MTB News & Racing Round-up, November 11, 2009

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Date published:

November 12, 2009, 17:05

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.

• KHS Factory Racing signs two gravity racers

  

  Article published:

  November 11, 2009, 18:41

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  Heath, Carney added to team

  KHS Factory Racing is adding two new riders to its roster for 2010. This year's US ProGRT winner Chris Heath and a member of the US Junior World Championship team Blake Carney both signed contracts for 2010.

  "I feel privileged to be joining such a successful team, which has been a permanent fixture on the US scene for a long time," said the 26-year-old Heath from Durango, Colorado.

  Heath is on a hiatus from a two-year college stint. He's been racing downhill for five years, but competes also in dual slalom and four cross. He hopes to defend his ProGRT title in 2010 and place top five at US Nationals.

  This year Heath won two downhills:  the Sugarbush Gravity East round and the Angel Fire round of the Mountain States Cup.

  "I am stoked to become a part of this family, and ready to step it up and show everyone what I can accomplish with great support!" said his soon-to-be new teammate,18-year-old Carney of Camarillo, California.

  Carney graduated as an honors student with a 4.22 GPA. He's now a freshman studying exercise science and sports medicine on an academic scholarship at California Lutheran University.

  He has raced BMX for 14 years and four cross for five years. He also races dual slalom and downhill. In 2010, he hopes to step it up in four cross in national and World Cup competitions. He is ranked 23rd in the world by the UCI in four cross.

  Carney finished eighth in the elite men's four cross world championship in Canberra, Australia.

  2010 KHS Factory Team Roster

  Downhill
  Melissa Buhl
  Chris Heath
  Logan Binggeli
  Naish Ulmer
  Quinton Spaulding
  Blake Carney

  Four Cross and Dual Slalom
  Melissa Buhl
  Logan Binggeli
  Dale Holmes
  Blake Carney

  Super D
  Scott Johnson
  Melissa Buhl
  Dale Holmes
  Logan Binggeli
  Naish Ulmer

  Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.

• Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race videos posted

  

  Article published:

  November 11, 2009, 17:14

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  Top two Bishop and Koerber share thoughts during inaugural edition

  Asheville local Sam Koerber and endurance pro Jeremiah Bishop battled at the first Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage race in October. The four-day race brought mountain bike stage racing to the Eastern US and was run through the mountains of western North Carolina.

  "Sam and I fought to keep pace with each other," said Bishop in one post-stage video. "It felt like half the time you were riding off the side of your saddle as you negotiated sidehill root clusters."

  Bishop also describes how his challenger Koerber was riding. "He's on home turf. He's riding like a salamander on that stuff... Descending Pilot Rock, with rocks everywhere, I could hear him behind me, his brakes squealing."

  "The trails were tight and super wet so it was scary, which was how I expected it would be after the rain," said Koerber in another video interview.

  In its first edition, the Pisgah race came with unseasonably cold temperatures and precipitation. Racers battled not only wet conditions, but there was snow at the higher elevations, too.

  "I was freezing," said Bishop of racing in the high mountains. "It was beautiful, but we were wet from the stream crossings."

  The videos conclude with scenese of the after party, complete with live music.

  Check them out.

  Leaders Jersey Presentation Stage 1
  Jeremiah Bishop Post Stage 2 Interview
  Sam Koerber Post Stage 2 Inteview
  Jeremiah Bishop Post Stage 3 Interview
  Square Root After Party

  See Cyclingnews' coverage of the race.

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• Minnaar in hospital after motocross wreck

  

  Article published:

  November 10, 2009, 18:40

  By:

  Cyclingnews

  Downhiller recovering from broken collarbone, blood clots, surgery

  South Africa's Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) is recovering in the hospital after a crash at the weekend saw him break his collarbone and have surgery on his left leg for the treatment of blood clots that had formed after the accident. The medical term for this injury to his leg is "compartment syndrome".

  The multiple-time World Cup Champion was competing in a regional Hare Scramble motocross enduro event, about 45 minutes from his hometown of Pietermaritzburg, as part of his preparation for the Roof Of Africa Enduro scheduled for later this month.

  Minnaar started the event in 70th place and had moved up to fourth by the end of the third lap. On time, and given his handicap of passing people from 70th, he was actually second fastest and was set to start the last of four laps in the three-hour event, when he rounded a righthand corner and hit a concealed rock that threw him over the bars and immediately onto his right shoulder, breaking his collarbone.

  Greg spoke Tuesday from hospital, "I knew it was broken straight away, as soon as I landed. I was about 20km from the main start finish area when it happened, and I struggled to ride further round the lap until I came to a marshal point. I left the bike there and got a lift to the hospital."

  "I didn't feel too bad and actually walked into the hospital. That's when the doctors noticed my left thigh had swollen up to be 10cm thicker than my right thigh. They rushed me into surgery and pulled out three massive blood clots. One was the size of the doctor's fist!"

