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|  Green, Dunlap Score Wins at Alpine Valley From Race Press Release June 2002 Chicago Athlete
New Faces Pounce on Opportunities at Chevy Trucks Nationals
That was about the only predictable element of the finish at
the second round
of the Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championship
Mountain Bike Series. This
cross-country race would see old stars score redemption,
newcomers press to
the fore, and established favorites limp in with assorted
stories of hardware
and hard luck.
Round two proved far different than round one. Pro Women
"There's a lot of things different,"said Chrissy
Redden (Subaru/Gary
Fisher), who improved from 16th in Snow Summit, Calif., to
a powerful second
in Wisconsin. "Number one we're at sea level;
number two, there's mud and
this technical riding; and number three, I got a KX100 moto
and I've been
riding."
In short, the key to winning on a mucky course was to keep
upright. "I had so many close calls," said Dunlap, who
finished 2:40 ahead of Redden.
aoeI ran so many little obstacles. It's not who rides
everything; it's who
goes fastest." Last year's series winner Mary Grigson (Subaru/Gary
Fisher) rolled in for
another third place finish; off the lead but in the hunt for a
later trophy,
the Commonwealth Games. The Australian has set her
training to peak later for
those events. "Maybe over in this country it's not so important but
certainly at home it's
a really big event and it's the first time they've had
mountain biking,"
said Grigson, clearly frustrated with another bronze medal. Another former world champion, Alison Sydor
(Trek/Volkswagen) started to show
her form, dropping series leader Jimena Florit (RLX Polo
Sport) en route to a
fourth place finish. Florit finished fifth. A new star of the Snow Summit debut, Mary McConneloug,
signed with Seven
Cycles and stamped her passport with another good ride,
finishing sixth.
Meanwhile Shonny Vanlandingham (SoBe), having
double-podiumed in California,
showed the pain of a hip injury as she limped in to finish
10th.
Pro Men
This race started in splatters of rain with a half lap of 4.6 km,
followed by
four circuits on a major course of 9.9 km, described by
Roland Green as
fun.Then came the sun. "At first I was a little nervous because I was so close to
Trek," said
Green. "Ryder (Hesjedal) and I went out pretty fast. But I
think he had a
seat problem and he dropped back. I just kept it steady, and
had a lot of fun
in the single track. There's a lot of twisty, turny stuff. I
was setting up
for a lot of turns and it has a lot of steep chutes. It's a
really good venue
I hope it comes back next year." While Green was having a banner day, Hesjedal struggled.
After riding with
Green for the first full lap, he crashed hard on the second,
ripping the
saddle from the rails. He was forced to wrap an inner tube
around the rails
and continue. aoeThere's no throw-outs so I had to
keep going," said Hesjedal.
"I guess that's racing." Riding in sixth position, Marc Gullickson
(Mongoose/Hyundai) lost his saddle
when the post broke in two. He had to complete a lap
without saddle until he
discovered the seat (and post) on side of the course during
the next lap. He
reinserted the broken post and would manage to finish
14th. As Hesjedal faded and Gullickson struggled, others fell
behind due to
mechanicals. Jose Adrian Bonilla (CafA(c) de Costa
Rica/Pizza Hut) was with
Green until his derailleur hanger ripped off. Kashi Leuchs
(Volvo/Cannondale)
double flatted out of the top 10. Five riders fell from the top
10 due to
mechanicals.
The key beneficiary of this would be Jeremy
Horgan-Kobelski (RLX Polo Sport),
passed the fading Hesjedal to move into second and
distanced himself, as top
American, from his U.S. rivals. "I felt really good out there," said Horgan-Kobelski.
"The course was really
easier to ride by yourself instead of in a group. I was just
glad I was able
to do it for two and a half hours." Farther back, Geoff Kabush (Kona) fended off a late surge
from Travis Brown
(Trek/Volkswagen) to finish third. Seamus Magrath (Haro)
sprinted in for
fifth. Also pouncing on the opportunity was a new name:
Adam Craig (Balance
Bar/DEVO). An Under-23 rider, Craig finished eighth with a
celebratory
wheelie (along the entire finish straight). The five race series opened May 9-12 at Snow Summit,
Calif. and moved to a
new venue, Alpine Valley Resort in Troy, Wisc., June 13-16.
The series then
goes to Snowshoe, W. Va., June 20-23; Durango, Colo,
Aug.
