MTB News & Racing Round-up, June 9, 2010

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Date published:

June 10, 2010, 16:24

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.

• Divide racing begins Friday

  

  Article published:

  June 9, 2010, 21:21

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  Mountain bikers start in Banff and head to Mexico

  The Tour Divide will kick off this Friday, June 11 at 9:00 am in Banff, Alberta, Canada. 48 racers, the largest field ever, are set to start the north-to-south transcontinental mountain bike competition across much of North America.

  Riders will race over 2,700 miles down the spine of the Rocky Mountains along Adventure Cycling's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Pedaling the entire distance to the Mexican border along primarily dirt roads, without any outside assistance, competitors will climb nearly 200,000 vertical feet from start to finish.

  In classic touring tradition, racers carry everything they need - food, water, shelter - on their bikes and backs, with refueling stops in small-town stores along the way. Riders are truly on their own, with no support crews, SAG vehicles, or massage-teams allowed, making the Tour Divide the longest, most-challenging cycling race in the world.

  "This year's line-up is colorful and packed with rookies - out of 48 racers, only 14 are veterans - so wide-eyed newbies providing fresh accounts of the racing and route are sure to dominate the call-ins," said Matthew Lee, race organizer and five-time Tour Divide winner. "Nineteen states and 6 different countries are represented. Four women will take the start and a record five single-speeders. The oldest racer is 55 and the youngest is 26."

  The race is free to enter and there are no prizes.

  This year's Tour Divide has been unofficially dedicated to the preservation of the Flathead Valley in British Columbia, which was recently integrated into the Canadian portion of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The valley is by all accounts stunning, remote, and home to countless species of plants and animals.

  "This scenic area is called the 'Serengeti of North America' by biologists for its unrivaled wildlife populations; it is the last major valley in southern Canada to be completely uninhabited," said Carla Majernik, Adventure Cycling's routes and mapping director.

  Tour Divide organizers are encouraging cyclists to become "Friends of the Flathead", which they can do through Flathead Wild's website at www.flathead.ca. Flathead Wild is a Canadian non-governmental organization working to preserve the valley.

  Fans, family, and the curious can follow the Tour Divide online. Each racer will carry a SPOT tracker (an automated GPS beacon) that will update their position every 10 minutes as they wend their way south to Mexico. Racer positions can be followed at www.tourdivide.org/leaderboard and MTBCast will carry daily podcasts with commentary and phoned-in reports from the racers themselves at www.mtbcast.com.

  On the evening of Thursday, June 10, the night before the Tour Divide race blasts off, competitors and fans can attend the Banff premiere of a new documentary film, Ride the Divide. The film follows a handful of 2008 Tour Divide riders determined to make it to Mexico, capturing their physical and psychological struggles with the route’s sometimes grueling terrain and the solitude of racing self-contained and alone. This spring, Ride the Divide won Best Adventure Film at the Vail Film Festival in Colorado.

  After the Banff screening, Ride the Divide will play in four Montana cities that lie on or near the route: Whitefish June 13, 7:30 pm at the O'Shaughnessy Center, Helena June 14, 7:00 pm at the Myrna Loy, Missoula June 15, 7:30 pm at The Wilma and Bozeman June 16, 7:30 pm at The Emerson. For more information and tickets, visit www.ridethedividemovie.com.

  Stay tuned for two upcoming reviews on Cyclingnews - featuring the Ride the Divide movie and Two Wheels on my Wagon, a book by Paul Howard.  Both document the Tour Divide race experience.

  For more information on the Tour Divide, visit www.TourDivide.org.

• Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park to open second location

  

  Article published:

  June 9, 2010, 18:20

  By:

  Cycling News

  Venue under construction in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park is expanding to offer a second location. After an extensive search, a 110,000 square foot former Menards Home Improvement Center was found as the location for the new venue in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, area. It is undergoing the transformation from empty warehouse to indoor mountain bike park.
  
  Building upon the success of the our original Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park of Cleveland, Ohio, Ray's of Milwaukee will provide cyclists from across the Midwest a place to ride, train, and develop their skills throughout the long winter months when local trails are closed or often unridable.

  Ray Petro, founder and namesake of Ray's Indoor MTB Park, had quietly planned the opening of a second Ray's Milwaukee locale for the past few years. When financing stalled at the last minute, Trek Bicycle stepped in to purchase the business and ensure the continued expansion of Petro's indoor MTB park vision.