  The doctors decided to leave the incision open overnight and drain further fluid. More than 500ml was drained, and the doctors opted to operate again on Monday night to stitch up the muscle and its casing. Presently Minnaar has a small drainage tube in his left leg, and the doctors are keeping him under observation. The collarbone break is on the right side; fortunately his left shoulder, which had reconstructive surgery at the end of 2007, was not affected by the crash.

  "It's so weird, I was able to walk into the hospital, and I have no recollection of hitting my leg in the fall. Strangely, it's exactly the same place where I had deep bruising following my crash at Mont-Sainte-Anne this year, so there may be some connection. The cut in my leg at the moment is about 25cm and I am completely unable to move or walk right now."

  The doctors are happy with Minnaar's muscles in his thigh, and they're keeping him in observation for at least another 24 hours. There are no immediate plans for him to leave the hospital. Needless to say, any plans to repeat his efforts at the Roof Of Africa Enduro have been set aside. Once he is released from hospital he expects to be on crutches for some time before getting back onto a bike.

  Minnaar finished second to Sam Hill in the 2009 World Cup downhill standings.

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• Giant Italia signs Falaschi

  

  Article published:

  November 10, 2009, 17:04

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  Young rider contracted for two years

  Team Giant Italia signed Bryan Falaschi to its roster for the next two years. The young Swiss racer is making the move from Team Hard Rock FRW and will compete in cross country and cyclo-cross for his new team through 2011. He was selected by manager Gianfranco Bechis in light of his accomplishments on the dirt and in cyclo-cross.
  
  Falaschi finished ninth at the World Cup in Offenburg and made the podium at the Internazionali d'Italia cross country races in Chies d'Alpago and Vermiglio. He also rode well in the Muettenz and Lugano rounds of the Swiss Racer Bike Cup and in the first round of the Maremma Cup, he was second.

  He current lives in La Chaux de Fonds, a small town in the French Canton of Neuchâtel, in the Region of Jura.

  In 2010, Falaschi will race the UCI World Cup and international events in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland. He will focus on improving his technical and tactical skills.

  Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.

• La Ruta Battles Costa Rican cycling federation

  

  Article published:

  November 10, 2009, 16:07

  By:

  Cycling News

  Protest over fees leads to withdrawal of sanctioning

  La Ruta de los Conquistadores, the four-day mountain bike stage race which begins on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica on Wednesday, finds itself embroiled in a war of words with the Costa Rican cycling federation - Federación Costarricense de Ciclismo (FECOCI) - as riders arrive for the start of the 17th edition of the self-billed "hardest mountain bike race" in the world.

  FECOCI issued a statement last night that the federation had revoked its sanction of the event. The cause is an announcement by race organizer, Román Urbina, that the federation fees to sanction events such as La Ruta are excessive, and that, therefore the race would be held without the backing [sanction] of the federation.

  The federation has retaliated by announcing that the event is therefore being held without any UCI or national federation sanction, and that licence holders would therefore be subject to fines [50-100 Swiss Francs] and suspensions [one month]. There is no clear word on whether these sanctions will only be applied to local licence holders, or foreign riders as well.

  According to La Ruta spokesperson J. Andrés Vargas, "There is no real need for a sanction, this is an adventure race. The issue is the fee the federation is charging to the organizer. La Ruta is the oldest mountain bike stage race [in Costa Rica], so it is in the spotlight."

  Vargas goes on to say, "There is no reason for [La Ruta] to give a high percentage fee [he mentioned as high as 10 percent] to the federation; they give no insurance, no value to the organizer. [La Ruta] has decided to invest these funds in the development of a richer mountain biking experience for all participants, as well as providing the tools for teams and organizations from all over the world to aid in the establishment of projects in Costa Rica and other Latin American countries."

  Vargas also says that the federation is contacting local media, telling them that La Ruta will not take place but, "La Ruta is going on; we're ready to put on a good race. There are 225 riders from 19 countries here, ready to roll tomorrow."

  Among the top riders in attendance are former road pro Roberto Heras (Spain), back for his second La Ruta, and American pros Jeremiah Bishop and Tinker Juarez.

  Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.

• Paez confirms as king of Colombia

  

  Article published:

  November 10, 2009, 14:05

  By:

  Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor

  TX Active Bianchi rider wins national championships

  Leonardo Paez wrapped up his season in style this weekend by winning the Colombian cross country national championship in Sevilla, in the department of Valle del Cauca.

  Paez bided his time until the fourth of eight laps of the circuit. Then, he forced the pace, getting away from his competition and ultimately finishing with a solo win.

  "We expected that Leonardo would win back the title," confessed TX-Active Bianchi team manager Massimo Ghirotto. "Yet, we are particularly satisfied by his performance. This is a worthy way to finish off a very positive season."

  It was a good day for his TX-Active Bianchi team as Paez's teammate Julio Caro finished fourth in the same event.

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