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National Mountain Bike Series #2 (NMBS) - 2
Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA, April 4-6, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Race
Race 7 - April 6: Elite Men Cross Country
Kabush wins with last lap attack
By Dave McElwaine in Fountain Hills, Arizona
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Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis) let it rip down the gradual South Ridge descent and through the final rollers to the finish to sweep the Nova Stage Race at McDowell Mountain Park. Kabush rode most of the race with Adam Craig but was too strong for the Giant team rider who eventually finished second 18 seconds behind. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 50 seconds back in third with Barry Wicks (Kona) a further 40 seconds back in fourth. Liam Killeen (Specialized) rounded out the top five after having an impressive weekend of racing that included a victory in the gruelling 75 mile marathon with a time of 4:00 hours.
"I made a effort to get by Adam (Craig) then I kept the pace high on the ridge," Kabush said after the finish. "The ridge I went 100%...the elastic took a long time to break. I could hear Adam maybe 30 meters behind by the bottom of the back ridge. We were both going 100 percent...then gradually I just got a second here and there on the little rises but I couldn't let up until the finish. That is for sure."
Contendors Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Sam Schultz (Suburu/Gary Fisher) - who at one time was riding in the top five - ended their rides with flat tires. The rocky back side of the course had also claimed many victims during the elite women's race. Andy Schultz (Titus/Kona) had to abandon due to illness.
How it unfolded
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Horgan-Kobelski got off to a good start and made it into the single-track first where he could dictate the pace. He was followed closely by Kabush, Wicks, and Trebon, Sam Schultz, and Killeen. Israeli national champion Rotem Ishai (Spyder/Kona) was close to the leaders for a while, but by mid-lap could not hold the pace.
The first lap was completed in 35:40 with Kabush leading Wicks, JHK, Craig, and impressive young Sam Schultz. They rode up the windy straightaway to the start/finish in a neat pace line.
With one and a half laps completed the leaders were still together but the chasers led by Killeen, Trebon, and Schnell had reduced the gap to one minute.
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Just a quarter of a lap later, Schultz was dropped and later flatted as the gap to the chasers once again began to grow.
At the beginning of the bell lap the lead group all sat up, taking drinks, and seemingly catching a breather before the massive efforts that were sure to come. The gap to chasers Killeen, Mattieu Toulouse (Maxxis), Carl Decker (Giant) was at 1'30".
The leaders time for the second lap was 36'20", just 40 seconds slower than their first lap.
On the third and final lap the leaders traded pulls while the chasers continued to lose ground. Kabush made his final push on South Ridge where it is extremely difficult to be passed. The final two miles of the course were largely uphill but with constant rollers. Kabush stayed on the gas all the way to the finish as Craig remained strong, completing the race with his trademark wheelie, much to the delight of the fans.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Dave McElwaine /www.trailwatch.net
- Carl Decker (Giant) at the starting line
- Barry Wicks (Kona) tries to stay cool in 85 degree (Fahrenheit) temps.
- NMBS series cross country champion Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis)
- Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher) gets the hole shot and leads into the singletrack.
- Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis) leading Kona's Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon
- Liam Killeen (Specialized) riding in fifth place
- Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis), Barry Wicks (Kona), Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru / Gary Fisher), and Adam Craig (Giant) riding an uphill paceline.
- US national champion Adam Craig (Giant) and Sam Schultz (Suburu/Gary Fisher)
- Sam Schultz (Suburu/Gary Fisher)
- Chad Wells (3D Racing), Ethan Gilmour (U23 National Team) lead a long train of riders.
- Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher), Barry Wicks (Kona), Geoff Kabush (Maxxis), and Adam Craig (Giant) with one lap to go
- Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) rides in alone to take the victory.
- Adam Craig (Giant) takes second place and celebrates with a wheelie.
