Jeep King of the Mountain #1 - NE

San Luis Obispo, CA, USA, June 19, 2005

Results

Lopes & Kintner take out first KOM series

For professional mountain bike racers and California residents Brian Lopes and Jill Kintner, it's never too early to get a leg up - or two as the case may be - on the competition, and the pair delivered on that premise by racing their way to respective men's and women's titles and earning critical points at the first stop of the Jeep® King of the Mountain series in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

With crystal blue skies, pleasant temperatures and a crowd of over 2,000 local and regional race enthusiasts helping create an unmatched race environment at the renowned Madonna Inn, 16 of the most decorated national and international professional mountain bike racers battled one another and a physically demanding, high-speed racecourse known as "the Y" for a share of the richest prize purse in the sport.

Lopes, one of the most recognizable faces in the sport and mountain bike racing's career victories leader, held off a strong charge by 2004 world champion Michael Prokop of the Czech Republic to capture the title in the championship heat. The Temecula Canyon, Calif., resident earlier in the day took care of defending Jeep King of the Mountain champion Wade Bootes of Australia and Chris Powell of La Jolla, Calif. The top-seeded Prokop earned a spot in the finals by taking down San Diego's Mike King, a former world champion who has amassed 67 career top-three finishes, and Brian Schmith of Lancaster, Calif. Bootes held on for third place in the competition after defeating King in the consolation heat. Rounding out the standings were Nathan Rennie of Australia, runner-up at the 2005 U.S. mountain bike open and 2005 Australian mountain bike open and a previous winner of the Australian national series championship and Sea Otter championship, Powell, local fan favorite Travis Collins of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Brian Schmith of Lancaster, Calif.

In the women's bracket, top seed Kintner swept through the competition without losing a single race, knocking off fellow Golden State racer Tara Llanes of Corona, Calif., a four-time Winter X Games medalist and 2003 U.S. mountain x champion, in the championship heat. To get to the finals, Kintner topped defending Jeep King of the Mountain champion, Katrina Miller of Australia and Marla Streb of Los Oslo, Calif. Llanes had an equally impressive day on the racecourse, topping Vanessa Quin of New Zealand, the 2004 world champion and England's Fionn Griffiths, the 2003 NORBA champion. Quin captured third place by knocking off Miller in the consolation heat. Melissa Buhl of Chandler, Ariz., placed fifth, followed by Anneke Beerten of the Netherlands, number one overall at the 2004 world cup, Griffiths and Streb.

Results

Men
 
1 Brian Lopes (USA)
2 Michael Prokop (USA)
3 Wade Bootes (Aus)
4 Mike King (USA)
5 Nathan Rennie (Aus)
6 Chris Powell (USA)
7 Travis Collins (USA)
8 Brian Schmith (USA)
 
Women
 
1 Jill Kintner (USA)
2 Tara Llanes (USA)
3 Vanessa Quin (NZl)
4 Katrina Miller (Aus)
5 Melissa Buhl (USA)
6 Anneke Beerten (Ned)
7 Fionn Griffiths (GBr)
8 Marla Streb (USA)