Round five of the Copa Chile Jeep, the largest national championship series in South America, wrapped up on the Circuito Lo Barnechea in Santiago, Chile. 930 racers, including 450 cross country and 480 downhill, participated in the two-day finale.
In the men's cross country, the Pan-American champion and Chilean Olympian Cristóbal Silva (Team ADO - Cannondale) repeated his championship overall win by taking four of the five total races, including the last round. He finished second in just one of the races, in which he was defeated by Javier Püschel (Team Scott).
Francisca Campos (Team Scott), also a representative of Chile in Beijing at the Olympic Games, won two of the women's rounds. However, consistency and dedication paid off for Daniella Bünzli (Team Vitalife - Cannondale), who won three races, including the final round and the overall ranking.
Among the younger racers, the intermediate women's category was the most exciting with the podium changing from race to race. In the 15-16 women's category, Laura Munizaga (Team Vitalife - Cannondale) showed her promise as a future star up and coming in the next few years.
In the downhill, the courses kept surprising the competition, leaving the quest for the overall more open than in previous year and maintaining the suspense until the last race. Pedro Ferreira (Commencal), won the general men's ranking after he proved successful in avoiding crashes and making consistent podium appearances. Verónica Miranda (Rocky Mountain) proved that she is the fastest of her kind, winning all the women's downhill races with comfortable time margins over her competition on the way to an overall title. In the junior men's 17-18 category, Andreas Kukulís, won decisively even as the courses changed from round to round.
This championship served as a qualifier for the Pan American Mountain Bike Championships to be held in March next year in Chile.
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See Cyclingnews' complete coverage of the final round of the Copa Chile Jeep.
Moseley says farewell to Kona
After nine years, downhiller Tracy Moseley is moving on from the Kona Bicycle Team. The talented British racer visited the podium at 112 races since signing with the squad in 2000. Her first trip to the World Cup podium happened just one year later, and she captured her first World Cup title in 2002 in front of a home crowd in Fort William, Scotland. In total, Moseley can count a European downhill championship, 10 World Cup victories and five national downhill titles while racing in Kona colors.
"Riding and racing for Kona over the last nine years has been an incredible journey," said Moseley. "At the outset I had no idea that I would make a long career out of the sport and I had no idea Kona and mountain bike racing would give me the opportunity to travel the world and meet so many great people."
"Kona is one big family, and wherever I have been in the world I have always had an amazing welcome from the Kona distributors everywhere," said Moseley. "I am very grateful for the commitment, support and opportunities ... over the last nine years."
"Always smiling and always the consummate professional, Tracy will be sadly missed by the Kona crew," said Kona co-founder Jake Heilbron. "We wish her the best of luck in her future with a new team and a new ride. And we look forward to seeing her at the races and on top of podiums all over the world."
Moseley was ranked third behind World Champion Rachel Atherton (Animal Commencal) and Sabrina Jonnier (Team Maxxis) after the final round of the 2008 UCI World Cup.
