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Cactus Cup Stage Race - SR
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, September 19-21, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 2 - September 20: Super D
Jurekovic and Emmett win Super D
By Dave McElwaine in Las Vegas
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After a mishap at the start that very easily could have cost him the race, Sam Jurekovic (USA U-23 National Team) won the 8.1-mile Cactus Cup Super D in a sprint finish with Sid Taberly (Team Shoair). Tim Allen (Waste Management) finished third, the same as he did last night in the Time Trial. World Champion Christophe Sauser (Specialized) who also got tangled at the start was fourth, 1:24 behind the leaders.
In the women’s race, Kelli Emmett (Giant) made it two wins in two days, beating Maureen Kunz (Lost Coast Brewery) by about one minute.
"The course was a blast. It was super fun," said Emmett after the race. "We had a good tailwind so it felt effortless for a large part of the race. You were going pretty fast. I felt like I was going 20 miles per hour out there."
Emmett added, "I think the climbs actually saved me today. Maureen was descending great… On the first climb I got a gap then there’s a false flat after the drainage ditch where she caught me. So, I just gassed it."
The Cactus Cup Super D course was the longest that riders have ever faced. The Le Mans start was intended to separate riders as passing on most of the course was next to impossible. Racers headed out onto rolling singletrack but quickly faced some tough uphill switchbacks on a section of trail called White Rhino. Several riders were seen running their bikes up this section.
Racers then descended for well over two miles into Cottowood Valley before starting the rolling uphill singletrack that leads into a box canyon called The Hurl. It was somewhere in this rocky section of the course that the men’s leader, Carl Decker (Giant), flatted. He was able to ride in on his rim to finish the race.
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The course finished up with a long sprint across the desert followed by a steep, rocky descent into the old western town of Blue Diamond.
"At the start of the race I got my pedal caught on Sauser’s saddle so I think we both got into the singletrack in the last quarter of the field" explained Jurekovic. "I pulled a couple of fairly aggressive moves under the bridge and on the climb right after the tunnel."
Jurekovic added "I caught Carl (Decker) and Sid (Taberly) with about one quarter to go and then Carl flatted. I then chased down Sid and caught him at the top of the last climb and held his wheel on the descent. It got a little sketchy. We kind of bumped a little but then I went in for the win."
Christophe Sauser also managed to nearly erase his poor start with his 4th place finish. He will certainly be the favorite in tomorrow’s cross country race.
"I loved the course; so smooth to ride with just one corner after the other. Then at the end it got rougher so you had to change your style" said Sauser. He added "It was hard - most of the time it was really hard pedaling."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Dave McElwaine /www.trailwatch.net
- Kelli Emmett (Giant) with a 22 second lead ten minutes into the race
- Kelli Emmett (Giant) heads into Cottonwood Valley
- Maureen Kunz (Lost Coast Brewery) chasing Emmett
- Carl Decker (Giant) and Sid Taberly (Team Shoair) with a 15 second lead over the chasers
- Tim Allen (Waste Management) chasing Decker and Tablerly
- Sam Jurekovic (U-23 National Team) quickly closing in on the leaders
- Christophe Sauser (Specialized) riding in 8th place
- Adam Snyder (3-D Racing) leads a group onto the "Viagra" downhill
- Cody Peterson (Scott) with Mustang Mountain in the background
- Kelli Emmett (Giant) wins the Super D by about a minute
- Maureen Kunz (Lost Coast Brewery) finishing a strong 2nd
- Sam Jurekovic (U-23 National Team) won the sprint finish with Taberly
- Sid Taberly (Team Shoair) lost his lead on the final descent but finished second
- Andreas Hestler (Rocky Mountain) flatted on the final descent and had to run his bike to the finish
- Tinker Jaurez (Mona Vie) did not have a chance to pre-ride the course but had a good run
- Team Las Vegas Cyclery at the finish of the race
- Jared Fisher's 62 pound bike (left) weighs nearly three times that of Cody Peterson's full-suspension Scott bike
Images by
Jonathan Devich/
- Red rocks and a bright blue sky provided the scenic backdrop for the stage 2 super D.
- Kelli Emmett (Giant) comes through already in the lead.
