, and start paying attention to the writing on the wall. Because if you read it, you’ll see that right now more than ever, the sport of mountain-bike racing needs solidarity, not sit-down strikes. Now, I don’t doubt that the courses at Alpe d’Huez were sub-standard. The legend of UCI course designer Frank Roman and his general lack of competence is well known. Just last year he refused (or

Hometown favorite Anne-Caroline Chausson and first-time winner Nathan Rennie were fastest Sunday on a speedy, rocky downhill course high in the French Alps. On a mountain more famous for being climbed up, cycling’s fastest downhillers ripped down a wide-open course criticized for its lack of technical challenges. With wide sweeping turns and long straights, the course favored big riders and that was certainly true in the men’s field, where young bucks Rennie and Chris Kovarik ruled the roost. A decent crowd turned out under brilliant sunny skies to catch the action for the second round of

There was nearly a French revolution in Saturday’s 4-Cross after riders threatened to protest the second round of the World Cup against what they deemed an unimaginative course and called it little more than a shortened downhill course. While the riders decided to race, many weren’t happy with the Alpe d’Huez course that featured few jumps, berms and other features that are supposed to make 4-Cross so exciting. “Especially in the dry, the course was really bad,” said men’s winner Eric Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai). “This was like a ski race. Every right hand turn was the same, every left hand

There won’t be any surgery and the long-term prognosis is good, butafter breaking his left ankle last weekend at the World Cup in Fort William,Scotland, it will be at least 8 weeks before American Brian Lopes is backracing his bike. That means the reigning world, World Cup and NORBA champion will missthe next three World Cups and the next three NORBA stops, and it takeshim out of the running for the big prize money on offer at the Jeep Kingof the Mountain series set to commence later this month. Despite all this, though, Lopes says the worst part is all the downtime he’s going to have to

While most of America’s top mountain-biking pros will head off to NORBA No. 2 in Snowshoe, West Virginia a week from now, there will be a four-rider U.S. contingent making a slightly longer trip to the start line. On Thursday, USA Cycling released the roster for its team that will travel to Medellin, Colombia next week to contest the Pan American Championships cross-country race on June 15. Members include Frank Mapel (Specialized), Carl Decker (Giant-Pearl Izumi), Kim Anderson (T-Mobile) and Heather Irmiger (Ritchey-K2). They’ll be joined by USAC’s Eric Moore, who will serve as the team’s

World Cups are so easy. They start out like it’s a one-minute race and then they just get faster and faster. The course at St, Wendel was generally dry, with just a few power-sapping, soft, muddy sections. Well for me, some highlights from the race were definitely the pictures of naked chicks taped to the paved climb at about 1km into the race. In addition to the naked chicks, there were also poster of Carmen Electra tapped to the road too. The course also went thru a beer tent which was pretty cool and there were about four parts of the course that had announcers with air horns and

Although race promoters Trilife Sports, Inc., recently ended its affiliation with NORBA — thus losing its status as a 24 Hour NORBA national championship — racing went on as planned at the 24 Hours of Adrenalin solo national championships, held at Laguna Seca raceway in Monterey, California, over the May 17-18 weekend. In the end, it was two familiar winners from 2002, Tinker Juarez and Louise Kobin, that ended up atop the podium. Riding for the Siemens-Cannondale mountain-bike team, cross-country veteran Juarez successfully defended his 24 Hours of Adrenalin solo national title, completing

Haruko Fujinaka was in the United States on her honeymoon. But instead of heading to the beaches of California or some other romantic destination, the native of Japan made the trip to Big Bear Lake, because just like almost everybody else who drove up Highway 18 this weekend, Fujinaka loved bike racing. Sadly it was that love that ended the 33-year-old’s life, the victim of a bad crash in the Naked Falls section of the Snow Summit Resort downhill course. “From what I was told, it was just a classic endo,” said Tom Spiegel of Team Big Bear, the local organizer of the opening round of the

Minus a full OLN TV crew, some sponsor banners and prize money for the pros, the opening race of the NORBA national championship series doesn’t look much different from years past. On Friday in Big Bear Lake, California, 24 hours before pro racing commences, the pits seemed as vibrant as ever, with all the expo space filled up and plenty of riders and spectators milling about in anticipation of the coming weekend’s action. “It’s a NORBA national,” said a matter-of-fact Eric Moore of USA Cycling. “We all know there’s some things missing, but it still has the vibe. It’s been a huge team

