The 2006 Mountain Bike World Championships in Rotorua (New Zealand) featured two world championship events. A preview of two more was also available as the junior and U23 womens crossed country racing and 4-cross qualifying were highlights of the midweek schedule.
Jill Kintner (Seattle WA) and Brian Lopes, San Clemente CA, officially opened defense of their 2005 World 4-Cross Championship titles. They performed well against the clock during their seeding runs. Kintner won the number one seed easily, beating her closest challenger by more than a second. Lopes was beaten by Michal Prokop (0.25 seconds) on his way to second seed.
Kintner finished in 52.05 seconds and was crowned the top seed, ahead of Anneke Beerten from the Netherlands. The top four were completed by Joey Gough from Great Britain and Jana Horakova from the Czech Republic. Defending Worlds bronze-medallist Tara Llanes (Los Alamitos CA) rode to a 5th seed. Last year’s 4th place finisher Melissa Buhl, Chandler, AZ), was the 6th fastest. Jessica Vogt (Boulder CO) was the fourth American rider in the semifinals. She ran eighth and earned the final spot.
Due to the structure of U.S. 4cross, only three of the four U.S. women’s 4-cross riders can advance into the final four. The trio of Kintner Llanes, Buhl, and Llanes advanced to the final run last year to give themselves a chance at an All-American podium. All three can now advance to the semifinal heats this year with top two finishes.
Lopes was expecting Prokop to challenge them in the men’s qualifier. Prokop is the winner of four World Cup races. Lopes’ performance was followed up by four more American runners who advanced to Friday’s competition. Lars Sternberg (Vashon WA) was 15th fastest, Cody Warren, Alpine, CA, turned in the 16th-best mark, Rich Houseman, Temecula, CA, qualified 19th, Mike Haderer, Concord, CA, ran 32nd, to secure the final spot for the 1/8 finals.
Eric Carter (Temecula CA), 2004 World Champion, and reigning U.S. National Champion, did not advance from his crash early in his run. He made a quick recovery but finished 35th. This was 7.73 seconds slower than Prokop’s pace and three spots away from advancing.
An earlier event saw three Americans competing in the junior women’s cross-country race, which covered 10.8 miles and involved three laps on a 3.6 mile circuit. Rachel Throop of Team USA (Escondido CA) placed 19th, 19 minutes 41 seconds behind gold medalist Tanja Zkelj of Slovenia. Zakelj was a pre-race favorite as she was the only returning medalist from last years. Her winning time was 1 hour, 18 mins and 23 seconds. The Slovenians’ effort was 23 seconds faster than that of Julie Krasniak, silver medalist from France.
Danae York (Indio CA) placed 21st.
The U.S. The U.S. Team did slightly better in the Under 23 cross-country event. Chloe Forsman (Boulder CO) and Jenna Zander North Mankato MN (MN) were 11th and 12th, respectively, behind a dominant performance by a pair from China.
Ren Chengyuan, Ying Liu and Ying Chengyuan fought back against the rest of 31 riders to make China’s first ever podium performance in the Mountain Bike World Championships. Chengyuan, clearly the strongest rider of the day, won the 14.4-mile, four-lap race.
Forsman (19 years old) was ninth at the 18-year-old world championships as a junior and fell just 13 seconds short of the top-ten her first year as a U23 competitor.
U23 WOMENS CROSS COUNTRY
1. Ren Chengyuan (Chn) 2. Ying Liu (Chn)+ 3. Sarah Koba (Swi) 11. Chloe ForsmanTokyo Josephs1 12. Jenna ZanderCannondale1
JUNIOR WOMENS CROOSS-COUNTRY
1. Tanja Zakelj (Slo) 2. Julie Krasniak (Fra)+ 3. Nadja Roschi (Swi) 19. Rachel ThroopDevo1 21. Danae YorkVelobum.com-Turner2 22. Stephanie WhiteGearworks-Spinarts2
ELITE MENS 4CROSS QUALIFYING
1. Michal Prokop (CzeAuthor 47.64
2. Brian LopesGT Bicycles+0.25
3. Roger Rinderknecht (Swi)0.43
15. Lars SternbergFluidside-Ironhorse1.84
16. Cody WarrenC–Dub Racing1.94
19. Rich HousemanYeti-Fox2.12
32. Mike HadererFox Shox-Yeti4.27
35. Eric CarterMongoose7.73
WOMEN
1. Jill KintnerGT Bicycles52.05
2. Anneke Beerten (Ned)Specialized+1.09
3. Joey Gough (GBr).
5. Tara LlanesGiant3.13
6. Melissa BuhlKHS3.30
8. Jessica VogtTurner-Wahoos12.62