- Maureen Kunz (Lost Coast Brewery) passes by hot on the heels of Kelli Emmett.
- Riders were tire to tire heading out onto the super D course.
- Matt Ohran (Monavie Cannondale) hammering down the trail.
- Carl Decker (Giant) leading Sid Taberlay (ShoAir/Niner) through the Vegas countryside.
- Tim Allen (Waste Management) with his head down and going hard.
- Fabio Dias (Specialized/Elite Bikes) enjoys the smooth singletrack.
- Sam Jurekovic (U23 National Team) comes past on the way to his win.
- Cody Peterson (Scott) looked good on the top part of the course.
- Riders start to come through the tight and twisty course.
- Rich Weis (Taser/Kenda) takes the lead in the semi-pro mens category.
- Christoph Sauser (Specialized) navigating his way around some of the more delicate parts of the course.
- Kelli Emmett (Giant) traverses through some of the wide open country.
- Andy Rigel (Velo Bike Shop) held on for third today.
- Christoph Sauser (Specialized) gets to the bottom of one of the switchbacks.
- Christoph Sauser (Specialized) tries to make some time up on the leaders.
- A group of riders descends the twisty single track as they get closer to the finish.
Results
Elite men 1 Sam Jurekovic (U23 National Team) 33.16 2 Sid Taberlay (Team Sho-Air) 0.01 3 Tim Allen (Waste Management) 0.56 4 Christoph Sauser (Specialized) 0.57 5 Rotem Ishai (Kona - Spider C.C.) 1.24 6 Benjamin Sonntag (Fort Lewis College) 1.26 7 Andreas Hestler (Rocky Mountain Bicycles) 1.43 8 Adam Snyder (3-D Racing) 1.52 9 Manuel Prado (Team Sho-Air) 1.54 10 Tinker Juarez (Monavie Cannondale) 1.56 11 Andy Schultz (Kenda-Titus-Hayes) 2.05 12 Alex Grant (Rocky Mountain Bicycles) 2.05 13 Drew Edsall (Endurance Factor / Scott / Sram) 2.06 14 Sean Donovan (Cytomax/Khs) 2.17 15 Eric Salstrand 2.37 16 Nicholas Stevens (Waltworks/Fuentesdesign) 2.47 17 Cody Peterson (Scott Bicycles) 3.16 18 Carl Decker (Giant Bicycles) 4.24 19 Yuki Saito (Waltworks/Fuentesdesig) 7.09 20 Dave Harrison (Reddrox.Com) 7.49 21 Blake Zumbrunnenblake (Revolution / Peak Fasteners) 8.11 22 Fabio Dias (Specialized/Elite Bike) 10.27 DNF Eric Ransom (Tamarack Resort) Elite women 1 Kelli Emmett (Giant Bicycles) 38.53 2 Maureen Kunz (Lost Coast Brewery) 1.04 Semi-pro men 1 Rich Weis (Taser/Kenda) 36.53 2 Brandon Firth (Rocky Mountain) 1.52 3 Andy Rigel (Velo Bike Shop) 2.25 4 Matt Ohran (Monavie Cannondale) 3.13 5 Leonardo Cocholice (Specialized/Elite Bike) 8.51 Expert men 1 Mike Hileman 35.30 2 Brandon Cunningham 0.13 3 Scott Johnson 2.37 4 Bob Mccall 3.40 5 Todd Sims 4.58 6 Gary Strabala 7.09 7 Jared Fischer 7.15 8 Mark Jackson 7.46 9 Mark Roberts 7.46 DNF Scott Leland DNF Mike Pastore Sport men 1 Mike Olsen 42.23 2 Tim Moody 0.02 3 Ron Rudy 5.27 4 Thomas Pisillo 5.39 5 Brian Larson 6.31 6 Rod