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MTB News & racing round-up for June 30, 2006

Edited by Steve Medcroft

Mont Ste. Anne wrap-up

Sauser & Killeen off the front
Photo ©: Rob Jones

Liam Killeen and Christoph Sauser of the Specialized factory team were one of the major stories of the Monte Ste. Anne World Cup last weekend.

Taking the front of the race together, the duo were unstoppable once they developed a rhythm.

Sauser made a push on the last lap and Killeen fell back to settle for second. "I just didn't have that last little bit of strength to get back on Susi's wheel," he explained after the race. "I tried changing my feeding plan for this race and it actually worked really well. I took on more food than usual during the race, as I started hungrier and less bloated, but I was still a little hungry at the end. It's a really fine balance but I made some big improvements this week and I'm really happy to have this second place after some bad luck in other rounds", said Liam shortly before taking to the podium.

Marie-Helene
Photo ©: RobJones

The second main story of the weekend was written by defending Mont Ste. Anne women's cross country champion and hometown favorite Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain/Business Objects).

"Marie-Helene passed me on the long climb through the last lap," Dahle-Flesjaa said after the race. "She was really fighting back and forth the whole race and I was on the limit."

Winning ultimately by more than a minute, Premont crossed the line with a huge smile and was immediately swarmed by the Quebec press. "Going back to back is very special," she said. " The crowd was incredible. People from Quebec make the best time you can have!"

There were also Four-Cross cross and Downhill competitions at Mont Ste. Anne. For full results, photos and race reports, check out the following links:

• Race 1 - June 24: Women's downhill
• Race 2 - June 24: Men's downhill
• Race 3 - June 24: Women's four-cross
• Race 4 - June 24: Men's four-cross
• Race 5 - June 25: Women's cross-country
• Race 6 - June 25: Men's cross-country

José Hermida a father

Spain's José Hermida, runner-up in both Madrid's and Fort William's World Cup cross-country races and fourth in Mont Ste. Anne, become a father for the first time on June 5th. His wife gave birth to a son, who weighs 4.25 kilograms, is 53 centimeters tall and has been baptized to the name Eric. "It has been an incredible feeling and one of the most beautiful experiences of my entire life," Hermida said. "There's nothing you can compare this to, not my biggest successes in cycling either."

Tinker's RAAM

Tinker Juarez, of Downey, California, made it clear at the finish: compared to all of his World Cup, Olympic and 24-hour mountain bike races, the Race Across America was by far the hardest thing he's ever done.

Finishing as the third Solo Enduro rider (behind Jonathan Boyer and Marko Baloh), and first rookie in his division, with a time of 10 days, 22 hours and 21 minutes, Juarez said in Atlantic City on June 22: "Just finishing this race was the hardest thing I have ever done. There are no words to describe how hard it was."

Juarez never had it easy in the 2006 RAAM. His first crisis came on Day One, when he had difficulty getting comfortable on his aerodynamic bicycles and ended up riding most of the race on his standard carbon/aluminum Cannondale without aero bars.

"I came apart that day, but I regrouped, slept, came back." he said at the finish line in Atlantic City, New Jersey. "And then we hit Kansas. That was the most horrible wind of my life. I put my head down between my legs and rode at 13 mph for 15 hours straight. I don't want to bag Kansas, but it was lonely out there and I was happy to get out of that state."

Not only did he seldom use aero bars, but Juarez also spent hardly any time out of the big chainring; although crew members said that while riding through the Ozarks in Missouri and the Appalachians in West Virginia, he dropped onto the small chainring on a few occasions.

"When I used the (little) ring I felt like I wasn't going anywhere," he explained.

The Juarez crossing was notable for the 65 logged hours he took off the bike, and an estimated additional 10 hours of unlogged down time.

"I'd love to say I'll be back, but I can't see myself sleeping only one or two hours a day. That's a different breed of rider," said Juarez.

To catch all of the Cyclingnews coverage of the 2006 edition of the Race Across America, click here.

