Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale) and Max Plaxton (Specialized) are tied atop men's US Pro XCT standings while Georgia Gould (Luna) remains the women's leader after two rounds of the American national cross country series. The second round was held in Fontana, California, this weekend.
Plaxton won round two ahead of Bishop and Sam Schultz (Subaru-Trek). Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek) and Todd Wells (Specialized) were fourth and fifth, respectively
"I’m just trying to find my pacing," said Plaxton. "Other years I've gone out hard and faded the last couple laps. Now I'm trying to make my last couple of laps strong. Today I just punched it near the top of the climb on the third lap."
Bishop and Plaxton have 380 points, 40 points ahead of Wells in the series standings.
On the women's side Gould and Lea Davison (Specialized), who has returned from a hip injury in 2010, placed second and third in Fontana behind winner Catharine Pendrel (Luna). Pendrel rode with Gould for a lap before pulling away from the pack on the long, arduous climb.
"The course was in awesome condition. They had some rain. The first it's nice to know you have legs. It's okay to feel good in training, but it's nice to test it out," Pendrel said.
Pendrel was absent from round one, so Gould leads the standings with 380 points, 20 points more than Davison. Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek), Chloe Forsman (BMC MTB Development Team) and Krista Park (Cannondale-NoTubes) round out the top five in the standings.
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Stephen Ettinger (BMC MTB Development Team) is the top under 23 men's rider in the overall standings as his 190 points place him 10th after finishing 12th in Fontana. On the women's side, Lydia Tanner is the top under 23 rider with 160 points in 12th place overall after riding to a 16th-place result on Saturday.
Specialized climbed out of a tie for fifth to take a 10-point lead over last week's leader, Subaru-Trek, in the team standings. Luna Pro moved up one spot to third ahead of BMC MTB Development Team, which fell from second to fourth.