Greeting from beautiful Berkeley, California. I just finished up taking the grand tour over at Clif Bar world headquarters and let me tell ya, if you’re looking for a progressive, outdoor oriented company, dust off the resume. Besides all the bars and shots you can get your hands on, employees at Clif have a top-notch gym, yoga instructors, massage therapists and a whole bunch of other cool stuff at their disposal to make the work day not seem so much like work. Clif Bar also does a fair bit for the cycling world, sponsoring at one level or another the Luna, U.S. Postal and Sierra-Nevada

So finally, a week after the world found out that the Telluride World Cup was cancelled, word came down from the UCI that…the Telluride World Cup has been cancelled. In its brief press release dated May 7, cycling’s world governing body was kind enough to reiterate that fact, remind us of the dates that no longer matter, and then impart these encouraging words. “The UCI regrets this decision and will make the most to ensure however a harmonious development of the 2003 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.” Hmm…ensure however a harmonious development? Not sure what that’s all about, but wouldn’t it

Who says mountain-bike racing is dead? From the looks of it, the sport has a bright future. All you have to do is look in the right places. Last weekend, for example, all you would have had to do was look at the muddy trails around an abandoned air strip near Nevada City, California, to understand just how vibrant the sport really is. This year, an influx of new coaches, and the young teams they lead, raised the competition to a new level. New coaches meant new riders and, in some cases, entire new schools choosing to become involved in an increasingly competitive high school mountain bike

At the close of the 2002 Telluride 360 Degree Festival, Rick Sutton couldn’t have been happier. His latest brainchild had been a substantial success, and he was already looking ahead to 2003. Next year would almost certainly include a World Cup triple, and there was even talk of a point-to-point cross-country race that might start on the other side of the mountains in Durango. Sutton’s event would eventually be awarded that World Cup triple, and until recently it looked like all was a go for the second year of the multi-sports festival in the scenic southwestern Colorado resort town. But

Mountain-bike racing needed some good news, and Friday it looks like it got some. VeloNews has learned that the mountain-biking version of the Jeep King of the Mountain series has gotten the thumbs up from Chrysler, and that a three-race made-for-TV series will get under way on June 29 in Wintergreen, Virginia. “We just met with Chrysler and worked out the final details,” said Denise Lavaroni, the VP of events for Eclipse TV, the production company behind the new series. The series will continue on July 29 at a yet-to-be-determined site in Colorado, before concluding August 23 in

Used to be events like those put on by energy drink maker Red Bull were strictly diversions for pro racers, something to do when there were no mainstream (read NORBA and World Cup) races going on. But with the recent NORBA debacle (no pro prize money) and the shrinking World Cup (the cancellation of Telluride leaves just five races on the calendar), events like the Red Bull Downtown are becoming more and more important. The Downtown, a gravity race that will be run on the streets of Lisbon, Portugal, May 11, will bring together a world class field (Peat, Gracia, Lopes, and Chausson are just

There seems to be no shortage of bad news when it comes to mountain-bike racing these days. Just a week after it was announced that there would be no pro prize money at this year’s NORBA NCS races, VeloNews has learned that the World Cup stop in Telluride, Colorado has been cancelled. According to Annie Kuhles, communications manager at the Telluride Ski Resort, “basically the lack of a title sponsor for the event led to its demise. I don’t know all the exact details, but it’s definitely not happening.” The Telluride World Cup, stop No. 4 on what was to be a five-race circuit, was

USA Cycling has secured a second venue for NORBA's 24-hour national championship after a scheduling dispute resulted in the withdrawal of the event's original promoter. Originally scheduled for May 17 and 18 at California's Laguna Seca raceway, the NORBA event has been re-scheduled to be run in conjunction with the“Round The Clock” 24-hour race on Memorial Day weekend, May 24-25, 2003at Riverside State Park in Spokane, Washington. The Spokane race is organized by Round and Round, promoters of past NORBA Nationals and UCI World Cup events. Meanwhile, the Laguna Seca race, organized by

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke once said that, “I havediscovered the less I say, the more rumors I start.” The folks at USA Cycling would be wise to heed the implied lesson here.In the past few weeks, a period of great silence at USAC headquarters inColorado Springs, the rumors have flown fast and furious regarding thestate and fate of the 2003 NORBA National Championships Series. Among thebest tittle-tattle: cancelled races, no prize money, no TV, no UCI pointsand even no series at all. Of course the truth — as it usually does — liessomewhere in between. After extensive

Add two-time Olympic champion Paolo Pezzo to the growing list of riderswho are setting their sites on the first-ever mountain-biking marathonworld championship. And don’t be surprised if Pezzo follows that with arun at a third Olympic title in the summer of 2004. According to Gary Fisher’s Dean Gore, while Pezzo will not be “an officialmember of the Subaru-Fisher team” this season, she will be “structuringher own European-based program that will focus on European Grand Fondosand marathon events, with the new UCI sanctioned marathon world championshipsdate highlighted on her calendar.”

Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) is anxious to win mountain bike races and wants to do it on his own terms. His feisty racing style sometimes comes back to haunt him, but win or lose the 22-year-old remains unphased. Hesjedal made the race in Sunday’s 36-mile cross country race, the final stage of the 2003 Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage race, attacking from the gun and stringing out the 106-man pro field. But in the end Hesjedal couldn’t match a final surge from his friend, countryman and overall winner, Roland Green (Trek-VW), who won his third stage of the four-stage race. Green

A busy day for the gravity set. Sunday saw six gravity athletes take the top spots on the podium. Champions were crowned in both the men's and women's categories in the downhill and mountain cross events. These results were then combined with Saturday's dual slalom results to produce the inaugural Sea Otter Gravity Omnium champions. With two serious tangles in both the men's and women's mountain cross finals, two surprise winners were crowed overall champions. Sunday's schedule of gravity events saw racers tackling a "new and improved" downhill course in an early morning "dawn patrol" raid

On paper a 30-minute event wouldn’t seem too hard. After all, no matterhow hard it is, it only lasts half an hour. But don’t tell that to theracers whose tongues were dragging after 3 minutes of Saturday’s third stagein the 2003 Sea Otter Classic MTB event. The short track race always delivers on its promise of being the hardesthalf hour in mountain bike racing. “That is the hardest stage of the Sea Otter right there,” said men’swinner Roland Green (Trek-VW). Green, who went into the day as the overall leader on GC, extended his lead after a last-lap attack took him clear of his three

With the promise of heavy rain in the late afternoon, dual slalom racersqualified early Saturday morning knowing course conditions were sure tochange by the 3:00 p.m. main event. And, almost as if on cue, Mother Naturelet loose a torrent of rain just as competitors lined-up for the firstofficial gravity racing of the weekend. The dry course qualifying saw the usual suspects taking their respectiveplaces on the leader board. Chris Kovarik, Cedric Gracia were the onlytwo male riders able to complete both the blue and red courses under oneminute (59.86 seconds and 59.84 seconds respectively),

In cycling, you know you’re a bad ass when you get an Italian nickname. While il professore might not rank up there with il diablo, il pirata, or il grillo in sheer gravity, Steve Tilford’s Italian nickname is still cool. The 42-year-old Tilford (Verge Sports) won the second stage of SOBE Sea Otter mountain bike stage race in his specialty, the fat boy criterium, and proved that having a niche, however small, can’t be a bad thing. Run along a scenic coastal course in Santa Cruz, the fat boy crit allowed (forced?) mountain bike racers to shed their knobbies for slicks and then try keep from

For 2003, Sea Otter promoters decided to add a new twist to the off-road gravity events. Chief Operating Officer Rick Sutton felt there was a need to reward those riders who take on all events with an overall goal of their own, thereby creating the "Gravity Omnium" a collection that includes mountain cross, downhill and dual slalom. It’s a sort of gravity variant of the “Iron Otter” that reserves a special prize for riders who take on both road and cross-country events at Sea Otter. Sutton explained, "we saw there were some riders who placed consistently well in all three events, but never

Don’t always believe the rumors. They often prove unreliable. There were whispers around the pits here in Monterey that Roland Green was sick. The two-time defending world champion withdrew from the Redlands road stage race last week with two stages to go, citing a lingering illness. Green’s would-be challengers at the Sea Otter Classic were licking their chops, believing that the 2002 Sea Otter champ was vulnerable. But Green (Trek-Volkswagen) stormed Thursday’s five-mile time trial, the opening stage in the four-stage mountain bike stage, showing yet again why he’s the guy with the

It's Friday morning in Les Gets, France, and Alison Dunlap and Sabine Spitz are sitting on opposite sides of the Hotel Stella dinning hall having breakfast. The pair will exchange pleasantries before the meal is over, then head out with their team managers for another day of training. It's a routine that's been repeated for the last couple days, after both riders arrived here in the French Alps, following last weekend's world championships in Kaprun, Austria. Two days from now things will not be so friendly, though. With the final cross-country race of the World Cup season set for Sunday,

