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National Mountain Bike Series #5 (NMBS) - NE
East Coast National, Windham, New York, USA, July 11-13, 2008
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Race 6 - July 12: Elite Men Cross Country
Toulouse beats Craig in a last lap shock
By Dave McElwaine in Windham, New York
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Mathieu Toulous (Maxxis) pulled off the upset of the season by slicing through the field for three laps, then taking on United States National Champion Adam Craig (Giant) in an epic half-lap battle. Craig, known for his descending prowess, could not make up enough time on the final descent to get by Toulouse.
The race was decided in an exciting final sprint to the line where Touluse won by a foot. Toulouse's team-mate and series leader Geoff Kabush did not race at Windham in order to prepare for the upcoming World Cup race in Canada.
Toulouse was not a factor early in the race as he not only had a poor starting grid, but also got caught up in a log jam where the racers first entered singletrack. "It's a fire road start and bottles up pretty quick," said Toulouse. "I had to get off my bike. I had to start slow also because it was pretty hot but it worked out pretty well for me.
"I kept it under control and just rode it like a time trial," he added. "This is the best kind of course for me, climbing and east coast singletrack."
Jeremiah Bishop (Trek / VW) was leading the race as it entered the final climb, but dropped down to third by the finish line. Sam Jurecovic (U-23 National Team) finished fourth, his second XC podium this season, while Sam Schultz (Gary Fisher/Subaru) had his best finish in fifth place.
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"I cramped," explained Bishop of his tumble down the standings. "I got a bottle [at the feed zone], took a sip, and it slipped right out of my hand."
With temperatures in the high 80s with high humidity, most of the racers felt that the weather was a significant factor in the race. "Jeremiah [Bishop] had me with one lap to go then we came back together," said Craig. "I was trying not to ride as hard as I could since I'm pretty roasted from training a bunch. Then Matt came through on the last climb and it was time to get that 140 percent work, which I did."
When Bishop and Craig headed up the hill the last time, everyone assumed that the race would be determined by a blazing fast descent. Both are among the best descenders in the business. With Toulouse and Jurekovic 40 seconds behind the leaders, it seemed impossible that anyone but Craig or Bishop could win. When the final sprint took place, even the race announcer was fooled into thinking that Bishop was involved.
The new cross country course at Windham Mountain has become an instant hit with the racers. "That is a hard, proper, mountain bike course," said Craig.
How it Unfolded
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Todd Wells (GT Bicycles) won the start with Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Gary Fisher/Subaru), and Carl Decker (Giant), close behind. As the group headed into the uphill single-track, many riders got jammed up and had to dismount their bikes.
At the end of the first lap Craig led Wells by a few seconds. Bishop, JHK, and Ryan Trebon (Kona) were behind by less than 10 seconds each. Trebon looked strong early but broke his front derailleur on lap two and had to settle for an eighth place finish
Craig continued to lead Bishop and JHK at the end of the second lap. Sam Jurekovic had moved into fourth place, followed by Toulouse and Schultz. It was obvious at this point that Toulouse was riding very well, as he had already passed about a dozen riders.
After three laps the leaders had split into three groups of two. Bishop led Craig by a few feet, followed by Toulouse and Jurekovic who were 40 seconds behind, while another 30 seconds back were Schultz and JHK.
On the final lap Bishop cramped and fell behind as Toulouse surged to the lead. Toulouse made it onto the descent first, but Craig was not able to make contact until one kilometre before the finish.
Toulouse came around the final turn to the finish first, but Craig briefly got by Toulouse during their sprint. However, Toulouse poured on the gas and crossed the line first by about a foot.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Dave McElwaine/www.trailwatch.net
- Andy Schultz (Kenda/Titus) has been getting good results.
- Manny Prado (Sho-Air)
- Riders at the start of the men's race.
- Todd Wells (GT/Pacific) is kissed at the line by his wife Meg.
- Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Gary Fisher/Subaru) is looking for his first win.
- Todd Wells (GT/Pacific) winning the start as he usually does.
- Todd Wells (GT/Pacific) leading into the single-track.
- Barry Wicks (Kona) riding single-track.
- Andy Schultz (Titus/Kenda) ducking branches in the woods.
- Sam Schultz (Subaru/Gary Fisher) riding in sixth place.
- Mathieu Toulouse (Maxxis) working his way up in the field.
- Carl Decker (Giant) crossing a flyover.
