MTB News & Racing Round-up, July 27, 2010

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Date published:

July 28, 2010, 15:23

Edited by Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

Welcome to our regular roundup of what's happening in mountain biking. Feel free to send feedback, news, & releases to mtb@cyclingnews.com and results, reports & photos to cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com.

• Cole out with broken wrist

  

  Article published:

  July 27, 2010, 21:40

  By:

  Cycling News

  New Zealander hopes to return to action in time for worlds

  Rising World Cup downhiller Cameron Cole, of Christchurch, New Zealand, broke his wrist in the muddy conditions at the Champéry World Cup in Switzerland this past weekend.
  
  A small crash left the 22-year-old Maxxis-Rocky Mountain team rider with a broken scaphoid in his right hand, derailing his UCI World Cup downhill campaign for 2010. But the laconic Kiwi says there is a chance he could be back in time for the World Championships, which will be held at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada, at the beginning of September.
  
  Cole has had three top-10 finishes and two podiums in the first three downhill World Cups of 2010 and, despite finishing 35th after snapping his scaphoid at Champéry, still sits sixth in the overall standings.
  
  "It was just a stupid crash," said Cole. "I was trying one of the gnarlier lines at the bottom of the course - it was quite a bit quicker - a high line on the outside of a corner and I got the line okay, but when it joined back onto the mainline it was very boggy, and I just got sucked up in it and went over the handlebars and flying down the track, over the top of my bike."
  
  "I put my hands out, and the right one must have gone straight into a rock because there was a big cut in the palm just before the wrist. I landed on my head as well. My bike went flying over me - luckily the bike was still on the track and not down the bank, so I sprinted to the finish line and did all the big jumps at the bottom and didn't feel too much pain.

  "Then I saw the cut and thought I would just need to get it cleaned out, then about an hour afterward it started to get sore so I decided to go to the doctor. At this stage every day is valuable for healing, so I thought it would be better to know if it was broken."
  
  After a long wait at the hospital, Cole and his Kiwi racing partner Amy Laird were given the verdict. "So now I have a massive cast on and heaps of stitches in my hand."

  Cole will go back in one week for another x-ray to make sure it's healing. "I might talk to some people in New Zealand to see if I can try to get home and sort it out so I can get back for Worlds and the World Cup final."
  
  Cole was told it would take six to eight weeks to heal by itself, but there are only six weeks to the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
  
  "It's bad timing, but this happens with what we do. I don't really want to go to the Worlds and just run 40th or 50th. I'd rather go there in the form I know I am in."

  "If I can get my wrist operated on this week I think I could be okay for the World Championships. Once you have a screw in the scaphoid it heals a lot quicker and a lot more effectively. That will only happen if I can get home, or maybe in France. That would mean a four-week healing period. I have a screw in my left wrist and it healed quicker than they said it would."
  
  The last injury Cole had was back in 2007 when he crashed spectacularly, breaking the scaphoid in his left wrist, dislocating three bones and breaking the end off his ulna. He had broken ligaments, a concussion and his "whole body ached" afterward, leaving him off the bike for an entire season.

  "In 2007 my crash was massive and it was my first big injury, but it taught me what to expect to come back from it and how to handle this one. But this crash was just a silly one and won't knock my confidence," he said.

  Cole's confidence has been soaring as he has been collecting top results without stepping outside his comfort zone in the World Cup races. Champéry was working out no differently for him.
  
  The muddy conditions caused havoc for the entire field and marked the third wet race out of four downhill World Cups. "I thought Maribor was bad, then Leogang was the worst conditions I had ever raced in, and then Champéry on Saturday was another level again," he laughed, shaking his head.
  
  "I am happy with what I have done so far this season. I thought about this after the race yesterday - it's good to get this sort of thing out of the way while I am young - each time you have a broken bone and time off the bike you learn from it. I am 22 and my career could be as long as I want it to be. Series leader Greg Minnaar is 28 and Steve Peat is still performing well at 36."
  
  "Because of that I won't push my return this year if I don't feel ready, I don't want to jeopardise my training and preparation over summer for the 2011 season."
  
  Cole will find out about his surgery options by the end of the week and will miss the fifth World Cup of the season at Val di Sole this weekend.

• Muddy, slick conditions challenge racers at Champéry World Cup

  

  Article published:

  July 27, 2010, 15:55

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  Some riders airlifted off course after crashes on treacherous tracks

  Conditions at the mountain bike World Cup in Champéry, Switzerland, tested racers' patience and bike handling abilities this past weekend. Heavy, sustained rains leading up to the final downhill and cross country events meant riders were forced to battle thick mud and slick tracks. It was worst for the downhillers, who raced Friday and Saturday and experienced many crashes with some riders being airlifted off the mountain following the most severe incidents.