Already it will go down as the shortest World Cup season in the history of the series, but it also might end up being one of the most exciting. With only five races on the calendar this year, points have been harder than ever to come by. And unlike a year ago at the finals in Mont-Ste-Anne where three overall titles had been clinched before racing even started, every one of this year's crowns is still on the line as the finals in Les Gets, France get set to commence on Saturday. The tightest race is in the men's four-cross where Brian Lopes leads Cédric Gracia by just nine points — the

Editor's Note: Thomas Frischknecht of the Swiss Power racingteam took a bronze medal in Sunday's world championship cross-country mountain-bikerace. The following is his take on this and the 12 prior world championships.He has competed at world's since the beginning and holds the distinctionof winning a gold medal at the 1996 world's, though he and the rest ofcycling world didn't realize that until four years later when the apparentwinner, Jerome Chiotti, confessed to having used performance-enhancingsubstances in preparation for that win. Chiotti later apologized and gavehis medal and jersey

Three years ago, Bernard Unhassobiscay woke up and knew something was wrongin his chest.  The next day he was on the operating table having twoof his heart valves replaced.This Sunday, Unhassobiscay, who lives in California, rode faster thananybody else in his 40 to 44 age category to win the masters world mountainbike downhill championship in Bromont, Quebec.Unhassobiscay's story underlines what makes the masters worlds so special.Many of the athletes here never had a chance at a cycling career whenthey were younger, and some, like Unhassobiscay, are fortunate to be hereat all."My objective

Close to 400 cyclists from 23 countries gathered in Bromont, Quebec,as competition got underway Saturday in the cross-country events at themasters world mountain bike championships, for athletes aged 30 and over.Americans dominated the results sheets in most of the events, includingthe first race of the day for women aged 60 to 64, won by the lone starter,Cherie Oates from Colorado.  Defending champion Ann Budge from Ontariodid not start due to a knee injury."I made it!" said Oates after crossing the line with blood running downher leg from one of several crashes.Oates said back home she

Myles Rockwell’s last run will be fun, he’s sure of that. Whether or not he wins Saturday’s world championship downhill race won’t make that much of a difference to Rockwell. He’s just wants to make sure he goes out in style. “This is the big show, so why not go out with a bang?” Rockwell told VeloNews in an interview Friday. “To me, the worlds are an opportunity to leave on a really high note. I’ve been watching the people’s faces a lot this week along they course. The fans here in Europe are screaming for you and want to see you go to the limit. I’m going to enjoy it.” Rockwell, one of

Two-time world solo 24-hour champion Chris Eatough will look to defend his title this weekend on the rugged mountains of Silver Star, British Columbia. Among those hot on his heels will be two-time NORBA national solo 24-hour champion Tinker Juarez. “I think it will be a super-interesting event,” said Brian Lee, marketing coordinator and media liaison for Trilife Sports International, the company organizing the event. One of the biggest obstacles facing competitors could be the altitude. The rocky 19km course, home to Canada’s National Altitude Training Center, tops out at 6280ft, with

The Canadians like to call themselves the “powerhouse of world mountainbiking” and they’re not shy about talking about it. In Wednesday’s debutof the 2002 UCI World Mountain-bike Championships, the Canadians provedit was more than just hyperbole. The defending team relay world champions led every lap except the firstand proved, at least in this event, they are on top of mountain biking’sslag heap. France finished second and the Swiss third while the U.S. teamwas 11th. “This victory says a lot about the state of Canadian mountain bikingright now,” said Roland Green, the reigning world

Three days. Eight pro races. Sixteen series titles on the line. That's the slate for this weekend's NORBA National Championship Series finals at Mount Snow Resort in southern Vermont. Racing opens Friday with the women's cross country at 11 a.m., followed by the men at 2 p.m. Saturday brings short track in the afternoon and mountain cross in the evening. Then it's downhill day Sunday with the finals set for 1 p.m. In every case but one the races for the overall and U.S. national titles have yet to be decided, so with that in mind here's an event-by-event breakdown for all four disciplines,

After a month long hiatus while the World Cup circuit took center stage, the NORBA National Championship Series reconvenes for the second half of its season, with stop No. 4 in Durango, Colorado this weekend. Pro racing gets going Friday with the women's cross country at 11 a.m., followed by the men at 2 p.m. The short track and mountain cross are Saturday, followed by the downhill on Sunday. This year's revamped 7.89-mile cross-country circuit features much of the same terrain used at last year's World Cup event, save for the start/finish, which has been moved from the center of the Fort

