Fort William, Scotland
usacycling.org

In his last year of eligibility as an under-23 rider, Sam Schultz (Missoula, MT) led the U.S. National Team with an 11th place finish at the 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships. A graduate of the USA Cycling's National Development Team program, Schultz finished 6:09 off the pace of winner Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark in the 26.7 mile U23 Cross-Country race to record his best finish at a world championships.

"I was hoping to do a little better, but I'm definitely psyched about this finish," Schultz said following the race. "It gives me a few more international points to kind of put me back in the chase for the Olympic Team. That's been a goal for me this year."

Schultz, whose achievements as a member of the U.S. National Team led to a pro contract with the Subaru-Gary Fisher squad for the 2007 season, completed his fourth career U23 World Championships. After placing 33rd in his only Junior World Championship appearance in 2003, Schultz placed 43rd in his first year as an Espoir before placing a then best 17th in 2005, followed by a 38th-place performance in 2006.

Led by Schultz, the five man American contingent also included Colin Cares (Boulder, CO/U.S. National) in 47th and 15:53 behind Fuglsang, Mitchell Peterson (Sandy, UT/Devo) placing 55th and 19:01 back, and Tad Elliott (Durango, CO/U.S. National) crossing the line 27:20 back to finish 62nd.

Reigning U.S. National U23 Cross-Country Champion Sam Jurekovic (Colorado Springs, CO/U.S. National) suffered a broken front derailleur on the third lap. Yet he was still on pace for a top 40 finish before a rear flat relegated the third year U23 rider to a 61st place finish, 26:32 behind the winning time.

"The bad luck wasn't even the problem today," Jurekovic explained of his performance. "I just didn't have anything. I had a good start position, but as soon as we hit the climb there was a crash right in front of me and I had to get off. I was chasing from the beginning and I just couldn't get going. I just had nothing today. Straight-up had nothing."

Starting in 35th position, Jurekovic maintained his position within a few spots in either direction before being passed by 20 riders on the final lap after his flat tire.

Last year's gold medalist, Nino Schurter (Swi) won the silver medal, 1:43 back, while Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) claimed the bronze medal, 3:20 behind.

After finishing the first of five laps in 12th place, Schultz ran as high as ninth at one point, but lost two spots on the fourth lap to drop out of the top ten.

"The race was pretty fast," Schultz said. "I did my best to hang on at the start and not blow. I was hoping I'd be able to move up a little bit later on in the race. I wasn't racing conservatively, but I was trying to race smart so I didn't completely blow. But I still felt like I was kind of going backwards a little bit at the end. I definitely gave it all I had."

U23 CROSS-COUNTRY WORLD'S RESULTS
1. Jakob Fuglsang (Den)...1:54:04
2. Nino Schurter (Swi)...+1:43
3. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)...3:20
11. Sam Schultz...6:09
47. Colin Cares...15:53
55. Mitchell Peterson...19:01
61. Sam Jurekovic...26:32
62. Tad Elliott...27:20


WORLD CHAMP'S DAY 3
Fort William, Scotland
usacycling.org

Day three of the 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships featured preliminary rounds of the gravity events and the Junior Men's Cross Country race as Melissa Buhl (Chandler, AZ) and Brian Lopes (San Clemente, CA) qualified second and third respectively as the top Americans in the 4-Cross competition.

Buhl qualified second behind Jana Horakova of the Czech Republic in the elite women's division. Two-time defending World Champion Jill Kintner (Seattle, WA) qualified third. In the elite men's qualifier, Lopes finished just a quarter-second off the pace of top seeded Romain Saladini (Fra) and 5/100 of a second behind Michael Prokop (Cze).

In the only endurance event of the day, Team USA's Chris Peterson (Sandy, UT) turned in the best performance for the squad, placing 30th in the Junior Men's Cross-Country contest.

Tasked with 21.1 miles of racing, the five-man junior U.S. squad experienced a setback as reigning U.S. Junior National Champion and bronze medalist in Tuesday's Team Relay, Ethan Gilmour (Ludlow, VT), suffered a flat tire along with teammates Gregory Carpenter (Canton, CT/Giant-Devo) and Tristan Cowie (Dawsonville, GA/Cycle Youth), effectively removing the trio from contention. After losing significant ground to much of the 89-rider field, Gilmour rolled across the line in 77th place, followed by Cowie in 84th and Carpenter in 85th.