  The rain, which had turned the steep 1,500-metre course into a slippery mudslide during qualifying, finally backed off for the finals on Saturday, but the damage had been done and, in some ways, the drying conditions made things worse. As the thick mud began to dry, it clung to bikes and turned to the consistency of peanut butter, doubling the weight of bikes and slowing forward momentum to a crawl. Even in the dry, the downhill course is considered to be one of the toughest on the circuit.

  "Plagued by bad weather all weekend the Champéry course looked more like a battlefield than a race track with the three days of heavy rain in the lead up to Saturday's finals not helping matters," said Dan Brown, the manager of downhill winner Gee Atherton's Commencal team.

  "My run was far from great but I don't expect anyone's was down there. It was way more physical than qualifying with the mud making the bikes feel so heavy," said Gee, who now sits as runner-up behind Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) in the World Cup standings after four of six rounds.

  "It was so steep it ended up being one line, just get in the slot and ride," said World Champion Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate). "The track is steep and technical, with lots of tight turns, some good jumps, not too rocky, but plenty of roots came out. It was sticky in the finals due to weather conditions and it was very hard to carry speed anywhere. The track is so steep and in case of injuries, they must airlift people off the hill."

  Some of the riders airlifted off the mountain for further medical treatment were Christian Wright during practice and Nico Vink during the finals.

  The women struggled, too, in steep conditions on bikes weighed down heavily by mud.

  "It was probably one of the toughest conditions and tracks I've had to race for many, many years," said veteran downhiller Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing). "I found it hard to more than just get down the course and never felt like I was really racing, just surviving. I lost time with my crash and I'm disappointed but also relieved not to crash out completely. I look forward to Val di Sole (the next World Cup this weekend in Italy - ed.) where hopefully conditions will make it more of a race!"

  "I decided to stay on my bike – once you crash on this track it's pretty much over," said World Cup leader Sabrina Jonnier (Team Maxxis / Rocky Mountain). " If you get mud on your gloves, you won't be able to hold onto the bars anymore, and if you lose your bike at the wrong place, it can disappear into the bush – there would be no way to get back to where you should start from – it's so steep in places. So I decided to go for a safe run – I went really slow – it was not fun at all. I would even say it was the worst run of my life."

  The wetness had more time to abate before the cross country events on Sunday, but some must have wondered if they'd entered the wrong event upon having to run un-rideable sections of the course.

  "The course was muddy and rooty, very challenging. It was hard for riders to find a clear line in many sections. Top calibre riders were forced to run many sections of the course, which created a lot of traffic," said Dan Proulx, the coach of the Canadian team at the World Cup.

  See Cyclingnews' full coverage of the World Cup downhill and cross country rounds in Champéry, Switzerland.

  Additional editorial assistance provided by Rob Jones.

• Schurter, Vogel renew with Scott Swisspower

  

  Article published:

  July 27, 2010, 11:06

  By:

  Cycling News

  Four more years for two Swiss racers

  World Champion Nino Schurter and Champery World Cup winner and last year's bronze medallist at the World Championships Florian Vogel renewed their contracts with the Scott-Swisspower Mountain Bike racing team for another four years each, running through 2014.

  "I like the team's good spirit and the familiarity among the crew. The trust we have in each other makes me feel very comfortable," said Schurter. "We have everything it takes to be successful."

  Both mountain bikers have been part of the team run by former World Champion Thomas Frischknecht since its inception. The squad is coached by Nicolas Siegenthaler.

  The team often signs young riders and brings them up as their careers mature. "The concept of the team gives younger riders a chance to develop slowly and benefit from the experience of the team leaders," said Vogel, who won this weekend's cross country World Cup in Champéry. "Nino and I were lucky to grow up in such an environment. Now it's time to give something back and help the younger generation to develop. I'm excited to continue with this program for another four years," said Vogel.

  Both riders have their long-term sights set on the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

  Along with Schurter and Vogel, the team plans to sign four junior and under 17 talents, including Frischknecht's son, Andri.

• 2011 New Zealand Mountain Bike Calendar announced

  

  Article published:

  July 23, 2010, 20:10

  By:

  Cycling News

  Downhill and cross country national series and national championships set

  Mountain Bike New Zealand (MTBNZ) announced its New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup and National Championship schedule for the summer of 2011.

  The organization confirmed a mix of well established venues having long histories of hosting events at this level and new hosts who will utilise the opportunity to boost their own event management capability as well as to showcase their regions' mountain bike facilities.
  
  BikeNZ's principal partner Raboplus will again have naming rights of the New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup and National Mountain Bike Championships, with associate sponsor Nature Valley also back on board for 2011. The New Zealand Community Trust also continues its long support of New Zealand mountain biking's competitive national series next summer.
  
  MTBNZ's 2011 Event Coordinator Chris Mildon views the confirmed schedule as a good fit for the sport. "As a national series for New Zealand's best mountain bike athletes, there is no greater test than to measure yourself against your peers on quality race courses."

