Our best guess is that only 40 percent of the Olympic field was selected. This means that the rest of World Cup riders are America’s favorite cheese. These riders are getting ready for the « big-one ». In a few months, they will be down under. This means that you will be out of competition until the Olympic race. The World Cups are the ultimate indecision team. You can’t compete if you don’t do well in the premier mountain bike series.
It’s business as usual for the downhill crowd. Although the rainbow jerseys were awarded, there are still many to be won. We now reach Mont Sainte-Anne in Canada for the first post World Championship World Cup race. Mont Sainte Anne offers a rare triple bill, with cross-country and downhill on Saturday. Technical terrain has not seen any recent rain, so the courses are fast and dry. Here’s a quick overview of the action thus far.
MISSY WINS DOWNHILL !
Missy Giove made a stunning return to the top in Missy fashion, which meant she nearly crashed a few times but managed to hang on. She defeated Anne-Caroline Chausson, a perennial favorite, and Leigh Donovan, a reoccurring star, to win the women’s downhill by one second.
Mens action saw a Frenchman named Fabien Barel, a young upstart, throw the whoop at Nicolas Vouilloz to a tune of one second. Fabien is close to Nico and regularly trains with him. Barel has never won a World Cup Downhill, but he did win the 1998 junior World Championship at this exact location.
MEN
1. Fabien Barel (FRA)GT
2. Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA)Vouilloz Racing Team.
3. Steve Peat (GBR)Team GT
4. Gerwin Peters (NED)Be-One
5. David Vazquez (ESP)Subaru-Specialized
WOMEN
1. Missy Giove(USA) Foes/Azonic
2. Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) Volvo-Cannondale).
3. Katja Repo (FIN) Team GT
4. Leigh Donovan (USA) Schwinn/Toyota
5. Elke Brutsaert(USA) Schwinn/Toyota
DUAL RESULTS
Men
1. C?ic Gracia (FRA) Volvo-Cannondale
2. Scott Beaumont (GBR) Kona
3. Steve Peat (GBR)Team GT
4. Mike King (USA)Haro-Lee Dungarees)
Women
1. Anne-Caroline Chausson(FRA) Volvo-Cannondale
2. Tara Llanes (USA)Subaru-Specialized
3. Katrina Miller Jamis
4. Cheri Elliott (USA).Maxxis
WORLD CUP CROSS COUNTRY #6 – CADEL EVANS IS BACK
Cadel Evans, an Australian pro man from Volvo-Cannondale, showed the rest of his team that he’s ready for the Olympics after a season filled with mishaps. He dominated the field in Mont Sainte-Anne on Sunday to win Tissot-UCI World Cup.
Cadel did not race a World Cup cross-country race until round four. He rode alongside the leaders until lap five of seven. Cadel then attacked with a frenzy and put just over two seconds on Christoph Sauser, his Volvo-Cannondale teammate.
World Champion Miguel Martinez (Full Dynamix), sat back in his 20s, and World Cup series leader Christophe Dupouey of Team Giant was happy to let Sauser go. He only wished he could have the speed of Cadel that day.
What are the chances of American Olympic hopes being fulfilled? It’s about as likely as Jimmy Swaggert offering refunds. Let’s just say that in the race where Stephane Girard, an American coach, was watching, Kirk Molday (Trek–Volkswagen) pulled out, Tinker Juarez, Volvo-Cannondale, broke his seatpost, and Steve Larsen, our best bet, finished 28th. Wait, Travis Brown (Trek Volkswagen), who broke his leg in the second round, just returned to the World Cup and finished a respectable twenty-eighth. Will Travis be the sleeper in September?
1. Cadel Evans (AUS)Volvo-Cannondale
2. Christoph Sauser (SUI)Volvo-Cannondale
3. Christophe Dupouey, (FRA), Team Giant
4. Filip Meirhaeghe (BEL)Subaru-Specialized
5. Bas Van Dooren (NED)Be-One
Scotts Barbara Blatter won her second World Cup in the women’s field. Chrissy Redden, a Fisher-SAAB rider who was enjoying her best season yet, caught Blatter at one point but wasn’t able to hold on when Blatter attacked. Redden is a strong candidate for the Canadian team, judging by her impressive results. Gary Fisher won the race with two riders.
Kelli Emmett, a semi-privateer American riding for Litespeed, was the eye opener of the weekend. In a field of the top riders from around the world, she finished tenth. I don’t know what this is.
1. Barbara Blatter (SUI) Scott
2. Chrissy Redden (CAN), Gary Fisher-SAAB
3. Regina Marunde(GER) Focus
4. Alison Dunlap (USA), Team GT
5. Mary Grigson (AUS) Gary Fisher – SAAB