The top American performance on Thursday came from Peterson who finished 30th overall after being assigned the 66th position on the start grid. Despite being seeded near the back of the field, Peterson consistently worked his way through the pack, finishing the first of four laps in 40th position before picking off ten more riders. Stephen Ettinger (Cashmere, WA) finished 67th for Team USA.

In a race dominated by Europeans, Thomas Litscher (Swi) earned the World Championship with a winning time of 1:37:06. Behind Litscher, Piotr Brzozka (Pol) finished 27 seconds off the pace to secure the silver medal while David Fletcher (GBr) captured the bronze medal 40 seconds later.

For the U.S. National Team, Peterson finished 6:44 behind the gold medalist while Ettinger was 14:57 back. After losing time because of their flats, Gilmour crossed the line 18:23 off the pace of Litscher while Cowie and Carpenter came in 24:43 and 34:28 back respectively.

Also on Thursday, Americans competed in the seeding runs across all four downhill categories: elite men, elite women, junior men and junior women. In the elite men's category, Luke Strobel (Renton, WA) earned the highest seed amongst Americans, placing 19th in the 94-rider field. Strobel clocked a time just 12.35 seconds off the pace of top seeded Greg Minnaar (RSA). Melissa Buhl was also the top American in the elite women's downhill seeding run. She will enter the finals ranked 11th after finishing 29.25 seconds off the pace of top seed Rachel Atherton (GBr). In the junior categories, John Swanguen (San Diego, CA) ran 11th, 15.66 seconds slower than top seeded Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr). The lone U.S. representative in the junior women's downhill, Chrissie Pinney (Concord, CA), qualified ninth, 2:40.10 back from Florain Pugin (Fra).

When the 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships continue on Friday, three more world titles will be awarded in the MEN'S Under-23 Cross-Country and the elite men's and women's 4-Cross competitions. Toeing the line for the American U23 Cross Country squad will be Sam Schultz (Missoula, MT/Subaru-Gary Fisher), Sam Jurekovic (Colorado Springs, CO/U.S. National), Colin Cares (Boulder, CO/U.S. National), Tad Elliott (Durango, CO/U.S.
National) and Mitchell Peterson (Sandy, UT/Devo).

JUNIOR CROSS-COUNTRY RESULTS
1. Thomas Litscher (Swi)...1:37.06
2. Piotr Brzozka (Pol)...+0:27
3. David Fletcher (GBr)...0:40
30. Chris Peterson...Devo...6:44
67. Stephen Ettinger...Arlberg...14:57
77. Ethan Gilmour...Devo-Okemo...18:23
84. Tristan Cowie...Cycle Youth...24:43
85. Gregory Carpenter...Giant-Devo...34:28

DOWNHILL SEEDING RESULTS
1. Greg Minnaar (RSA)...G-Cross Honda...4:53.32
2. Gee Atherton (GBr)...Animal Commencal...+6.00
3. Julien Camellini (Fra)...Mojo-Orange...3.88
19. Luke Strobel...Maxxis...12.35
33. Duncan Riffle...Honda-Ironhorse...19.93
42. Cole Bangert...Morewood...25.33
61. Christopher Herndon...Specialized...38.37
65. David Klaassen Van Oorschot...odi-Southridge...39.64
74. T.J. Sharp...Yeti-Fox...48.36
89. Chris VanDine...Goride...1:47.06
WOMEN
1. Rachel Atherton (GBr)...Animal Commencal...5:30.20
2. Tracy Moseley (GBr)...Konas-Les Gets...+8.49
3. Emmeline Ragot (Fra)...13.22
11. Melissa Buhl...KHS...29.25
16. Lisa Myklak...Leelikesbikes-Morewood...39.80
21. Amelia Colosurdo...Bear Naked-Cannondale...48.98
22. Darian Harvey...Durango Rough Riders-Specialized...57.67
33. Kathy Pruitt...Jamis...1:30.73

