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Sea Otter Classic - 1
Monterey, CA USA, April 12-15, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Race 4 - Saturday,April 14: Dual Slalom
Jonnier, Hannah beat the best in dual slalom
By Wendy Booher
For a positive spin on today's weather, the rain actually improved course conditions for the dual slalom pro finals. Moisture settled sandy sections near the start and packed down berms to touch up a course that even a master sculptor couldn't make improve. In the end, World Downhill Champion, Sabrina Jonnier (Monster Energy/Iron Horse), and Mick Hannah (Cannondale) managed to ride smoother, faster rounds than the rest of the world-class field that included World Four-Cross Champion, Jill Kintner (GT), World Downhill Champion, Sam Hill (Monster Energy/Iron Horse), Cedric Gracia (Oakley/Commencal), and five-time world cup champ, "Flyin' Brian" Lopes (GT).
"In the semifinal first round, my front wheel washed out and my cranks hit the ground which bucked me," said Hannah. "After that it was good and smooth riding - more out of luck than anything else when you're riding against all these high class riders."
Regular race favorite, Cedric Gracia, surprised fans by getting ousted in earlier rounds due to a crash, which he blamed on jet lag and a photo shoot, which had him getting slapped repeatedly.
The women's race saw Jonnier at business as usual where the Frenchwoman seems to feel most comfortable with forging gaping leads in early rounds. Jill Kintner answered Jonnier's commanding leads by shutting down those gaps and even beating Jonnier to the finish at least once. Both champs needed to avoid mistakes and go fast each time since a crisp US$20 landed in the hands of the round winner on each pass.
"Dual Slalom is different every year and it's nice every year," said Jonnier. "We were unlucky with the rain this morning but it made the course very 'grippy."
Results
Elite Women 1 Sabrina Jonnier (Monster Energy/Iron Horse) 2 Jill Kintner (Gt Bicycles) 3 Rachel Atherton (Animal Commencal) 4 Melissa Buhl (Khs Bicycles) 5 Fionn Griffiths (Griffiths Racing) 6 Mio Suemasa (Funfancy/Intense) 7 Kathy Pruitt (Jamis Bikes) 8 April Lawyer (Team Maxxis) 9 Joanna Petterson (Morewood Bikes / Cost-U-Less) 10 Caroline Jarolimek (The Fix) 11 Leana Gerrard (Bear Naked / Cannondale Mtb) 12 Katie Holden (Fluidride) 13 Jacqueline Harmony (Team Cactus Bikes) 14 Emily Johnston (Go-Ride) 15 Hiroka Nakagawa (Team Commencal) 16 Amber Zirnhelt Elite Men 1 Michael Hannah 2 Jared Graves 3 Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 4 Bryn Atkinson 5 Brian Lopes 6 Luke Strobel (Team Maxxis) 7 Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) 8 Justin Leov (Yeti / Fox Racing Factory Team) 9 Chris Kovarik (Ms- Intense Factory_ Racing) 10 Andrew Neethling 11 Merrimac Rennie Nathan 12 Jurgen Beneke (Old World Plaster) 13 Karim Amour (Rivierabike.Com Fmf Sportgroup) 14 Chris Vandine (Cannondale The Cut) 15 Filip Polc 16 Chris Boice (Fox Racing) 17 Gracia Cedric (Oakley/Commencal) 18 Jared Rando (Giant Mtb Team) 19 Draguignan Giordanengo Aurelien 20 Sam Hill 21 Sam Blenkinsop 22 Cole Bangert (Morewood Bikes/Utopia) 23 Cameron Cole (Team Maxxis) 24 Heikki Hall (E.13 Hayes Michelin Smith Sdg) 25 Ross Milan (Yeti / Fox Racing Factory Team) 26 Lars Sternberg (Iron Horse/Fluidride/Fox Shox) 27 Eric Carter (Mongoose Bicycles) 28 Cody Warren (C-Dub Racing) 29 Rudy Unrau (Yeti Rpm) 30 Tj Sharp (Yeti / Fox Racing Factory Team) 31 Steve Wentz 32 John Hauer (X Fusion Shoxspecialized Bike)
