Nebraska Cycling News

U.S. Team Wraps Up the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with One World Title

Trentino, Italy - Elite men's and women's Olympic-style Cross Country racing capped off the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Sunday as Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.) and Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.) recorded the top American finishes. Wells rode to a 15th-place-finish in the men's contest, while Gould finished ninth to lead the women's squad.

The Swiss dominated the men's competition, sweeping the podium and placing four riders amongst the top 15 of the 129-rider field.  Christoph Sauser (SUI) earned a commanding victory over his countrymen, winning the in the 40-kilometer race with a final time of one hour, 58 minutes and 26 seconds. Last year's silver and bronze medalists swapped places in 2008 with Florian Vogel (SUI) taking second, 2:54 behind the winner and Ralf Naef (SUI) earning the bronze, 4:19 back.

Wells, ranked 11th on the World Cup circuit, finished 8:09 behind Sauser. Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.), who finished 22nd in 2007, was the United States' next best finisher in 45th, 16:56 off the winning pace. Both one lap down, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.) placed 49th, while Barry Wicks (Corvallis, Ore.) moved up 62 spots from his start position of 128th to finish in 56th. Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass.) placed 68th and Sam Schultz (Tucson, Ariz.) in 71st.

After being assigned the 24th start position based on his UCI world ranking, Wells started hard with a pair of sub-18 minute laps. After a slight mid-race lull, Wells, who finished 46th at last year's world championships, finished strong, moving up three spots in the final lap to take 15th.

"It was hard. I had a tough start and had to recover. My fourth lap was bad, but I was able to come back strong," explained Wells. "It's hard to move up when you start toward the front. I was shooting for a top 10, but when you leave it all out there you have to be pleased." 

The elite men's race served as a reminder that the European mountain bike pool continues to feature a formidable list of contenders less than two months away from the 2008 Olympic Games. Despite the U.S. men ranking amongst the top 10 nations in the world, Wells and Canada's Geoff Kabush were the only non-European finishers inside the top 20.

Margarita Fullana of Spain captured the world title in the 29-kilometer women's race, besting now two-time silver medalist Sabine Spitz (GER) by +1:43. The reigning world champion, Irina Kalentieva (RUS) was left with the bronze in 2008, 2:20 behind Fullana's mark of 1:39:01. 

Although the victim of a mid-race crash, Gould rode consistently throughout to equal her ninth-place finish at the 2007 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Fort William, Scotland. Taking the seventh start position, Gould rode near the front on the first lap until the powerful trio of Fullana, Spitz and Kalentieva were able to get away on the second of the five-lap affair.  

The U.S. women continued to illustrate the depth of American off-road racing, placing three riders in the top 20 - more than any other country. Twenty five-year-old Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt.) was able to move up 27 spots from her 46th-place start position to finish in 19th, while Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.), the 17-ranked rider in the UCI World Cup standings, crossed the line just over a minute behind Davison in 20th. Davison used consistently faster lap times to steadily move up throughout the 29-kilometer contest.

"I felt stronger and stronger as the race went on," said Davison. "With its steep climbs and fast descents that course suited me well. My goal was top 20, so I'm pumped."

Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo.) crossed the line inside the top 30, 13:16 behind the winner, while Willow Koerber (Asheville, N.C.) placed 40th, 18:42 back. Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) placed 47th, making up 16 spots from her assigned start position, to round out the U.S. contingent.  

With most of the six American women starters near the front of the pack on the first lap, the steep climbs and temperatures nearing the 90s helped to quickly sort out the contenders. By the end of the first lap Fullana, Spitz and Kallentieva had opened up a small lead which continued to grow as the trio rode together out front. It wasn't until the fourth lap that Fullana was able to break away for the more than one minute victory.

At the end of the third lap, with Davis surging and McConneloug in the 17th spot, it looked as though the U.S. might place three riders inside the top 15, but McConneloug was ultimately passed by three riders, including Davis, during the last lap.

Gould, the top American mountain biker in the world rankings, gave the U.S. its sixth consecutive top-ten finish at the world championships. Ranked amongst the top nations in the world on the heels of the 2008 Olympic Games, a deep and experienced U.S. women's team was ultimately kept off the podium at the world championships for the seventh consecutive year. Since Alison Dunlap captured the world title in 2001, the top results have been a pair of sixth-place efforts courtesy of Sue Haywood in 2003 and McConneloug in 2006.

With no top-three finishes by Americans at the World Championships or in a World Cup this season, two athletes have met the automatic nomination criteria for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team as a result of collective performances throughout the season.

Wells has met the automatic criteria for a nomination to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team as the athlete with the best cumulative placing in his best three 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup events. Wells finished sixth at the World Cup in Vallnord, Andorra on May 31 to complement an 11th-place effort in the season opener in Houffalize, Belgium on April 20. He then finished 13th at the most recent World Cup in Fort William Scotland on June 7.  Wells' sixth place finish in Andorra was the best result by a men's American mountain bike athlete in World Cup competition this season.

Gould met the criteria for an automatic nomination to the women's squad as the athlete with the best cumulative placing in her three best 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup performances.  Gould had a pair of fifth-place finishes in the season's first and third World Cups respectively in Madrid and Houffalize. Her next best finish was an 11th-place effort at the most recent world cup in Fort William.

The U.S. National Team concluded the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with a sole medal which came in the form of a gold by Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.) in Saturday's Women's Four Cross competition.

Click here <http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI1/layout.asp?MenuId=MTU0NDc>  for complete results from the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.

2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

Trentino, Italy

June 17-22

Elite Women's Cross Country

1. Margarita Fullana (ESP) 1:39:01

2. Sabine Spitz (GER) +1:43

3. Irina Kalentieva (RUS) +2:20

9. Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.) +6:18

19. Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt.) +10:03

20. Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.) +10:26

29. Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo.) +13:16

40. Willow Koerber (Asheville, N.C.) +18:42

47. Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) -1 Lap

Elite Men's Cross Country

1. Christoph Sauser (SUI) 1:58:26

2. Florian Vogel (SUI) +2:54

3. Ralf Naef (SUI) +4:19

15. Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.) +8:09

45. Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.) +16:56

49. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.) -1 Lap

56. Barry Wicks (Corvallis, Ore.) -1 Lap

68. Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass.) -2 Laps

71. Sam Schultz (Tucson, Ariz.) -3 Laps