- Overall GC Podium (left to right) Ross Schnell (Trek/VW) 5th, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 2nd, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) 1st, Adam Craig (Giant) 3rd, Barry Wicks (Kona) 4th
Results
1 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 1.47.19 2 Adam Craig (USA) Giant MTB team 0.18 3 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 0.50 4 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 1.30 5 Liam Killeen (GBr) Specialized Factory Team 2.14 6 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Team Maxxis 2.15 7 Carl Decker (USA) Giant MTB team 2.17 8 Ross Schnell (USA) Trek/VW 3.44 9 Mike Phillips (USA) Alterra/Specialized 4.33 10 Sam Schultz (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 5.22 11 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona les Gets 5.51 12 Ryan Woodall (USA) Industrynine/powerbar 6.27 13 Manuel Prado (CRc) Sho-air/Rock n road 7.09 14 Adam Morka (Can) 3 Rox Cycling 7.27 15 Stefan Widmer (Can) Rocky Mountain/different bike 7.57 16 Damian Calvert (USA) Sobe Cannondale MTB team 7.57 17 Cody Peterson (USA) Scott Bicycles 8.00 18 Rotem Ishai (Isr) Spider-Kona Bikes 8.25 19 Evan Plews (USA) Scottusa/CSC 8.31 20 Adam Snyder (USA) 3-d racing 8.35 21 Dana Weber (USA) Trek / VW Westcoast 8.48 22 Daniel Sessford (unknown) Blue Competiton Cycles 9.26 23 Robert Marion (USA) Kenda Titus 10.22 24 Paul Hanson (USA) Sobe Cannondale 10.27 25 Travis Woodruff (USA) BMC/Momentumendurance 10.31 26 Matthew Hadley (Can) Xprezo 10.38 27 Eric Salstrand (USA) Bicycle haus/Oakley/Specialized 11.25 28 Mitchell Peterson (USA) Mona vie/Cannondale 11.38 29 Michael Mccalla (USA) Spinner/Waltworks 11.57 30 Sean Donovan (USA) Cytomax/KHS 11.58 31 Bryan Fawley (USA) TX tough/Hotel San Jose 11.59 32 Nat Ross (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher 12.15 33 Ben Thompson (USA) Sobe-Cannondale 12.24 34 Robert Herber (USA) Intense 12.25 35 Chance Noble (USA) Calif. Giant Verry Farms 12.52 36 Troy Wells (USA) Tokyo Joes 13.38 37 Travis Livermon (USA) Kobold watch comp 13.38 38 Mitch Hoke (USA) Tokyo Jos 13.47 39 Chris Peariso (USA) Adventure 212 /Titus 14.04 40 Brett Morgan (USA) Sobe/Cannondale 14.16 41 Jeff Schalk (USA) Trek VW - east 14.53 42 Brian Bain (Can) CMC/Bow cycle 15.18 43 Chanoch Redlich (Isr) Citycyclingclub 15.34 44 Michael Lee (USA) Trek/VW west coast 16.09 45 Christian Helmig (USA) Pivot/Mad Duck 16.48 46 Kevin Smallman (USA) Sobe Cannondale 17.47 47 Pablo Voigt (Mex) Turbo 18.01 48 Tad Elliott (USA) U23 national team 18.01 49 Kamden Reedy (USA) Four Unity Racing 18.54 50 Dylan Stucki (USA) Mafia Racing 19.01 51 Jake Wells (USA) mafiaracing.com 19.02 52 Amon Pease (USA) Team Lost Coast Brewery 19.09 53 Kyle Douglas (Can) 3 rox racing 20.17 54 John Salskov (USA) Team Bicycle Haus 20.28 55 James Williams (USA) Sobe/cannondale 20.35 56 Steve Kinney (USA) Steven K sports 24.03 57 Scott Keller (USA) Schampa/Tribe 24.42 58 Eric Batty (Can) Trek Bicycles Store team 25.22 59 Trevor Downing (USA) Devo 25.48 60 Cameron Jette (Can) Trek bicycle store 28.17 61 Paul Freiwald (USA) Titus Cycles 31.53 62 Matt Rotroff (USA) BTD/Inland Construction 36.01 Lapped 63 Aroussen Laflamme (Can) Webcor/alto-Kona Endurance 64 Lucas Livermon (USA) Inland Construction 65 Alex Ryan (USA) Kobold/Cannondale 66 Kenji Takeya (Jpn) Specialized Japan 67 Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona 68 Yuki Saito (USA) Fuentes design/Walt works DNF Ken Onodera (Jpn) Subaru-Gary fisher DNF Peter Glassford (Can) Trek Bicycle Store Toronto DNF Joshua Powers (USA) Shampa DNS Tim Allen (USA) Voodoo DNF Kelly Magelky (USA) Trek-VW-Rocky Mt DNS Travis Brown (USA) Trek/FRS DNF Derek Zandstra (Can) 3 Rox Racing DNF Jay Henry (USA) Tokyo Joes DNF Andy Schultz (USA) Kenda Titus Hayes DNF Alex Howard (USA) DNF Ethan Gilmour (USA) U23 National MTB team DNF Charles Pendry (USA) Inland - BTD DNS Nicholas Stevens (GBr) Orbea USA DNF Chad Wells (USA) 3d T=Racing DNS Tim Olson (USA) Trek/westcoast DNS Leonardo Sandoval (USA) DNF Nate Whitman (USA) Hammer nutrition Overall classification after 3 events 1 Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis) 2 Jeremy Horgan Kobelski (Subaru / Gary Fisher) 3 Adam Craig (Giant) 4 Barry Wicks (Kona) 5 Ross Schnell (Trek / VW)
