RACING UPDATEFEB 19
UPDATEFEB 19 RACING
Compiled by Eddie Arnet
Base training is going along fine. Feeling better. Starting to lose winter fat. Then 10 boxes of Samoas and other goodies will soon be available. Here’s a glimpse at some of the people making a difference in racing.
ROLAND GREENS WILDCLIMB
Roland Green starts his comeback story in February 10, when we left, Roland Green was 15th overall in the Le Tour de Langkawi roadrace. Roland just had to hang on in the peloton until the second-to last day of Stage 23 cms 82 miles run. This ended in a 16-mile, 1,600.2 m climb. Trek-Volkswagen MTB Star Roland fought the hard ascent to place seventh at 0
SKIING AT KNOBBIES
You’ve probably thought of gliding down a ski slope on your downhill bike during winter. You can use downhill tires and wheels. It’s a European sport. In a special MTB Shootout, eleven World Cup downhill racers participated in the FIS World Cup Super-G skiing race at Garmisch, Germany. The riders raced at 105 km/h or more after a mass start. They were not given a practice run, and this was their first time down the slope. Global Racings 14th World Cup DHer MattiLehikoinen (Fin), led from the start and to one corner. He ran wide, and both Red Bull Champion Cedric Gracia and top ten World Cup 4X riders Guido Tschugg(Ger) were able to pass him. Gracia’s winning time was 17.91 secs slower than Super-G winner Hermann Maier (1min 18.09secs).
The last Siemens Mobile Snow King downhill race will take place in Kvitfjell (Norway), on March 7.
WILDSIDE
Australia’s Wildside MTB 2004 was an eight-day, seven-stage race that began in Deloraine, Tasmania. It featured stages at Cradle Mountain (9.9 miles). ), Que River (12.4 miles. ), Stirling River (8 mi. ), Montezuma Falls (16.8 mi. ), Spray Tunnel (3.0 mi. individual time trail), Granville Harbour (13.7 mi.) Hells Gates (22.4 miles.). There were 309 competitors.
Sid Taberlay, the dual champion (and defending champion), did it again. He rode the total 86.4-mile distance in a timed of
MICHELIN MICHELIN COPIES STTANs
Michelin and Mavic have once more teamed up to bring production tubeless technology to road biking. It took two of the most prominent names in cycling to find a way to replicate what Notubes Stan Koziatek has done for three years. Tubeless road tires, just like Stan, are much easier to mount, almost impervious to flatting and roll with less resistance. They also grip better in turns. Before being released to the public in 2005, the Michelin/Mavic tubeless roads tires will first be tested by Division 1 Pro road teams.
WADDELL REECOVERY BENEFIT RACE
John Waddells fundraising race was held at Three Chillies Farm, Western Australia. John received tremendous support from racers as well as the industry. Iron Horse-Mad Catz rider Sam Hill won the race. Ironically, he was also the one who organized the benefit. Sam won both the Elite and Top 30 Shootout races.
NEW ZEALAND IS HAPPENING
Mountain biking is a must-do activity in the Home of Middle-earth. The season is actually winding down. Long Gully, Wellington hosted the one-day National Cross Country and Downhill Championships. The XC racers rode as much as they ran after it rained all day and night. Kashi Leuchs (fresh Bianchi-sponsored rider and 7th place Worlds winner) was New Zealand’s top off-roader. Sonia Foote, a first year elite rider, won the women’s XC title. The DH titles were won by Venessa Quin, New Zealand’s 2003 4X Champion, and ninth place Worlds rider. John Kirkcaldie, sixth overall NCS rider, took the title. Nathan Rankin was the top-ten NCS rider.
Claudio Caluori, 15th place Worlds Rider in NZ’s Subaru National Mountain Bike DH Series, is the series’ leader with two wins. Scarlett Hagen, second place Junior Worlds finisher, heads the women’s class with a win as well as a second. Stuart Houltham, the NZ National Champion last year, is first in the XC series. He has two wins and a tie. Robyn Wong won all three of her events. The Subaru series still has three XC rounds and four DH rounds.
The Oceania Championships, Rotorua, was a packed house of talent. James Dodds, fifth place NZ National Champs rider, won the downhill title. Vanessa Quin won the women’s side. Cross country glory was won by Lisa Mathison, World Junior Women XC Champ. Sid Taberlay was the men’s XC champion. John Kirkcaldie, Jennifer Makgill won the fourcross. Kirkcaldie lost the fourcross because he did not have an Oceania race licence. This gave Tom Holland the win, having only just returned to riding after a collarbone injury. Tom was 8th in downhill two days prior to the fourcross.