In 2001 Grouse Mountain could do almost no wrong when it came to World Cup mountain-bike racing. The small ski resort just minutes from downtown Vancouver stepped up to host the third stop of the series after organizers at Whistler bailed because of financial squabbling; then went on to put on one of the best events of the season, with exciting racing and big crowds. But a year later the vibe here on the famed North Shore isn't the same. This is the land of free-riding, and without any gravity racing this weekend (both the downhill and mountain cross were cancelled because of too much snow)

After giving way to the European swing of the World Cup for a month, the NORBA National Championship Series starts up again Friday with stop No. 2 at Alpine Valley Resort in East Troy, Wisconsin. Cross-country racing kicks things off with the women heading out at 11 a.m. central time, followed by the men at 2 p.m. Saturday brings short track racing in the afternoon, followed by the debut of the NORBA pro mountain cross in the evening. Racing concludes Sunday with the men’s and women’s downhill. The Midwest has long been a hotbed of mountain-bike racing, but this is the first time the NORBA

Features: The Koski Stronghold Deluxe is a forged hollow stemof 6061-T6 aluminum with a four-bolt polished silver front plate. The shaftis matte black.The Stronghold Deluxe stem is available in two finishes, called “shotpeened black” and “polished silver,” two angles, namely 7 and 15 degrees,and five lengths: 60, 75, 95, 110 and 130mm.All of the bolts take a 5mm hex key.Likes: This is a handsome and lightweight stem available in lotsof finishes, angles and lengths. It is plenty stiff, and it has a largeclamping area with the bar (these two features are probably interrelated).Dislikes:

Features: The matte-black Deda Newton is machined from 2024 T6aluminum. The silver front cap is held on with four titanium bolts, which,like the fork-steerer clamp, accept a 4mm hex key.The Newton comes in 90- and 95-degree angles in lengths of 105, 115and 125mm. The Deda N’Bar matches it in graphics and quality.Likes: Like the Newton road stem, this is a strong, superlightstem, and I find it to be adequately stiff.Dislikes: Not a one.Other: You have to very careful not to over-torque the smallbolts.The Deda single-bend bars, namely the N’Bar and BarOne, come only inthe relatively short 560mm

After two weekends of cross-country racing it’s the downhillers turn, as stop No. 1 of their World Cup season is set to kick off Saturday outside Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands. The venue is the Nevis Range Ski Area, a remote resort 2.5 hours north of Glasgow. When the rain stops — which hasn’t happened much in the last two days — it’s one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever see, with huge panoramic views that recall Braveheart, the Mel Gibson movie that was filmed near here. The area is dominated by the formidable shadow of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the United Kingdom

Two thirds of the way from Liège to Bastogne, just off the E25 highway in southeastern Belgium, mountain bike racing’s own classic is set go on Sunday in Houffalize. It’s stop No. 2 of the five-race cross country World Cup circuit, with the women kicking off racing at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men in the afternoon at 1:30. This is the fourth year in a row and 12th time in 13 years that mountain biking’s premier circuit has come to this picturesque village tucked into the lush green of the Ardennes. Saturday saw the amateurs tackle the 7.7 kilometer course that’s become slicker and slicker

Sunday’s opening round of the 2002 World Cup is lining up to be the firstshowdown of the season with all the top guns at the starting line. So far,most of the Euros have been sticking to Continental races, while the NorthAmericans have stayed closer to home at Sea Otter and the NORBA openerlast week at Big Bear.Sixty-eight women and 158 men are competing on a fast, rolling 8km coursein Madrid´s Casa de Campo. World champion Roland Green says he´sready to take on Miguel Martinez, Filip Meirhaeghe and the rest of Europe´sheavy hitters.“The course is fast,” Green said after training on it

The 2002 mountain bike World Cup season opens Sunday with cross-country No. 1 in Madrid. With a scaled-back schedule of just five stops this year and some teams cutting back their commitment to racing, Madrid will be a litmus test on how the international racing season shapes up. Defending world champion Alison Dunlap, Todd Wells, Gina Hall and Susan Haywood will lead the American contingent in Spain. Canadians making the trip include world champ Roland Green, Ryder Hesjedal, Alison Sydor and Chrissy Redden. It will be interesting to see how many Spanish fans show up at Casa de Campo, a

