By Jason Sumner, VeloNews Associate Editor
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More news from this summer’s biggest buzz race, the Jeep King of the Mountainmountain-bike event. Organizers have now settled on two of the three sites,with the opener slated for Wintergreen, Virginia on June 28-29 andthe finals taking place at Lake Tahoe, California, August 23-24.
The middle event will be held somewhere in Colorado, and with EclipseTV’s headquarters being in Vail, expect it to be somewhere in that vicinitywith Beaver Creek a strong possibility.
Eclipse has also released a preliminary line-up of the two-rider teamswho will be competing in the gated-racing format. In the release they saidthere would be eight teams, but have only seven so far. The glaring omissionis a squad that includes Anne-Caroline Chausson. Pair her up with justabout any halfway competent Frenchman, and they’d be in the hunt. It wouldalso be easy to add another Australian team, with Tai-Lee Muxlo and anynumber of the guys, say Chris Kovarik or Nathan Rennie.
For now, though, got to tab the duo of Brian Lopes and Leigh Donovanas the early favorites, with Eric Carter and Jill Kintner just a breathbehind. Here’s all the rosters.
USA 1: Brian Lopes, Leigh Donovan
USA 2: Eric Carter, Jill Kintner
USA 3: Mike King, Tara Llanes
France: Cédric Gracia, Sabrina Jonnier
Australia: Mick Hannah, Katrina Miller
Great Britain: Steve Peat, Tracey Moseley
The Netherlands: Bas De Bever, Anneke Beerten
IRON HORSE EXPANDS
It’s a little on the remote side, but Durango, Colorado’s Iron HorseBicycle Classic has got to be one of the best non-National Series eventsin the U.S. Besides the classic road race to Silverton and a cross-countryevent that always pulls in some big names, this year the IHBC added a criteriumand a downhill.
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The downhill race was held on the Log Chutes trail near Junction Creekwest of town on 4-mile course that former pro Elke Brutsaert called reallyburly. The best part of the race, though, was the finishing times. Themen’s pro winner crossed the line in 7:51.51, while the top women’s timewas 9:34.09. That’s way longer than anything you’ll ever see on the mainstreampro circuit, but for my money it’s a much greater test of the all-aroundrider. Sure you still got to have big onions, but you’ve got to be fittoo.
GOOD PLACE TO BE
Talk about a mountain-bike friendly state. On Wednesday, the governorof West Virginia actually declared June “Mountain Bike Month” at a ceremonyat the state capital in Charleston.
“Mountain bikers of all ages and all skill levels come to West Virginiaevery year to enjoy our state’s magnificent scenery and unsurpassed hospitality,”Governor Bob Wise said.
Among others in attendance was Granny Gear’s Laird Knight, West VirginiaMountain Bike Association president Matt Marcus, and Steve Thaxton, theWest Virginia Mountain Bike team director.
BOOTES BACK IN ACTION
Got an e-mail from Wade Bootes this week, and the Aussie gated specialistsays he’ll be ready to go come the World Cup stop in Fort William thisweekend. “Jumped a few doubles today so I am off to Scotland in the morning,”Bootes wrote.
You may remember that the Trek-Volkswagen rider broke his collarbonewhile contesting the Australian national track championships.
THEY SAID IT
Never have enough space for everything in the magazine, so here’s someof the best leftover quotes from the opening NORBA race at Big Bear Lake,California two weeks ago.
“I blew. It was horrible.”
— Reigning world champion Roland Green on his bad day in thecross country.
“It’s not that important.”
— Canadian Ryder Hesjedal on the end of he and Roland Green’s20-race NORBA win streak.
“I was an accident waiting to happen.”
— American Marla Streb on her crash-marred run in the downhillfinals.
“I wish people would just stop talking about it. I feel fine.”
— Tara Llanes reacting to a question about her recovery froma season-ending crash last year.
“I wish someone would talk to me.”
— Mountain cross winner Jill Kintner on the prospect of beingrecruited by a pro mountain bike team.
“You have to forget about it, because if you don’t that’s whatmakes you put on the brakes.”
— Marla Streb on racing the day after the death of a fellowpro racer.