AUSSIE
It’s been busy. Both Junior World Women Champion Lisa Mathison (Queensland) and Craig Gordon (Queensland) dominated the MTBA National Series at Fellcrag. There was a lot of talent on the downhill. Haro sponsored, Mick Hannah finished 10th at the Worlds DHer by less than 1/4 seconds over Jared Graves (0).
Tracy Hannah, Mick’s sister (Edge Cycles), won the women’s downhill. Tai Lee Muxlow (Oakley), qualified fastest, with a run that was 24 second faster than the rest of the women. Tai fell in the final run. There is still one round in the series.
WEDDING Announcement
Great Britain’s fourth place Worlds rider, Durango DH winner Steve Peat, just married Adele Croxon, British downhiller. Congratulations.
GRAVITY GAMES TO MOVE TO THE CABLE
The Outdoor Life Network (OLN), is most well-known for its coverage the 2003 Tour de France. After Octagon purchased the Gravity Games, the Octagon team wants to be remembered for their TV adrenaline series. More than 225 action sport athletes will compete in nine events at the September 2004 Gravity games. They are from 13 different countries. Those include bicycling, inline skating, skateboarding, wakeboarding and freestyle motocross. The 2005 Winter Gravity Games will feature superpipe, big-air, skiercross and big-mountain snowboarding. There will also be gravity quarterpipe, freestyle snowmobile, and boardercross competitions. The list of scheduled Medal Events did not include the bikercross, which is rumored to have been added. Bikercross is just another way to say fourcross, which, in turn, is another way to call mountaincross. Outdoor Life Network can be found in 56 million homes across the USA.
RULE CHANGES
The Durango finals will now be used to calculate the total cross-country and short track NCS points. This will also include the top five finishers from each of the seven previous events. This is great news to Olympic hopefuls. Mt. The Snow Summit and Mt. The new rule allows riders to skip two NORBA events, so they can still earn a spot at Athens.
Five NCS Marathon events are on the calendar. All three series finishers plus the Durango final result count towards the overall standings.
Durango is included in overall mountaincross points, along with the five top finishes from the six preceding events. The Snowshoe and Mount Snow MTX events clash with the World Cup 4Xs at Sestiere, Italy, and Schladming in Austria.
The downhill side now has 20 semifinalist riders who earn points which are added to the overall series total. Throwaway races will not be offered. NORBA made this decision because there are only six downhill events in the NCS schedule, even with the Durango final. The World Cup weekends in Sestiere, Schladming are dominated by Mount Snow and Snowshoe. It will be interesting for us to see how many American riders make it to Europe this year.
BEST QOTES
I am currently a bit too overweight and out of shape right now to be climbing as high as I would like. I’ll be a lot more fit than I was before I race this race. Trek-Volkswagens Roland Green shares his personal diary of racing the Tour de Langkawi, Malaysia.
Filip Meirhaeghe and Miguel Martinez will be strong. Roland Green will be hungry after an up year. There are many young riders to be aware of. It’s a great feeling to be able to compete in the race. It’s not so long ago that all of those guys were my idols. I believe I can win at the Olympics. Subaru-Gary Fishers Ryder Hesjedal discusses sizing up competition.
You can have everything or nothing at all. Jan Ullrich’s new autobiography will be published shortly before the Tour kickoff.
It refers to the Germans’ plan to override Lance Armstrong to regain Tour de France supremacy. Jan finished second in the race every time he’s been up against Lance since 1997 when he won it.
Ullrich is my favorite. I’ve enjoyed going to late movies, eating donuts and drinking beer. Armstrong’s answer to the question about who is the Tour favourite. This is a cynical answer to all the talk about Lance’s relationship with Sheryl Crow, which suggests that he will stop eating donuts and get fat. Lance is actually training harder and faster than he has in the five years he’s won the Tour. Armstrong will make his debut at the Tour of Algarve, Portugal this week.
Yesterday’s champion will become today’s champion. Tomorrow’s champion will become yesterdays champion. The natural physical characteristics of champion riders make them similar, but they also have to put in a lot more work. Eddy Merckx, five-time Tour de France winner, responds to a question about whether the racers today are as good or not. He is still considered to be the greatest cyclist ever to have lived.