  "Without Trek, Ray's Milwaukee could not have happened," said Petro, "I'm ... excited about the work that's already going on at our second park. The most exciting thing for me about this partnership is that I can now focus all of my time and energy on the design and creative direction of the parks."

  "Bringing Ray's to the Midwest has been a dream I have participated in with Ray for some time," said Joe Vadeboncoeur, Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at Trek.

  While Ray's new Milwaukee location is currently under construction, with opening ceremonies scheduled for November 2010, as riders of the original have come to anticipate, Ray's in Cleveland will be renovated throughout the summer.

  "I've loved riding at Ray's in Cleveland since it opened," said Vadeboncoeur, "With Milwaukee, Ray will be able to implement the things he has learned over the past five years and have them in place from day one. The new Ray's is going to be unlike anything anybody's ever seen before."

  For more information about Ray's Indoor Mountain bike Park, visit www.raysmtb.com.

• Stander favoured for Mankele title

  

  Article published:

  June 9, 2010, 18:07

  By:

  Cycling News

  South African anticipating race on favourite XC course

  It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Burry Stander (Specialized/Mr Price) will win the MTN South African elite cross country race for men at Mankele on Saturday, June 12. Even if Stander should have a really bad day, the rest of the riders would have to produce a super-human effort to beat him. And, even then, there is no guarantee that they will win.

  Mountain biking fans might still remember the occasion when the cleat on one of Stander's cycling shoes was torn loose during a race at Mankele. He had to stop to borrow a pair of cycling shoes from a rider standing next to the course while his dad, Charles, ran to the car to fetch another pair of shoes for him.

  Stander continued to race with the borrowed shoes, but after one lap he stopped again to change shoes. In spite of all this, he still managed to outride Brandon Stewart and Max Knox to achieve an overall victory.

  During last year's African Cross Country Championshp, which also took place at Mankele, Stander still qualified to race as an under 23 rider, which meant that his race started five minutes after that of the elites. He nevertheless managed to catch up with the elites and pass all of them.

  According to Stander, Mankele is his favourite cross country course.

  "The old Mankele course was the nearest that you could get to a World Cup course. If I understood the organizers correctly, they have changed the course slightly for Saturday's event to make it easier for the less experienced riders. But it will still be an exciting race."

  Philip Buys and Marc Bassingthwaighte (both Garmin-adidas) who achieved podium finishes in each of the MTN Cross Country events so far this year, will not compete on Saturday. They are racing in Germany.

  Kevin Evans (MTN-Energade), who made a comeback to cross country racing at the MTN event at George, will also be absent. He is a member of the South African road team that is currently competing in an eight-day tour in Spain.

  Matthys Beukes (Scott), who won the MTN Cascade race, is the only rider who, at least on paper, might be able to stay with Stander for a while.

  However, Beukes realizes that he will need lots of luck to have a chance of beating Stander.

  "Actually, my main focus on Saturday will not be to win. After having withdrawn from the event in George, I am just hungry to race again. I want to enjoy myself on the course."

  Last year Beukes finished second, after Stander, in the under 23 race of the African Championship.

  Rourke Croeser, who is not racing for DCM any longer, will have something to prove on Saturday. It is, therefore, safe to predict that he will battle it out with Beukes for the second place. Ben-Melt Swanepoel (Specialized/MR Price) might be the rider who could spoil their fun.

  In spite of the fact that he seems to have no real opposition, Stander is taking Saturday's race seriously.

  "I never take anything for granted. It is always important for me to go out hard when I am racing. I will test myself to the maximum during every lap on Saturday to see what I am capable of. It will be good preparation for my next World Cup race."

  Stander will also take part in the MTN South African Cross Country Championship in Pretoria before he returns to Europe to compete in more World Cup events.

• Young racer Marinheiro shows talent against his elders

  

  Article published:

  June 9, 2010, 16:44

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  18-year-old mountain biker wins elite race at Portugal Cup round

  In winning the elite men's race at the Portugal Cup round in Rio de Mouro this weekend, the young Ricardo Paulo Reis Marinheiro again showed the form that got him noticed last year at the World Championships in Canberra, Australia, where he won a silver medal in the junior cross country race.