Lambourne 7.28 7 Sherman Garcia 8.05 8 Troy Hamilton 8.36 9 Reinaldo Anzola 8.40 10 Brian Wagner 9.09 11 James Carey 10.34 12 Brad Nukaya 10.35 13 Richard Nieves 11.19 14 Dean Maurer 12.48 15 Jeff Zebarth 14.46 16 Brennen Logue 18.03 17 Adam Ballner 20.01 18 Orion Fisher 39.07 19 Doug Murphy 41.22 20 David Gaskes 49.05 21 Dakota Fisher 49.48 DNF Jose Vega DNF Matthew Mitchell Sport women 1 Julie Conner 45.37 2 Michele Bliss 1.40 3 Heather Fischer 7.09 4 Francine Johnson 7.46 5 Jeanne Starling 9.33 6 Kruleski Jennifer 22.04 Beginner men 1 Jeffrey Johnson 37.52 2 Tony Gonzalez 1.05 3 Nando Ateho 2.55 4 Shawn Tyrone 3.04 5 John Langton 4.53 6 Mark Delahoussaymark 5.10 7 Scott Guyette 5.22 8 Eric Neuhaus 5.25 9 Mike Kennedy 5.36 10 Robert Stanley 5.40 11 Shane Haycock 5.46 12 Mark Synder 6.14 13 Rainer Grubmueller 8.30 14 Harold Uttke 9.52 15 Robert Imlay 11.36 16 David Herdell 11.42 17 Ian Beaman 12.42 18 Gary Fike 14.33 19 Kason Smith 20.47 DNF Jon Horenziak DNF Gary Fike DNF Joe Reid Singlespeed 1 1 Dejay Birtch (Niner Bikes) 37.34 2 John Mylne (Team Shoair/Niner) 0.11 3 Hauswald Yuri (Marin Bikes) 0.12 4 David Kelsey (Nu Vision Sport Optics) 1.08 5 Karl Lippisch (Unattached) 2.05 6 Jeff Mabry (Luv 2 Bike Racing) 4.12 7 Adam Pace (Nuvision Cyclery) 5.11 DNF Jeff Mabry (Luv 2 Bike Racing) Singlespeed 2 1 Marshall Evans 42.39 2 John Day 1.13 3 Ceasar Contreras 5.27 4 Jason Landberg 9.16 Clydesdale men 1 Pretner Ryan 45.54 2 Keith Houk 18.12 General classification after stage 2 Elite men 1 Sam Jurekovic 35.20 2 Sid Taberlay 0.01 3 Tim Allen 1.03 4 Christop Sauser 1.06 5 Benjamin Sonntag 1.34 6 Rotem Ishai 1.36 7 Andreas Hestler 1.51 8 Adam Snyder 2.03 9 Manuel Prado 2.15 10 Alex Grant 2.23 11 Sean Donovan 2.31 12 Drew Edsall 2.32 13 Andy Schultz 2.36 14 Eric Salstrand 3.05 15 Nicholas Stevens 3.08 16 Cody Peterson 3.36 17 Carl Decker 4.33 18 Yuki Saito 7.32 19 Blake Zumbrunn 8.25 20 Dave Harrison 21 Fabio Dias 11.12 Elite women 1 Kelli Emmett 42.01 2 Maureen Kunz 1.14 Semi-pro men 1 Rich Weis 39.41 2 Brandon Firth 1.34 3 Andy Rigel 2.29 Expert men 1 Mike Hileman 120 pts 2 Brandon Cunningha 102 3 Bob Mccall 82 4 Todd Sims 66 5 Jared Fischer 52 6 Mark Jackson 50 7 Mark Roberts 40 Sport men 1 Jeffrey Johnson 114 pts 2 Tony Gonzalez 90 3 Shawn Tyrone 82 4 Nando Ateho 76 5 John Langton 62 6 Eric Neuhaus 42 7 Robert Stanley 38 8 Kason Smith 26 9 Kason Smith 26 10 Harold Uttke 20 Sport women 1 Julie Conner 40 pts 2 Michele Bliss 34 3 Heather Fischer 30 4 Jeanne Starling 26 Beginner men 1 Tim Moody 108 pts 2 Thomas Pisillo 82 3 Doug Murphy 26 4 Jeff Zebarth 24 Clydesdales 1 Pretner Ryan 120 pts Singlespeed 1 1 Deay Birtch 110 pts 2 John Mylne 108 3 Hauswal Yuri 94 Singlespeed 2 1 Marshall Evans 120 pts 2 Jason Landberg 98 3 John Day 94
