From Jeep Sports:
It's not enough that the Jeep King of the Mountain Series pits the elite athletes directly against one another on a daredevil Y-cross racecourse. This year Jeep also introduced competitor-inspired course design.
The competitor-inspired racecourse design was first unveiled during the initial race of the 2006 season in San Luis Obispo, CA. Former World Champion, Mike King, of San Diego, created a layout that required equal parts instinct, patience and daring from its challengers, himself included.
While athletes play a role on the design front in sports such as golf, where names such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye are equally renowned for their work on and off the green, until now the concept had not been pursued in mountain bike racing. Now the very athlete that creates the Y-cross layout will himself be racing down it for the richest prize payout in the industry.
Heading into the grand finale of the Mountain Biking World Professional Championships, set for Sep 3, in Beaver Creek, CO, the design reigns will be handed over to one of the most recognizable faces in the sport, Brian Lopes. The three-time World Champion, five-time World Cup Champion and nine-time National Champion will no doubt put an unforgettable personal stamp on the circuit, providing his own take on elements such as banked turns, tabletops, step-down jumps and rollers.
In the men's bracket, Michal Prokop of the Czech Republic, the defending World Professional Champion, stands in first place. Trailing him and tied for second place are Lopes of San Clemente, CA, and Eric Carter of Temecula, CA, the 2005 and 2006 U.S. Mountaincross National Champion. Also in the hunt are Wade Bootes of Australia, the 2004 JKOM World Professional Champion and runner-up in 2005, King, and Brian Schmith of Lancaster, CA, a National and World Series medalist.
In the women's competition, fellow defending World Professional Champion Jill Kitner of Seattle, WA, holds the top spot. The seemingly unbeatable rider is followed by a two-way tie for second place between Melissa Buhl of Chandler, AZ, ranked fifth in the world and the 2005 NORBA Downhill Champion, and Corona, CA's Tara Llanes, the 2006 U.S. Downhill National Champion who currently ranks third in the International Cycling Federation's World Cup standings. Rounding out the rooster are Katrina Miller of Australia, the 2004 JKOM World Professional Champion currently ranked second in the world, Fionn Griffiths of Great Britain, a three-time World Cup Champion and five-time UK National Champion, and Anneke Beerten of The Netherlands, the 2006 Sea Otter Classic runner-up and JKOM event titlists in 2005.
The 2006 Mountain Biking World Professional Championships from Beaver Creek will air on CBS Sports Oct 8, from 5 p.m.to 6 p.m. EST.
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