  The 18-year-old Marinheiro is in the first year of a three-year contract with the TX-Active Bianchi Team. The deal will carry him through much of the often difficult transition from junior to elite ranks.

  "My short term principal objective is to do well in the Under 23s," said Marinheiro to Cyclingnews. "I want to finish top 10 at worlds in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, in September." He is also hoping to do well through the World Cup season. He's been adapting his training to get more comfortable in the longer races characteristic of the under 23 and elite categories.

  Marinheiro lives in Village Mafra, 25km from Lisbon. He and his younger brother Michael are the only two members of his family who race, although his father helps him out with training and mental preparation. His cycling career started with some BMX riding as a youth. Then he went to a local bike shop and was invited to a race, his first - a cross country - which he did at age 12. There's been plenty of racing ever since.

  Marinheiro is good at the technical parts of mountain bike racing - downhills, singletrack, drops and climbs. He's still working on getting stronger on the flatter sections, and has been adjusting his training accordingly.

  In 2009, Marinheiro won the World Cup in Champery, Switzerland. He took the silver medal at the World Championships in Canberra, Australia, behind Italy's Gerhard Kerschbaumer .

  "Canberra was a great course for me. I did well in the technical parts," he said. "That race was very special for me because it was one of my objectives. Gerard was very strong, and I was happy for him, but it is one of the dreams of my career to become a World Champion."

  The Portuguese racer said his idol is multi-time World Champion and Frenchman Julien Absalon. "He's a perfect racer, technically and physically and he's a great athlete,"said Marinheiro, who also counts marathon runner Carlos Lopas, an Olympic Champion, as a sportsman he looks up to.

  The young rider has never raced cyclo-cross, but has done a few races as preparation for cross country. "Other disciplines of cycling do not fascinate me as much," he said. "I don't know what I'll think in the future, but I will do everything I can to stay in the sport of mountain biking."

  In the meantime, he is finishing up his 12th year of school. Next year, he expects to enter the university to study sport science. In between World Cups and Worlds, Marinheiro is racing some Spanish, Italian and Portuguese national series events and Portugal's National Championships.

• Heras heads to Mongolia

  

  Article published:

  June 9, 2010, 15:35

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  Vuelta a España winner to compete in new mountain bike race

  Vuelta a España winner Roberto Heras is headed to Mongolia for the inaugural Mongolia Bike Challenge. The ex-professional, Spanish road cyclist confirmed his presence in the mountain bike stage race that will take place on the East Asian Steppes. He and Italian Marzio Deho are the two favorites for the race, which will take place from August 7 to 22.

  Since his retirement from racing, Heras has competed in various events including the La Ruta de los Conquistadores and the Brompton World Championships.

  84 racers from 10 nations are currently registered to compete in the land of Gengis Khan for the Mongolia Bike Challenge. The field size is limited to 108, a sacred number in Buddism. 108 is the number of Stupa placed in the walls of the Erden Zuu Monastery where the race will end after 10 stages and 1,400km.

  Heras raced as a road pro from 1997 to 2005. During his career, he won three editions of the Vuelta a Espana in 2000, 2003 and 2004. For a time, he was also a US Postal Service teammate of Lance Armstrong. He won the Vuelta in 2005; however, he was disqualified from that result after testing positive for EPO.

  Registration closes on June 30. For more information, visit www.mongoliabikechallenge.com.

• Kabush, Gould are overall leaders in US Pro XCT

  

  Article published:

  June 9, 2010, 10:13

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  Standings after round three

  Following the Mellow Johnny's round of the 2010 USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour (US Pro XCT) in Dripping Springs, Texas, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis / Rocky Mountain) and Georgia Gould (Luna) lead the series standings.

  Max Plaxton (Sho-Air Specialized) came from behind to win the elite men's contest, holding off hard-charging fellow Canadian Kabush and American Todd Wells (Specialized). Sam Schultz (Subaru-Gary Fisher), who was fourth, and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher), who was fifth, finished just shy of the podium.

  On the women's side, American Georgia Gould (Luna) pulled away from the pack to win, while Kelli Emmett (Giant Bicycles) beat out Katerina Nash (Luna) to finish second. Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Allison Mann (Rock 'n' Road) rounded out the top five.

  Kabush’s second-place finish allowed him to leapfrog Wells for the overall US Pro XCT lead. With three events in the books and two remaining, Kabush leads Wells by just five points in the pro men's standings. Meanwhile, Gould sits atop the women's leaderboard with a 95-point cushion over Koerber.