  But the events aren't only for elite athletes. "MTBNZ provides all age group categories from 13 year olds through to masters 50+, to compliment the elite class. So all mountain bikers have the opportunity to enter and compete with like minded riders from around New Zealand and increasingly, from outside New Zealand - all on the same race courses our elite stars will be using".

  The series includes four cross country rounds and six downhill rounds spread across the North and South Islands in January and February. The New Zealand National Mountain Bike Championships will wrap things up from February 24-27 in Dunedin.

  2011 Cross country New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup
  January 9: Round 1 - Tauranga
  January 16: Round 2 - Napier
  February 13: Round 3 - Nelson
  February 20: Round 4 - Christchurch

  2011 Downhill New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup
  January 7-8: Round 1 - Tauranga
  January 14-15: Round 2 - Napier
  January 22-23: Round 3 - Rotorua
  February 5-6: Round 4 - Nelson
  February 11-12: Round 5 - Nelson
  February 18-19: Round 6 - Christchurch

  2011 New Zealand Mountain Bike National Championships
  February 24-27: National Championships - Dunedin

• Compton tunes up for 'cross season at mountain bike World Cups

  

  Article published:

  July 23, 2010, 17:47

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  National champ address recently diagnosed health condition

  With her eye toward cyclo-cross season, Katie Compton (Planet Bike / Stevens / Kenda) has been honing her form in some mountain bike races this summer. Most recently, at the US Mountain Bike National Championships in Granby, Colorado, last weekend, Compton made the trip to the podium twice. She backed up a fifth place in the elite women's cross country race with a gold medal winning ride in the elite women's short track the following day.

  Compton's victory gave her a second short track national title. She also won in 2008 in Mount Snow. The short, painful effort - 20 minutes plus three two-minute laps - was a perfect match for Compton's proven talent as one of the best cyclo-cross racers in the world.

  "If that race had been an hour, it would have been different. But I can suffer and go hard for this amount of time," said Compton after winning.

  The path to a second national short track championship wasn't easy for Compton, who has battled with health issues such as asthma and leg cramps. In March, she was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a condition which she has been trying to manage ever since.

  She described her experience with hypothyroidism. "I don't have any energy and I'm weak as a kitten most of the time. I have an hour of effort in me and then I just shut down. I think it's been there for awhile, but I didn't notice until it got bad enough."

  Compton thinks the condition may have related somehow to her asthma. Severe past attacks have forced Compton to drop out of races and at least at one US Pro XCT race - the 2009 Bump 'n' Grind in Alabama, she ended up at the hospital.

  "I'm seeing an endocrinologist to find out exactly what's wrong and get the medecine worked out," said Compton. "Right now, I'm not really training, just racing and recovering and just trying to get healthy for 'cross. It's hard to keep racing when I want to do better. I'm going through it now and trying to not lose fitness."

  After a tough cross country race, one day before winning the short track in Granby, she said, "I definitely suffer - even in everyday things. I'm really tired all the time. The good thing is that I still have 45 minutes to one hour in me. I think that's why I can do short track and 'cross. It's just the longer efforts getting to me." Though she said she suffered through the short track, she made her attack and solo to the victory look easy.

  Compton will have a chance to work on those longer efforts both this weekend and next weekend, when she competes in the Champéry, Switzerland, and Val di Sole, Italy, mountain bike World Cups.

• Paxson turns heads in US mountain bike community

  

  Article published:

  July 23, 2010, 10:00

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  25-year-old narrowly misses podium at nationals in career-best performance

  "Who is that guy?" asked many last weekend at the US Mountain Bike Nationals whenever Spencer Paxson (Team S&M Young Guns) rode past.

  "I've been racing for a long time and nobody really knows what I am," said the 25-year-old Paxson, who lives in Seattle, Washington.

  Paxson had his best race ever in the elite men's cross country national championship race, in which he finished seventh. For much of the race, he was battling for the final podium spot with Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale); however, a charging Peter Stetina (Tokyo Joes / Garmin Transitions) passed them both on the final lap.

  "This is the best performance of my career, definitely," said Paxson. "I raced the US Pro XCT finals in Colorado Springs the previous weekend and had a good rhythm. I tried to repeat everything today, but a little more aggressively. I was super motivated because it was nationals and I felt great."

  Paxson rides for Team S&M Young Guns, a team out of Portland, Oregon, backed by the bike shop of pro racer Eric Tonkin.

  "He's taken some riders under his wing," said Paxson of Tonkin.

  Paxson has an unusual set of goals for a top elite men's cross country racer at nationals, where most top finishers are full-time racers. "My goal was to keep my job and race and be competitive." He works full time for a wind energy development company, Ridgeline Energy.

  Next up for the promising rider, who finished eighth overall in the US Pro XCT, is the Windham World Cup in New York in August.

  "I'm on the bubble for the worlds in Mont Sainte Anne. I turned in my petition, and if I make it in, that'll be good. If not, it's been a great season, and this has got me motivated for next year."

  Perhaps Paxson will have to submit an amendment to his petition to race worlds - one with his new career-best result.