Lene Byberg (Specialized) racing one of the few short tracks she will do this year. (Image credit: Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net)
The 2010 USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour (Pro XCT) kicked off on Saturday with the US Cup in Fontana, California. With high winds and sand storms, the first of the Pro XCT's five UCI-inscripted events was heated as the world's top mountain bikers competed for valuable UCI points. With the first of five Pro XCT events complete, Todd Wells and Lene Byberg, both of Team Specialized, have taken the early leads.
Wells won the elite men's race ahead of Canadians Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) and Max Plaxton (Sho-Air / Specialized). Australian Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air / Specialized) was fourth while USA Cycling Development Program alum Sam Schultz (Subaru-Gary Fisher) rounded out the top five.
On the women's side of competition, Norwegian Byberg won her first big American race ahead of proven endurance racer Pua Sawicki (OkoleStuff.com), who has switched her focus from endurance to cross country events this season in hopes of representing the US at the World Championships in Quebec in August. Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher) took third while Kelli Emmett (Giant) was fourth, and Allison Mann (Rock N Road) made her first national-level podium, taking fifth.