JUNIOR DOWNHILL SEEDING
1. Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr)...5:05.12
2. Josh Bryceland (GBr)...+1.29
3. Steve Smith (Can)...4.14
11. John Swanguen...Cove...15.66
19. Tyler McCaul...Trek-Fox...23.84
25. Logan Binggeli...Yeti...27.94
29. Tim Price...Specialized...33.25
46. Brad Oien...ODI-Southridge...46.18
WOMEN
1. Floraine Pugin (Fra)...5:48:07
2. Myriam Nicole (Fra)...+8.83
3. Katy Curd (GBr)...25.97
9. Chrissie Pinney...Ride SFO...2:40.10

4-CROSS QUALIFYING
1. Romain Saladini (Fra)...42.13
2. Michal Prokop (Cze)...Author...+0.02
3. Brian Lopes...Oakley-GT...0.25
19. Ross Milan...Yeti...2.18
28. Jeremiah Work...Mafia-Pabst...3.06
38. Thomas Tokarczyk...Jamis-Shark Energy...6.29
WOMEN
1. Jana Horakova (Cze)...46.95
2. Melissa Buhl...KHS...+0.93
3. Jill Kintner...GT...1.03
12. Neven Steinmetz...Totally Wired...9.30
18. Jessica Vogt...Turner...13.24


WORLD'S DAY 2
Fort William, Scotland
usacycling.or

Americans followed up the bronze medal winning performance in the Team Relay at the 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships by finishing just shy of top 20 in both the junior and Under-23 women's Cross-Country races.

In the U23 contest, Caitlyn Tuel (Boulder, CO/Trek-VW) was the top American finisher in
24th place while compatriot Chloe Forsman (Boulder, CO/Luna Chix) finished 25th. For the
second consecutive year, the event was dominated by a pair of Chinese riders as Ying Liu
captured the world title ahead of teammate Ren Chengyuan.

On the first of four laps that comprised the 21.1 mile race, the American duo fell off the
pace of the front half of the field. Unable to make up ground on the slick, rain-soaked
course, Tuel and Forsman settled into a pace that left them 20+ minutes behind the leader
throughout most of the day.

Liu, last year's silver medalist, clocked a winning time of 1 hour, 45 minutes and 43
seconds to best defending champion and countrywoman Chengyuan by 3:31. Although young enough to compete in the U23 division, both Chengyuan and Liu are two of the world's top riders regardless of age when compared to their elite counterparts. Chengyuan is currently ranked third in the world and Liu fifth.

Tuel finished 22:48 back from Liu, while Forsman came in 25:18 down.

Austria's Elisabeth Osl finished 5:20 off the pace to win the U23 bronze medal.

In the junior women's contest, Stephanie White (Bedford, NH/Velo Bella) led the American
team as the highest placed rider in 23rd place. The reigning U.S. National Champion in the
junior expert category, White finished 20:57 off the pace of winner Alla Boyko of the
Ukraine in the 16.2 mile race. White's U.S. teammate, Amy Cox (Scottsdale, AZ/Strada),
finished 26th, 28:21 behind Boyko.

Averaging a winning speed of 11.2 mph, Boyko clocked a winning time of 1:25:14. White
turned in a finishing time of 1:46:11 and Cox stopped the clock at 1:53:36.

Jitka Skarnitzlova (Cze) and Julie Bresset (Fra) completed the junior women's podium in
second and third place respectively.

Next up will be the Junior Men's Cross-Country. Representing the U.S. are Ethan Gilmour
(Ludlow, VT/Devo-Okemo), Gregory Carpenter (Canton, CN/Giant-Devo), Stephen Ettinger
(Cashmere, WA/Arlberg), Chris Peterson (Sandy, UT/Devo) and Tristan Cowie (Dawsonville,
GA/Cycle Youth). Gilmour already has one medal to his credit as a member of the third
place Team Relay squad.

