Kabush, Koerber Take Wins; Pendrel, JHK Take Titles

Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) and Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher) won their respective Pro XTC cross-country races in the Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain in New York on Saturday, the final race on the USA Cycling Professional Cross Country Tour.

Kabush overcame a close encounter with a stump to take the win in 1:38:46 ahead of Max Plaxton (Sho-Air-Specialized) with Todd Wells (Specialized) third.

“The last month has been awesome,” said Kabush, who won at Mt. Snow the week before the Windham Mountain race.

“Hopefully I’ll stay healthy and get to Australia in one piece,” he said, referencing next month’s mountain bike world championships in Canberra.

Koerber, meanwhile, celebrated her first pro win in five years by crossing just ahead of Luna teammates Georgia Gould and Catharine Pendrel, who finished second and third, respectively.

After a flat, Koerber attacked right out of the tech zone, quickly catching and passing her rivals to retake the lead. She flatted one more time, but had enough of a lead to nurse her brand-new Gary Fisher 29er back to the tech zone for a second wheel change before racing off once more, this time to her first victory in a pro race since 2004.

“I really needed to suffer,” she said. “I was into it, I didn’t care how bad it hurt, I was going to win. Winning is a whole level of punishing yourself. You have to want it, because those girls are really fast.”

Tour Leader

With his fifth-place finish at Windham, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Gary Fisher) locked up the first-ever Pro XCT championship ahead of Sid Taberlay (AUS/Sho-air-Specialized).

For the women Pendrel pulled off the narrow series victory ahead of teammate Gould.

The final 2009 USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour presented by Sho-air standings are as follows:

Final Rankings USA Cycling Professional Cross Country Tour presented by Sho-air

Men’s Individual Standings
1. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Gary Fisher) 550
2. Sid Taberlay (AUS/Sho-air-Specialized) 530
3. Max Plaxton (CAN/Sho-air-Specialized) 525
4. Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized Factory Racing) 505
5. Geoff Kabush (CAN/Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) 470

Women’s Individual Standings
1. Catherine Pendrel (CAN/Luna) 595
2. Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna) 580
3. Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Gary Fisher) 480
4. Katerina Nash (Truckee, Calif./Luna) 420
5. Pua Sawicki (Yucapia, Calif./Ellsworth) 385

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