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MTB News & racing round-up for January 18, 2006Edited by Steve Medcroft Welcome to our regular round-up of what's happening in the dirt. Feel free to send feedback, news and gossip to mtb@cyclingnews.com Aussie Nat's wrap-up; Taberlay is Melbourne boundBy Mikkeli Godfree in Mt Beauty
As if there hadn't been enough tension and excitement for one day, the men were yet to race. Again, the Commonwealth Games were at the forefront of more than one or two riders' minds with only Chris Jongewaard (Avanti) an assured start in March at Lysterfield. Again, it was a tense, hot and dusty start line with the sun beating down on a pack of 47 elite riders. One riders was keeping cool however, with an umbrella shading him from the rays - Sid Taberlay. Was it a sponsor stunt or was Sid laying his cards on the table as taking this race bloody seriously? Time would tell. As the gun wen, Jongewaard - in typical style - hit the front and put his South Australian hands around the throat of the race. Chris scorched the track with a 20min-flat lap while a hungry Sid came through eight seconds in arrears with Dan McConnell and Josh Fleming (Felt-Hutchinson) sniffing around within striking distance of the front two but well clear of the rest. By the second lap, Sid had caught his Avanti team-mate Chris, but took a spill allowing the early leader to resume his position at the front of the field. With Sid scrambling back to the wheel of the '05 national champion, onlookers could have been forgiven for thinking that Chris was helping his team-mate escape the clutches of the chasers to ensure Sid took the win and with it the second spot for the Commonwealth Games. However, as the race heated up, Sid began to dominate and there was no love lost between these two as each tried to sneak off the front. In the battle for third, Josh Fleming - national champion the last time Mount Beauty hosted the event - was doing his usual 'start slow and wind up' trick but it was too little too late and all he could do was distance himself from a tiring Dan McConnell. For the rest of the story from the elite men's race at Aussie MTB Nationals and a complete run-down of all the championship events, follow these links: Schedule
Canadian Cycling announces 2006 Commonwealth Games teamThe Canadian Cycling Association has announced the preliminary list of athletes selected to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Canada is entitled to a total of 19 athletes for the cycling competitions at the Games, which will be held in Melbourne, Australia, from March 16 to 26. Any modifications to this list will be made in a final announcement after the Los Angeles Track World Cup on Jan. 20-22. The mountain-bike selections are as follows: Mountain bike women: Mountain bike men: Alison Sydor declined selection. NZ National Series #2; new DH course big hit with ridersCoronet Peak opened its slopes today to a new breed of speed racers, and with no skis in sight, it was all about the bike as over 160 of the nation's top mountain bike downhillers trialed the freshly built course. In this, the second round of the 2006 National Mountain Bike Series, Nathan Rank (Levin) was the fastest elite man, and Vanessa Quin (Tauranga) backed up her Round 1 victory with another solid first place. With valuable UCI points up for grabs, it was a tight competition in the elite men's division. For the second week in a row, Glenn Haden (third placing) shared the podium with Rankin and Justin Leov (Blenheim), recently returned from the international competitive circuit, finish second. Australian elite rider Justin Havukainen (fifth) was a surprise entry and added an international flavour to the elite men's division. In the women's race, Quin laid a challenge to her competitors with the fastest seeding time, which was repeated in the race run when she won by more than six seconds from second place Jennifer Makgill (Auckland). Visiting Austrian rider Helena Fruhwirth made her debut as a place getter in third. Riders, local track builders and Coronet Peak staff were rapt with how the new track had bedded in during competition, which will remain open to the public over the next couple of days. Visiting international commissaire Peter Blakey from Australia commented on the high standard of organisation for the event in a brand new location. "It was fantastic to see the number and calibre of riders who travelled from all over the country to the event," he said. For brief results, click here. Registration for U.S. 24 Hours National Championship opens March 1Online and mail-in registration for the 2006 U.S. National 24 Hours endurance championship (to be held at the 24 Hours of 9-Mile in Wassau, Wisconsin July 29-30), opens March 1st. Six national championship categories will be contested. To register, solo-category applicants must be 18 years or older, carry a current NORBA racing license and submit a resume with their entry forms (only experienced ultra-endurance athletes will be accepted). The top three men and top two women racers will earn automatic invitations to the 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo World Championship race in Whistler, British Columbia in September. Trebon and Wicks join AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork on the roadAEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork Pro Cycling Team, a US Continental team based in Athens, Georgia, has announced its sponsors and roster for 2006. Known as Aerospace Engineering Group-VMG in 2005, the team rose to prominence in its first year in the professional ranks when Serbian Ivan Stevic led the team to several results. Building on last year's success, the team will expand its roster and support staff with the help of an increase in sponsor commitment. Included in the 2006 roster are Kona-sponsored MTB racers Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks. The full team roster is as follows: Emile Abraham (Tri), Chris Deluise (USA), Chris Frederick (USA), Esad Hasanovic (Scg), Nebojsa Jovanavic (Scg), Eric Keim (USA), Bruno Langlois (Can), Viktor Laza (Scg), Hugh Moran (USA), Eric Murphy (USA), Keith Norris (USA), Prokic Predrag (Scg), Jake Rubelt (USA), AJ Smith (USA), Frank Travieso (Cub), Ryan Trebon (USA), Barry Wicks (USA) and Greg Wolf (USA). Managing Director is Ravi Rajcoomar. 2006 TransRockies Challenge Sold OutFor the second straight year, the TransRockies Challenge has reached full capacity, this time over six months before the event which is set to take place August 6-12. When the TransRockies registration manager checked the overnight entries on the morning of Friday January 13 th , the magic number of 175 2-person teams had been reached and a Sell Out was declared at 7am Mountain Standard Time. “We reached capacity a month before the (actual race date) in 2005, and we'd by lying if we said that we didn't think that the 2006 edition of TransRockies Challenge would sell out even sooner,” said Race Director Aaron McConnell, “. . . but six months sooner was beyond anyone's most optimistic projections.” Participants in the 2006 edition of the TransRockies will spend seven days racing through the spectacular Canadian Rocky Mountains taking on an epic course which includes massive climbs, endless singletrack and river crossings, along with the wildly unpredictable Rocky Mountain weather. “Pretty much since the moment we tore down the finish line in 2005, we've been working on the 2006 race, and the 350 registered riders can look forward to the best edition of the TransRockies yet. News like this energizes everyone within the organization to keep improving every aspect of the event.” A waiting list will be in place and teams can email registration@transrockies.com for the opportunity to be offered entry on a first-come first-served basis should spots become available. For more information on the TransRockies Challenge, visit www.transrockies.com . MTBA and National Series Web sites hackedMountain Biking Australia reported last week that the servers that host the MTBA and the Australian National Series Web sites were hacked the weekend of January 7th. The servers had to be shut down to restore service which took both sites offline and delayed delivery of news about upcoming events. "The hacker did the whole server," said MTBA President Tony Scott, "which hosted more than just MTBA and the national series websites. Scott says that no member data was compromised in the attack. "Only the top home page (and files) were affected," he said by email on Tuesday. "No MTBA membership information is kept on the server apart from contacts for MTBA affiliated clubs; even those are kept in lower-level directories," and protected differently and more securely that the main page he adds. Service on the Web site was restored the day following the hack. In response to the vandalism, the MTBA webmaster has added more security on the web site and will shortly move the site hosting to a more secure server. (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2006) |