  The next round of the US Pro XCT will happen at the Subaru Cup in Mt. Morris, Wisconsin, on June 25-26.

  Complete US Pro XCT standings are below.

  Elite men US Pro XCT standings after three rounds

  #	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
  1	Geoff Kabush	350	pts
  2	Todd Wells	345
  3	Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski	220
  4	Max Plaxton	210
  5	Carl Decker	200
  6	Burry Stander	200
  7	Sam Schultz	160
  8	Jeremiah Bishop	142
  9	Barry Wicks	140
  10	Christopher Sauser	125
  11	Roel Paulissen	120
  12	Manuel Fumic	115
  13	Sid Taberlay	102
  14	Ryan Woodall	91
  15	Adam Morka	90
  16	Marco Aurelio Fontana	90
  17	Chris Sheppard	85
  18	Kris Sneddon	80
  19	Benjamin Sonntag	77
  20	Derek Zandstra	70
  21	Spencer Paxson	65
  22	Conrad Stoltz	65
  23	Ignacio Torres	65
  24	Dana Weber	62
  25	Raphael Gagne	60
  26	Jason Sager	60
  27	Eric Batty	55
  28	Troy Wells	55
  29	Travis Livermon	54
  30	Lachlan Norris	50
  31	Andy Schultz	45
  32	Lucas Brusseau	45
  33	Tristan Uhl	40
  34	Peter Glassford	39
  35	Thomas Turner	35
  36	Stephen Ettinger	34
  37	Rob Squire	30
  38	Craig Richey	30
  39	Aaron Elwell	30
  40	Bryan Alders	25
  41	Travis Woodruff	23
  42	Rotem Ishay	22
  43	Robert Marion	22
  44	Ken Onodera	20
  45	Will Black	20
  46	Nate Whitman	17
  47	Tad Elliot	16
  48	Colin Cares	15
  49	David Hanes	15
  50	Russell Finsterwald	13
  51	Blake Zumbrunner	13
  52	Vincent Lombardi	11
  53	Max Knox	11
  54	Kalan Beisel	11
  55	Wesley Lamberson	10
  56	Stefan Widmer	9
  57	Bryan Fawley	9
  58	Sean Babcock	8
  59	Rich Weis	8
  60	Kerry Werner	7
  61	Rick Wetherald	7
  62	Jeff Herrera	6
  63	Simon Jensen	6
  64	Adam Craig	6
  65	Alexander Grant	5
  66	Len Zanni	5
  67	Tinker Juarez	4
  68	Sondre Norland	3
  69	John Bennett	3
  70	Jason Young	3
  71	Ryan Trebon	1
  72	Matt Gordon	1

  Elite women US Pro Standings after three rounds

  #	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
  1	Georgia Gould	390	pts
  2	Willow Koerber	295
  3	Lene Byberg	270
  4	Kelli Emmett	265
  5	Pua Sawicki	210
  6	Katerina Nash	187
  7	Heather Irmiger	185
  8	Amy Dombroski	172
  9	Emily Batty	170
  10	Allison Mann	150
  11	Aleksandra Mooradian	140
  12	Susan Butler	135
  13	Catherine Pendrel	135
  14	Amanda Carey	110
  15	Chole Forsman	90
  16	Alice Pennington	90
  17	Judy Freeman	85
  18	Alison Powers	75
  19	Melanie Mcquaid	70
  20	Mical Dyck	60
  21	Kimberly Flynn	60
  22	Krista Park	59
  23	Amanda Sin	50
  24	Christina Smith	50
  25	Bryna Blanchard	45
  26	Kathy Sherwin	45
  27	Nina Baum	40
  28	Shae Rainer	40
  29	Danae York	33
  30	Lizzy English	30
  31	Lisa Hudson	30
  32	Sonya Looney	28
  33	Rebecca Rush	26
  34	Lydia Tanner	26
  35	Meghan Korol	25
  36	Deidre York	12
  37	Linnea Koons	22
  38	Joele Guynup	20
  39	Andreanne Pichette	20
  40	Holly Liske	18
  41	Kari Studley	17
  42	Wan Lin Chang	16
  43	Anna Fortner	15
  44	Christina Betz	14
  45	Timari Pruis	11
  46	Philicia Marion	11