Great Divide Race underway

The third annual Great Divide Race began last Thursday high on the Montana/Canada border. Following the Adventure Cycling Association's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, racers were set to pedal a stupendous 2,490 miles of remote, mountainous terrain along the spine of the continent to the New Mexico/Mexico border; entirely self-supported – no outside assistance or SAG support of any kind is allowed.

“People who ride the Divide Race have no interest in a pit crew, in having pacers, in having support, or anything like that,” says race organizer Mike Curiak. “They want the all-encompassing race, where not only do they have to ride, they have to make their own meals, fix their bike, navigate, all that stuff. They want the ultimate challenge.”

John Stamsted, the now-retired Michael Jordan of endurance mountain biking, set the original Great Divide Route speed record in 1999 when he blazed it in a seemingly impossible 18 days, 5 hours (most riders take two months or more). Then, in 2004, the first year the race was held, Curiak shattered Stamsted's record with a time of 16 days, 57 minutes. Whether Curiak's amazing record – averaging 150 miles a day on three-to-four hours sleep a night – will ever be broken remains to be seen, but more than one racer in this year's field admits to having it in their sights.

To learn more about the Great Divide Race go to check out the official race blog here: greatdividerace.blogspot.com.

24-hours of the Coliseum?

Costume optional at Rome's first 24-hour race

24-hour endurance mountain biking is coming to Italy in grand style. Staged in the heart of the city that once was the center of influence for much of human civilization, riders from all over Italy and Europe will be competing July 15-16 at the Bike Park of Rome – Parco della Madonnetta - 10 minutes from the centre of Rome.

The event kicks off Wednesday, July 12 when the campground opens to competitors, supporters and family. Complete with showers, dressing rooms, swimming-pool and more, the campground will be the location of daily guided night rides through Rome and a “Pasta Party” for the riders followed by other happenings will be hosted in the restaurant area. The race proper starts July 15th at high noon.

For more information, visit the event's Web site at www.parcolamadonnetta.it. But bring an translation dictionary if you can't read Italian.

Get sponsored at Gravity Camp

Freerider and Summer Gravity Camps operator, Andrew Shandro is teaming up with long-time sponsor Smith Optics to award a young rider with a spot on Smith's developmental team.

With three one week youth sessions on offer over the summer (July 16-23, July 23-20 and July 30-August 6), SGC will select a top camper from each week to a final competition, ultimately pitting camper against camper vying for a spot on the Smith Optics Farm Team.

Once the three sessions' top riders have been selected, camp counselors will review video segments of each rider and select the summer's top athlete. This athlete will receive a spot on Smith's developmental sponsorship program.

For more information on Summer Gravity Camps visit www.summergravitycamps.com.

Race Face Ultimate Trans Rockies Challenge opens July 1

Just like last year, component manufacturer Race Face is looking to the general public to help pick it's sponsored race team members for the 2006 Trans Rockies Challenge.

Readers vote online for which two teams who they would like to see represent Race Face in one of the most grueling marathon mountain bike races in the world – with all expenses paid.

Teams included in the competition for the first team spot include Eric Tremblay and Daniel Dube from Chicoutimi, Quebec, Boise, Idaho 's Jon Gould and Davey Moore, and Robert Hill and John O'Shaughnessy, of Vancouver and Victoria, BC.

Online community members will have one week to submit their votes. The winning team will be the first of two teams who will represent Race Face at the 2006 Trans Rockies. Next week, the company will post four more videos for selection of the second team. Winners will be announced on July 15

Vote for your favorite team at www.raceface.com/community/uxc.

CTC mountain-bike festival

The CTC (Cyclists Touring Club) is celebrating its 128th anniversary with a week-long family mountain bike festival from July 29 to August 5 that will use five of the seven 7stanes routes in southern Scotland.

The programme includes daily rides at one of the five 7stanes routes with mountain bike skills training out on the trails and additional mountain bike skills training sessions in the afternoon at each of the venues. There will also be a Women's only ride and kid's rides.

For more information or to register for the festival, visit the CTC Scotland Web site.

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