- Eric Batty (Trek) would finish 12th on the day.
- Ryan Trebon (Kona) looked very strong early in the race.
- Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW) leading Adam Craig (Giant) on last lap.
- Adam Craig (Giant) with less than a lap to go.
- Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW) looked like he was on a mission.
- Mathieu Toulouse (Maxxis) riding in third place ahead of Sam Jurekovic (U-23 National Team).
- Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Gary Fisher/Subaru) riding in sixth place on final climb.
- Derek Zandstra (3 Roc Racing) went on to finish seventh.
- Mathieu Toulouse (Maxxis) beats Adam Craig (Giant) in a sprint finish.
- Adam Craig (Giant) had to settle for second place.
- Sam Jurekovic (U-23 National Team) finished fourth, his best finish to date.
- Podium (L-R): Sam Jurekovic (U-23 National), Adam Craig (Giant), Mathieu Toulouse (Maxxis), and Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW).
- Sam Schultz's first visit to the podium got him soaked with champagne.
Results
1 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis 1.35.11 2 Adam Craig (USA) Giant MTB Team 0.00 3 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek/VW 0.19 4 Sam Jurekovic (USA) U23 National Team 1.27 5 Sam Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 2.20 6 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 3.26 7 Derek Zandstra (Can) 3 Rox Racing 3.50 8 Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona 5.04 9 Andy Schultz (USA) Kenda Titus Hayes 6.04 10 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 6.50 11 Adam Morka (Can) 3 Rox Cycling 8.31 12 Eric Batty (Can) Trek Bicycles Store Team 8.38 13 Jeff Schalk (USA) Trek VW- East 8.44 14 Colin Cares (USA) U23 National Team 9.47 15 Thomas Turner (USA) Outspokin Bicycles 9.48 16 Samuel Koerber (USA) Gary Fisher 29Er Crew 9.56 17 Marko Lalonde (USA) Gary Fisher 29/Bkb/T6 10.01 18 Troy Wells (USA) Tokyo Joes 10.34 19 Manuel Prado (CRc) Sho-Air 11.50 20 Spencer Paxson (USA) Team S&M Young Guns 12.12 21 Adam Snyder (USA) 3-D Racing 12.29 22 Justin Lindine (USA) Target Training/Windham Mtn Outifitting 12.41 23 Jesse Jakomait (Can) Jakomait 13.05 24 Alex Grant (USA) Rocky Mountain Bicycles 13.33 25 Tad Elliott (USA) U23 National Team 13.50 26 Travis Woodruff (USA) Bmc/Momentumendurance 14.16 27 Bryan Alders (USA) Mona-Vie/Cannondale 15.11 28 Travis Livermon (USA) Kobold Watch Comp 15.20 29 Mitchell Hoke (USA) Tokyo Jos 15.53 30 Ryan Woodall (USA) Industrynine/Powerbar 16.21 31 Christian Favata (USA) Favatas Table Rock 16.28 32 Aaron Snyder (USA) Scotts Bikes 16.30 33 Drew Edsall (USA) Endurancefactor.Com/Scott 17.05 34 Mcconnell Franklin (USA) Team Devo 17.10 35 Robert Marion (USA) Kenda Titus 17.11 36 Lucas Livermon (USA) Inland Construction 17.55 37 Dylan Alesio (USA) Fuji Bikes 19.15 38 Matthew Okeefe (USA) CCB/Cannondale 19.28 39 Andrew Alesio (USA) Fuji Bikes 19.35 40 Kirk Turner (USA) Bikeman.Com 20.04 41 Stephen Ettinger (USA) Black Diamond Sports Therapy 20.07 42 Aaron Oakes (USA) Bulldog/Campor 20.10 43 Blake Zumbrunnen (USA) Revolution/Crank Bros 21.21 44 Kyle Douglas (Can) 3 Rox Racing 22.02 45 Greg Carpenter (USA) Devo 22.40 46 Matt Rotroff (USA) Btd/Inland Construction 24.10 47 Ethan Gilmour (USA) U23 