Gravity athletes will also compete as the qualifying rounds of the 4-Cross will feature
defending world champion Jill Kintner (Seattle, WA/GT), Melissa Buhl (Chandler, AZ/KHS),
Jessica Vogt (Boulder, CO/Dianese-Gamut-Fox), and Neven Steinmetz (Boulder, CO/Totally
Wired) for the women. Brian Lopes (San Clemente, CA/Oakley-GT), Ross Milan (Golden,
CO/Yeti-Fox), Eric Carter (Winchester, CA/Mongoose), Tommy Tokarczyk (Durango, CO/Jamis) and Jeremiah Work (Austin, TX/Bicycle Sport Shop) will represent the men's 4-Cross contingent.

Seeding runs for all downhill categories will also commence today. Cole Bangert (Twin
Lakes, CO/Morewood-Utopia), Duncan Riffle (Santa Barbara, CA/Honda-Iron Horse), Luke
Strobel (Renton, WA/Maxxis), Gerritt Beytagh (Fletcher, NC/Morewood), T.J. Sharp (Boulder, CO/Yeti-Fox), Chris Van Dine (Salt Lake City, UT/Cannondale The Cut) and Christopher Herndon (Etowah, NC/Specialized-Cane Creek) are scheduled to compete in the elite men's downhill. Buhl also competes in the downhill, and will be supported by Americans Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor, CA/Jamis), Lisa Myklak (Boulder, CO/Leelikesbikes), Amelia Colosurdo (Seattle, WA/Bear Naked-Cannondale) and Darian Harvey (Durango, CO/Durango Roughriders). The junior men's downhill roster includes Logan Binggeli (St. George, UT), Brad Oien (Fountain Valley, CA/ODI-Southridge), Tim Price (Great Falls, VA/Specialized) and Tyler McCaul (Aptos, CA/Trek-Fox), while Chrissie Pinney (Concord, CA/Ride SFO) will be the sole junior women's representative.

U23 WOMEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY RESULTS
1. Ying Liu (Chn)...1:45:43
2. Ren Chengyuan (Chn)...+3:31
3. Elisabeth Osl (Aut),..5:20
24. Caitlyn Tuel...22:48
25. Chloe Forsman...25:18

JUNIOR WOMEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY RESULTS
1. Alla Boyko (Ukr)...1:25:14
2. Jitka Skarnitzlova (Cze)...+0:28
3. Julie Bresset (Fra)...1:35
23. Stephanie White...20:57
26. Amy Cox...28:21

JUNIOR MEN 20" TRIALS
1. Eduard Planas Nunez (Spn)...19 points
2. Aurelien Fontenoy (Fra)...22
3. Loris Braun (Swi)...24
*No U.S. competitors entered

WORLD MTB CHAMP'S DAY 1
Fort William, Scotland
usacycling.org

The U.S. National Team opened the 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships by winning the United States' first medal in the Team Relay.

The foursome of Georgia Gould (Ketchum, ID/Luna Chix), Ethan Gilmour (Ludlow, VT/Devo-
Okemo), Sam Schultz (Missoula, MT/Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Adam Craig (Bend, OR/Giant) joined forces to claim the bronze medal behind the winning team from Switzerland and runner-up Poland.

The Team Relay features four laps of the cross-country circuit, one each contested by an
elite male, elite female, under-23 male and junior male from each nation. The event was
first included in the World Championship program at the 1999 edition in Are, Sweden. There,
the United States turned in a fourth place performance, the highest placing for an American
entry until just now.

With teams allowed to determine the start order of its representatives, the U.S. squad
chose to open with Gould while the remaining 14 teams opted to kick things off with either
its elite or U23 male competitor. The result was a comparatively slow first lap in which
Gould clocked an opening lap time of 25 minutes, 19 seconds over the 4.9 mile loop. It was
the slowest time of the first wave, but the second fastest amongst elite women. Irina
Kalentieva (Rus) took those honors by posting a 25:13 on the third lap.

Gilmour, the U.S. squad's junior male entry, took the handoff from Gould and moved the U.S. up one position to 14th place at the midway point. Gilmour ticked off a 24:46, the 12th-
fastest mark of his lap.