1-4; and finishes
at Mount Snow, Vt., Aug. 15-18. The Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championships
Mountain Bike Series is North
America's premier off-road cycling series. The series
crowns USA Cycling's
Mountain Bike Champions. The series is aired on the
Outdoor Life Network -
one of the world's leading broadcasters of cycling and
adventure sports.
GaleForce Sports Marketing is the series management and
promotions company,
and is recognized as the USA's leading cycling and events
management group. About NORBA
NORBA is the mountain bike member association of USA
Cycling. Recognized by
the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste
Internationale, USA Cycling
promotes American cycling through its 80,000 members
and 2,000 annual events.
For more information, visit www.usacycling.org. RESULTS
CHEVY TRUCKS NORBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES
ROUND TWO
ALPINE VALLEY
EAST TROY, WISC. PRO WOMEN CROSS COUNTRY PRO MEN CROSS COUNTRY Dunlap, Green Score Double-Doubles at Alpine
Valley EAST TROY, Wisc. (June 15, 2002) World Champions
Roland Green
(Trek/Volkswagen) and Alison Dunlap (Luna Chix) had to
scrap for a few laps
in the short track. Both riders in the rainbow jerseys were
given some early
challenges, but both riders patiently figured out how to
attack and win solo
victories in the Balance Bar Short Track. Both riders scored
their second
victory of the weekend. "It's bike racing and that's part of it,"said Green, who failed to
finish
the first round event. Hence the world champion had to start
with plate
number 38 and start from the third row. "Everybody's racing
real hard. It
took me a while to fight through the traffic." In the first-lap
dash, roadie
Mark McCormack powered through a mud bog only to slide
out on a wooden
bridge, taking down Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX Polo
Sport) and Chris
Sheppard (Haro/Lee Dungarees). Green punched his way
up to the leaders, being
driven by Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru/Gary Fisher) and Jose
Adrian Bonilla (Cafe
de Costa Rica/Pizza Hut), and attached to the rear of a group
numbering 22. This course differed entirely from the short circuit of round
one at Snow
Summit. A longer, muddier course with a climb made for lap
times of 2:20
common. The climb, a grade on the far side of the course,
initially proved
enticing for attacks. But the descent afterwards nullified
most attacks,
meaning strategies had to be adjusted. In one move Green
pushed up to sixth,
seemingly just to improve his view of the front. With a
second move he
rocketed off the front waving to his friend, Hesjedal, to join.
But Green
would have to go alone. "He had a rough day yesterday having to ride the cross
country on a broken
saddle," said Green.
Green went clear and the chins of the chasers collectively
dropped. Animating
their race, however, was the presence of Doug Swanson
(Trek/VW), a rookie pro
from Minnesota. When Green left, a who's who of American
mountain bike racing
followed. They raced strategically, each careful not to pull
too hard. This
tactic only allowed a group of chasers to catch on with three
laps to go. "I was done, I thought," said Paul Rowney. "I was looking for
cans of Bud
from the crowd, but nobody would give me any so I kept
riding. Then I saw we
were bringing them back."
With two laps to go, Green had more than a minute gap, and
the chasers
numbered 11 with new attachments hitting on the back
stretch. "I never knew that Chris had joined us,"said Seamus
McGrath of his Haro/Lee
Dungarees teammate Chris Sheppard, who caught with a
half lap to go. "It's
just great to know that somebody's in there covering you."
Rowney would be
the lone rider to push up to the front and hit the podium. Green won with a minute gap. Then came the sprint for
second. Hesjedal drove
hard down the hill and onto the pavement. He commanded
the field to the line
for second place, holding his series lead. McGrath finished
third, followed
by Geoff Kabush (Kona) and Rowney. Horgan-Kobelski
would be top American in
seventh. To the delight of the crowd, Swanson held on for
11th. Pro Women The lead group settled in with Florit, Redden, Dunlap, Mary
McConneloug
(Seven), and Alison Sydor (Trek/Volkswagen). As this lead
group simmered into
a negative battle of wills, one rider joined to play a critical
role. Kelli
Emmett (Luna Chix) attached to the leaders, went to the
front, and delivered
a present to her teammate, Dunlap. She attacked hard.
"Kelli's move was
great for me," said Dunlap. "It changed the whole race." Suddenly the leaders had to focus on the upstart Emmett.
Florit went in purs
uit with Dunlap close by. Upon the retrieval of Emmett,
Dunlap countered
hard and went clear. Only Florit could answer, but she
couldn't stick. She
pulled up and settled for second. Dunlap cruised to victory.