National MTB Team 25.29 48 Nathan Wyatt (USA) Carolina Fatz/Santa Cruz/1-9 25.58 49 Michael Mooradian (USA) Spin/RR Donnelly 26.32 50 Jay Richards (USA) Salsa/Maplelag Resort 31.20 51 Alex Ryan (USA) Kobold/Cannondale 32.32 52 Bryan Fawley (USA) Park Place Lexus 33.54 Behind one lap 53 Chris Peterson (USA) Devo 54 Ray Storm (USA) 138 Racing.Com DNF Carl Decker (USA) Giant MTB Team DNF Cody Peterson (USA) Scott Bicycles DNF Mitchell Peterson (USA) Mona Vie/Cannondale DNF Timothy Madgwick (NZl) DNF Mike Joos (USA) Bikeman.Com DNF Chris Peariso (USA) Adventure 212 /Titus DNF Charles Pendry (USA) Inland - Btd DNF Todd Wells (USA) GT Bikes DNF Jesse Lalonde (USA) Gary Fisher 29/T6/Bkb DNF Daniel Vaillancourt (USA) Toshiba/Santo Pb Herbalife DNF Andy Guptill (USA) Windham Mtn Outfitters Overall standings after five NMBS rounds 1 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 699 pts 2 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 588 3 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 585 4 Carl Decker (USA) Giant Mtb Team 544 5 Sam Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 534 6 Andy Schultz (USA) Kenda Titus Hayes 525 7 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mtb Team 516 8 Ross Schnell (USA) Trek/VW 498 9 Adam Morka (Can) 3 Rox Cycling 432 10 Manuel Prado (CRc) Sho-Air 426 11 Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona 399 12 Cody Peterson (USA) Scott Bicycles 390 13 Adam Snyder (USA) 3-D Racing 381 14 Jeff Schalk (USA) Trek VW- East 371 15 Mike Phillips (USA) Adventure 212 366 16 Ryan Woodall (USA) Industrynine 345 17 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Trek/VW 335 18 Troy Wells (USA) Tokyo Joes 333 19 Dana Weber (USA) Trek VW/Westcoast 328 20 Robert Marion (USA) Kenda Titus 326 21 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis 324 22 Ignacio Torres (Mex) Turbo Bikes 314 23 Sam Jurekovic (USA) U23 National Team 310 24 Tad Elliott (USA) U23 National Team 302 25 Charles Pendry (USA) Inland - Btd 297 26 Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factor 275 27 Colin Cares (USA) U23 National Team 273 28 Mitchell Hoke (USA) Tokyo Jos 269 29 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona Les Gets 259 30 Samuel Koerber (USA) Gary Fisher 29Er 224 31 Mitchell Peterson (USA) Mona Vie/Cannonda 222 32 Tim Olson (USA) Trek/VW Westcoas 213 33 Derek Zandstra (Can) 3 Rox Racing 206 34 Chris Peariso (USA) Adventure 212 /Titus 203 35 Alex Grant (USA) Rocky Mountain 195 36 Spencer Paxson (USA) Team S&M Young 189 37 Sid Taberlay (Aus) Avanti Sram 182 38 Travis Woodruff (USA) Bmc/Momentumend 180 39 Sean Donovan (USA) Cytomax/Khs 166 40 Robert Herber (USA) Intense 165 41 Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain 163 42 Eric Batty (Can) Trek Bicycles 162 43 Travis Livermon (USA) Kobold Watch Com 160 44 Evan Plews (USA) Scottusa/Csc 159 45 Mcconnell Franklin (USA) Team Devo 155 46 Todd Wells (USA) Gt Bikes 155 47 Stefan Widmer (Can) Rocky Mountain/Dif 155 48 Tim Allen (USA) Voodoo 151 49 Ken Burt (USA) Jamis Hayes Sun Ringle 150 50 Aroussen Laflamme (Can) Webcor-Alto-Velo 150 51 Ricky Federau (Can) 137 52 Matt Rotroff (USA) Btd/Inland Construction 125 53 Michael Lee (USA) Trek/VW West Coast 121 54 Daniel Sessford (USA) Blue