Sager wins cross country

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Mother Nature delivered a perfect weekend of weather, and Maplelag Resort delivered on near perfect racing as stage race titles went to Jason Sager (Team Jamis) of Ogden, Utah, and Sara Kylander-Johnson (Trek Co-op) of Duluth, Minnesota after two days of racing over three events - the time trial, short track and cross country - during the Laddies Loppet Mountain Bike Stage race, part of the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendar series.

Sunday's cross country was the main event on the weekend which also served as the point getter for the Minnesota Mountain Bike Cross Country Series. Mother Nature delivered another gorgeous day as a record number of "Kids Comp" racers kicked off the racing action with three miles of rolling fun.

In the elite races, Jason Sager (Jamis) wasted no time moving to the front as he and Sam Oftedahl (Maplelag Resort-Paramount) set a blistering pace coming through the first of three laps in about three minutes faster that what race organizers were expecting. Moore rode steady and strong and eventually passed Oftedahl to move up to second and closed the gap down to Sager who held off the charging Moore by 37 seconds.

Oftedahl would hold on to third as Saturday's short track winner, Doug Swanson, rode steady and strong to move up to fourth. Singletrack specialist Scott Kylander-Johnson, having one of his best seasons ever, rounded out the top five. Top junior rider on the day was Jake Richards (Maplelag Resort-Paramount) who stuck on with Swanson's wheel as long as he could before popping on the last lap to slide back to ninth.

With Sara Kylander-Johnson taking the first two events, the Duluth rider and mother of a baby girl, pretty much had the overall wrapped up barring a major disaster. This didn't stop Jenna Rinehart (Specialized), however, from putting everything out there and scorching to an impressive win and riding a pace which would of put her in the top 20 among the men. Kylander-Johnson held on to second as Rebecca Sauber (LCR Ergon) rode to another third place finish with Jen Fisher and Corey Coogan-Cisek rounding out the top five, respectively.

After the three events, Sager took the overall among the men with Moore, Swanson, Bergman and Oftedahl rounding out the podium. Kylander-Johnson scored the bubbly for the overall with Rinehart, Sauber, Fisher and Cisek completing the top five.

Race notes

Notable riders to miss this years race include TJ Woodruff of Tucson, Arizona. who had collected the stage race title the previous three years, and Jack Hinkens of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Woodruff currently is in France for all of September and October as part of a research study being conducted on the 'live high, train low' altitude principle. Hinkens, who had collected two wins on the Minnesota circuit in cross country racing action, was competing at the World Championships where he recorded a 45th finish in the U23 and third American.

Minnesota Pro Kyia Anderson, who recently retired from racing this year, led a skills clinic with her husband Kris in between Saturday's event helping riders with technical skills on the infamous lakeside drops.

With Maplelag located just three hours from the Canadian border, a nice size group of Canucks made the trip south with a large contingent of "Kids Comp" racers.

ESPN X Games Sno Cross Champion, Tucker Hibbert, made an appearance on race day posting a top 20 finish in the Comp class.

Maplelag Resort was celebrating 20 years of promoting mountain bike races. The course presents itself as one of the most technical courses in the Midwest including tight and twisty singletrack and the infamous lakeside drops near Little Sugarbush lake. The majority of racers stay at the resort that was filled entirely by mountain bike racers that met at meal times for all you can eat family-style meals with five bottomless cookie jars to boot, keeping the racers fueled.

Full Results

Final general classification