For the sixth year in a row, and ninth time in 14 years, the NORBA National Championship Series kicks off Friday on the wooded slopes of Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. Day one will feature the men’s and women’s cross country races, with the ladies set to go at 11 a.m., followed by the men at 2 p.m. All the pros will face a revamped 7.25-mile circuit that includes two new hike-a-bike sections and more single track than in years past. The course remains one of the five-race series’ biggest lung-busters. With a starting altitude of 6951 feet above the nearby Pacific Ocean, a

Brian Lopes and Anne-Caroline Chausson reprised their 2001 triumphs on March 24 as mountain-cross paid a return visit to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. Chausson went three for three at Laguna Seca, adding a win in the four-up gravity grand prix to her downhill and dual-slalom victories. Fastest in qualifying on Friday, and never challenged in the early rounds on Sunday, the Volvo-Cannondale star suddenly found herself chasing Katrina Miller (Jamis) in the final after Miller stole the hole shot and dove down the course first. But the Frenchwoman poured it on and rocketed

In his first race back from the offseason, Kashi Leuchs scored a win in the Karapoti Classic near Wellington, New Zealand. The 17-year-old event took place on a single 50km loop through the New Zealand countryside. This year’s field included nearly 1000 riders. “I had no idea about how my body would be feeling, as this was my first mountain-bike race in over four months,” Leuchs said. “I went into it cautiously.” At the first steep climb Leuchs broke free from the lead group and set off in pursuit of the course record, which he set back in 1998. However, his asthma, which had troubled him

The home nation continued its domination at the ninth annual running of La Ruta de los Conquistadores, the brutal three-day, 408km off-road stage race in Costa Rica. Jose Bonilla (Pizza Hut-Costa Rica) fought off a challenge from American Tinker Juarez (Volvo-Cannondale) to win the November 16-18 race. Bonilla broke away from Juarez in the second of three stages near the base of a grueling 9000-foot climb, the crux of the 108km second day. The strategic move, planned ahead of time by Bonilla's coach Andres Brenes, extended his 30-second lead from day one to an insurmountable 16 minutes.

Trek-Volkswagen took the most dramatic win of the day, but when the dust settled in Moab, there were hundreds of other images and stories to be shared among the finishers. Here are a few:

Spanish junior Iñaki Lejarreta says, "Of course my uncle (former Teka and ONCE star Marino Lejarreta, the 1982 Vuelta champion and the last man to complete the Tour, Giro and Vuelta in the same year – all in the top ten) is my hero." Well, the way his nephew dominated the junior men’s field, maybe the roles will soon be reversed. But unlike Marino in his famous 1990 mountain stage win in the Tour at Pontarlier, Iñaki knew that there was nobody ahead of him and raised his arms victoriously as he crossed the line more than two minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. At the end of the first

Great Britain’s Nicole Cooke, the reigning world junior road champion, added another laurel to her collection in the junior women’s cross-country in Vail on Sunday morning. As in Plouay last October, she finished alone, but this time, she got a little help from the confusion of her breakaway companion on the course’s final turn. From the start, Maja Wloszczowska of Poland, last year’s world junior cross-country champion and the reigning European champion, applied pressure on the long, 700-vertical-foot climb of the Vail Village Loop. Wloszczowska crashed on the technical descent but

On Saturday morning, members of the French national team reported that reigning world and Olympic champion Miguel Martinez would be arriving at the venue after all. According to team officials, the diminutive climber would be in Vail by Saturday evening. In other news, the schedule for Saturday morning has been pushed back to allow more training time on the downhill course. The junior women’s downhill, originally scheduled for 10:30 a.m., was pushed back to noon. The elite women will start at 1:10 p.m., followed by the elite men at 2:05 p.m. The schedule for the dual finals remains

In one of few sporting events happening worldwide only four days after Tuesday’s tragic terrorist attacks, Japan gets to celebrate its first downhill world championship. Eighteen-year-old Mio Suemasa beat the heavily-favored Céline Gros of France by almost two seconds on the difficult American Flyer course at Vail. Suemasa had already thrown down the gauntlet in Thursday’s seeding run by posting the fastest time by 7.33 seconds. She rides for Team GT in Japan and improved on the fifth place she managed at the 2000 world’s in Sierra Nevada, Spain by handling the large rock drops on the

