Max Plaxton (Specialized) faced down the toughest climb on the US Pro XCT circuit and proved he deserved the win at round two in Fontana, California. A resurgent Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale) was second, but could not quite hang on to Plaxton's wheel. Sam Schultz (Trek-Subaru) nailed down third place.
USA Champion Todd Wells (Specialized), respecting the fact that his teammate Plaxton was up the road, settled for fourth place. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek) rounded out the podium with a strong fifth place ride.
The new course at Fontana proved to be much more difficult than in past years. The climb up the mountain was made twice as long. Riders were calling it "The Beast" while the race announcer called it "Hurl Hill". Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis) and Bishop took early turns on leading up the mountain, but Plaxton launced a third-lap attack that left the other contenders scratching their heads in amazement.
"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 gave kudos to Plaxton "Max was definitely really strong. He came around me right at the top. He was riding full suspension. I was riding a hardtail. He definitely had the course dialed. He was the fastest on the descents - flowing and saving a lot of energy. I was glad that I pulled together a clean race and salvaged a great result."
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Plaxton (Can) Specialized | 1:48:32 |
| 2 | Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Cannondale | 0:01:33 |
| 3 | Samuel Schultz (USA) Subaru-Trek | 0:02:01 |
| 4 | Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Racing | 0:02:18 |
| 5 | Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Trek | 0:02:26 |
| 6 | Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 0:05:32 |
| 7 | Sid Taberlay (Aus) Kenda/H2O Overdrive | 0:05:43 |
| 8 | Derek Zandstra (Can) | 0:06:01 |
| 9 | Rotem Ishai (Isr) Jamis | 0:06:23 |
| 10 | Adam Craig (USA) Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team | 0:07:16 |
| 11 | Raphael Gagne (Can) Rocky Mountain | 0:08:10 |
| 12 | Stephen Ettinger (USA) BMC Development | 0:08:23 |
| 13 | Spencer Paxson (USA) Kona | 0:08:52 |
| 14 | Adam Morka (Can) | 0:09:14 |
| 15 | Peter Glassford (Can) | 0:09:48 |
| 16 | Ryan Woodall (USA) | 0:11:12 |
| 17 | Travis Woodruff (USA) | 0:11:25 |
| 18 | Troy Wells (USA) | 0:12:04 |
| 19 | Jesse Anthony (USA) | 0:12:35 |
| 20 | Miguel Valdez (Mex) | 0:12:56 |
| 21 | Bryson Perry (USA) | 0:13:03 |
| 22 | Antoine Caron (Can) | 0:13:07 |
| 23 | Kevin Fish (USA) | 0:14:11 |
| 24 | Francis Morin (Can) BH-Suntour-Peisey Vallandry | 0:14:33 |
| 25 | Vincent Lombardi | 0:14:36 |
| 26 | Kalan Beisel (USA) | 0:14:40 |
| 27 | Benjamin Bostrom (USA) | 0:14:47 |
| 28 | Tyson Wagler (Can) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
| 29 | Sean Donovan (USA) | 0:14:56 |
| 30 | Adam Snyder (USA) | 0:15:51 |
| 31 | Marton Blazso (Hun) | 0:15:54 |
| 32 | Aaron Bradford (USA) | 0:16:08 |
| 33 | Kevin Smallman (USA) | 0:16:11 |
| 34 | Jack Hinkens (USA) | 0:16:40 |
| 35 | Tim Allen (USA) | 0:17:02 |
| 36 | Ken Onodera (Jpn) | 0:17:37 |
| 37 | Jason Siegle (USA) | 0:17:40 |
| 38 | Jim Hewett (USA) | 0:17:42 |
| 39 | Colin Osborn (USA) | 0:17:46 |
| 40 | Ned Overend (USA) | 0:17:48 |
| 41 | Marcus Hayward (USA) | 0:18:10 |
| 42 | Zachary Valdez (USA) | 0:18:22 |
| 43 | Yuki Ikeda (Jpn) | 0:18:38 |
| 44 | Brad Bingham (USA) | 0:19:17 |
| 45 | Brent Steinberg (USA) | 0:19:44 |
| 46 | Bryan Fawley (USA) | 0:20:00 |
| 47 | Dana Weber (USA) | 0:20:06 |
| 48 | Zachary Keller (USA) | 0:20:13 |
| 49 | Clinton Claassen (USA) | 0:20:31 |
| 50 | Jeff Herrera (USA) | 0:20:51 |
| 51 | Cody Kaiser (USA) | 0:21:50 |
| 52 | Brandon Draugelis (USA) | 0:21:56 |
| 53 | Gregory Carpenter (USA) | 0:22:08 |
| 54 | Braden Kappius (USA) | 0:23:22 |
| 55 | Nate Whitman (USA) | 0:23:47 |
| 56 | John Nobil (USA) | 0:24:25 |
| 57 | Ryan Atkins (Can) | 0:25:03 |
| 58 | Will Curtis (USA) | 0:25:07 |
| 59 | Franklin Macky (USA) | 0:27:18 |
| 60 | Michael Mooradian (USA) | 0:29:06 |
| 61 | Graham Aldredge (USA) | 0:29:40 |
| 62 | Bradley Johnson (USA) | 0:30:18 |
| 63 | Charles Jenkins (USA) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
| 64 | Kerry Werner (USA) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
| 65 | Alex Boone (USA) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
| 66 | Brad Wilhelm (USA) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
| 67 | Matthew Cochran (USA) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
| 68 | Nicholas Weighall (USA) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
| 69 | Keisuke Goda (Jpn) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
| 70 | Will Patterson (USA) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
| 71 | Riley Predum (USA) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
| 72 | Matthew Paziuk (Can) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
| 73 | Hal Helbock (USA) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
| 74 | Ben Jones (USA) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
| 75 | Sean Ahmadi (USA) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
| 76 | Matthew Connors (USA) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
| 77 | Chris Heinrich (USA) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
| 78 | Chris Suter (USA) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
| 79 | Derek Herman (USA) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
| 80 | Rich Weis (USA) | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
| 81 | Kendal Johnson (USA) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Chris Hurst (USA) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Paul Freiwald (USA) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Robert Herber (USA) | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Andy Schultz (USA) | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Menso De Jong (USA) | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Barry Wicks (USA) | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Kris Sneddon (Can) | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Russell Finsterwald (USA) | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Osan Poshard (USA) | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Mitchell Peterson (USA) | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Eric Batty (Can) | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
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