In the dash for third, Sydor drove to the front and stayed
there for the
final turns to the line to finish third, with Redden in fourth
and
McConneloug stuck for fifth. The five race series opened May 9-12 at Snow Summit,
Calif. and moved to a
new venue, Alpine Valley Resort in Troy, Wisc., June 13-16.
The series then
goes to Snowshoe, W. Va., June 20-23; Durango, Colo, Aug.
1-4; and finishes
at Mount Snow, Vt., Aug. 15-18. The Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championships
Mountain Bike Series is North
America's premier off-road cycling series. The series
crowns USA Cycling's
Mountain Bike Champions. The series is aired on the
Outdoor Life Network -
one of the world's leading broadcasters of cycling and
adventure sports.
GaleForce Sports Marketing is the series management and
promotions company,
and is recognized as the USA's leading cycling and events
management group. RESULTS
CHEVY TRUCKS NORBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES
ROUND TWO
ALPINE VALLEY, WISCONSIN
SHORT TRACK CROSS COUNTRY PRO WOMEN EAST TROY, Wisc. (June 15, 2002) Brian Lopes (GT/Fox)
roared to victory on
a course he didn't seem to favor, in a jersey he doesn't
seem to like, and
in an event he doesn't love. But everything seemed to warm
up on him. Lopes, the world champion in dual racing, had not worn his
rainbow jersey in
the dual slalom at Snow Summit. He showed up in the gate
of the first
mountain cross of the Chevy Trucks NORBA Nationals in
the rainbow jersey. And
then he showed why he had the shirt. He won big. "It wasn't really my type of course," said Lopes, famous for
high-speed
starts."You really couldn't pedal all that much." But in mountain cross there is passing, drafting, full contact
and jumps; a
buffet of opportunities for somebody such as Lopes. In dual
slalom, each
rider has a parallel course. In mountain cross four riders
bust down a single
course in search of the best line with the top two advancing
until reaching
the final four. In the women's division, Tara Llanes (Yeti/Pearl Izumi) won
too, despite her
early concerns for the course. "This is a great venue and I
really liked the
course once they fixed it," she said. "It's just a shame
somebody had to get
hurt."She referred to a training accident that left Nigel Paige
with a
season-ending bone fracture.
Once the adjustments were made, the racers flew down the
ravine cut into the
kettle moraine used for the gravity events in the otherwise
rolling prairie
of Wisconsin. Llanes scored her win over Sabrina Jonnier (Intense) in the
final heat, which
also included two surprise foreigners, Japan's Mio
Suemasa (Trek/VW) and
Ecuador's Dianna Marggraff (Royal Orange). Those riders had dispensed with Marla Streb (Luna Chix),
Katrina Miller
(Jamis) and Vanessa Quinn (Intense) on the way to the
finals. Likewise, the men's race saw a casualty list that included
Eric Carter
(Mongoose/Hyundai), Kirt Voreis (Haro/Lee Dungarees),
John Kirkcaldie
(Maxxis) and Cedric Gracia (Volvo/Cannondale). Whereas
dual slalom had become
predictable, mountain cross proved to be a wild card of
gravity racing. "The strategy of mountain cross is definitely still
developing," said Lopes,
noting that cross country and even road tactics come into
play on the course.
"I think that dual slalom was still developing." Lopes boiled his way into the finals against Wade Bootes
(Trek/VW), Nathan
Rennie (Yeti/Pearl Izumi) and French BMX star Thomas
Allier (Giant), who had
kicked his way into the finals at the expense of several big
name stars. In the final run, however, Lopes burst from the gates,
connected on the first
few jumps and cruised to victory with a late threat coming
from Bootes. The five race series opened May 9-12 at Snow Summit,
Calif. and moved to a
new venue, Alpine Valley Resort in Troy, Wisc., June 13-16.
The series then
goes to Snowshoe, W. Va., June 20-23; Durango, Colo, Aug.
1-4; and finishes
at Mount Snow, Vt., Aug. 15-18. The Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championships
Mountain Bike Series is North
America's premier off-road cycling series. The series
crowns USA Cycling's
Mountain Bike Champions. The series is aired on the
Outdoor Life Network -
one of the world's leading broadcasters of cycling and
adventure sports.
GaleForce Sports Marketing is the series management and
promotions company,
and is recognized as the USA's leading cycling and events
management group. RESULTS
CHEVY TRUCKS NORBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES
ROUND TWO, ALPINE VALLEY, WISCONSIN
MOUNTAIN CROSS PRO MEN PRO WOMEN
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