In an exciting race in front of a huge crowd on a chilly night under the lights of Vail’s Golden Peak, the two most successful riders in dual history donned the crowns once again. On a course designed by American rider Eric Carter that made for some gripping races, there were some successful passes in some of the pairings, something too often missing on the majority of World Cup dual courses. Chausson and Lopes had been the fastest qualifiers and consequently got to choose their course every run. "Lane choice was definitely key," said Lopes afterwards. "You saw some people pass, but

After skipping the second half of the World Cup dual season because of nagging injuries, Anne-Caroline Chausson is back. On Thursday the French Volvo-Cannondale rider was fastest in dual qualifying, posting a time of 44.93 on the world championship course in Vail, Colorado. Just a breath behind Chausson was 2001 World Cup dual champion Leigh Donovan (Schwinn), who was .06 seconds behind Chausson. Australia’s Katrina Miller (Jamis) was third, followed by Tai-Lee Muxlow (Dirt Works), Tara Llanes (Yeti-Pearl Izumi) and Sabrina Jonnier (Intense). Only 13 women started on Thursday, meaning the

There would be no racing today at the 2001 World Mountain-bike Championships. Events for the junior and under-23 cross-country riders were postponed in keeping with the national day of mourning in honor of the victims of this past Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. Instead, riders, spectators and support personnel took time, stopped, mourned the victims and celebrated each other in the beauty of this high mountain setting. As a video displayed breathtaking vistas of this great country to background music of “America the Beautiful,” the large “family”

American riders dominated almost all aspects of the Masters World Championships of mountain biking this past weekend in Bromont, Quebec. The U.S. performance continued on Sunday in the downhill as Americans took gold medals in 6 of 13 categories and 13 of 31 medals awarded (6 gold, 2 silver, 5 bronze), repeating a stellar performance on Saturday in the cross-country. France finished second in the medal count with 6 medals (4 gold, 2 bronze) and Canada third (4 medals - 3 silver, 1 bronze). 495 riders from 21 countries participated at the World Masters Championships, ranging in age from 30

Odds and ends from last weekend’s World Cup final at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec. — With Mick Hannah out for the rest of the year after breaking his collarbone at Mount Snow, Global Racing has signed 16-year-old Finnish junior Matti Lekihoinen to race for the team at the world championships in Vail. Team director Martin Whiteley said if Koinen wins at world’s his team will sign the reigning European junior downhill champion for 2002. — GT’s Steve Peat was at Mont-Ste-Anne but didn’t race. The early-season World Cup leader is still recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in practice at the

The chase for the overall World Cup downhill title has come down to one run — fastest man take all. That’s because Global Racing’s Greg Minnaar closed the gap between himself and Nicolas Vouilloz (Vouilloz Racing) to just eight points after posting the top time in Saturday morning’s semifinal at the World Cup finals in Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec. By winning the semis Minnaar picked up 50 points, while Vouilloz was third earning just 30 points, finishing 3.02 seconds behind Minnaar’s time of 5:03.76. The point differential between any of the first six places in the finals would be enough push

Though six events will be contested at this weekend’s World Cup finals in Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, only two will have significant bearing on the top of the overall standings — the men’s downhill and the men’s cross-country. Saturday will feature a battle between Nicolas Vouilloz (Vouilloz Racing) and Greg Minnaar (Global Racing) to decide the downhill championship. Coming in Vouilloz has a slim 28-point lead over the 19-year-old from South Africa. Vouilloz has won five of the last six overall titles, including three straight, but has struggled this year, winning just one race. Minnaar,

Two weeks ago Greg Minnaar earned a place in history when he won the downhill at Kaprun, Austria, becoming the first rider from the African continent to win a World Cup race. Now the 19-year-old is chasing an even bigger achievement, the World Cup overall title. When the curtain raises on the men’s downhill at the World Cup finals in Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec on Saturday, the Global Racing rider will find just 28 points separating himself from a storied place in the annals of mountain-bike racing. That’s the margin the unassuming teenager — currently second overall — needs to make up to overtake

It has to be categorized as mountain biking’s most difficult paycheck, but endurance specialists Tinker Juarez and Cristina Begy finally got their payoff at noon Sunday, when each was crowned as 24-hour U.S. solo champion at Winter Park, Colorado. For Juarez, that term endurance specialist is something new, and if you think it sounds like a rough career switch for a 40-year-old, well it is. But the veteran Volvo-Cannondale pro has always been known to train with superhuman volume, so going around the clock isn’t that much of a stretch. The final numbers posted by Juarez were staggering: 27