Following Gilmour, Schultz continued to improve Team USA's position, moving the team from 14th to eighth place after posting a 22:39, the fastest mark of the third lap and third-
fastest compared to his U23 male counterparts.

Needing to make up five spots to secure the first relay medal in U.S. history, Craig
anchored the American squad with a 22:01, the quickest mark on the final lap and the ninth
fastest lap time of the day amongst all competitors.

The U.S. contingent completed the event with an overall time of 1:34:45, just 20 seconds
off the pace of Poland and 1:09 back from the defending champion Swiss team.

The strategic decision to send Gould off first and sacrifice an early lead paid off for the
U.S. Team as the only squad to opt for a slow start and a fast finish.

"I figured we'd be better off if we let Georgia ride by herself because that's what she's
been doing all year anyway," Craig explained of the team's tactics. "She could time trial
it and then the younger boys were fine with just picking off a person or two a lap. I
figured if I was on the last lap with a bunch of people to catch, I'd be fired up. It's
good for morale to be passing people."

All four competitors on the U.S. squad will compete in their respective individual events
later this week, Gilmour in the junior men's cross-country on Thursday, Schultz in the U23
men's cross-country on Friday, Gould in the elite women's cross-country on Saturday and
Craig in the elite men's cross-country, also on Saturday.

Next on the schedule for the 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships continue the junior and U23 women's cross-country. Representing the United States in the junior women's division will be Stephanie White (Bedford, NH/Velo Bella) and Amy Cox (Scottsdale, AZ/Strada). In the U23 women's contest, Chloe Forsman (Boulder, CO/Luna Chix) and Caitlyn Tuel (Boulder, CO/Trek-VW) will compete for Team USA.

The bronze medal for the United States in the Team Relay at the 2007 Mountain Bike World
Championships is the 12th medal won by Americans at various World Championship events this year. The foursome of Craig, Gould, Gilmour and Schultz join Sarah Hammer (Temecula, CA--Gold Medalist, elite women's individual pursuit), Kyle Bennett (Conroe, TX--Gold Medalist, elite men's BMX), Taylor Phinney (Boulder, CO--Gold Medalist, junior men's time trial), Jonathan Page (Northfield, MA--Silver Medalist, elite men's cyclocross), Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, C)--Silver Medalist, elite women's cyclocross), Daniel Summerhill (Centennial, CO--Silver Medalist, junior men's cyclocross), Danny Caluag (Chino, CA--Silver Medalist, elite men's cruiser BMX), Brad Huff (Fair Grove, MO--Bronze medalist, elite men's track omnium), Randy Stumpfhauser (Sanger, CA--Bronze Medalist, elite men's BMX), Jerika Hutchinson (Mt. Shasta, CA--Bronze Medalist, junior women's time trial) and George Sowers (Glendale, AZ--Bronze Medalist, junior men's cruiser BMX).

WORLD MTB CHAMP'S TEAM RELAY RESULTS
1. Switzerland...1:33:36 (Florian Vogel, Thomas Litscher, Petra Henzi, Nino Schurter)
2. Poland...+0:49 (Marcin Karczynski, Piotr Brzozka, Maja Wloszczowska, Dariusz Batek)
3. Usa...1:09 (Georgia Gould, Ethan Gilmour, Sam Schultz, Adam Craig)
4. France...1:45 (Fabien Canal, Stephane Tmpier, Cecile Rode Ravanel, Cedric Ravanel)
5. Germany...1:53 (Wolfram Kurschat, Andy Eyring, Rene Tann, Sabine Spitz)
6. Czech Republic...2:02 (Jaroslav Kulhavy, Filip Adel, Katerina Nash, Milan Spesny)
7. Italy...2:06 (Yader Zoli, Andrea Tiberi, Francesco Aulino, Eva Lechner)
8. Russia...2:10 (Yury Trofimov, Denis Vorontsov, Irina Kalentieva, Roman Orlov)
9. Great Britain...2:54 (Ian Bibby, Alex Paton, Ian Wilkinson, Jenny Copnall)
10. Ukraine...5:12 (Sergiy Rysenko, Oleksandr Yakymenko, Mykhaylo Batsutsa, Natalia
Krompets)