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Jeep King of the Mountain #2 - NE
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, July 23, 2005
Prokop and Berteen Win Michigan Jeep KOM
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For mountain bike racers Brian Lopes and Jill Kintner, the second leg of the Jeep King of the Mountain 2005 series in Grand Rapids, Mich., was supposed to be a prime opportunity to further demonstrate the American teammates’ dominance thus far in the series. But international champions Michael Prokop of the Czech Republic and Anneke Beerten of the Netherlands had a different game plan in mind as they dominated the competition and captured the respective men’s and women’s titles.
In front of an crowd of more than 5,000 cycling enthusiasts and Camp Jeep® On The Road attendees at the scenic Pando Ski Area, 16 of the world’s top male and female mountain bike racers gathered to compete for a share of the $100,000 cash purse and the keys to a new 2006 Jeep Commander. While plenty of sunshine and moderate temperatures made for near ideal race conditions, the racers still had to contend with a racecourse known simply as “The Y” that demanded close attention to skill, strategy and technique on every run.
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Prokop, mountain bike racing’s 2004 World Champion and runner-up at the first race of the series in San Luis Obispo, Calif., held off defending Jeep King of the Mountain Champion Wade Bootes in the Championship Heat to nab top honors and position himself for the overall season title. Along the way, he disposed of open qualifier Levi Kyser of Central Michigan and Lopes of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., who currently ranks as the sports career victories leader. Bootes’ tremendous day of racing included wins over Grand Rapids’ own Ryan Mulder, an open qualifier, and San Diego’s Mike King, a former World Champion who has amassed 67 career top-three finishes. Lopes secured third place after defeating King in the Consolation Heat.
On the women’s side, Beerten, number one overall at the 2004 World Cup, stormed through the competition before downing Tara Llanes of Los Alamitos, Calif., a four-time Winter X Games medalist and 2003 U.S. Mountain X Champion, in the Championship Heat. To reach the finals, Beerten defeated open qualifier Michelle Dumaresq, the reigning Canadian Downhill Mountain Bike Champion and Kintner of Seattle, Wash., who amassed an astounding 70 career BMX titles before taking up mountain bike racing, where she earned the 2004 NORBA Championship and the 2005 Sea Otter Championship. Llanes, who also placed second at the first Jeep King of the Mountain event of the season, made it to the final race of the day by winning match-ups against 2003 NORBA National Champion Joanna Petterson of Folsom, Calif., and Australia’s Katrina Miller, the defending Jeep King of the Mountain Champion and winner of three World Cup championships. Kinter held on for third place by beating Miller in the Consolation Heat.
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The Jeep King of the Mountain Series now heads to Jack Frost Mountain in the Pocono Mountains, Pa., for the finale on Sunday, August 14. There, the athletes will be competing for double points toward the final standings.
Results
Men 1 Michael Prokop (Cze) 2 Wade Bootes (Aus) 3 Brian Lopes (USA) 4 Mike King (USA) Women 1 Anneke Beerten (Ned) 2 Tara Llanes (USA) 3 Jill Kintner (USA) 4 Katrina Miller (Aus)