Cross-country veteran Tinker Juarez came to Winter Park, Colorado, on Saturday to chase his fourth national championship, and this time it’s a new title he’s after. At the first-ever national championship for the off-road 24-hour solo competitors, the Volvo-Cannondale rider, who already owns three cross-country championships, made his intentions clear early when he posted the fastest first lap time of anyone -- including the riders racing in team categories. The 24 Hours of Adrenalin NORBA National Championship race started at noon Saturday, and on his first circuit of the 8-mile course,

Stop No. 4 of the NORBA National Championship Series kicks off Friday at Mammoth Mountain. It will mark the 13th time — every year of its existence — that the NORBA series has come to this growing four-season resort town, which sits high up in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada range. Friday’s action will feature cross-country racing with the pro women slated to get going at 11 a.m. local time, followed by the men at 2 p.m. The biggest challenge for all the competitors will be the thin air, as much of the cross-country course rises above 8000 feet.

Eleven years after the first world mountain bike championships were held here, big-time mountain biking made a rousing return to Durango, Colorado on Friday evening. Fans young and old lined the downtown streets of the Southwestern tourist town to take in a parade, amateur team relay race, and the pro time trial, all precursors to this weekend’s World Cup event. The time trial was the highlight of the evening, as riders navigated a criterium-like course that included trips through two local businesses: a warehouse-style brew pub, and one of the local bike shops. Many of the top pros chose to

The World Cup mountain-biking circus makes its return to North America Saturday, as the world’s best gravity riders take on the steep vertical of Grouse Mountain just outside Vancouver, British Columbia. Action commences at 11 a.m. PST with the downhill semifinals. The downhill finals follow at 2 p.m., then it’s the dual finals at 6 p.m. The downhill course, which was designed by North Vancouver native and Ford-Devinci rider Andrew Shandro, is short by World Cup standards at just 1.5 kilometers, but that doesn’t mean it will be an easy ride. Already the twisty, tree-lined track has claimed

Right about now Steve Peat may be wondering if he really wants the UCI’s No. 1 downhill ranking. For the second time in his career Peat has been taken down by injury following an ascent to the No. 1 spot. This time Peat separated his shoulder during a practice run at Grouse Mountain on Thursday. The resort is 20 minutes outside Vancouver, British Columbia, and is the site of his weekend’s World Cup stop. According to fellow GT downhiller Katja Repo, Peat’s hand came off his bars heading into one of the course’s wooded sections, and he was tossed off his bike and into a tree. The injury will

When the sun set on the towering ski jumps and half-finished condominiums in Park City, Utah, Thursday evening, the ever-present Olympic anticipation had been replaced, temporarily, by a more immediate buzz. The Chevy Trucks National Championship Series is in town, and the hot topic in the pits is the upcoming battle between Steve Peat and Nicolas Vouilloz, the world’s No. 1- and No. 2-ranked downhillers. GT’s Peat recently took something from Vouilloz, something the Frenchman feels is his: the UCI No. 1. Vouilloz, who owned the top ranking for nearly two years straight, is out to get it

British cross-country champion Caroline Alexander has recovered quite nicely from the tough HP Women's Challenge road race in Idaho that she finished last Sunday. Alexander won the Chevy Trucks NORBA cross-country race at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, Friday. To earn her first NORBA win, the Specialized rider had to stop the winning machine that is Mary Grigson. The Australian Gary Fisher-Subaru rider had won five in a row, a streak dating back to last season, and was attempting to tie the record of six set by Juli Furtado in 1993. "I'm really, really surprised," said Alexander

A couple of years ago Ryder Hesjedal was a surprising young talent, a quiet kid from Canada with the physique of a high school basketball player, not a professional mountain biker. When interviewed, he didn’t say much. Now Hesjedal’s 21, and he’s won some big races. When he speaks, as he did after winning his first NORBA cross-country race at Deer Valley, Utah, Friday afternoon, you can’t believe the bravado. Even more surprising, however, is the aggression with which Hesjedal rides. Sometimes that has hurt the 21-year-old Subaru-Gary Fisher rider, but sometimes it can be crushing to the

Trek-Volkswagen rider Roland Green continued his dominance of the second leg of the NORBA National series by adding a short track title to Friday’s cross-country victory, while Chrissy Redden (Subaru-Gary Fisher) took the women’s race. The highly tactical men’s race began with Green sitting on the front of the fast-moving group in the early laps, challenged strongly by Snow Summit short track champ Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and his teammate Pavel Tcherkassov. In those first several laps, Hesjedal fell victim to trouble with his single-chainring setup. He was forced to dismount