Competiton 119 55 Kevin Smallman (USA) Sobe Cannondale 118 56 Matthew Hadley (Can) Xprezo 118 57 Pablo Voigt (Mex) Turbo 117 58 Bryan Alders (USA) Mona-Vie/Cannondale 115 59 Bryan Fawley (USA) Park Place Lexus 115 60 Paul Hanson (USA) Sobe Cannondale 112 61 Eric Salstrand (USA) Bicycle Haus/Oakley 111 62 Mike Andres (USA) Trek/VW West Coast 108 63 Blake Zumbrunnen (USA) Revolution/Crank 106 64 Thomas Turner (USA) Outspokin Bicycle 105 65 Damian Calvert (USA) Sobe Cannondale 102 66 Marko Lalonde (USA) Gary Fisher 29/Bkb 99 67 Rotem Ishai (Isr) Spider-Kona Bikes 96 68 Kirk Turner (USA) Bikeman.Com 90 69 Kyle Douglas (Can) 3 Rox Racing 90 70 Peter Glassford (Can) Trek Bicycle Store 90 71 Nat Ross (USA) Subaru-Gary Fishe 88 72 Drew Edsall (USA) Endurancefactor. 87 73 Justin Lindine (USA) Target Training 84 74 Dylan Stucki (USA) Mafia Racing 84 75 Lucas Livermon (USA) Inland Construction 83 76 Trevor Downing (USA) Devo 83 77 Jesse Jakomait (Can) Jakomait 81 78 Chad Wells (USA) 3D Racing 81 79 Martin Lazarski (Can) Rocky Mountain 81 80 Stephen Ettinger (USA) Black Diamond 79 81 Brett Morgan (USA) Sobe/Cannondale 77 82 Colin Osborn (USA) Team Bikeparts 72 83 Yuki Saito (USA) Fuentes Design 70 84 Paul Freiwald (USA) Titus Cycles 67 85 Sedly Rivas (Mex) Turbo 63 86 Michael Mccalla (USA) Spinner/Waltwork 63 87 Chris Peterson (USA) Devo 60 88 Kevin Bradford-Parish (USA) Redline 60 89 Scott Keller (USA) Schampa/Tribe 59 90 Christian Favata (USA) Favatas Table 58 91 Alex Ryan (USA) Kobold/Cannondale 58 92 Keith Hickerson (USA) Tamarack 58 93 Aaron Snyder (USA) Scotts Bikes 56 94 David Williams (USA) 56 95 Ben Thompson (USA) Sobe-Cannondale 54 96 Emmanuel Valencia (Mex) Turbo 54 97 Christian Ball (USA) Mafia 52 98 Leonardo Sandoval (USA) Ur Mamas House 52 99 Aren Timmel (USA) Team Chico 52 100 Chance Noble (USA) Calif Giant 50 101 Brian Bain (Can) Cmc/Bow Cycle 50 102 Chanoch Redlich (Isr) Citycyclingclub 50 103 Dylan Alesio (USA) Fuji Bikes 46 104 Matthew Okeefe (USA) Ccb/Cannondale 44 105 Dustin Wanstrath (USA) Tamarack Resort 44 106 Garnet Vertican (USA) Odi /Southridge 44 107 Miguel Valadez (Mex) Valle Congelado 44 108 Amon Pease (USA) Team Lost Coast 43 109 Andrew Alesio (USA) Fuji Bikes 42 110 Nathan Ringquist (USA) 42 111 Ethan Gilmour (USA) U23 National Mtb 40 112 Shannon Boffeli (USA) Revolution Mtn 39 113 Brian Astell (USA) Lost Coast Brewer 39 114 Aaron Oakes (USA) Bulldog/Campor 38 115 Duncan Meyers (USA) Norcal Bike Sport 38 116 Kenji Takeya (Jpn) Specialized Japan 37 117 Charles Jenkins (USA) Ie Bikes Racing 37 118 Greg Carpenter (USA) Devo 35 119 Dallas Morris (Can) H&R Block 35 120 Christian Helmig (USA) Pivot/Mad Duck 35 121 Nathan Wyatt (USA) Carolina Fatz 32 122 Michael Mooradian (USA) Spin/Rr Donnelly 32 123 Kamden Reedy (USA) Four Unity Racing 31 124 Jay Richards (USA) Salsa/Maplelag 30 125 Jake Wells (USA) Mafiaracing.Com 29 126 Ray Storm (USA) 138 Racing.Com 26 127 John Salskov (USA) Team Bicycle Haus 26 128 James Williams (USA) Sobe/Cannondale 25 129 Steve Kinney (USA) Steven K Sports 25 130 Cameron Jette (Can) Trek Bicycle Store 20 131 Jason First (USA) 20 132 Nigel Hill (USA) TrekVWwestcoast 18 133 Andre Sutton (Can) Hardcore Racing 8 134 Eric Ransom (USA) Team Tamarack 6 135 Nate Whitman (USA) Hammer Nutrition 5
